Not having ever owned a springform pan in my life, I had never attempted to make a cheesecake. And I am not sure why I hadn’t before.
A good cheesecake isn’t hard to make, but is time intensive. And I wanted Alistaire to get to enjoy the taste of cheesecake – without eggs. And look who looooved it:
After making and enjoying this cheesecake, I see no point in using eggs in one. It isn’t needed! If anything, you end up with a much cleaner tasting cheesecake, without an eggy overhang.
Golden on the outside, creamy inside. Firm, easy to slice and amazing flavor!
Egg-Free Baked Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Crust –
- 1¾ cups fine graham cracker crumbs (measure after crumbing)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Filling –
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 2½ cups full fat sour cream*
Directions:
Let cream cheese and sour cream come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Lightly butter a 9″ Springform Pan
Mix cracker crumbs, butter, and cinnamon together, until coated. Press crumbs into the bottom of springform pan. Pop into freezer while you prepare the filling.
Preheat oven to 375°, with a rack in the top third and one in the bottom third. Fill an 8×8″ glass baking dish halfway with boiling water, place on bottom rack.
Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add in cornstarch, vanilla and salt, beat smooth. Add in sour cream, beat until smooth.
Take out the springform pan, scrap filling in and smooth out. Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven. Bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven, open oven door and let cool inside for an hour. Let cool completely on counter, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving (it is even better tasting if allowed to chill overnight).
Once chilled, for longer-term enjoyment, slice thinly and freeze for up to 3 weeks. Thaw slices in refrigerator before serving.
*Notes:
Read your sour cream carefully. Avoid any sour cream that has thickeners or stabilizers. You want the full fat variety with a very simple ingredient list, such as Tillamook, Nancy’s or Daisy. Low-fat or worse, non-fat, you do NOT want to use! Gums/stabilizers in the cream cheese are OK, but do NOT use non-fat cream cheese.