Baking my first cheesecake

[jgalla]

Ok so recently my mom picked up a costco sized box a snickers and i have been staring at them wondering if i could make something out of this situation, before i end up eating 48 snickers bars. Ive decided to make a snickers cheese cake with them and this will be my first attempt at a cheese cake. So from looking at recipes they require a spring form pan. To my luck i do not own a spring form pan but i do have a pie pan and a angel food cake pan(does it matter if the pie pan is meta, glass or ceramic?). i assume i can use the pie pan, does this change anything? i know the volume will be different with the size of pan i have and also does this change how i use the water bath with the cheese cake? also any other tips? tomorrow is the day i am going to try and make this so i shall let you know how this adventure turns out. and thanks for any help you can give!
- Jamie

 

[taxlady]

I haven't made cheese cake yet, but I would imagine that the spring form pan makes it ten times easier to get the cheese cake out of the pan. I can only imagine that it would be a nightmare trying to get it out of an angel food pan.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Ok so recently my mom picked up a costco sized box a snickers and i have been staring at them wondering if i could make something out of this situation, before i end up eating 48 snickers bars. Ive decided to make a snickers cheese cake with them and this will be my first attempt at a cheese cake. So from looking at recipes they require a spring form pan. To my luck i do not own a spring form pan but i do have a pie pan and a angel food cake pan(does it matter if the pie pan is meta, glass or ceramic?). i assume i can use the pie pan, does this change anything? i know the volume will be different with the size of pan i have and also does this change how i use the water bath with the cheese cake? also any other tips? tomorrow is the day i am going to try and make this so i shall let you know how this adventure turns out. and thanks for any help you can give!
- Jamie

Not to be a downer or anything, but...

I don't think your pie pan will be deep enough for a water bath. You will most likely have to cut the recipe, at the very least, in half if not more to get it to fit in a pie pan. With what you have listed as pans, I don't think you will have a good experience with cheesecake.

My suggestion...borrow a bigger pan from your Mother.

 

[FrankZ]

I would drop by Target or Wal-Mart and just get a pan. They aren't expensive and frankly having the right tools to do a job makes the job go better.

 

[snickerdoodle]

I have made several cheesecakes and have never used a springform pan or water bath. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing LOL. Anyway, I had success with a pie pan. Now, I haven't made it in awhile and I want to say that the recipe I have makes enough to fill 2 disposable pie pans (or 1 springform pan). What I have also done in the past is fill one pie tin and use the leftover batter to fill some foil muffin tins. To give the effect of a crust, I put a nilla wafer or oreo in the bottom of the muffin tins. For the pie tins, usually a homemade graham cracker crust. It might not be a cheesecake in it's true form but it satisfies just the same

 

[angelfadedblue]

I make cheesecakes a lot. I have never used a water bath, but spring form is really the way to go. They are really inexpensive at a local thrift store- many people have them and never make cheesecake so they seem to always be at thrift stores for a few bucks.
here are a few tips & tricks of cheese cakes.. it really helped me perfect them!

Baking Cheesecake


It's common to overbake cheesecakes because, while they might look underdone, they are actually done when the center is still wobbly. At this stage, residual heat will "carry over" and the center will continue to cook.
Remove cheesecake from the oven to cool on a rack, or simply leave the door of the oven closed, turn off the heat and let the cheesecake cool for at least an hour. This helps prevent the cheesecake from sinking in the center.
After chilling, the once-wiggly center should firm up just fine.
Mixing Matters

• The cream cheese should be at room temperature before you begin mixing, or you'll end up with lumps in your cheesecake.
• Using cold cream cheese also leads to overbeating--whipping too much air into the batter--which forms unattractive air bubbles on the surface of the cake.
• Unless the recipe instructions specifically note otherwise, you should beat the cream cheese by itself until it's smooth and light, before adding any other ingredients.
• If you end up with lumps in your batter, run the mixture through a sieve or give it a quick spin in the food processor and you'll have silky smooth results.

Putting the Cheese in Cheesecake


Whether you're making an Italian-style cheesecake with ricotta cheese or a classic New York cheesecake with cream cheese, don't skimp on the fat content. Reduced fat and nonfat cream cheeses contain fillers that might prevent the cheesecake from setting properly. Never substitute whipped cream cheese for the solid block.

All About Texture


Eating cheesecake is a very sensual experience: texture is everything. Some recipes contain a small amount of starch, such as flour or cornstarch. These cheesecakes have a more cake-like texture. Cheesecake recipes that do not contain flour are intended to be luxuriously smooth and dense.