TWD - Tall and Creamy Cheesecake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Tall and Creamy Cheesecake, was chosen by Anne at Anne Strawberry. I was already a huge fan of Anne's blog so I was very excited to see what she would chose when it was her turn. Normally, cheesecake is not my favorite dessert. I usually find it too heavy and high cholesterol is an issue for both M and I. If I'm going to rocket my LDL up a notch, I prefer to do it with decadent cookies like these or these. But Anne chose this one and, on top of that, I missed so many weeks of TWD while the kitchen was being renovated that I wanted to do this one.

I opted to make it plain (the "basic" option Dorie offers). The recipe gives the baker the flexibility to use sour cream, heavy cream or a combination. Many of the other bakers opted for sour cream or a combination as they wanted the tanginess. I figured the cream cheese would give me a nice tang and opted for all heavy cream. The recipe was the easiest I've ever made. The crust (graham cracker) was a cinch, and the filling (which Dorie instructs should be beaten a long time) was a snap. My cheesecake lightly browned on top but did not crack. I cooled completely before putting it in the refrigerator overnight.

The verdict? We LOVED this cheesecake! It was creamy and rich, but without the clumps of fat sticking to the roof of your mouth like denser cheesecake recipes (sorry to be gross!) It was a huge hit at work, with many people saying it was better than Cheesecake Factory, and others saying comparing this cheesecake to CF was an insult to my cheesecake! I plan to make this one again, like, soon. I'm thinking about making it espresso flavored with a chocolate cookie crust.

Thanks to Anne for choosing this recipe and opening my eyes to how great cheesecake can be. If you'd like the recipe, I'd encourage you to pick up the book we're all baking from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, or you can get the recipe on Anne's website here. Check out what the other TWD bakers did here. Even though TWD was closed to new bakers on 10/31/08, Laurie has generously opened it up to new bakers until 1/1/09 in honor of TWD's one year anniversary. If you'd like to join us, here's how you do it.