Say No to Crack

I've always wanted to make a cheesecake and I just had the perfect opportunity to try: Kathleen's wedding shower. Ironically, I don't like cheesecake. I like cheese, and sometimes I like cake. But the idea of eating a whole cake made of cheese actually makes me nauseous (especially after making it and mixing the seven eggs with the fives bricks of cheese etc...). Nonetheless, I love the way a cheesecake looks. It's beautiful. The fact that it is "somewhat" edible is quite a bonus. So it makes for the perfect decorative dessert. I wanted to try my hand at it.


I had always heard that a well-made cheesecake does not crack on the top. I did some research to figure out how to avoid the "crack". Apparently the cake is left in the cooling oven for several hours after baking. The abrupt temperature change can cause the cracking, so if the cake is allowed a period of adjustment, it stays together, no cracking. (Allowing time for adjustment is always a good thing, right?:)
So I set to work, mashing graham crackers, beating up cheese brick after egg after brick after egg...one at a time so no "ribbons of cream cheese" are left out. It was a fun cake to put together. And I managed to bake it without a single crack! Thankfully it turned out well and it was very pretty on the table too. I think this picture shows success...