Simply Delicious New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2005

Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: New Yorker's Favorites

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (25)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(25)

Cook Time:
--
Level:
--
Yield:
10 to 12 servings

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

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 1/2 cups
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1 lemon, zested
1 orange, zested
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from inside of pod and reserved
1 teaspoon bourbon
Strawberry Sauce, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and mix well. Press onto bottom of springform pan and bake until golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, butter the sides of the pan.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups sugar, zests, and vanilla and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour, then the eggs and yolks 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sour cream, vanilla bean seeds, and bourbon and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Wrap the pan in foil and place in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate cake overnight before serving. Cut into wedges and top with strawberry sauce.

Strawberry Sauce:

2 pints fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons kirsch or brandy

Combine berries, sugar, water and zest and cook until berries are soft and the liquid is thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in the kirsch or brandy and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and let cool. Spoon on top of the cheesecake and serve.

Next Recipe

More recipes? Try these recommendations:

Similar Recipe

Lemon Verbena Cheesecake

Similar Recipes

Recipes Like This

All About…

Recipe Collections

Showing 1-4 of 4

View all 4 Cheesecake Collections

Comments & Reviews

recipe Simply Delicious New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
RYCCI Enterprise, UT 10-09-2009
Flag

picky husband LOVED IT!!!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My husband loves to TASTE his food, and it needs to taste GOOD! He hates cake and ice cream for his birthday, and I found... out that he likes cheesecake. So I tried this one on for size and I couldn't believe how it turned out!!! I hate to cook, and this turned out amazing. Thank you all for the little hints! It helped alot. My husband demands it every year now for his birthday!!! Read more
recipe Simply Delicious New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
Jennifer Carrollton, GA 09-12-2009
Flag

Wonderful but better if you alter it
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I have been making cheesecake for as long as I can remember and this is a wonderful recipe. I will say though that it is a... lot better if you change some things. Half the amount of zest you place in the recipe and double the amount of vanilla bean. (It is high priced but well, well worth it) And omit the sour cream. I personally used a 10 inch spring form pan instead of a 9 inch. This recipe makes a lot! I have also doubled the recipe for the crust to make it thicker and added in crushed almonds. Make sure to cook the cheesecake in the water bath but place it in a roast bag, open at the top to vent. Loosely place foil over the top of the cheese cake after 1 hour of cooking. Up the cooking time 10-15 minutes. To keep it from cracking while it cools, when it is done cooking just turn off the oven, leave the door open and let it rest for 30 minutes before placing it on the cooling rack. Once you do this, run a knife along the top edge only to loosen it. As it comes to room temp this will help it pull away from the sides more freely. Also, make this at least a day ahead. It is much better the 2nd day. The flavors have had plenty of time to come together. I personally serve mine frost chilled. 30-45 minutes in freezer before serving. This gives a nice counter to the sauce. I have found though during the spring, the sauce is much better if using ripe peaches. (Yeah, I'm in the deep south) Rave reviews from everyone when I did it this way, even my middle child, who hates cheese cake, adores this and won't stop begging for more.Read more
recipe Simply Delicious New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
Reba Zionsville, IN 06-22-2009
Flag

My first try at a cheesecake....a success!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I was having family in from out of town and decided to attempt a cheesecake-- something I hadn't ever tried before because... people always told me it was hard to do. Well, the day I made it I was a little stressed for time, so I thought the cream cheese wasn't soft enough, the crust was overcooked, etc etc. HOWEVER....after following the recipe and reading some of the reviews for hints....the cheesecake turned out WONDERFULLY! Light, fluffy and just enough citrus/vanilla flavor (I halved the citrus) and it went fast! In retrospect, I would probably use the oven bag technique that other's listed because the foil was a little nerve wracking and I kept thinking of all the water leaking in (which it didn't). Overall-- a great recipe, and worth the time and effort.Read more
recipe Simply Delicious New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
Jim West Palm Beach, FL 12-02-2008
Flag

I changed it to make it better for my family's Thanksgiving-WONDERFUL
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I have a diabetic ex-wife and son and used nutrasweet instead of sugar and fresh berrys and it came out very well. My zester... broke after the lemon and three strokes into the orange, so I didn't get too much citrus in the cake. Used the large roll of foil and had no problem with the water bath. It was easier than other recipes I've tried and all the better for the adaptation. Thank you for a good recipe!Read more
recipe Simply Delicious New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
Anonymous 08-15-2008
Flag

Amazing Cheesecake
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I've made this recipe twice now and think it is fantastic. For those of you having a hard time keeping the water from seeping... into your spring form pan, try sitting the pan in a Reynolds cooking bag first, then into your roasting pan full of water. The roasting bag (once trimmed down and left open) worked great - no water leaks.I covered the cheesecake with foil about 45 minutes into the cooking process to avoid browning. I also agree that the zests should be halved - otherwise the citrus flavor can be overpowering.Read more
recipe Simply Delicious New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce
An Troutville, VA 07-05-2008
Flag

Too brown!
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

I made this cheesecake after reading all the great reviews. But when I made it, I happened to look in on it about 70 minutes... into the cook time and freaked out because it was brown on top! And I don't mean a little, but a lot of browning. I turned off the heat but the top was very firm and dark by then. I have no idea what went wrong. I baked at 350 degrees in the water bath just like it said...?Read more