This French Cheesecake is my favorite Secret Weapon Dessert. Easy to make. Easy on the eyes. Practically guaranteed to stun everyone—including your best friend’s chatty new girlfriend—at your dinner party into blissful, dessert-nibbling silence.

This recipe comes from an old family friend. In fact, a bunch of you requested the recipe when I first posted about it. French cheesecakes are typically lighter and fluffier than regular cheesecakes. (What’s that, Mouse?!? It’s less dense? So that means I can eat…more…of it?)

This cheesecake has a crisp, buttery crust. The filling is smooth, tangy, and creamy.

Get yourself a springform pan

You really need a springform to make a proper cheesecake.

A springform pan is made of two pieces: a flat bottom and a tall ring that serves as the sides of the pan. The clip on the side opens up, widening the ring, so that you can remove your cheesecake easily and in one piece. (After all, it’s nice to be able to admire it for a moment or two before you devour it.)

This recipe calls for an 8-inch springform pan, like this one from Kaiser Bakeware:

A note on cheesecake toppings

Like any classic cheesecake, you can serve this with any topping you like. Classic pineapple. A decadent chocolate ganache. Slices of fresh mango or strawberry.

This time, I opted for a raspberry orange sauce (more on the sauce on Monday).

Alrighty! To the kitchen!

French Cheesecake

For the crust
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter (that’s 1 stick), softened
1 egg yolk
2 Tbls. sugar

For the cheesecake filling
1 lb. cream cheese
1 Tbls. flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated (you’ll need both the yolks + the whites)
4 Tbls. sour cream
4 Tbls. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Serves 6-8, depending on how much you can bear to share

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Butter your springform pan or spray it with oil, then set it aside.

Make the dough for the cheesecake crust

Leave the butter on the counter for 10 or 15 minutes to soften up a little. Then put the butter and flour into the bowl of your mixer.

Beat on high for a few minutes to combine the butter and flour. At first, the mixture will be dry and raggy looking, like this:

Beat the mixture until it’s smoother and more uniform, like this:

Toss in the sugar and the egg yolk.

Beat to combine. Your mixture will be soft and yellow-ish, like good, fresh Play-Doh.

Gather the dough together in your hands. Press it together into a smooth, flat puck shape.

With a bencher or sharp knife, cut one third out of the dough.

Gather each hunk of dough into a ball. Set the larger ball (the one with two-thirds of the dough) aside for now.

Bake the bottom crust of the cheesecake

Take the smaller ball (the one with one-third of the dough) and press it into the bottom of your springform pan. (That’s right…no rolling! Just smoosh it down with your fingers.)

Keep pressing and spreading the dough until it completely covers the bottom of the pan.

You want it to look about like this. Nevermind that you may have some visible fingerprints. Just be sure that the coverage is fairly even, so it bakes consistently.

Pop the pan into your preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 8 minutes, until the crust is brown on the edges, like this:

Set it aside to cool while you make the cheesecake filling. Give the bowl of your mixer a quick wash, as you’ll need it clean to make the filling.

DROP THE OVEN TEMPERATURE TO 350 DEGREES. (Sorry to shout, but your cheesecake will be very sad if you bake it at a full 400 degrees…)

Start the cheesecake filling

Separate 4 eggs. Keep the yolks and the whites. You’ll need ‘em both.

Put the sugar and cream cheese into the (washed and dried) bowl of your mixer.

Beat them together until smooth.

Scrape down the sides of your bowl.

Toss in the egg yolks.

Beat together until smooth, creamy, and glossy.

Add the sour cream, heavy cream, and vanilla.

Beat until well combined.

Scrape the mixture out into a large, clean mixing bowl. Quickly wash and dry the mixing bowl that you used for the filling. (Last time, I promise.)

Set the mixture aside for a minute while you finish up your crust.

Finish the cheesecake crust

At this point, your pan should be cool enough to touch comfortably. Grab your remaining ball of dough. Break off a chunk.

You’re going to stick the dough to the pan the same way that you did with the bottom crust. Take the chunk of dough and smoosh it against the side of the pan. Press it with your fingers so that it’s flat and spreads out.

Repeat this process with the rest of the dough, until the sides of the pan are completely covered. Leave about a half an inch or so between the crust and the top of the pan, like this:

Go around the dough one more time, concentrating on where it meets the bottom crust. Be sure that the seal here is good, and that there aren’t any holes. (That way, your cheesecake filling will be completely contained when you pour it in.)

Set the pan aside while you finish your filling.

Finish the cheesecake filling

Put the egg whites into the (washed and dried) bowl of your mixer. Beat on high for a few minutes, until the egg whites fluff up, turn opaque, and hold a stiff peak like this:

Take a scoop of the beaten egg whites and plop it into the cream cheese filling.

With a spatula, fold the mixture to gently incorporate the egg whites into the cream cheese.

Add the rest of the egg whites to the bowl.

Fold again to combine. (You’re gently folding, instead of vigorously stirring, so that you don’t completely deflate the egg whites. They’re what will help give your cheesecake its poof.)

When the egg whites are completely incorporated, the mixture will be light, fluffy, and look kind of…well…a little fizzy.

Pour the finished cheesecake filling into your prepared pan.

Pop the cheesecake into your preheated oven (be sure that you dropped the heat to 350 after baking the bottom crust).

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. The cheesecake is done when it has a nice brown top and feels firm in the center when pressed with a finger. (Even when it feels firm, the cheesecake will be ever-so-slightly jiggly when you take it out of the oven. That’s just fine.)

(Mmmm, cheesecake.)

Set the cheesecake to cool on the counter, away from any drafts.

The bit about keeping it out of drafts is important. As it cools, the surface of your cheesecake will crack a little. If it’s exposed to a draft, those cracks will be bigger.

The surface will also sink down, like this:

As you can see, mine still got a fairly impressive crack down the center. That’s just fine.

Unmold the cheesecake, serve, and enjoy!

When it’s totally cool, remove the outer ring of your springform pan. (Pop the clip open, gently spread the ring open, and slide it up and off.)

Your crust should be golden brown, like this:

Slice and serve!

I whipped up a little orange-raspberry sauce.

I’ll post the recipe for that up on Monday.

Enjoy!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

In our house, we make these cookies around Christmas, but they’re great year round. They’re soft and sweet—and slightly tangy. This recipe is a family heirloom. (I actually called my mother to ask for permission to share it with you. No joke.)

You’ll need a standard cookie press to make them. If you don’t have a stand mixer for the first part, a hand-held one will work just as well.

Lemony-Glazed Cream Cheese Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 lb. box of powdered sugar
2-3 lemons, each cut in half
sprinkles or colored sugar

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.

Make the dough
Put the sugar, butter, and cream cheese in the bowl of your mixer and beat until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat until smooth and well incorporated.

Add the flour and baking powder. Mix until dough is uniform. Set aside while you make the icing.

Make the icing
This is the basic lemon juice and powdered sugar icing that a lot of our mothers and grandmothers made. I have to admit, I’ve never measured this part out. I’m not sure they did either.

Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl to remove any lumps. Squeeze each lemon half over the powdered sugar. (Do this over a strainer or your hand to catch any pulp.) Stir the sugar after each lemon half. It will gradually come together into icing.

The icing needs to be fairly thin because you’re going to paint it on to your cookies. Add more lemon juice until your icing is about the consistency of heavy cream.

Press & bake the cookies
Load the dough into your cookie press. Press cookies onto your parchment-lined sheet pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cookies will be pale when done. Transfer to a cooling rack.

While the cookies are still warm, use a pastry brush to paint them with lemon icing. (To save a huge clean-up, put a piece of aluminum foil under the cooling rack to catch icing drips.)

Sprinkle with colored sugar or sprinkles. Let cool completely.

***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I always make this a few hours before I’m going to want to use it, since it stiffens up quite a bit in the fridge once it gets cold.

Mom’s Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
1 stick butter
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove any lumps
1 tsp. vanilla
juice from half a lemon

Put the cream cheese and butter on a plate and soften them in the microwave for a few seconds. You want them soft and pliable, but not liquid. Combine all ingredients and whip by hand or in the mixer until totally combined.

Refrigerate until thoroughly cool before using.

Note: You can control the thickness of the frosting by adding more or less powdered sugar. You can also add more lemon if you want more bite.

***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.