Evelyn's Cheesecake

Submitted by evelynathens

"I have baked (and eaten) more cheesecakes in my life than I care to mention. Finally, it dawned on me that what I was doing was making a type of custard in a crust. Revelation - I could do custard without a recipe and from then on I have never used a recipe to make cheesecake. This is one of my favourites. There's no crust - it really doesn't need it."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 16-24

ingredients

• 5 (8 ounce) packages philladelphia cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 cup cornstarch
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 4 1⁄2 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 7 large eggs
• 1⁄4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

directions

1. Position rack 1/3 down from TOP of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F (175C).
2. Butter a 13x9x2" cake pan or large springform pan (put foil around outside of springform pan as the cheesecake batter is quite runny) and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat cheese and butter until soft and smooth.
4. Beat in vanilla, sugar and cornstarch and continue beating until smooth.
5. Beat in eggs one at a time and then, on low speed, gradually add the cream.
6. The mixture will be very thin.
7. Add lemon juice and beat only to mix.
8. Pour into pan, place in larger pan that is not deeper than cake pan and pour in hot water almost 1" deep.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, rotate pan from front to back; raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F (190C) and bake 10-15 minutes more, until top is pale golden-brown.
10. Remove from hot water and let cool completely (do NOT!!! refrigerate until it has been removed from baking pan! otherwise you'll never be able to get presentable pieces out.).
11. Turn out onto cake plate and serve with your topping of choice (strawberries and whipped cream are always good).

Reviews

[Mirj2338]

What I really liked about this cheesecake is that it's more like cheesecake-mousse. There is no crust, so all you get is that delicious cheesecake flavor! I added a little lemon zest from the lemon that I squeezed for the juice. I actually baked this in a silicon pan, so turning it out onto the cake plate was very easy. I added a little more lemon zest and a single strawberry to every slice I served. This is something that will be made so many times I'm not even going to need a recipe after a short while! Thanks, Evelyn, this is heavenly!

 

[xanthe]

This is the most delicious cheesecake ever. Who needs a base when you have this gorgeous creamy cheesecake. I served this with a mixed berry compote with a dash of Cointreu and it was just amazing. Thanks Evelyn you've done it again another out of this world recipe!!!

 

[Namaste022]

Calling all gluten-free people. This cheesecake is incredible! It is rich enough that you don't miss the crust. Make sure and follow the directions to a T. I topped mine with berries and melted black raspberry jelly drizzled over it. You may want to top individual slices rather than the whole cake, because the topping can make it soggy as it sits in the fridge. I am gluten-free and it is a blessing to be able to enjoy cheesecake once again. Evelyn, thank you!

 

[kodi_inoz]

I'm slowly working my way through Evelyn's divine recipes and this one is fantastic. Easy to prepare and a cinch to bake. I followed the recipe cautiously as I've failed with other baked cheesecake recipes, but this was perfect.