I’ve baked a number of cheesecakes and I’ve had lots of cheesecake disasters. Usually they turn out tasting pretty okay, but they look, how should I put this… like crap

My cheesecakes have sunk, cracked and burnt, which makes you wonder why I’m posting this entry.

Well, in my most recent attempt in making a decent-looking cheesecake, I did my homework. I found a few useful tips online and put them to practice. I’m happy to say the cheesecake didn’t sink, crack or burn.

Here’s how it turned out:

These are the useful tips that I found and put to practice:

• Take the cream cheese out of the fridge in advance to allow it to get to room temperature before mixing. This is to prevent lumps in your cheesecake.
• Beat the cream cheese by itself until it’s smooth and light before adding in the other ingredients.
• Don’t overbeat your cheesecake mixture. I’ve realized that overbeating the mixture makes it sink more.
• Bake the cheesecake in a water bath or bain-marie. This prevents your cheesecake from cracking.
• Wrap two layers of aluminum foil around the bottom and half-way up the sides to prevent water from seeping into the pan while baking.
• Make sure your oven is not too hot. I baked my cheesecake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit / 162 degrees Celsius.
• Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for a couple of hours after it’s done. This prevents the cheesecake cracking and sinking.

Happy baking!