This cheesecake is very good and very smooth. My first couple of attempts gave the usual top cracks. I've been able to make a couple now without problems here is my approach. When beating the cream cheese I stop frequently and place the stainless steel bowl into a sink of hot water to help soften the cream cheese so that I don't have to beat it too much. I spray the sides of the pan with cooking spray above the crust line. This keeps the cheese cake from sticking to the sides while cooling and shrinking. I tried to seal up my spring form pans but I was never able to keep the water from leaking in so I've never attempted a standard water bath. I do fill a small roasing pan with hot water and place it on the bottom rack of the oven...the idea here is to try and keep the moisture high in the oven. The recipe calls for 325F. I have a convection oven and I've had really good success at 290F for 1 hour. To help control the cooling rate I switch the oven off at 1 hour and leave the door closed. After an hour of sitting there, I will open the oven door a crack to help cool some more.

Reviewed On: Mar. 11, 2007