Brooklyn Sponge-Crust Cheesecake (Junior's Style)
A thin, golden sponge cake baked in the springform as the crust, covered with two pounds of cream cheese beaten with sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, eggs and heavy cream, and baked in a water bath at 350°F until the top is lightly tanned and the center still jiggles.
Junior's is the other famous New York cheesecake, and it starts with a different crust. Wikipedia says Harry Rosen opened Junior's in 1950 at 386 Flatbush Avenue Extension, on the corner of DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, where his family had run a diner since 1929. The restaurant says it was named for Rosen's two sons, Walter and Marvin. Rosen worked with a master baker, Eigel Peterson, on what Junior's called "The World's Most Fabulous Cheesecake," built on a sponge cake base instead of a graham cracker crust.
In 2014 amNY printed the recipe from Alan Rosen, Harry's grandson and Junior's third-generation owner. Its filling has cornstarch and heavy cream instead of sour cream, and its master baker, Michael Goodman, says to always bake it in a water bath. It is Junior's own published recipe, so we adapt it as a Brooklyn regional cheesecake, not a copycat.
Why it works the kitchen science
A sponge for a crust
The thin sponge bakes before the filling goes on, so it stays soft and cakey under the cream cheese instead of turning crumbly or soggy like a cookie crust.
Cornstarch, cream and a water bath
The starch helps the filling set smooth with only two eggs, the cream keeps it rich and light, and the water bath keeps the oven moist so the cake bakes slowly and evenly with a smooth top.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform generously and wrap the outside in foil, bottom and sides. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together.
- Step 2
Beat the yolks on high 3 minutes, then slowly add 2 tbsp of the sugar and beat about 5 minutes more, until thick pale ribbons form. Beat in the vanilla and lemon extract. Sift the flour mixture over the top and fold it in by hand, then blend in the melted butter.
- Step 3
In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the whites with the cream of tartar until frothy, then add the rest of the 1/3 cup sugar gradually and beat to stiff, glossy peaks. Fold one third into the batter, then the rest. Spread it in the pan and bake about 10 minutes, until set and golden and the center springs back when touched. Cool it in the pan on a rack; leave the oven on.
- Step 4
For the filling, beat one package of cream cheese with 1/3 cup sugar and the cornstarch on low about 3 minutes, scraping often. Beat in the remaining cream cheese one package at a time. Raise the speed to medium, beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar and the vanilla, then the eggs one at a time. Beat in the cream just until blended.
- Step 5
Spoon the filling gently over the sponge. Set the springform in a larger pan and pour in hot water about 1 inch up its sides.
- Step 6
Bake about 1 1/4 hours, until the edges are light golden brown, the top is slightly golden tan, a 3- to 4-inch circle in the center still jiggles when you nudge the pan, and the center reads 150°F to 155°F.
- Step 7
Lift the cake out of the water bath onto a rack and let it cool undisturbed 2 hours. Cover loosely and refrigerate until completely cold, ideally overnight and at least 4 hours. Slice cold with a sharp straight-edged knife.
Brooklyn Sponge-Crust Cheesecake (Junior's Style)
Serves 12 · one 9-inch cheesecake · 2 hr 5 min total
Sponge cake crust
- 1/3 cup sifted cake flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 2 extra-large eggs, separated
- 1/3 cup sugar, divided (2 tbsp, then the rest)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 drops lemon extract
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- Butter for the pan
Filling
- 4 packages (8 oz each) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups sugar, divided (1/3 cup, then 1 1/3 cups)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 extra-large eggs
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform generously and wrap the outside in foil, bottom and sides. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together.
- Beat the yolks on high 3 minutes, then slowly add 2 tbsp of the sugar and beat about 5 minutes more, until thick pale ribbons form. Beat in the vanilla and lemon extract. Sift the flour mixture over the top and fold it in by hand, then blend in the melted butter.
- In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the whites with the cream of tartar until frothy, then add the rest of the 1/3 cup sugar gradually and beat to stiff, glossy peaks. Fold one third into the batter, then the rest. Spread it in the pan and bake about 10 minutes, until set and golden and the center springs back when touched. Cool it in the pan on a rack; leave the oven on.
- For the filling, beat one package of cream cheese with 1/3 cup sugar and the cornstarch on low about 3 minutes, scraping often. Beat in the remaining cream cheese one package at a time. Raise the speed to medium, beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar and the vanilla, then the eggs one at a time. Beat in the cream just until blended.
- Spoon the filling gently over the sponge. Set the springform in a larger pan and pour in hot water about 1 inch up its sides.
- Bake about 1 1/4 hours, until the edges are light golden brown, the top is slightly golden tan, a 3- to 4-inch circle in the center still jiggles when you nudge the pan, and the center reads 150°F to 155°F.
- Lift the cake out of the water bath onto a rack and let it cool undisturbed 2 hours. Cover loosely and refrigerate until completely cold, ideally overnight and at least 4 hours. Slice cold with a sharp straight-edged knife.
Adapted from Melissa Kravitz, "Alan Rosen's Original New York Cheesecake", amNY (September 22, 2014), one 9-inch cheesecake. We follow it as written: a sponge of 1/3 cup sifted cake flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, 2 extra-large eggs separated, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 drops lemon extract, 2 tbsp melted butter and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, baked about 10 minutes at 350°F in a buttered, foil-wrapped springform; a filling of four 8-oz packages cream cheese, 1 2/3 cups sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1 tbsp vanilla, 2 extra-large eggs and 3/4 cup heavy cream; a water bath 1 inch deep; about 1 1/4 hours at 350°F until the edges are light golden brown and the top slightly golden tan; 2 hours cooling and at least 4 hours chilling. The 12 servings and the 150°F to 155°F check are ours. History from Wikipedia, "Junior's". amny.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Wash the bowl and beaters before whipping the whites; amNY's recipe warns that any fat keeps them from whipping.
- A few white specks of meringue in the sponge batter are fine; don't overfold.
- Leftovers can be wrapped and frozen up to 1 month, per amNY's recipe.
- Michael Goodman's advice: always bake it in a water bath to prevent large cracks.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- A New York cheesecake has a graham cracker crust. Disputed: ATK's New York-style cheesecake uses graham crackers; Junior's has used a sponge cake base since 1950 (Wikipedia; amNY).
- Always bake cheesecake in a water bath. Disputed: Junior's Michael Goodman says always (amNY); America's Test Kitchen and the Basque recipe use none.
- Junior's is the best cheesecake in New York. Folklore: Wikipedia records praise from Chuck Schumer and a 2010 TV win, not a test.
- Junior's was named for Harry Rosen's sons. Documented as the restaurant's own account, as Wikipedia reports it.
Every other cheesecake
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Käsekuchen (German Quark Cheesecake)
A buttery shortcrust base and rim filled with low-fat quark, lemon juice and cornstarch, lightened with whipped egg whites and whipped cream, baked low and long at 320°F and cooled in the turned-off oven so it stays tall, pale and tangy.
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