Baked Cheesecake is one of my favorite sweets to make since it is not complicated to bake, here is the easy baked cheesecake post, but, I got this cracked cheesecake never had recently.
I have never thought about the wrong cracks, then, I learned it is a common but huge nightmare for home bakers.
This is a good opportunity to find out how I can prevent cracks in my favorite cheesecake including things I know and don’t.
Things To Do Before Baking Cheesecake
- Make sure all ingredients—the cream cheese, eggs, cream/ milk, and even the sugar—are at room temperature.
- Butter a cake pan or line parchment paper
Keep Your Ingredients Room Temperature
The different temperatures between ingredients create the air which causes cracks while baking.
Cold cream cheese is hard to make smooth and takes time, which means it causes lumpy and also leads to over-mixing. (also creates air in the batter.)
Cold egg yolks are hard to combine with cream cheese so make sure to use room temperature eggs.
*However, cold egg whites are better to make fine-shiny meringue.
I don’t recommend putting the cold ingredients in the microwave even if you forget to take out them from a fridge since they will be too warm.
The ideal temperature of the batter is about 120 F.
Adjust the temperature while using a large bowl filled with *warm water during the folding process.
*Make sure the batter temperature does not exceed 122F since the yolk will curdle.
Grease Cake Pan
When the batter sticks to the side in the pan, rises up during baking, and goes down during cooling, it can cause a crack in your cheesecake.
To avoid the sad happening, grease the pan-or even if you line it with parchment paper.
When baking the Japanese jiggly cotton cheesecake, line the round cake pan with parchment paper and make the double height with the cake pan since it’ll be fluff so high.
(The way too high paper causes whitish cheesecake.)
It is also a great idea to run a butter knife around the edge of the cake pan or between the parchment paper and the cake after taking it out of the oven, preventing it from sticking to the sides.
Things To Do During Mixing The Batter
- Mix the ingredients by hand
- Avoid over-mixing
When mixing the batter vigorously, it will create air too much which causes cracks.
Preferably, use a rubber spatula rather than a hand mixer or a whisk to avoid creating the air.
When using the hand mixer, set the speed low, and gently mix the batter.
Be sure not to over-mix the batter, yet, combine the ingredients well.
Things To Do During Baking Cheesecake In The Oven
- Set the right temperature for your oven
- Avoid a high temperature and over-baking
- Keep the oven door closed
- Cool the cake in the oven
Avoid Over-Baking
Avoid opening the oven door while baking inside since the temperature inside the oven rapidly drop down and cause cracks easily.
However, the temperature in the oven getting too high is also causing cracked cheesecake.
When the temperature inside the oven is too high, the top is baked before the batter will be done baking. Thus, the top will be over-baked and eventually cracked.
(It likely occurs when using a small oven.)
What should you do?
Crack the oven door every 10 minutes for only seconds to vent the hot air after the initial 20 minutes. (Do not fully open the door!)
The higher temperature on the bottom of the oven also causes cracks.
Keep the oven sheet in the middle rack or the upper rack, or use a double-oven sheet if you don’t have much space in the oven.
Cool The Cheesecake Gradually
As I said, cheesecakes can crack by a drastic temperature change.
Let the cheesecake cools down in the oven.
Simply, turn off the oven and crack the door for about 30 minutes – 1 hour.
It can also prevent it from being undercooked.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven, then finish it cooling on a cool rack.
Never put a hot cheesecake right into a fridge.
Do You Want To Use Water Bath For Baked Cheese Cake?
Baking the baked cheesecake with the water bath method definitely helps prevent cracks while keeping misting the batter and baking it slowly.
Speaking of the taste and texture, it’ll be moist, silkier, and lighter taste.
If you like the rich, creamy, cheesy flavor in the baked cheesecake with a brown top, baking the cake without the water bath is likely for you.
The brown top!
Interestingly, the Japanese like brown-top cheesecake.