Sour Cream Cheesecake

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Cheesecake

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (176)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(176)

Cook Time:
2 hr 0 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
8 to 10 servings

Times:

Prep: 25 min
Inactive Prep: 6 min
Cook: 2 hr 0 min
Total:: 2 hr 31 min

Recipe Tools:

Select a Card Size

Add To My Recipe Box

Success

This recipe was added to your Folder_Name folder.

Do not show this message again

Add To My Recipe Box

Please sign in to add this recipe to your Recipe Box.

Ingredients

Crust:

33 graham cracker squares, crumbled
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus additional, for brushing the pan
1 tablespoon sugar

Filling:

20 ounces cream cheese
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 yolks
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Brush some of the melted butter around a 9 by 3-inch cake pan. Adhere parchment to the bottom and the sides.

In a small bowl, combine crumbled graham crackers, the remaining melted butter, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the parchment-lined pan. Place remaining crumbs on a sheet pan and bake both the crust and the remaining mixture for 10 minutes. Cool. Reserve additional crumb mixture for sides.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat sour cream for 10 seconds. Add the cream cheese and sugar and mix on low for 30 seconds and then turn up to medium. Scrape the bowl.

In a separate container, combine vanilla, eggs, yolks, and heavy cream. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the liquid mixture in. When half of it is incorporated, stop and scrape. Continue adding the mixture until the rest of the ingredients are incorporated. Once completely combined, pour into the cooled crust.

Lower oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Place cheesecake into a preheated water bath, in the oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and open the door for one minute. Close the door for one more hour. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place in the refrigerator for 6 hours to completely cool before serving.

When ready to serve, place the entire cake pan into a hot water bath for about 15 seconds. Unmold onto a cake round or serving dish. Take the remaining graham cracker mixture and press into the sides of the cake.

To slice, place your knife into a hot water bath and wipe dry each time you make a pass through the cake.

Next Recipe

More recipes? Try these recommendations:

Similar Recipe

Santa Fe Cheesecake with Cilantro Pesto

Similar Recipes

Recipes Like This

All About…

Recipe Collections

Showing 1-4 of 4

View all 4 Cheesecake Collections

Comments & Reviews

recipe Sour Cream Cheesecake
Bart Indianapolis, IN 07-25-2010
Flag

Not bad at all
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

This is the first cheese cake that I've attempted. It took a long time. As other reviewers have stated the one hour baking... time is not sufficient. I left mine in for two hours, then let it sit for an hour. Its excellent but I've spent all day (8hrs) on this cake.Read more
recipe Sour Cream Cheesecake
Caitlin San Francisco, CA 07-09-2010
Flag

Sorry Alton...
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

Really not very impressed by this cake, which makes me sad. Alton Brown is awesome and I figured his super food science... know-how would turn out a great cheesecake. But like many other reviewers, I really had trouble with the cooking time. The whole process was so uncertain and took so long, I probably wouldn't bother to try it again. I cooked the cake for an hour, let it sit in the oven for an hour, turned the oven back on to 250 for *another* hour, and then let it sit again for another hour. The cake was still wobbly and only after chilling it in the freezer for a while did it set up much. Even then, it has a fairly custardy consistency that I don't really associate with cheesecake. (I should probably note that I used homemade neufchatel cheese, which maybe affected the moisture content or something.) On a positive note, the cake did not crack at all (that water bath idea works - just seal the spring form pan with foil) and the cake tastes quite decent. I just wish the consistency was better and that the baking hadn't taken ALL afternoon.Read more
recipe Sour Cream Cheesecake
jen layton, UT 07-03-2010
Flag

RE: HELP! What pan do I use?
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

"Many users mention using a springform, but Alton says in his video that he does not like or use them." I go ahead and use... the springform anyway. Everyone has a different opinion on kitchen hardware, and I would rather go ahead and use the springform than run the risk of ruining the cheesecake. It still works wonderfully. Personally, I like to take melted dark chocolate and stir it into about half of the cheesecake mixture, then swirl to make a marbled version. My husband raves every time!Read more
recipe Sour Cream Cheesecake
Michelle Darien, CT 06-29-2010
Flag

HELP! What pan do I use?
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Many users mention using a springform, but Alton says in his video that he does not like or use them. He uses a 9 in round... cake pan. But how do I get the finished cheesecake out of it without making a mess?? I know he says to put it in hot water for a bit before taking it out...but still.........you can't just flip it, right? Unless you flip it twice to get crumbs on bottom again? Read more
recipe Sour Cream Cheesecake
Troy Williamsburg, VA 06-27-2010
Flag

Impossible to overbake
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Like other reviewers, ours seemed a little too unset at the end of the whole process. So at the end of the second hour, we... turned the oven back on. I forgot to set a timer and we were at the store about 30 mins later, when it hit us that the oven was still on. So about an hour later, we finally turned the oven back off. The cheesecake was really good, but a little too sweet. I made a raspberry syrup out of fresh raspberries and it added a little bit of zing. We didn't do the graham cracker crumbs up the sides. That seems weird to me.Read more
recipe Sour Cream Cheesecake
Anon San Diego, CA 05-30-2010
Flag

Light, fluffy, not too sweet
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

It's a great base, but a little light for me. I would probably omit the heavy cream, or cut down the sour cream next time.... Other than that though it turns out beautifully. The top is a pristine white finish, and if you let the batter sit for a bit before baking in the fridge for a couple hours before pouring into the pan, you can probably avoid the small bubbles that rise to the surface during baking. One more thing I would change is the amount of vanilla. It was a bit overpowering, and I'd probably reduce it to 2 tsp as opposed to 1tbsp. The method is excellent, although it's difficult to keep the crust crunchy when the springform pan you use will most likely allow water to seep through in the 2 hour cooking process. I would recommend wrapping the bottom in foil before you place it in the water bath so that it is waterproof. Last thing is I'd probably run a heated icing spatula around the edge to smooth it out a bit and allow for the graham cracker crumbs to adhere better to the sides.Read more