THE ULTIMATE MAPLE CHEESECAKE

The Ultimate Maple Cheesecake is especially velvety thus flavorful it will surpass any pie on your Thanksgiving treat table!

Cheesecake darlings, you know there isn’t anything better than an extraordinary cheesecake. What’s more, I realize that anything called a definitive cheesecake must be quite unique. Dread not, I wouldn’t bring you anything less. This Maple cheesecake is the new norm by which I judge all cheesecakes going ahead 🙂

There’s nothing similar to that first chomp of an extraordinary cheesecake. You can see the value in its excellence, and take in that maple-y fragrance, yet you can’t completely see the value in this sweet until you sink your fork down into it.

A large portion of us stir up cheesecakes in a stand blender, or with hand held electric mixers. That works effectively, buuuuuut, it’s occasionally difficult to get out every one of the knots, particularly if your fixings aren’t at room temperature.

I’ve tracked down an alternate technique that truly works for me. It’s faster, neater, and results in a super smooth velvety cheesecake: I blend the player, beginning to end, in my food processor.

Ingredients

for the crust

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 4 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

for the filling

• 32 ounces (four 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup dark maple syrup I used this dark and robust syrup
• for the topping
• maple caramel sauce Recipe here

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F Wrap the bottom and sides of a 9 inch spring form cheesecake pan with a double layer of foil. Do this carefully because it will provide the barrier between your cake and the water bath for baking.

for the crust

1. Put the crumbs, nuts, sugar, and melted butter into a food processor and pulse/process until everything is evenly combined and there are no lumps of nuts left.Mixing together graham cracker walnut crust
2. Press the crust evenly into your pan, using the flat bottom of a measuring cup to help firmly press it into the bottom and an inch or so up the sides. Bake for 8 minutes.Graham cracker crust pressed into cheesecake pan

for the filling

1. Process the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour in a large food processor until perfectly creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
2. While the machine is running drop in the eggs, one at a time, allowing each to get incorporated before adding the next. Add the maple syrup and process everything until well combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary for a completely creamy consistency.cheesecake filling in a food processor.
3. I like to pour the filling through a strainer at this point to remove air bubbles. You can strain it right into the crust (you’ll need a helper for this) or you can strain it into a bowl and then pour into your crust. Rap the pan sharply on the counter to release any remaining air bubbles.
4. Put the pan into a larger pan and fill with a couple of inches of boiling water to form a water bath. This will help the cake cook evenly. Carefully move the pan to the oven and bake for 70-75 minutes. The cake should look done around the edges and will be jiggly in the center.
5. Turn the oven off and leave the cake inside for another hour, with the oven door ajar. The cake will finish cooking during this time.
6. Remove cake from oven and water bath. Set on a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. When the cake is completely cooled, cover with a clean dish cloth and refrigerate until chilled or overnight. I leave mine overnight.A maple cheesecake on a glass platter
8. When ready to serve, slice the cake. I like to dip my knife into very hot or boiling water and wipe dry between each cut for the sharpest slices.maple cheesecake with plates and maple caramel sauce
9. Serve the cake with a drizzle of maple caramel sauce, or simply a dollop of whipped cream topped with a dusting of fresh grated nutmeg. Yum.salted Maple Caramel Sauce in a jar with a spoon

notes and variations

• To get the best maple flavor in your cheesecake look for a dark flavorful syrup. The darker the syrup the stronger the flavor, so let your eyes be your guide. Mine comes from Roxbury Mountain Maple, an organic farm in Upstate New York that makes the whole range of syrups so I can customize them to my recipes.