Cheesecake! Who doesn’t like it? I love it but tend to run hot and cold on exactly when I love it. I have those Golden Girls moments when I could sit down and eat an entire cheesecake all by myself and then there are those times when the thought of eating that extra rich concoction makes my stomach roll over and beg the question “What did I ever do to you?”. At any rate, I doubt there is anyone out there who at some point in time doesn’t crave a great big slab of cheesecake. This one is not too cloying or rich but still is silky and decadent and there is no doubt you are eating cheesecake. I have said it before and I repeat that I am not entirely enamored with the use of so much sour cream in my cheesecake. I really do prefer my cheesecakes to be made entirely with cream cheese as I prefer the dense texture it provides. This one, in spite of 2 cups of sour cream is silky and smooth and delivers full cheesecake satisfaction. I had my doubts about the coconut. I am not a huge fan of coconut but it certainly does work here. The hint of it in the crust is most pleasant and there is only a slight hint in the batter so the effect is more a whisper of coconut rather than having the whole coconut fall out of the tree on your head. Lets dive in and bake this beauty.
It is a fairly standard cheesecake formula and easy to prepare. The crust is simple, vanilla wafer crumbs and coconut are blended and then bound with melted butter and pressed into the bottom and up the sides of a springform pan.
The batter is also simple. The cream cheese and sugar are blended until smooth, then the egg yolks are gradually added and blended until incorporated. Vanilla and coconut extract are blended in and then sour cream and cream of coconut are blended in until incorporated. The batter is poured over the crust and the pan is placed in a bain marie and the cake baked for 45 minutes and then the oven is turned off and the cake is allowed to remain unattended in the oven. This helps to set the cake and prevents cracks from forming on the top.
The baked cheesecake
After an hour the cake is removed from the oven and allowed to cool on a rack to room temperature and then the cake is chilled overnight. The cake is then unmolded onto a serving plate and decorated as you wish.
Unmolded onto a serving plate
The cake is then decorated with toasted coconut.
Decorating with toasted coconut
- A little more coconut
Perfect
Enjoy!
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Raymond, i love how smooth your cheesecake is..before the the flakes are put in. Maybe i can try this making cheesecake since you said you are not particularly found of coconut (like me..lol!) and yet this tasted great. Let’s see…should i or should i not bake this..since im quite free now..lol!
Raymond.. it looks so good… and taste divine! Like you said the hint of coconut just comes through as a hint and not a huge punch. I love coconut and anything with coconut, so I would have been happy with a huge punch as well.
I’m so loving your serving platter!
Beautiful! I have coconut texture phobia family, as well. I love coconut, can’t get enough coconut. Trying to figure out how to adapt this so everyone will enjoy it otherwise I may end up eating the entire thing!
Great pictures of your beautiful cake, as usual. I agree with the cake being silky and I felt mine didn’t set up enough. Perhaps that was the lack of ‘denseness’ that I missed. Other than that, I also agree with you that it was delicious in flavor.
I like the idea of coconut flavor in cheesecake and I think the toasted dessicated coconut on top will add a bit of crunchiness there. We simply love cheesecake, my husband as well as my twin boys, never get tired of trying my newly learned cheesecake recipes, lol! Just last week, I baked a blueberry cheesecake that actually turns lavender, they loved it! I think with this one, they’ll find the coconut flavor pretty unique for a cheesecake, lol!
Raymond, your desserts always look so beautiful. I always look at your blog right after I read Marie’s entry, to see the “ideal” version!