Made two cheesecakes using this recipe. On the first, I followed the baisc recipe, with the exception of adding 1/2 c Bailey's. As reported by the majority of others, it cracked very badly. I disguised it with Cool Whip and chocolate sprinkles.
***The second I baked using all the tricks I've read about to avoid cracking. 1. All regrigerated ingredients were brought up to room temperature befoe mixing. 2. After baking the crust, it was put in the freezer to cool off. 3. After mixing the batter and putting it into the springform, the springform was placed in a waterbath, with the water being halfway up the side of the springform. I then baked the cake as per the recipe, removing the cake from the waterbath at the end of the bake time. I put the waterbath on the shelf beneath the cake, and left everything in the oven overnight.
Results: Not even so much as one solitary crack. It was the prettiest cheesecake I've ever made, every bit as pretty as those from the Cheesecake Factory.
The recipe itself was a hit, with both cakes devoured within minutes by my coworkes. All raived about it.
IME most important thing to do to prevent cracks in my cheesecakes is to GREASE AND FLOUR my cake pans. this is becos cheesecake will tend to shrink and hold together as it bakes, so if you don't grease and flour, the cake will stick to the sides. the surface tension will be too much so it cracks in the middle. a water bath will further reduce the likelihood of the cracking, but the greasing and flouring is the deciding factor. hope this helps.
This recipe produces a very high quality cheesecake. I use 2 regular cream cheese and 1 low fat, light sour cream and reduced fat Oreos; the lower fat ingredients are totally undetectable. I never put my springform pan IN a water bath; I place a roasting pan full of boiling water on the rack below my cheesecake. This steam method works just as well, with no threat of seepage. Thank you for sharing this phenomenal recipe!
I make this cheesecake often. It's absolutely wonderful! I've reviewed it here before but I just want to comment on a few things. First the chocolate flavor is only going to be as good as the cocoa you use. I always use Ghirardelli cocoa in this recipe. Also I double the recipe for the crust use chocolate graham crackers instead of cookies granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar and put the crust up the sides of the pan instead of just the bottom. That probably makes it taste more chocolatey. And remember to wrap your springform pan tightly in a couple of layers of aluminum foil if you're baking it in a water bath. That prevents the water from getting into the pan and making the crust soggy.:)
I love the way this cheesecake looks. It truly looks professionally made. I had no problems with cracks because I used a waterbath. I like to use the wide sized foil because the regular size doesn't cover the whole pan bottom and even overlapping another piece of foil allows for water to leak in and mess the whole thing up. After turning the oven off I left the door closed with the cheesecake in for another hour and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. When making the crust keep on stirring it up and don't be afraid to use your hands (clean please) if necessary to form a "more pasty than crumbly" crust. The only thing I changed was the amount of irish cream which I upped to 1/3. The taste is very subtle but I liked it very much and so did everybody else that tried it.
This is a GREAT cheesecake! I made this for my husband's birthday and it turned out fantastic! I did use the other suggestions and increased the irish cream to 1/3 cup and cooked in a water bath. I let the cake cool for a couple hours in the oven before removing and had no trouble with cracking. After reading a couple reviews stating that this cheesecake didn't set properly I was a little concerned...but those concerns were unfounded. This is delicious with a wonderful texture. I topped this with chocolate fudge for a truly decadent treat!
I brought this to work it went very quickly and everybody raved about it. I did make some changes - I used chocolate graham cracker crumbs 2 Tbs regular sugar instead of the confectioners sugar and half of the cocoa for the crust. I didn't bake the crust either (I actually just forgot that part). I also put in just shy of a 1/2 cup of irish cream as some other people have suggested. I also greased and lightly floured the spingform pan since I read all those posts about the cake cracking badly. I started to do the waterbath putting a pan of water on the rack below but I took it out after 10 minutes since I have never baked any cheesecakes that way and never had a big problem with cracking....I read some posts about the texture being like "mousse" and I was a bit worried. After the baking was done I left the cheesecake in the oven to cool with the oven door partially open. The texture was excellent not like mousse so I was pleased. I personally prefer regular cheesecake but like I said everybody raved about this cheesecake.
This was the first time I had tried to make a cheesecake. I made it for a Christmas party and it turned out great! I may add a little more Bailey's next time...
This cheesecake was really smooth! However, I used 1/3 cup of Irish Cream and that still didn't seem to be enough. May try 1/2 cup next time. This dessert was really enjoyed by all.
This was so-so. The taste was not as full as I'd expected though it managed to taste like a cheesecake at least.
