BA's Best Cheesecake

We won’t mince words. This is the best cheesecake recipe we’ve ever met. It’s wonderfully rich, flavored with a whole vanilla bean (plus a bit of lemon zest for brightness), and sports a buttery crust you can customize to your liking.

According to former BA senior food editor Dawn Perry, using full-fat cream cheese, preferably Philadelphia brand, is critical for this New York–style cheesecake. While ricotta and mascarpone can be used to delicious effect for certain types of cheesecake, this isn’t the place for them. To ensure the filling is evenly mixed, the cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs must be room temperature before you start, so pull them out of the refrigerator at least 2 hours before combining. A food processor will deliver the smoothest batter since it incorporates less air than alternatives; if you don’t have one, combine the cheesecake ingredients with a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer) on medium-low speed.

Classic cheesecake recipes often get a graham cracker crust (which we fully support), but here we’ll grant you some leeway. Venture into your grocer’s cookie aisle to discover the many possibilities: Choose vanilla or chocolate wafers, gingersnaps, Oreos, shortbread, animal crackers, fortune cookies, or any cookie or cracker that looks good to you (Again, if you don’t have a food processor, crush the cookies in a zip-top bag using a rolling pin, or look for pre-ground graham cracker crumbs at the grocery store.) For an even crust, press the cookie mixture into the side of the pan before tamping down the base.

Note that the oven temperature is lowered from 350° (for the crust) to 325° for the final bake. Baking the cheesecake at a low temperature means fussing with a hot water bath is unnecessary. You’ll know it’s done when the edges of the creamy cheesecake filling are set and the center has a slight jiggle. But don’t rush the cooling process: If your kitchen is very cold, leave the cheesecake in the turned-off oven with the oven door ajar to avoid thermal shock.

The cake can hold in the refrigerator, loosely covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, for several days. No cracks should form, but if they do, top with hot fudge or caramel sauce, fruit compote, or whipped cream and fresh fruit, and no one will ever know.