Something's a brewin'

...or a bakin' I should say :)

I've been craving cheesecake (aka euphoricake) for weeks and since I'm home for the weekend with full baking supplies I figured it's prime time to turn the heat up in the kitchen ;)

"What is that pan full of water for?" you may ask. It's my attempt to get a cheesecake with no cracks at all. After doing a bit of reading on food.com, I've realized there are several techniques to achieving a crack-free cheesecake.

1. Starting with all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Frequently scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl while mixing all the yumminess together (I think this is more to prevent clumps though).
3. Letting the cheesecake batter sit in the springform pan a few minutes and then gently lifting & dropping it onto a towel. This releases air bubbles from the mixture.
4. Baking at a high temperature for a short period of time and then a much lower temperature for a long period (i.e. 375F for 30 min, then 250F for 2hrs).
5. Using a water bath for even cooking and preserving the moisture of the mixture (see picture above).

And finally, the step I find it hardest to comply with:

6. Not opening the oven door while the cheesecake is baking. Someone was even as extreme to say not turning on the oven light!! I'm sorry...I like looking at my food while it's baking. But if it means a perfect cheesecake then I guess I can cope...by eating some cheesecake batter :P

So, is it guaranteed that you will get a crack-free cheesecake by following these pointers to a T? Sadly no. I've had one success and one failure using these methods so it's a tie.

What I can say with certainty is that there will be a post tomorrow morning of whether this attempt was successful or not. Keep your fingers crossed! :)