Marbled Cheesecake, also known as…
… not everything I make turns out as expected. Or looking good for that matter…
A lot of people ask if I ever make things that don’t turn out right. This is a prime example of the fact that it does happen to everyone. I decided to make cheesecake for our monthly cooking club. The theme this month was indulgent foods and I immediately thought of the cheesecake pictures in Baking from My home to Yours. Dorie’s cheesecake looks absolutely perfect. I’ve never made a cheesecake before. I made the Daring Baker’s Cheesecake pops last year, but it didn’t have a crust… When I was getting everything together, I realized I don’t have a pan big enough to make a water bath for my 9″ springform pan. After some research online, I decided to put a pan with hot water on the bottom rack below the cheesecake.
I opted to make the marbled variation of the cheesecake with a chocolate graham cracker crust. I think I used more than 1/3 of the batter in the chocolate because it didn’t look very marbled. I should have taken a picture of it before I baked it to show the marbled top…
After the hour and a half, I pulled the cheesecake out a tad just to stick a knife in it to see if it was done. It had risen up but didn’t look done so I put it back in for 15 more minutes. When I checked it at that point, some of the edge had fallen over the pan. I turned the oven off and propped the oven open with a wooden spoon for an hour. When that timer went off, I found my hideous looking cheesecake. Not only had a good amount flowed overboard, the cheesecake was cracked, and sunken in. Not my best showing… BUT, it does taste like a delicious cheesecake, so I guess that’s all that matters.
If anyone has any advice on how to prevent this next time, I’d greatly appreciate it.
To see the entire recipe, check out the Tuesday’s with Dorie member who chose the recipe for the group, Anne of AnneStrawberry. Be sure to see how all the TWD members did (also check out what Dorie herself says about the cheesecake). The recipe says you can use 1 1/3 cup sour cream or heavy cream or a combination of the two. I used 2/3 cup sour cream and 2/3 cup heavy cream.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
How awesome that you were on Leno! Are we allowed to ask what you were on for? I love your list and am raising two hands to vote for the Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake. I made it last fall (http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/10/11/brownie-mosaic-cheesecake/) and it is simply to die for. You won’t be sorry!!
Um yeah, totally meant Letterman. ::slaps forehead:: I’m sleepy 😉
What a cool blog event! I wish I had known about it before today, so I could participate. Is it a monthly thing? If so, I’m definitely in next time!
Michelle – I was the co-captain of a Rube Goldberg team (think of the game mouse trap but on a HUGE scale) in college. In 2003, Purdue won the national competition and they got us on the Letterman show. I was the “spokesperson” for the team and we had our machine on stage. It was an awesome experience. I’ve been trying to find pictures, but that was pre-digital camera for me so I can’t find any…
Annie – I believe it is a monthly event. I think she started it in May…
Thanks for the link to my site! I hope you try out the Chocolate Goat Cheese Truffles if you are a goat cheese fan. They were so delish.
yay for the best bookmarks ever! we have similar taste i guess bc i got some great ideas from this post and i’ve done some on your list. two quick notes on these bookmarks:
1) do the bagels at smitten kitchen. the cinna. raisin rock and it’s so rewarding to spend that much time and yield awesome results. i’m a new baker and it wasn’t very hard to do. definitely add the maple syrup or molasses to the water when you boil the bagels. dole makes plump raisins and they rock.
2) billy’s cupcakes will be your answer to vanilla cupcakes forever! i had issues with overflow so i’d reduce the baking powder from 3t (=1T) to 2.5 tsp.
Thanks for the tips Sweetie
OMG thanks for the shout-out!!! 🙂 where the HECK have i been!?? i’ve seen your facebook status updates and i never realized they were from YOUR blog!!! they are awesome! i’m SO proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! talk soon!!! love, WALKER
ps: i have some pics, i’ll get them scanned. 🙂