Cheesecake is one of the most popular desserts, an essential on the menus of many restaurants and a recipe that is worshiped in many homes. It is an exquisite cake and its preparation is not too complicated, although there are a series of keys to achieving a truly spectacular result.
Finding the tastiest mixture and proportion of cheeses, as well as the perfect biscuit base and the right cooking point are some of the points to take into account. Of course, here individual tastes rule the roost. But one of the common problems when cooking cheesecake is that cracks tend to appear on its surface. From the Instagram profile @lacakeartista (380 thousand followers), Andrea Fraga shares a series of tips to prevent your cheesecake from cracking.
In the words of the expert, the convenience of letting the cheesecake cool in the oven so that cracks do not appear is a lie. Instead, she shares the most effective tips to keep your cheesecake from cracking, with special emphasis on some common mistakes why this happens.
First of all, Andrea Fraga assures that the most important thing is to bake the cheesecake at a very low temperature, never higher than 140ºC. What we are looking for is slow and gentle cooking. As a bonus tip, he notes that a double boiler will maintain moisture in the oven, thus preventing the dough from drying out and creating cracks due to a dried crust.
In this regard, he insists on the importance of ensuring that the cheesecake does not overcook. “If it is baked too long and even at a high temperature, it will curdle and firm its texture very quickly. This will result in a super dry crust that easily promotes the formation of cracks,” he emphasizes in the text that accompanies his video. If you overcook the pie, regardless of whether you let it cool in the oven, “those sides that have cooled and hardened too much will collapse, causing even more cracks,” he adds.
Another important point to avoid cracks in the cheesecake is not to overmix and not generate air bubbles in the mixture. In addition, it is important to obtain a smooth mixture without lumps. To do this, Andrea Fraga recommends softening the cheese, either in a bain-marie or in the microwave, so that it is easier to integrate with the rest of the ingredients. As a final tip, he urges buttering the sides of the cake pan.
