Cheesecakes are one of the most popular desserts of choice nowadays. They are relatively easy to make, though you still need to follow some precautions to come out with the perfect ones.

Q: Hi, Jun Jun and Adoree.  My problem is about my cheesecake browning while baking. I want to end up with a very plain ‘yellowish’ cheesecake and with no browning if possible.  My oven temperature is 300 F and I bake it bain marie style but my cheesecake still browns on top. What shall I do?  (Venice Romero of Quezon City)

Adoree: Hi, Venice. Try lowering your oven temperature some more, maybe 250 or 275 F.  You still need to bake it by bain marie. It will take you longer to bake it but this will definitely prevent it from browning. Good luck!

Jun Jun: Place an oven thermometer inside your oven before preheating it. This will make sure that your oven temperature is correct and will prevent the uneven browning.  Also, make sure that the selector is in the broiler mode, wherein most of the heat is generated on the top part of the oven.

Q: I hate it when my cheesecake ends up with a big crack on top.  What do I have to do to prevent this from happening? (Marijo Alcantara of Pasig City)

Adoree:  Thank you for your question, Marijo. You have to bake cheesecakes bain marie style and bake them at a relatively low temperature, about 275 to 300 F. This is done to prevent cracks from happening.

It will also help if you do not incorporate air into the mixture. When you mix all the ingredients, use the lowest speed of your mixer and just mix for a while. If you incorporate air into the mixture, these air bubbles will expand while you bake the cheesecake. As soon as you take the cheesecake from the oven, it will collapse. This also results to a crack on top.

Jun Jun: That’s right, Marijo. Keep all the mixing to a minimum so that there is less air present in the mixture. The air and the sudden changes in temperature will cause the cheesecake to collapse.

Q: Hi to both of you.  Thank you for taking the time to answer our queries. My question is about baked cheesecake. Why is it that my cheesecake has a rough texture and it seems that there is some liquid in the middle? (Janis Chan of San Juan)

Adoree: Janis, I think you overbaked your cheesecake.It would be better to bake your cheesecake in a bain marie, to ensure even and gentle baking so you do not end up with a curdled filling. It would be good to also bake the cheesecake until the sides are set but the center is still a bit wobbly.

The cheesecake will finish off baking as you cool it down.

Jun Jun: Your cheesecake is either uncooked  or is overbaked with the descriptions you mentioned. Your oven temperature could also be a bit too high. This is why the sides are already baked but the middle part is not.  Using the bain marie method in baking will ensure the proper gentle heating of the cheesecake.

Q: Why are cheesecakes different from each other? Why are some creamy and others dense and drier? What contributes to their differences? Can I adjust the recipe if I want the texture to be different? (Gigi Mendoza of Makati)

Adoree: These types of cheesecakes have different proportions in cream cheese and cream. The creamy type has, more or less, two portions of cream cheese with one portion cream. The drier, cheesy one has, more or less, three portions of cream cheese with very little cream. You may adjust the recipe if you want to alter the outcome, just don’t add more ingredients because the egg might not be enough to bind the whole mixture.

Jun Jun: Aside from the cream factor, it could also be the sugar content, presence of sour cream, or other binders present in the recipe. These can greatly contribute to the texture of the cheesecake. Test the recipes you want and adjust certain ingredients for the actions they do in the recipe.

Q: Cheesecakes are not frosted so they have to be perfect-looking. When I remove the cheesecake from the pan, I loosen the sides with a spatula. But the sides tend to cling to the spatula. Is there a way I can unmold the cheesecake without encountering this problem? (Alice Castaneda of Bulacan)

Adoree: You may grease the side of the pan with butter to help you unmold the cheesecake later on, but you still have to loosen the side with a spatula.  It would also help if you use a thin, flexible metal spatula.

Jun Jun: Grease the sides of the pan with shortening. I don’t suggest butter because it might discolor it or it might mix with the filling of the cheesecake.  Using a warm steel spatula is better for releasing the cheesecake.

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