The Pecan Pie Cheesecake started the quest. I brought one to Thanksgiving dinner and folks were wowed. I got raves that day and mentions in the days to come. You know and I know, if folks aren’t impressed with something you won’t hear it mentioned again.
Divaentertains says the recipe is modified from Southern Living Magazine. As I looked at more and more cheesecake recipes I began to realize: Southern Living has some world class cheesecake recipes. We’re going to delve into more of those on our journey.
I made a minor modification to the Divaentertains crust recipe and the frozen pecan pie, added salt to the filling, and added a raspberry topping plus fresh raspberries. Plus confectioners sugar sifted on top of the topping. I worked for a French chef who said tersely “Parsley on everything.” He was talking about food dishes, but confectioners sugar is like that for cheesecake. On everything.
This post is geared toward folks who are just learning to make cheesecake or want to explore alternate techniques.
If you’re a seasoned cheesecake baker you may wish to scroll to the end of this post for the Readers Digest version, or access the recipe card
And if you want something visual, the YouTube video
Enjoy!
Equipment List:
gallon zip plastic bag
rolling pin
oven thermometer
half hotel pan or standard cookie sheet pan
9” Fat Daddio two piece cheesecake pan
parchment paper
Baker’s Joy
measuring spoons
digital scale
4 pyrex custard cups or small bowls
stand mixer with bowl
paddle attachment
cooling rack
big sharp knife
small thin-bladed sharp knife
offset spatula
teflon spatula
cutting board
zester or micro grater
quart saucepan
10″ cardboard cake round
Ingredients:
Crust:
9 sticks graham crackers (One pack)
1 stick unsalted butter
Filling:
1 frozen pecan pie
2 bricks Philly
2 eggs
½ cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup conf sugar
1 tablespoon flour
pinch salt
Topping:
Smuckers raspberry syrup or similar
1 Orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 oz Grand Marnier
fresh raspberries
confectioners sugar
Crust Prep
Prepare the Fat Daddio…
Lay the pan bottom on parchment paper and run a pencil around the edge, then cut out the circle. Put the pan together and dust all the inside with Bakers Joy, lay the parchment on the bottom and dust the paper.
Do the crust according to the MAX philosophy:
–fewer graham crackers because we’re not going up the side
–melt the butter but don’t necessarily use it all
–gently pat the grahams into place with the backs of the fingers
Crumb the grahams in a food processor or put them in a one-gallon zipper bag and flatten them out with a rolling pin.
Put the crumbs in a large mixing bowl and add the melted butter sparingly, sifting with the fingers until the crumbs are moist but not soggy.
Dump them in the center of the pan.
Gently pat into place.
Prepping the pecan pie
Unbox the frozen pecan pie and take it out of the pie tin. (Save the pie tin, especially if there are no holes in it, we’ll have some uses for it down the line).
Frozen pecan pies typically have a large area of crust around the edge. Add that extra crust to the grahams and we are flirting with an untenable crust-to-filling ratio. So pinch off that protruding crust, go all around the edge of the pie and trim it down.
Now, with a big sharp knife (or a cleaver), cut one inch- to 1.5 inch- slices of pie and lay them on the crust in a circle with the points at the center. Leave about ½ inch between each slice.
This means there’ll be some pecan pie left over. Time for some vanilla ice cream and strong coffee…..but let’s do that later, shall we?
Work with the pie directly from the freezer so it’s easier to cut: it’ll be cold but will warm up while you’re making the filling. It may not get to room temperature before baking but that has never seemed to be a problem. If you’re a purist you can let the setup sit awhile before starting the filling.
Starting the batter
The filling ingredients should all be at room temperature, the eggs…everything.
Break the eggs into individual Pyrex custard cups and put the sour cream and whipping cream into small shallow bowls so they’ll slide easily into the big mixer.
Sift the confectioners sugar, flour and salt together into a mixing bowl.
Wets are going first, drys are going last, so line them up that way.
Mixing
Start by doing the bricks at slow-medium speed until smooth, but don’t whip too much or too long.
Add an egg, blend it in until you can’t see yellow streaks, then add the other, same thing. Remember, the slower mixer speed the better, we don’t want to whip a bunch of air into the batter.
Add the heavy cream and vanilla, incorporate, add the sour cream, incorporate.
Stop the mixer and spatula down the walls, mix some more.
Blend in the the flour and confectioners and mix until just incorporated.
Pouring the batter over the slices
This next step is key: stop the mixer and spatula down the walls, mix everything around a bit with the spatula, then start pouring the batter through a big-mesh strainer over the pecan slices.
When I first did this recipe I’d get small chunks of cream cheese and little balls of confectioners in the finished cheesecake, which pained my heart. So….I started straining. It’s awkward to do alone so I pour as much as I can through the sieve, then quickly drop the sieve onto a mixing bowl and spatula the rest through. Spatula the sieve thoroughly to press everything through, then lift the sieve, pour the batter out of the mixing bowl using the spatula so we’re not wasting anything. You’ll need every bit of batter to cover the pecan slices.
Scrape the last of the batter from the mixing bowl and the underside of the strainer; now it’s all in the pan. If any parts of pecan pie are sticking through the surface push ’em under.
Air bubbles
Experts vary on what to do next. Some suggest rapping the pan sharply on the counter-top a couple of times to release trapped air. Some say nothing about it. One baker suggests letting the batter sit for an hour before baking to let the trapped bubbles escape naturally.
I’m currently thinking there are going to be air bubbles regardless, and whether they pop before or during baking they’re going to leave a crater. Most times these are pretty small and the topping will cover most of ’em.
Plus if folks have a magnifying glass out looking for craters in your cheesecake you’re hanging out with the wrong people anyway.
That being said, if you have any insight please email me. I’ll publish the best in a later post so if you want to remain anon let me know that too. max@cheesecakemax.com
Baking and crack prevention
So….on to a sheet pan and then to the center rack, stabilized at 325F. Make sure the sheet pan isn’t warped, you want the cheesecake to be level as it bakes. One time I used a double bottom cookie pan and it changed shape while baking…the cheesecake was ‘way higher on one side. Not cool.
No water bath
How do you feel about the water bath? Personally not wild about $20 of ingredients (in a pan with openings) sitting in the middle of a lake.
Some of our recipes will need a waterbath and we’ll deal with that later; this recipe does not. The pecan pie cheesecake has two things going for it; flour and temperature.
More crack prevention
Flour or cornstarch will help prevent cracks, they bind the ingredients together.
Lower temperature will help prevent cracks. Most recipes I’ve seen bake at 350; recipes without waterbath are usually 325 or even 300.
Realizing that this is a great debate, let’s open it up for feedback. Any crack prevention insight is welcome, please email me: max@cheesecakemax.com
Baking the pecan pie cheesecake
Bake for 50 minutes on the center rack, then turn off the oven, leave the door closed, and let it sit for one hour.
Take the setup out of the oven, take the pecan pie cheesecake off the sheet pan and set it on a cooling rack. Immediately run a thin-bladed, sharp bladed knife around the edge of the cheesecake where it meets the pan. This will release the cheesecake from the wall of the pan, so it won’t pull apart as the cheesecake cools and shrinks away from the pan. Crack prevention.
Cooling and chilling
Leave it in the Fat Daddio, leave it on the cooling rack, and let it cool to room temp before putting it in the refrigerator. Clamminess prevention.
While it’s cooling keep it out of drafts: don’t put it under a hood fan or under an AC vent, and don’t move it around. You guessed it, more crack prevention.
When the cheesecake is at room temperature cover it loosely with aluminum foil and into the refrigerator. The loose foil will allow some air: this prevents moisture buildup which would make the cheesecake soggy.
One time back in the day I was wrapping a whole lemon tart and the French chef pointed at it and said put a ole in it. What? I said, I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. OLE..a OLE he said, then angrily grabbed a paring knife and punched a slit in the taut plastic wrap. Oh…an OLE.
The pecan pie cheesecake will be ready tomorrow. It needs to chill overnight for the flavors to come together. Two nights even better.
Getting the cheesecake out of the pan
Place the cheesecake on top of a medium, inverted bowl. Gently push the pan down to the countertop.
Whoa.
It’s alive!
Place the pecan pie cheesecake on a ten inch cardboard round and slide an offset spatula between the bottom of the crust and the parchment paper. Gently work the handle around the outside of the cheesecake; you’ll feel the whole thing let go. Slide the paper and pan bottom out from under the cheesecake, leaving the cake sitting on the cardboard round.
Topping
Zest an orange and lemon, set aside an ounce of Grand Marnier. Pour the raspberry syrup into a saucepan under low heat. Add the zests and the Grand Marnier and bring to a simmer , stirring occasionally. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool.
Serving
Cheesecake tastes best, has the most WOW flavor, at room temperature. Let the cheesecake sit or cut the slices first and let them sit; they’ll come to room temperature faster than the whole cake.
Cut slices with a big sharp knife, wiping the blade after each cut, and plate them. (If you’re doing a bottom sauce put that on the plate first.)
Finish with the raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries.
Dust with confectioners sugar.
Enjoy a cup of coffee while you field questions and listen to the raves.
Pairings for the pecan pie cheesecake:
Coffee. Espresso. Champagne. Ice wine. Grand Marnier in a snifter. Pinkies up!
QUICK AND EASY PECAN PIE CHEESECAKE: ONCE YOU’VE GOT THE BASICS
1…Line the bottom of the 9” Fat Daddio with a 9” circle of parchment paper, Bakers Joy everything. Oven at 325 F.
2…Crush one pack (9 crackers) of grahams, slowly add 1 stick melted butter (or less). Pat gently into bottom of pan. Cut the pecan pie slices and lay on top of crust.
3…Mix 2 bricks Philly at low speed, add one egg, incorporate, add the second egg, mix until incorporated.
4…Add heavy cream, sour cream, and vanilla while mixing. Incorporate.
5…Add confectioners sugar, flour and pinch of salt. Just incorporate.
6…Pour batter through strainer over pecan pie slices. Any parts of pie that stick up push under the batter.
7…Bake at 325F for 50 minutes, then (without opening the door) turn the oven off and let the cheesecake sit for 60 minutes.
8…Remove to cooling rack, run knife around edge, cool to room temperature. Cover loosely with aluminum foil, then into refrigerator overnight.
9…In a saucepan combine syrup, orange and lemon zest and Grand Marnier. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat. Let cool.
10…Cut slices at room temperature, garnish with raspberry sauce, fresh raspberries, and dust with confectioners sugar.
Enjoy!
Links:
Pecan pie cheesecake YouTube video
https://fatdaddios.com/catalog/cheesecake-pans (select 9 x 3)
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30111087/ 20 x 11 cooling rack
What To Drink With What You Eat
