The Best Keto Cheesecake Recipe - No Water Bath! (2024)

FAQs

Is a water bath necessary for cheesecake? ›

A perfect cheesecake has a smooth, flat top, and is creamy at the center and slightly firmer near the crust. Usually, cheesecakes are baked in a bath of warm water to insulate the outer edge so that the center has time to fully cook. But it's not always necessary.

The key to a water bath is preventing water from touching your cheesecake. You are going to do this by creating several layers of a tinfoil barrier around the bottom of your springform pan. Our chef wraps the bottom of her pan 3 to 4 times to prevent water from reaching her cheesecake.

Baking your cheesecake in a water bath is the best way to ensure cheesecake success. Don't worry—you don't have to buy any special equipment or a fancy bathtub-size baking appliance! It simply means placing the springform pan with the unbaked cheesecake in it inside a larger pan with hot water in it.

To start your water bath, simply bring water to the boil in a kettle. Place your cake tin within a wider dish in the oven, then fill the wider dish with the boiling water. Remove the cake tin and close the oven. Then fill the cake tin with the cheesecake batter and return it to the wider dish in the oven.

Alternatives. A contemporary alternative to the traditional, liquid-filled bain-marie is the electric "dry-heat" bain-marie, heated by elements below both pots. The dry-heat form of electric bains-marie often consumes less energy, requires little cleaning, and can be heated more quickly than traditional versions.

Steam baking, which adds steam into a hot oven, helps breads of all kinds rise completely as they bake. Steam capability is also great for baking more delicate items like custards. It can offer the same protection as a water bath without actually needing to use a water bath.

If you know you have water in your cheesecake, all is not necessarily lost. If this happens to you, you can try to save it if you catch it before it has finished baking. Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Use oven proof mitts to grab the edges of the spring form pan and lift it out of the pan of water.

You might worry a runny middle means raw cheesecake, but it's totally safe and normal. The center will firm up as it cools on a cooling rack, resulting in the smooth surface you want. Test Kitchen Tip: Cheesecakes made with sour cream should jiggle a little more and will have a larger soft spot in the center.

You shouldn't use a springform pan when you're baking a cheesecake or custard, such as flan, in a water bath. "The batter will inevitably leak, even when the pan is wrapped in aluminum foil, ruining your prized efforts. This could happen with a thin cake batter as well," says Oría.

You can use almost any baking pan for your cheesecake. Just keep in mind that you'll have to consider how different sized pans will affect the cooking time. In other words, if the pan is shallower, the cake will cook faster.

How full should you fill a cheesecake pan? ›

Transfer the pan to a roasting pan or other baking dish big enough to hold it. Bring a few cups of water to a boil and pour the water into the roasting pan, being careful not to splash any water onto the cheesecake. Fill the pan to about an inch, or just below the lowest edge of foil. Bake the cheesecake.

Learn more about essential baking tools. 2. Master the water bath. A bain-marie, or water bath, is the preferred method for baking cheesecakes because it gently cooks the eggs in the filling.

Don't Overbake

An overbaked cheesecake will cause unattractive cracks and a dry, crumbly texture. Because cheesecake is a custard, it won't be completely firm when done. The easiest way to make sure you don't overbake it is to give it a little jiggle. Take a wooden spoon and give the cake pan a gentle tap on the side.

Avoid Overmixing: Unlike other cakes, where beating air into the batter is key, overmixed cheesecake can rise, fall and then crack from that excess air. Keeping ingredients (cheese, eggs, liquids and flavorings) at room temperature can help.

But it's less possible to bake an excellent cheesecake without one. Big, showstopper cheesecakes baked without a water bath are more likely to overbake, which will give them a curdled texture, cracks in the surface, and lopsided tops.