Last bake of Year 2016! - Mascarpone cheesecake

Photo taken from google


This is really the last bake for this year! Need to try finishing all my baking ingredients because it's going to be months before I bake again! Next time round, will be 'baking with rainbow' ;). I needed to finish up the mascarpone cheese, so, I was searching for cheesecake with mascarpone cheese in the recipe. It turned out creamy and light with tad of lemon fragrance, just right to my liking!



Recipe adopted from Cupofjo with some minor adjustments.

Some handy tips for cheesecake success from Cupofjo:

"— Make sure the ingredients—especially the cream cheese—are at room temperature before you start mixing the filling. Cold cream cheese and eggs will result in a lumpy cheesecake batter.
— If you forget to take your eggs out of the refrigerator beforehand, you can warm them in a bowl of hot tap water for about ten minutes. Dry them carefully before using.

— Wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil and cook the cheesecake in a water bath to prevent cracking. Also, turn off the oven and let the cheesecake cool with the door slightly ajar to prevent cracks.

— For clean slices, make sure the cheesecake is thoroughly chilled, and slice using a long, thin knife that’s been run under hot water. Dry knife between cuts."

Ingredients:

Crust
~100g graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp sugar (optional)
4 tbsp salted butter, melted

Filling
900g cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 whole lemon zest
4 large eggs
250g mascarpone cheese (room temperature)
2  1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional, for citrusy fragrance)

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 180dC and butter the baking pan. Wrap the bottom of the pan with double layer aluminium foil and place the prepared pan on baking sheet.

2) In a medium bowl, stir together graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add butter and stir well to moisten all the crumbs. 

3) Pour the crumb mixture into the prepared pan and use either your fist or back of spoon to press gently into an even layer. 

4) Bake the crust for 10 minutes or until it is lightly browned and fragrant and take out and set aside to cool down.

5) In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until light and very smooth.

6) Add in sugar and beat for 3 minutes.

7) Add in vanilla extract and lemon zest.

8) Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat for 1 minute after each egg. Scrape down the bowl.

9) Add in mascarpone cheese and mix thoroughly.

10) Add in lemon juice for the citrusy fragrance.

11) Pour the mixture into the prepared crust.

12) Place the pan into a roasting pan (same height as or higher then the baking pan) and place on the center rack of oven. Fill the roasting pan with enough boiling water, halfway up the sides of baking pan.

13) Bake it for 60 minutes (or 90 minutes max) or until it is lightly golden on top and the filling is set but slightly wobbly in the centre.  

14) Turn off the oven and leave the door open slightly to let the cheesecake cool for one hour in the water bath.

15) Gently and carefully, remove the roasting pan from the oven and lift the baking pan from the water bath.

16) Carefully remove the aluminium foil and set the pan on cooling rack.

17) Run a knife around the cheesecake to release it from the pan.

18) Let the cheesecake cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to overnight before slicing using a long, thin knife that has been run under hot water. Dry knife in between cuts.