Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
A classic vanilla bean cheesecake with a creamy New York-style texture, a buttery graham cracker crust, and beautiful specks of real vanilla throughout. No water bath needed.
Servings: 12
Equipment
- 9" springform pan
Ingredients
crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 5 Tbsp salted butter, melted
cheesecake
- 32 ounces brick style cream cheese, can be cold if using a food processor, room temperature if using a mixer
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste, or seeds from one vanilla bean plus 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
garnish
- edible blossoms
- berries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet. I like to wrap the bottom and sides of the pan tightly with foil to prevent any possible leaking.
- Mix the crumbs and melted butter until evenly moistened. Press firmly into the bottom of the pan. Set aside while you make the cheesecake. Note: you can make the crust in the same bowl as the cheesecake, just wipe it out between uses.
- I use my 14 cup food processor to make the filling, and I use cold ingredients. If you want to use electric beaters or a stand mixer you will need to have your ingredients at room temp, or at least not cold.
- Load the cream cheese, broken in pieces, into the food processor and pulse process until smooth. This might take a minute or two to get it all incorporated.
- Add the sugar, flour, salt, vanilla bean paste. Pulse/process until smooth and creamy.
- Process in the sour cream and eggs. I add the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the bowl to get everything incorporated and smooth.
- Pour the filling over the crust.
- Bake for about 55–70 minutes, until the edges are set and slightly puffed, but the center still has a gentle wobble. It should not look liquid. My cake was done at 60 minutes.
- Turn off the oven, crack the door, and let the cheesecake sit inside for 45 minutes.
- Remove to the counter and cool completely, then chill overnight.
- When ready to serve, unlatch the sides of the springform pan and remove the cake. Decorate with edible spring blossoms or fresh berries.
Notes
If you don't have vanilla bean paste or a vanilla bean, use 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.
Use any type of plain cookie you like for the crumbs. Nilla wafers, gingersnaps, shortbread, etc. Chocolate wafers, or Oreo Thins would make a nice contrast with the vanilla cheesecake.
Keep blossoms fresh in a small glass of water or keep them on a damp cloth in the refrigerator. Don't add them to your cake until you're ready to serve.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice · Calories: 467 kcal · Carbohydrates: 31 g · Protein: 8 g · Fat: 35 g · Saturated Fat: 20 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 9 g · Trans Fat: 0.2 g · Cholesterol: 157 mg · Sodium: 468 mg · Potassium: 156 mg · Fiber: 0.4 g · Sugar: 23 g · Vitamin A: 1311 IU · Vitamin C: 0.1 mg · Calcium: 102 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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