How to Make Cheesecakes | Bake It Up a Notch with Erin McDowell

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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:40 Tools of the Trade
00:06:21 What Exactly is a Cheesecake?
00:12:46 A Crust Above the Rest
00:17:00 The Mixer Method
00:21:37 Baking the Cheesecake
00:23:45 The No-Bake Method
00:31:39 The Food Processor Method
00:36:26 Unmolding the Cheesecake
00:40:27 Unmolding a No-Bake Cheesecake
00:42:22 The Jiggle Test
00:44:55 Decorating and Finishing Your Cheesecake
00:49:45 Mistakes Happen!

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[food]

What kind of cheesecake would you make? Comment below to let us know!

[cygne]

What I love about Erin is the fact that she makes the most complex of things extremely easy to understand. A true teacher indeed.

[marialuisagarabelli]

I’m a Home Economics Tracher but boy.. you’re so professional! Techniques, equipment, and when things go wrong. I’m impressed! I like your style, your kitchen and your charisma. Such a pleasure to watch you!

[Popolar_]

Erin makes me feel safe and like I won't screw up. And I like Sohla too because she makes me feel like it's completely OK to screw up.

[atomwenzel]

It's here, it's here, it's here, it's I don't know what I love more, Erin's bubbly charming personality or her amazing recipes and amazing helpful explanation of every detail and technique. As a food nerd, I love understanding every granular detail. She's so lovely. I can't believe these are free. This is full on pastry school

[talicesanford]

I was petrified to make a cheesecake. And I think I watched this video 3 or 4 times before I've got up the courage to go in and just do it. All your tips made it come out sheer perfection.. No cracks, water bath, mixing the dry ingredients together--- All of those tips made my very 1st cheesecake extremely successful. I can't wait to share it with my family. Thank you Erin please keep them coming!! You are my "Shero"!

[amngenie]

Such a happy baking show hostess! And I love the head scarf :) Thanks for your positivity and for making the world a yummier place, Erin 😊

[lorassorkin]

Erin, thank you for the realness of finger scraping the paddle!! Absolutely the best way to get 'er clean.

[kamc]

Here's a small tip for water bath errors: If you had a hole in the foil and water got into the crumb base (happened to me before), honestly at that point it's probably pretty soaked, so whatever you do to it won't make it any worse off. Something I've done (and have had success with), is cool it slightly, enough so you can release it from the pan, wack the heat up a bit. Now here's the dicey part. FLIP the cake over, and put it BACK into the pan, UPSIDEDOWN. so, custard part is on the bottom, and the crust is exposed. Will it sort of smush the cake a bit? Yes. Will it work though? Yes. Put it in just long enough that the base dries out. I cool it on a rack, still in the pan, upside down (so the exposed crust that's now on the top, is touching the rack).
Don't have to do it, but it's worked for me (once you get to the point of 'there's literally nothing short of me hitting this that will make it worse')

[PosedionsGirl]

Been making cheesecakes for 45 years learned a lot here. You need your own TV show

[GregCurtin]

Erin, Reynold's Wrap make oven safe crock-pot liners that I use (and re-use) around my 9" springform pan. As they are deep it makes a much easier way to liff out of the bain-Marie. They come in a package of 4 / box and I've been using the original one for 3+ years. No more foil, no more leaks. Thank you to the entire team for another great video.

[tmackie]

Using the food processor is a revelation! The Amazing Erin continues to be my favourite baking teacher 🥰

[sofiamensahmensah]

I love everything about Erin! She is so thorough.

[sjokoladekaker]

I really appreciate this series a lot. Erin takes so much time to explain every process, tips and tricks thoroughly in almost an hour long video for each topic. Thank you so much xx

[fadnama]

The 2 people with thumbs down need a hug.

[nyaradhiambo]

I love Erin videos because she explains the thinking behind the food and process and material... Like she actually explained what a cheesecake is.

[annecassidy]

As always, Erin, you are a fabulous educator - sharing so much knowledge and information from long experience to help us home bakers and cooks to up our game. Thank you SO much for your energy and well-thought-out presentations! Excellent!

[natem]

God I love when pastry cooks talk about molecular bonds; she is awesome!

[danoux]

I just don't know why you don't have your own channel! You are an angel of sweet treats. BRAVO Erin! Love from Québec Canada...

[christinekaye]

I made a NY style cheesecake last week and it turned out perfectly. I've been making cheesecakes for 40 years, but I still enjoyed this video. I have a recipe for an apricot cheesecake that is wonderful. You use dried apricots, softened in hot water, then drained and pureed. The puree is then mixed into the batter. For the best flavor, you need to get the driest ones you can find--the soft Mediterranean kind are not as flavorful.

When you talked about adding texture, it reminded me of a mistake that turned out well. I was making a chocolate cheesecake for a friend and a little of the melted chocolate seized. I didn't have any more to melt, so I went ahead and used the slightly seized chocolate and hoped for the best. Later, my friend called with her sister on the line, too. They said the chocolate cheesecake was sublime, especially with the little "crunchy bits" in it. I breathed a sigh of relief and kept my mouth shut about my mistake.