Baked Cheesecake
Baked cheesecake: a creamy, ancient-rooted tart of cream cheese and condensed milk. The secret is slow heat and not overbeating. Find out why it matters.
70 min
Easy
Internacional
8 servings
The story behind
Few desserts have traveled as far: a form of cheesecake was eaten in ancient Greece, where it was served to athletes, and Rome carried it across Europe, but the creamy baked version we know today took shape once cream cheese arrived in nineteenth-century North America. This Mexican take adapts that lineage with one clever shortcut, sweetened condensed milk, which lends sweetness and body without extra sugar. The deciding technique is gentle, even heat. The cream cheese and eggs must reach room temperature before mixing, because cold ingredients form lumps that never smooth out. You beat only enough to combine, no more: too much air puffs the surface in the oven and then cracks it as it cools. That's why baking stays slow and soft, often in a water bath, so the center sets while the edges neither dry nor split. A base of crushed María-style cookies pressed with butter gives the crisp counterpoint. The hardest part is patience, since the cheesecake must cool completely and rest for hours in the fridge, where it finishes setting and develops the dense, silky texture that defines a baked cheesecake.
Instructions
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1Mix the cracker crumbs with the melted butter until it feels like wet sand, then press it firmly into the bottom of your pan.
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2Blend the cream cheese, condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla until the mixture is completely smooth.
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3Gently pour the cheese mixture over your prepared crust.
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4Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 45 to 50 minutes until the edges are set and the top is golden brown.
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5Let it cool down completely before removing it from the mold so it stays perfectly intact.
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