I love a good cheesecake.
I love one that I can bake it from scratch & enjoy it all to myself. Not that I want to paint myself with such gluttony, I know it’s the least flattering image, but oh, such wondrous, luxurious, smooth cheesecake.
Gotta admit it is my kind of comfort food. 😉
Couple years back I was looking around for a good baked cheesecake recipe. You know, those baked cheesecakes that are still light in texture, no heavy aftertaste. So I scoured all over Google & my go-to bake blogs in the hopes of finding one, perfect cheesecake recipe.
And I did.
I found the best cheesecake recipe on Felicia Khoo’s bake blog. (Check it out here!) Felicia is one gifted self-taught baker, better known for her amazing creations of quirky decorated cakes, also a fellow Singaporean (woohoo!), and she recently graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Paris with a diploma in Pastry and Baking.
Whoa, what a dream come true for me if I could one day, study pastry and baking in the best culinary school ever. Felicia is probably a year younger than me & she has already achieved all of that. What an inspiration!
I digress, now back to the point. So I tried the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake like what Felicia posted, and oh my goodness.
It has gotta be the best tasting cheesecake I’ve ever made.
My folks couldn’t agree more, they loved it as well. (Mind you, these folks of mine have a very picky palate! Not easy to get a compliment from them)
This cheesecake is such a hit, see how many times I’ve baked them!
1. A random baking therapy session
Baked them in little souffle cups. I brought these babies to work the next day & it was polished off by everyone.
I love how perfect they look.
2. Christmas 2011
Mom requested my vanilla bean cheesecake for Christmas last year to give out to her friends.
3. Many, many birthdays. Family & friends included.
That’s the 4th time.
and the 5th.
Yeah, the candle to cake ratio seems a little off, but that’s how old you are Dad! *sniggers*
6. A couple times for Eden.
These were drizzled with raspberry sauce.
Did the oreo twist to the plain old vanilla bean cheesecake. It is SUPER GOOD.
New York Cheesecake and Oreo Cheesecake
And finally I had my first cheesecake order from a lovely colleague at work.
🙂
keep calm & bake 
Hello! Can I check where to buy the vanilla bean paste? Most of the time I only see vanilla essence being sold in supermarkets. Thanks!
Posted by Jacqualine | October 25, 2012, 8:40 pmhi jacq!
I usually get a vanilla bean paste from phoon huat, but they only sell it by a pint in a bottle. it’s gonna be quite alot so you probably gonna have to bake alot to use it after that! alternatively, you could get the vanilla bean pods (2 in a pack), also at phoon huat. 🙂 hope this helps!
Cheers,
Kel
Posted by keepcalmandbake | October 25, 2012, 9:02 pmThanks Kel!
If I were to buy the paste, can I replace vanilla essence with this? Are they the same thing? I use vanilla essence in a huge amount!
Posted by Jacqualine | October 25, 2012, 9:14 pmYou can definitely replace with vanilla essence or vanilla extract (I’ll prefer the extract tho, better flavour!), just that you probably have to use significantly more than what the recipe states. 🙂
Posted by keepcalmandbake | October 27, 2012, 1:05 pmHi there,
Any pics for illustration for the part about the deep roasting tray? Also, what’s the difference if I don’t use the water bath. Will my cake crack?
Posted by Cindy | December 10, 2012, 5:10 pmhey there Cindy!
Apologies for the late reply my dear, unfortunately I do not have photos for illustrating the part about the water bath. But no worries, Nigella Lawson has an excellent video on how she does it, & I do it her way too. I’ve posted a link up on my fb page, check it out if you can!
http://www.facebook.com/keepcalmandbakebykelynn
I believe the water bath makes your cheesecake more moist & dense in texture, if not your cheesecake may turn out dry & grainy. Yes it may crack if your oven temp is too high/bake too long, etc.
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Kel
Posted by keepcalmandbake | December 18, 2012, 5:42 pmYour cheesecakes look divine. I’m scouting around for a cheesecake recipe that’s not too sweet. I believe my search is over. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by anna | January 17, 2014, 4:21 pmHello Anna!
Great to know & hope you’ve gotten a chance to try the recipe out! 🙂
Posted by keepcalmandbake | April 28, 2014, 11:13 pm