Thursday, May 8, 2008

Strawberry Cheesecake Predicament

Mother's Day is fast approaching, and like any good daughter who likes to make desserts, I am preparing to make a cheesecake in celebration of my mom (and my grandma, too, since we always go to her house and my dad makes omlettes for everyone!).

I have a couple obstacles to overcome (not to mention that I can't spell obstacles without a spell-checker):
  1. I don't have a springform pan. (And who knew there would be so many different kinds, anyway?) And, although I'm not sure (never having made a cheesecake before), but I think that's important.
  2. I don't know what recipe to use.
In answer to the second predicament, I have Googled "Strawberry Cheesecake Recipes," and this is what I've come up with thus forth,
That's all I've got so far. I love Alton Brown, and his sour cream cheesecake would be good with fresh berries on top... but that gosh darn pan... And I like Rachel Ray's individual cheesecakes, but they would be hard to take to my grandparent's house (maybe I'll make the cake in one large pie pan)...

Hmm, I guess I'll just have to think about it. Until then, enjoy for your viewing pleasure, the video that taught my 4 year old brother about "predicaments" :-) (Maybe it's not about cake, but it's still adorable!)

4 comments:

SheR. said...

Hey girl. You could grab one of those aluminium cake pans from supermarkets. Shouldn't be hard to find.
Need to get one of those cake tins with removable base to make cheesecakes with best results.
Otherwise like you mentioned, tart/flan mould should work pretty well if you make the base solid enough and butter your mould really well!!
Good luck!

Tracy P. said...

I say you can't go wrong with the good eats dude.

Here's a recipe I used for a bridal shower many years ago that overcomes the pan issue--guests can choose from a few toppings. Very pretty and yummy too, although they're small.

http://www.nabiscoworld.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipe_id=55259

Jennifer said...

Strangely enough, I have a springform pan, but I've never used it to make a cheesecake. You don't really need one. I usually make mine in my red Fiestaware pie pan. It will taste the same no matter what you make it in!

Joe and Angela said...

I recently started reading your blog because I wanted to get into cake decorating. I really like that you explain in everything detail (including obstacles and how you fixed the problem)...You're very talented!

Spring Form pans are helpful when making cheesecake, but not necessary. Line any kind of pan with foil (a round cake pan would make the best presentation since it would end up looking like it was made using a pring form pan, but my favorite recipe uses a 9 by 13 pan, so it's just a matter of preference and the amount the recipe will make)and leave enough foil hanging over that you can lift the cheesecake out of the pan with ease.

Also, cheesecake made in a pie crust is pretty tasty and you wouldn't need to line the pan with foil in this case. Depending on the recipe you use, there may be enough to make two 8-inch "pies".

In addition, cheesecake is sometimes hard to make with out cracks occuring on the top. It's usually not an issue if you're going to be putting a topping of some sort on it. Read up on using a "water bath" while baking to prevent a sunken middle, browning and cracks on the surface for a more professional presentation.

Recipes that tell you to turn the oven off and leave it there for more time are ususally the best in my experience.

Good luck and keep up the good work!