high-bar baking

All night I kept joking that we should have taken bets at the door; that’s how unconfident I was that the cheesecake set. 

My college friends were in town, so Pizza Night had to have a show-stopper of a dessert. Cheesecake was on my list and seemed appropriate. Special and stressful — that’s how you know that I care. 

I hadn’t gone to the grocery store the day before, which meant I had to drag myself out of bed in the hazy almost-rain to get the ingredients for cheesecake, so we could bake it that morning, so it would have time to chill in the fridge before company arrived in the evening. On my return I had to spend many minutes microwaving the cream cheese to a beatable consistency, proving once again that apparently I’m very willing to do a lot of work right now just so I could be lazy yesterday. Really setting myself up for success there. 

We get the cheesecake in the oven, then I have to run to the airport to grab my other friend. “How’s it looking?” I asked as I walked in the door, hoping to hear good news. “Well… it’s getting very brown on top, but it’s not set?” “Let me see!”

And here we get into the philosophical problem with all cheesecakes and their custard-cousin ilk: the definition of “wobble.” Every recipe tells you some version of “the edges are set but the center still has a little bit of a wobble.” Or “it wobbles but doesn’t jiggle.” Like, WHAT is the difference between a wobble and a jiggle? How do I know when I’ve gotten there? The cake had risen at least an inch above the pan, and the edges of the raised top were certainly browning, but there was plenty of wobbling! Was the wobble acceptably Jell-O-like? Was it actually a concerning jiggle, or —  heaven forbid — a ripple? In situations like this, we do the best we can. You leave it in a little longer than the recipe said, and then you just have to call time of death. Pull it out, let it cool, and pray to the baking gods. 

The top sunk as the day went on, and eventually we moved it to the fridge to completely set. But you just have no idea — was it soup? Slop? A smoothie? Would we serve a “deconstructed” cheesecake tonight, or an elegant piece of patisserie? 

It came out lovely. Fear not. 

And do make all your cheesecakes with Biscoff cookie crusts.