New York Cheesecake (Lindy's-Style, Graham Crust)
Two and a half pounds of cream cheese beaten with sugar, sour cream, lemon, vanilla and eight eggs over a graham cracker crust, blasted at 500°F for 10 minutes, then baked low at 200°F until the center reads 150°F for a tall, dense, creamy cake.
The New York cheesecake is a cream cheese cake, and cream cheese is a New York invention. Wikipedia says William Lawrence, a dairyman in Chester, New York, began making a richer version of French Neufchâtel in 1872 and called it cream cheese. In 1880 Alvah Reynolds, a New York cheese distributor, began selling Lawrence's cheese as "Philadelphia Cream Cheese"; Wikipedia says the cheese was never made in Philadelphia. The brand passed to the Phenix Cheese Company in 1903, and Phenix later merged with Kraft in 1928.
Wikipedia's cheesecake article says earlier American recipes used cottage cheese, and that the food writer Gil Marks traced the cream cheese New York style in Ashkenazi Jewish cooking to the 1930s. Arnold Reuben, of Reuben's restaurant, claimed credit and said cream cheese had reached American Jewish cooking by 1929. The cake that made it famous was Lindy's: Leo "Lindy" Lindemann and his wife Clara opened it on Broadway on August 20, 1921, Damon Runyon wrote it into his stories as "Mindy's," and a 1964 newspaper called it probably the most famous cheesecake in America. This recipe, from America's Test Kitchen, is the Lindy's family of cheesecake: graham crust, a blast of heat, then a long, low bake.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Two and a half pounds of cream cheese beaten with sugar, sour cream, lemon, vanilla and eight eggs over a graham cracker crust, blasted at 500°F for 10 minutes, then baked low at 200°F until the center reads 150°F for a tall, dense, creamy cake.
🇮🇹 The original
Italy's ricotta crostata is lighter and drier: sweetened ricotta with eggs and citrus zest baked in a pastry crust, a recipe family that goes back to Roman cheese cakes. See the Crostata di Ricotta (Italian Ricotta Cheesecake Tart) recipe.
🗳️ New York or Basque burnt? Vote: New York vs Basque burnt →
Why it works the kitchen science
Hot, then low
10 minutes at 500°F browns the top and sets the outside, and a 200°F oven then cooks the dense filling so slowly that it sets from edge to center without curdling or puffing.
A minute per addition, at low speed
Steady, gentle beating makes the cream cheese perfectly smooth without whipping in air, which is what keeps a New York cheesecake dense and flat-topped.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. Toss the crumbs and sugar with 5 tbsp of the melted butter. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform with most of the remaining butter, saving a little. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and bake about 13 minutes, until fragrant and browning at the edges. Cool on a rack.
- Step 2
Raise the oven to 500°F. Beat the cream cheese on medium-low speed 1 minute to soften it, scraping the bowl and beater. Add the salt and half the sugar and beat 1 minute; add the rest of the sugar and beat 1 minute more, scraping each time.
- Step 3
Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla on low, 1 minute. Beat in the yolks on medium-low, 1 minute. Add the whole eggs two at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition and scraping the bowl.
- Step 4
Brush the sides of the pan with the last of the butter, set it on a rimmed baking sheet and pour in the filling.
- Step 5
Bake 10 minutes at 500°F. Without opening the door, lower the oven to 200°F and bake about 1 1/2 hours more, until the cake is set at the edges with a 2- to 3-inch circle in the center that still jiggles, and an instant-read thermometer in the center reads about 150°F.
- Step 6
Cool on a rack 5 minutes, run a paring knife around the edge, then cool until barely warm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours (up to 4 days).
- Step 7
Remove the pan ring, slide a thin spatula under the crust to move the cake to a plate, and let it stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before slicing.
New York Cheesecake (Lindy's-Style, Graham Crust)
Serves 12 · one 9-inch cheesecake · 2 hr 40 min total
Crust
- 1 cup (113 g) graham cracker crumbs, from 8 whole crackers
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (5 for the crust, 1 for the pan)
Filling
- 2 1/2 lb (1,134 g) cream cheese, cut in 1-inch chunks and left out 30 to 45 minutes
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 1/2 cups (298 g) sugar
- 1/3 cup (71 g) sour cream
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large egg yolks
- 6 large eggs
Method
- Heat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. Toss the crumbs and sugar with 5 tbsp of the melted butter. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform with most of the remaining butter, saving a little. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and bake about 13 minutes, until fragrant and browning at the edges. Cool on a rack.
- Raise the oven to 500°F. Beat the cream cheese on medium-low speed 1 minute to soften it, scraping the bowl and beater. Add the salt and half the sugar and beat 1 minute; add the rest of the sugar and beat 1 minute more, scraping each time.
- Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla on low, 1 minute. Beat in the yolks on medium-low, 1 minute. Add the whole eggs two at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition and scraping the bowl.
- Brush the sides of the pan with the last of the butter, set it on a rimmed baking sheet and pour in the filling.
- Bake 10 minutes at 500°F. Without opening the door, lower the oven to 200°F and bake about 1 1/2 hours more, until the cake is set at the edges with a 2- to 3-inch circle in the center that still jiggles, and an instant-read thermometer in the center reads about 150°F.
- Cool on a rack 5 minutes, run a paring knife around the edge, then cool until barely warm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours (up to 4 days).
- Remove the pan ring, slide a thin spatula under the crust to move the cake to a plate, and let it stand at room temperature about 30 minutes before slicing.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "New York-Style Cheesecake" (Cook's Illustrated; published February 27, 2013), serves 12 to 16, one 9-inch cheesecake. We follow it as written: a crust of 1 cup (113 g) graham cracker crumbs, 1 tbsp sugar and 5 tbsp melted butter baked about 13 minutes at 325°F, with the rest of 6 tbsp butter brushed on the pan; 2 1/2 lb (1,134 g) cream cheese, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups (298 g) sugar, 1/3 cup (71 g) sour cream, 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 yolks and 6 whole eggs, each added with a minute of beating at low or medium-low speed; 10 minutes at 500°F, then about 1 1/2 hours at 200°F until the center reads about 150°F; 5 minutes' rest, a knife around the edge, 2 1/2 to 3 hours cooling and at least 3 hours in the refrigerator. The 12 servings are the low end of ATK's range. History from Wikipedia, "Cheesecake", "Cream cheese" and "Lindy's". America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Soft cream cheese is the key to a lump-free batter; ATK cuts it into chunks and leaves it out 30 to 45 minutes.
- Set the springform on a rimmed baking sheet in case it leaks.
- The cake keeps up to 4 days in the refrigerator, wrapped, according to ATK.
- Take it out 30 minutes before serving; cold cheesecake tastes muted.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Philadelphia cream cheese comes from Philadelphia. Documented as false: Wikipedia says it was made in Chester, New York, and the Philadelphia name was a distributor's label from 1880.
- Arnold Reuben invented New York cheesecake. Disputed: Reuben claimed credit (Wikipedia); Lindy's, open since 1921, is the cheesecake contemporaries called the most famous, and Gil Marks dates the style to the 1930s.
- Real New York cheesecake has sour cream on top. Folklore: ATK puts a little sour cream inside and none on top; the sour cream topping belongs to our Original-Style Restaurant Cheesecake.
- New York cheesecake needs a water bath. Disputed: ATK uses none (a 200°F oven does the same job); Junior's baker Michael Goodman says always use one (see Brooklyn Sponge-Crust Cheesecake).
- Old American cheesecakes used cottage cheese. Documented as Wikipedia's account.
Every other cheesecake
Crostata di Ricotta (Italian Ricotta Cheesecake Tart)
A lemon-scented shortcrust shell filled with drained whole-milk ricotta, sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, a pinch of cinnamon and dark chocolate chips, closed with a second sheet of pastry and baked low on the rack at 350°F for 70 minutes until deep golden.
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.
Sernik Krakowski (Polish Lattice-Top Cheesecake)
A rich filling of triple-ground full-fat twaróg, butter, powdered sugar, egg yolks and orange zest with raisins and candied orange peel, lightened with beaten whites, baked in a sweet shortcrust under a pastry lattice at 350°F and finished with a lemon glaze.
Basque Burnt Cheesecake (San Sebastián Style)
No crust and no water bath: cream cheese, eggs, sugar, a spoonful of flour and cream stirred together by hand, poured into a crumpled parchment-lined pan and baked hot at 410°F until the top is nearly black and the center still trembles.
Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake (Cotton Cheesecake)
Cream cheese, butter and cream melted together, enriched with yolks and cake flour, folded into a firm meringue and baked slowly in a water bath at 320°F, then cooled in the oven so the tall, wobbly, cottony cake doesn't crack, with an apricot glaze.
Ube Cheesecake (Filipino Purple Yam Cheesecake)
Cream cheese beaten with sour cream, ube halaya (purple yam jam) and ube extract on a graham cracker crust, baked in a water bath at 350°F until the center is just set, cooled in the oven and topped with lavender ube whipped cream.
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.
No-Bake Icebox Cheesecake
No eggs and no oven: cream cheese beaten with sugar, lemon juice, sour cream and vanilla bean, lightened with whipped cream, spread into a brown sugar graham crust and chilled overnight, then finished with whipped cream and fresh berries.
Mini Cheesecakes (Muffin-Pan Cheesecakes)
Twelve little cheesecakes in a muffin pan: a pressed graham crust under a smooth cream cheese, sour cream and lemon batter, baked at 325°F for 15 to 18 minutes, 30 minutes of hands-on work and about an hour start to oven-off, then chilled at least 3 hours and topped with berries or jam.
Original-Style Restaurant Cheesecake (Inspired by The Cheesecake Factory, Not Official)
Inspired by The Cheesecake Factory's Original, not its official recipe: a thick graham crust up the sides, a filling of a full pound of sour cream with two pounds of cream cheese baked in a water bath at 325°F, and a sweet sour cream layer baked on top for a clean white finish.
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