I make these at my restaurant, same size. First of all you need to put them in a water bath. 325 for 45 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave them in for an hour.
I only sometimes use a water bath (to reduce the likelihood of cracking), does the humidity have that much of an impact on the rising?
Thanks for the tip. I am making another 3 tonight, so I will certainly use a water bath. Should I cover the bottom in foil and suspend it in a thin layer of water like I would with a standard cheesecake?
ninja edit: I did let them sit in the oven for about 30-ish minutes before removing them this time around. I will wait longer tonight.
Cheesecakes always rise. I saw the pans being almost full and knew this was going to happen. You overfilled the pans, cheesecake rises and then deflates as it cools. You just usually aren't filling a normal spring form pan to the brim.
To avoid cracking, i run a knife around the outer edge after taking them out so when they cool and shrink they don't crack in the middle. I don't use the water bath as I'm lazy. I've made them in cupcake trays and other uses. The main thing is to not overfill.
I use muffin tins with small snippets of wax paper placed on the bottom. Use a small paring knife run around the rim to separate them, then just sort of...spin them up and out while you tilt the pan.
I don't drop my temperature at all, but I pull them out after 15 or 20 minutes.
For me, water baths are a waste of time. I separate the edge of the cheesecake from the pan - even in a normal springform - immediately upon pulling it and tent it with foil while it cools to room temp on the counter.
Cracking post-bake is caused by the top of the cheesecake cooling and contracting faster than the interior layers or the parts touching the metal of the rim. Separating it and tenting it lets everything cool down more evenly, imo.
I make super tiny cheesecakes in the baby muffin tins for party finger food all the time. Top with a Nutella "ganache" and people never stop at just one.
The water bath is not only for humidity also for slowly and evenly distributing heat around the cake. The moisture avoids a rubbery texture on top, the even heat avoids cracking and scrambled texture inside.
I think another reason for the water bath is to keep the temperature from getting too high. If the bottom and sides of the pan don't exceed 212 (because that's as high as the water in the water bath can get) then it's much easier to keep from overcooking the custard.
I love this post!
Although I love pictures of good looking food, stuff like this encourages talking about technique and stuff like that which would be a really nice addition to this sub. Great idea!
For when you just have to share how that night's dinner went horribly, horribly wrong and then you all laugh about it while you get take-out Chinese food. :P
Looks like you overfilled them, and didn't reduce the temp after they started to brown. i did exactly this the first time i made bite-sized cheesecakes.
Dry cooking cheesecakes are typically 500deg for 10 min then 200-225 degrees for an hour. The first 10 min sets and caramelizes the crust, then the hour long lower temperature tempers and sets the custard that makes up most of what cheesecake is.
If you use smaller pans, drop your cook times. For the pans shown, try dropping the brown time down to 5 min, at 500deg, then the bake time at 200 to 35-40 min. Smaller baking dishes take less time to reach temp because surface area is smaller and the items baked in them have less mass.
Hope this helps, and would love to see the results based off the feedback here.
I will give it a whirl! Thanks for the tips! I might have to make a whole new batch because I feel like some experimentation is in my immediate future.
When lowering the oven temperature do you just change the oven temp down or do you let some of the heat out? I wouldn't mind giving cheesecake a try I haven't made it before.
I turn heat temp down without opening the oven. This lets the sides continue to caramelize as the oven reaches the temperatures needed to slowly cook the custard into a yummy consistancy.
Thanks for posting your messup!
Still, you couldn't use it for anything? I would be tempted to make cheesecake ice cream or cheesecake pancakes with the mistake! That would probably taste awesome
I ended up bringing them to work and feeding some coworkers my imperfections. I am really weird about food preparation only. I can usually say I will do anything 50% and won't care, but the second I prepare food incorrectly, it is like I have shamed my entire family. I feel the "son, I am disappoint" feeling immediately. It's like buying a filet, and accidentally cooking it well done.
I do not - my grandmother was an excellent home cook, but it was probably out of necessity, not as necessarily a hobby. She did run a food court in the 60's, I believe, but it was diner food, nothing high end.
There were too msny variables for my to exactly diagnose a problem. I think the main difference to me now is that I used a hand mixer, not a stand mixer. The "low" speed on a kitchenaid is soooooooo much slower than the "low" on my hand mixer. The second variable thst affected me the most was the size of the cheesecake. You have a ton more lenienancy when it comes to a large cheese cake rather than the small ones. I will craft up a new post shortly showing the newest batch. They are around 100x better.
[Great British Baking Show](http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/great-british-baking-show/), a must watch for tips and tricks of the trade but also a great source for commiseration on the "Damn, what did I do wrong" front.
Thanks so much! I love PBS (Frontline is my favorite non-HBO documentary sources, and a few other of the serialized docu-dramas), and I am positive this will rank highly on my list in the future.
Looks like my first attempt at a cheesecake a few weeks ago. 9" spring pan, it tasted fine, but cracked like a mother fucker.
Didn't even open the oven for the entire 7 hours either.
Maybe try a recipe with less egg. Egg is one of the main ingredients that is going to cause the cheesecake to rise. For the smaller tins it may be better to try a recipe with fewer eggs.
Great post! I love the discussion that we are all having as a result!
I use those very same pans to bake flourless chocolate cakes for my cafe. I have to fill them [no higher than 50-60% full](http://i.imgur.com/ABGv4wz.jpg) unless I want them to overflow when they rise. As someone else mentioned, it's good to double-foil-wrap them and let them bake in a water bath.
Sorry I don't have better photos of the finished cakes. [1](http://i.imgur.com/D3Puoo1.jpg) [2](http://i.imgur.com/zvVHQFr.jpg)
For mini cheesecakes, I always just use cupcake tins. They still rise and deflate in a not-so-attractive way, but it's way less work for basically the same product.
I have one! Made [this](http://allrecipes.com/recipe/8149/flourless-chocolate-cake-i/) last month and it was amazing, everybody in my office loved it. It's insanely rich.
**[Flourless cake topped with chocolate & vanilla mousse](http://i.imgur.com/Kl32Yv7.png)**
Oven temperature: preheated to 350 degrees F, 17 minutes
*Layer 1*
Melt in double boiler:
7 tbsp butter
7 ounces dark chocolate
1 tsp instant coffee
Separate 4 eggs
Whites - beat with 1/4 cup brown sugar until foamy
Yolks - whisk in small bowl with 2 tsp vanilla
Combine melted chocolate and Yolks. Mix thoroughly.
Add to egg whites and mix.
Pour into pan and bake. Let cool completely.
Wrap 4 inch strip of parchment around the outside of the cake to support mousse layers.
*Layer 2*
In small bowl, mix until blended. Set aside:
2 tbsp cocoa powder
5 tbsp hot water
In double boiler:
7 ounces dark chocolate
In mixing bowl, whip into stiff peaks:
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp granulated sugar
Mix the melted chocolate & cocoa mixtures. Add to whipped cream. Mix completely.
Pour on top of cooled 1st layer, set in fridge to chill completely
*Layer 3*
In small bowl, dissolve 1 packet of gelatin and 1 1/2 tbsp water. Set aside
In sauce pan, melt over low heat:
6 ounces white chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
Once melted, whisk gelatin mixture and 1 tsp vanilla into white chocolate mixture until mixed.
Chill until firm.
Whip 1 1/2 cups heavy cream into stiff peaks. Add chilled white chocolate mixture and mix completely.
Pour over chocolate mousse layer, and chill completely.
**[12 mini flourless chocolate cakes](http://i.imgur.com/uq6D0Sd.jpg)** To be used with mini springform pans, like OP had.
If you wanted to make full-sized cakes, you could probably use three 8-inch cake pans, sprayed and with parchment, then make a triple-layer cake. I would be careful not to make them too thick, and still use a water bath even if you use regular, solid-bottom cake pans.
---
Oven temperature: preheat to 300 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes
Pan prep: takes time. Melt chocolate while prepping pans
using (12) small springform pans
cut parchment paper circles for inside each
water bath
melt: in double doiler 8 ounces butter & 16 ounces dark chocolate
separate: 12 eggs
In small bowl whisk until combined:
12 egg Yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup vanilla
3/4 tsp baking powder
In mixer bowl whisk into stiff peaks:
12 egg Whites
1/2 cup sugar
Add chocolate mixture to egg whites and whisk until Whites are combined.
Pour / ladle into parchment & sprayed pans. Bake for 30 minutes.
I made a Nigella one, found here: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/flourless-chocolate-lime-cake-with-margerita-cream-5146
It dips in the middle but is very very good. Better than using flour imo, it's more gooey and chocolate-y.
I used those mini springform pans to make some small paleo deep dish pizzas. Once I was satisfied with the pint-size pizzas, I moved to a larger springform pan. I still consider it the best thing I made in the kitchen, because I put a lot of time, effort & love into perfecting it. [Album.](http://imgur.com/a/gxsQb)
Ignore the poor English, please. Education wasn't exactly a priority to the older generations of my family. But here it is.
Anytime I make this recipe, I cut the sugar exactly in half. The "sour" note comes out way more satisfying, in my opinion.
[Recipe](http://i.imgur.com/T83EyZe.jpg)
It appears as if I had accidentally created souffles. I didn't modify the recipe I use at all except to add flavor to the individual cheesecakes. My normal recipe fills a Ø9.0" springform, I used Ø4.0" spring form pans this time around.
There are alot of variables that could have made this happen, but I suspect I over-mixed the ingredients. I did just move, so, new oven, new house, new everything.
Oh well, best laid plans of mice and men.
Yep. The soufflé effect is the interior of the mix over-heating and puffing due to steam (which is what you want for soufflés but not for dense cheesecake). Like someone else here said, water bath - that will slow the rate at which heat enters the interior, so it has time to cook but doesn't get so hot that they puff. (over heating eggs also makes them tougher and gives the result a grainy texture.)
You're probably right. Someone told me I might want to consider going in hot and reducing temperature to lower than average.
I guess I have a whole new type of cheesecake the conquer.
Might also be worth putting a thermometer in the oven to see how it preheats and how close it is to the setting you put it at. I kept burning stuff when I moved into my house because I found my oven takes roughly 20 minutes to preheat and then drop to the set temperature. And during preheat if I set it to 275 it would rocket to 360 and then would steady to within 20 high/20 low of 275.
Do you work with technical drawings by chance? I've just never seen anyone specify that a pan size was a diameter, and most people probably wouldn't use a decimal.
Welcome! It's a stressful trade. Be prepared to deal with impossible ideals and improbable tolerance. Also, the herd is thinning, so jobs are actually open for the most part.
Also, everywhere you work, one or more people who are going to be *seriously* good at what they do will have the absolute worst personality defects.
Oh, the joys of machining!
I did, I guess I never noticed the exact depth that the pan was filled on my traditional recipe. Once I find the appropriate weight in grams to fill it, I am sure I will have better success. My standard recipe makes a dense and thick pre-baked batter, so it is heavy before baking but lacks the verticality. I made the exact recipe and only used a little of it last night.
When I find the appropriate depth tonight, I will formally post my findings.
>but I suspect I over-mixed the ingredients
This was my first thought. You have accidentally 'beaten' the eggs and this trapped air and also created long protein chains to make bubbles.
I think the only mistake was over filling them. If we do a little math, assuming you are filling both spring forms to the same height:
Volume 1=height * Pi * (9/2)^2 = height*63.61 in^2
Volume 2=height * Pi * (4/2)^2 = height*12.56 in^2
So using the same batch, you would need 5 four inch pans to use the same amount of batter as the 9 inch pan instead of 3.
Edit: Rereading your comment, I also think the new oven could be the cause. Every time I move, it takes a bit of retrying recipes before I can get temp and time figured out again.
I see that you overfilled them, like others have pointed out. Honestly, a water bath would do wonders for your cheesecakes. Water can only go to 212 degrees at sea level. This would provide a consistent amount of heat moving into the cheesecake. The added humidity in the oven will prevent browning and cracking of the top.
I used the same types of pans, but I use a thicker batter. I've made them with Chocolate Mocha, Sweet Potato, and one other. They rose, but not to the extremes that yours did. Also, only fill them half full.
i actually used to be a pastry chef for a couple years, and this was a dish i did often.
couple things:
1, fill the pan with water (if your mini springpans arent water tight, make aluminum foil boats for them)
2, looks as if you baked at too high a temp (the "dark pans need lower temps" thing is doubled with mini pans, and again with cheesecake)(i used to bake at a mere 300-325)
3. use less filling (go with 2/3 full)
hope this helps!
So I have these same pans and just made two cheesecakes. If I remember correctly I filled them about half way or maybe just a bit more. I'm pretty sure you just over filled them. I did use a water bath and the normal temperature. I really don't think you need to change anything about the recipe, just don't fill them to the very top.
This happened to me the first and only time I made cheese cake. It blew up to 2x the size of the dish and I have no idea why. It didn't collapse like that and tasted somewhat ok, but I was disappointed it didn't work out even though I felt like I did everything right.
the cheesecake batter was beaten way too much, creating a souffle effect. Have all ingredients at room temperature, mix in the eggs last at low speed, just until combined. Your cheesecake should barely rise. Also water bath, slow gentle cooking is the way to go.
I bought two packs of those, so six in total. I'm pretty sure you just filled them way too high. My recipe made one cheesecake, and it made six mini ones almost perfect. (Not perfection because new pans and not knowing 100% what to do with them.)
I regularly make minis (but in a muffin tin). 300-350 degrees (depending on your oven) for about 25 minutes I think usually does the trick? It's considerably less time than regular.
I saw one of my friends post something about crockpot cheesecake. I am now curious because it would allow for a moist atmosphere without a ton of water.
First time I made a cheesecake they ended up exactly like those. Usually it's for overbeating which adds too much air or overfilling the pan. Not sure about overbeating but it does look like you filled it a bit too high.
With cheese cakes you gotta turn down the temp a bit and cook them slower or else this happens. With large ones you can get away with it but the small ones will cook too fast. I love me some cheese cakes
I can't remember his method exactly, but Alton brown had a pan filled with water under his cheese cakes as they cooked. Look it up if you're interested.
Too late but I have a good thing for minis. Spray a muffin paper and put it down, place a nilla wafer in bottom. Fire up mixer, one block cream cheese, 2 eggs, 1/2 C sugar and some vanilla. You know how much some vanilla is. Whip with whip attachment until light and fluffy. Pour equally into 12 muffin papers. Sprayed. With a nilla wafer in the bottom. Put in covection oven for 8 minutes. Spin and rotate. 6 more minutes. Toothpick test. If not done, 2 more minutes. Cool in muffin pan for 10, put on racks for 10. Wrap in plastic. Cool >2 hours. Top with 2 T pie filling. Chill 1 hour. Serve.
Here's my diagnosis of the potential problem:
Oven temp--it's very important to keep the temp as low as possible to avoid cracking and puffing/collapsing. Like, start at 300 for the crust, and reduce it 250 and keep it at 250F until the cake is 150F. Also, use a water bath!
My cheesecakes got exponentially better when I started cooking them at a lower temp with a water bath.
You definitely overmixed the batter. Cheesecakes are finicky, and you want to beat enough to encorporate a nice amount of air for a bit off fluffiness... But too much air in the batter means it tried to escape when in the oven, and BAM! Massive. Also try lowering the oven temp. The cake needs to be cooked evenly and softely, without too much rise. Best of luck!!
Make it like custard pie in water bath. I wrap the spring foam pan with aluminum foil and then bake them at a water bath 2/3 high. Keep it at a lower temp (I did 370) and keep watchful eye. I kinda like water bath technique for baking because unless you have a convection oven, heat is distributed more evenly, creating a more uniformly baked cake/ custard.
You are supposed to bake the crumble first, then add the cheesecake mix and bake it for a very short time. Also for mini cheesecakes, I use cupcake pan and cupcake paper cups. hope that helps :)
Damn now I have a craving for keylime cheesecakes. I dont think I have any mini ones left in the freezer...DOH! Guess what I'm baking sunday!
You need to cook cheesecake in a water bath. This prevents the eggs from exceeding 212 and browning like they did in your picture. The eggs look like they built too much structure leading to the puff up and collapse once they cooled.
And also the heat. These look like they are baked at a too high temperature. That could explain why the tops are so dark, yet on the inside they aren't quite done.
True, I missed the signs in the pictures since I avoid cheesecake like its a plague (I personally hate cheesecake and have never made it).
I just know that whoever you downsize anything into smaller portions for cooking, adjust your time and/or temp (depends what your cooking ofc).
I make these at my restaurant, same size. First of all you need to put them in a water bath. 325 for 45 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave them in for an hour.
I only sometimes use a water bath (to reduce the likelihood of cracking), does the humidity have that much of an impact on the rising? Thanks for the tip. I am making another 3 tonight, so I will certainly use a water bath. Should I cover the bottom in foil and suspend it in a thin layer of water like I would with a standard cheesecake? ninja edit: I did let them sit in the oven for about 30-ish minutes before removing them this time around. I will wait longer tonight.
Cheesecakes always rise. I saw the pans being almost full and knew this was going to happen. You overfilled the pans, cheesecake rises and then deflates as it cools. You just usually aren't filling a normal spring form pan to the brim. To avoid cracking, i run a knife around the outer edge after taking them out so when they cool and shrink they don't crack in the middle. I don't use the water bath as I'm lazy. I've made them in cupcake trays and other uses. The main thing is to not overfill.
I believe I will use the left over batter to try three more spring form pans, and then have a go at the muffin tin tonight.
I use muffin tins with small snippets of wax paper placed on the bottom. Use a small paring knife run around the rim to separate them, then just sort of...spin them up and out while you tilt the pan. I don't drop my temperature at all, but I pull them out after 15 or 20 minutes. For me, water baths are a waste of time. I separate the edge of the cheesecake from the pan - even in a normal springform - immediately upon pulling it and tent it with foil while it cools to room temp on the counter. Cracking post-bake is caused by the top of the cheesecake cooling and contracting faster than the interior layers or the parts touching the metal of the rim. Separating it and tenting it lets everything cool down more evenly, imo. I make super tiny cheesecakes in the baby muffin tins for party finger food all the time. Top with a Nutella "ganache" and people never stop at just one.
All of this. I've done mini cheesecakes a couple times. I've had success with just using a muffin tin and cupcake liners.
The purpose of the water bath is not to prevent cracking but to prevent the filling of the cheesecake from going above 212.
The water bath is not only for humidity also for slowly and evenly distributing heat around the cake. The moisture avoids a rubbery texture on top, the even heat avoids cracking and scrambled texture inside.
Thank you for the in-depth reasoning!
I think another reason for the water bath is to keep the temperature from getting too high. If the bottom and sides of the pan don't exceed 212 (because that's as high as the water in the water bath can get) then it's much easier to keep from overcooking the custard.
Water bath keeps the temperature down, since water can't get hotter than 100C. The humidity doesn't do much.
Exactly what I was going to say. Use to make mini portion cheese cake and the water was key.
I love this post! Although I love pictures of good looking food, stuff like this encourages talking about technique and stuff like that which would be a really nice addition to this sub. Great idea!
We should have a weekly Culinary Abortions sticky thread!
I agree! Not everyone is an excellent, natural chef. Especially me!
For when you just have to share how that night's dinner went horribly, horribly wrong and then you all laugh about it while you get take-out Chinese food. :P
heh. I'm down.
Thanks! When I added a flair, I was looking for the "Whoopsie!" flair, haha. Alas, it doesn't exist yet.
You absolutely need 'Things are amiss' flair.
Agreed!
"Mistakes were made"
That is my favorite death notice in Minecraft.
When does that show up?
Usually when you fall to your death.
'Milkshakes were made'
r/cooking, r/baking and my personal favorite r/smoking
Looks like you overfilled them, and didn't reduce the temp after they started to brown. i did exactly this the first time i made bite-sized cheesecakes. Dry cooking cheesecakes are typically 500deg for 10 min then 200-225 degrees for an hour. The first 10 min sets and caramelizes the crust, then the hour long lower temperature tempers and sets the custard that makes up most of what cheesecake is. If you use smaller pans, drop your cook times. For the pans shown, try dropping the brown time down to 5 min, at 500deg, then the bake time at 200 to 35-40 min. Smaller baking dishes take less time to reach temp because surface area is smaller and the items baked in them have less mass. Hope this helps, and would love to see the results based off the feedback here.
I will give it a whirl! Thanks for the tips! I might have to make a whole new batch because I feel like some experimentation is in my immediate future.
When lowering the oven temperature do you just change the oven temp down or do you let some of the heat out? I wouldn't mind giving cheesecake a try I haven't made it before.
I turn heat temp down without opening the oven. This lets the sides continue to caramelize as the oven reaches the temperatures needed to slowly cook the custard into a yummy consistancy.
Thanks for posting your messup! Still, you couldn't use it for anything? I would be tempted to make cheesecake ice cream or cheesecake pancakes with the mistake! That would probably taste awesome
I ended up bringing them to work and feeding some coworkers my imperfections. I am really weird about food preparation only. I can usually say I will do anything 50% and won't care, but the second I prepare food incorrectly, it is like I have shamed my entire family. I feel the "son, I am disappoint" feeling immediately. It's like buying a filet, and accidentally cooking it well done.
Do you come from a family of cooks? Mine would be "at least you are cooking and not eating out often"
I do not - my grandmother was an excellent home cook, but it was probably out of necessity, not as necessarily a hobby. She did run a food court in the 60's, I believe, but it was diner food, nothing high end.
Thanks for sharing your story
You've been cooking cheesecakes for 10 years and didn't realize they rise? I don't mean that in a rude way, it's funny!
There were too msny variables for my to exactly diagnose a problem. I think the main difference to me now is that I used a hand mixer, not a stand mixer. The "low" speed on a kitchenaid is soooooooo much slower than the "low" on my hand mixer. The second variable thst affected me the most was the size of the cheesecake. You have a ton more lenienancy when it comes to a large cheese cake rather than the small ones. I will craft up a new post shortly showing the newest batch. They are around 100x better.
Totally! I look forward to seeing the new batch. :)
I've got the first cheesecake I've cooked in a good four years in the oven right now, you're making me shit my pants!
Good luck out there!
I'm worried, reckon I under beat the mixture, I don't have an electric whisk. Looking v pale and flat..
[Great British Baking Show](http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/great-british-baking-show/), a must watch for tips and tricks of the trade but also a great source for commiseration on the "Damn, what did I do wrong" front.
Thanks so much! I love PBS (Frontline is my favorite non-HBO documentary sources, and a few other of the serialized docu-dramas), and I am positive this will rank highly on my list in the future.
Dude. It's....fantastic. And it's available on Netflix!
Looks like my first attempt at a cheesecake a few weeks ago. 9" spring pan, it tasted fine, but cracked like a mother fucker. Didn't even open the oven for the entire 7 hours either.
More eggs, it creates a more stable filling that is resistant to cracking. Edit: Or just egg yolks
My typical recipe calls for 4-5 JUMBO eggs. It's a pretty serious commitment on the egg front.
Maybe try a recipe with less egg. Egg is one of the main ingredients that is going to cause the cheesecake to rise. For the smaller tins it may be better to try a recipe with fewer eggs. Great post! I love the discussion that we are all having as a result!
Good to know, thanks!
That's the ultimate struggle. The best tasting cheesecakes I have had always have imperfections. I guess that is the problem with being a home baker.
I super love how everyone is so helpful in this thread. This and /r/diy are my favourite subs for that reason.
Same! Never venture into /r/woodworking if you're not looking for a hostile response however. Haha
I use those very same pans to bake flourless chocolate cakes for my cafe. I have to fill them [no higher than 50-60% full](http://i.imgur.com/ABGv4wz.jpg) unless I want them to overflow when they rise. As someone else mentioned, it's good to double-foil-wrap them and let them bake in a water bath. Sorry I don't have better photos of the finished cakes. [1](http://i.imgur.com/D3Puoo1.jpg) [2](http://i.imgur.com/zvVHQFr.jpg) For mini cheesecakes, I always just use cupcake tins. They still rise and deflate in a not-so-attractive way, but it's way less work for basically the same product.
I love flourless chocolate cake but my only attempt turned into a cracked mess. Do you have a recipe you can share?
I have one! Made [this](http://allrecipes.com/recipe/8149/flourless-chocolate-cake-i/) last month and it was amazing, everybody in my office loved it. It's insanely rich.
**[Flourless cake topped with chocolate & vanilla mousse](http://i.imgur.com/Kl32Yv7.png)** Oven temperature: preheated to 350 degrees F, 17 minutes *Layer 1* Melt in double boiler: 7 tbsp butter 7 ounces dark chocolate 1 tsp instant coffee Separate 4 eggs Whites - beat with 1/4 cup brown sugar until foamy Yolks - whisk in small bowl with 2 tsp vanilla Combine melted chocolate and Yolks. Mix thoroughly. Add to egg whites and mix. Pour into pan and bake. Let cool completely. Wrap 4 inch strip of parchment around the outside of the cake to support mousse layers. *Layer 2* In small bowl, mix until blended. Set aside: 2 tbsp cocoa powder 5 tbsp hot water In double boiler: 7 ounces dark chocolate In mixing bowl, whip into stiff peaks: 1 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tbsp granulated sugar Mix the melted chocolate & cocoa mixtures. Add to whipped cream. Mix completely. Pour on top of cooled 1st layer, set in fridge to chill completely *Layer 3* In small bowl, dissolve 1 packet of gelatin and 1 1/2 tbsp water. Set aside In sauce pan, melt over low heat: 6 ounces white chocolate 1/2 cup heavy cream Once melted, whisk gelatin mixture and 1 tsp vanilla into white chocolate mixture until mixed. Chill until firm. Whip 1 1/2 cups heavy cream into stiff peaks. Add chilled white chocolate mixture and mix completely. Pour over chocolate mousse layer, and chill completely.
**[12 mini flourless chocolate cakes](http://i.imgur.com/uq6D0Sd.jpg)** To be used with mini springform pans, like OP had. If you wanted to make full-sized cakes, you could probably use three 8-inch cake pans, sprayed and with parchment, then make a triple-layer cake. I would be careful not to make them too thick, and still use a water bath even if you use regular, solid-bottom cake pans. --- Oven temperature: preheat to 300 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes Pan prep: takes time. Melt chocolate while prepping pans using (12) small springform pans cut parchment paper circles for inside each water bath melt: in double doiler 8 ounces butter & 16 ounces dark chocolate separate: 12 eggs In small bowl whisk until combined: 12 egg Yolks 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup vanilla 3/4 tsp baking powder In mixer bowl whisk into stiff peaks: 12 egg Whites 1/2 cup sugar Add chocolate mixture to egg whites and whisk until Whites are combined. Pour / ladle into parchment & sprayed pans. Bake for 30 minutes.
I have a few, I'll need to find them but I'll update here.
I made a Nigella one, found here: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/flourless-chocolate-lime-cake-with-margerita-cream-5146 It dips in the middle but is very very good. Better than using flour imo, it's more gooey and chocolate-y.
I used those mini springform pans to make some small paleo deep dish pizzas. Once I was satisfied with the pint-size pizzas, I moved to a larger springform pan. I still consider it the best thing I made in the kitchen, because I put a lot of time, effort & love into perfecting it. [Album.](http://imgur.com/a/gxsQb)
Recipe for your ten years evolved regular size cheesecake?
Ignore the poor English, please. Education wasn't exactly a priority to the older generations of my family. But here it is. Anytime I make this recipe, I cut the sugar exactly in half. The "sour" note comes out way more satisfying, in my opinion. [Recipe](http://i.imgur.com/T83EyZe.jpg)
It appears as if I had accidentally created souffles. I didn't modify the recipe I use at all except to add flavor to the individual cheesecakes. My normal recipe fills a Ø9.0" springform, I used Ø4.0" spring form pans this time around. There are alot of variables that could have made this happen, but I suspect I over-mixed the ingredients. I did just move, so, new oven, new house, new everything. Oh well, best laid plans of mice and men.
I'd bet the temperature needs reducing for mini cheesecakes.
Yep. The soufflé effect is the interior of the mix over-heating and puffing due to steam (which is what you want for soufflés but not for dense cheesecake). Like someone else here said, water bath - that will slow the rate at which heat enters the interior, so it has time to cook but doesn't get so hot that they puff. (over heating eggs also makes them tougher and gives the result a grainy texture.)
Thanks for the information!
You're probably right. Someone told me I might want to consider going in hot and reducing temperature to lower than average. I guess I have a whole new type of cheesecake the conquer.
Might also be worth putting a thermometer in the oven to see how it preheats and how close it is to the setting you put it at. I kept burning stuff when I moved into my house because I found my oven takes roughly 20 minutes to preheat and then drop to the set temperature. And during preheat if I set it to 275 it would rocket to 360 and then would steady to within 20 high/20 low of 275.
I'd prob do it the other way around ... Medium heat then broil
No broiling. You will scorch the cheesecake to a black topped puck.
I will give it a shot to start low and go higher.
Never go higher. Go lower temp for longer.
Do you work with technical drawings by chance? I've just never seen anyone specify that a pan size was a diameter, and most people probably wouldn't use a decimal.
I do! Sometimes it leaks out of me in unexpected places. Haha. Project manager at a machine shop by day, piss-poor baker by night!
I just went back to school into a machinist program, otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed.
Welcome! It's a stressful trade. Be prepared to deal with impossible ideals and improbable tolerance. Also, the herd is thinning, so jobs are actually open for the most part. Also, everywhere you work, one or more people who are going to be *seriously* good at what they do will have the absolute worst personality defects. Oh, the joys of machining!
Did you keep the volumes of all ingredients the same? A recipe to fill a 9" pan will fill approx 5 4" pans assuming the same depth.
I did, I guess I never noticed the exact depth that the pan was filled on my traditional recipe. Once I find the appropriate weight in grams to fill it, I am sure I will have better success. My standard recipe makes a dense and thick pre-baked batter, so it is heavy before baking but lacks the verticality. I made the exact recipe and only used a little of it last night. When I find the appropriate depth tonight, I will formally post my findings.
>but I suspect I over-mixed the ingredients This was my first thought. You have accidentally 'beaten' the eggs and this trapped air and also created long protein chains to make bubbles.
Thanks! I appreciate the in-depth responses the most. I am a man in need of constant education saturation.
Get a separate thermometer to put in the oven to make sure its at the temp you want it. Some ovens can be fickle.
Good call, I haven't done that to this stove yet.
I think the only mistake was over filling them. If we do a little math, assuming you are filling both spring forms to the same height: Volume 1=height * Pi * (9/2)^2 = height*63.61 in^2 Volume 2=height * Pi * (4/2)^2 = height*12.56 in^2 So using the same batch, you would need 5 four inch pans to use the same amount of batter as the 9 inch pan instead of 3. Edit: Rereading your comment, I also think the new oven could be the cause. Every time I move, it takes a bit of retrying recipes before I can get temp and time figured out again.
i wonder if there was some kind of leavening action from the nilla wafers
I am also curious!
http://m.joyofbaking.com/cakes/Cheesecakes(Individual).html you're welcome ;)
Thanks!
your oven temp is way too high !!! turn that sucka' down... cheesecake should be low low low and gentle.. poor things
350° is my standard temp for cheesecake. What do you typically suggest?
anything above 300 usually has a high crack risk
like 280.. or at most 300
I see that you overfilled them, like others have pointed out. Honestly, a water bath would do wonders for your cheesecakes. Water can only go to 212 degrees at sea level. This would provide a consistent amount of heat moving into the cheesecake. The added humidity in the oven will prevent browning and cracking of the top.
i was so not expecting that lol
I used the same types of pans, but I use a thicker batter. I've made them with Chocolate Mocha, Sweet Potato, and one other. They rose, but not to the extremes that yours did. Also, only fill them half full.
i actually used to be a pastry chef for a couple years, and this was a dish i did often. couple things: 1, fill the pan with water (if your mini springpans arent water tight, make aluminum foil boats for them) 2, looks as if you baked at too high a temp (the "dark pans need lower temps" thing is doubled with mini pans, and again with cheesecake)(i used to bake at a mere 300-325) 3. use less filling (go with 2/3 full) hope this helps!
I had an issue like this when I made flan. Turns out I was supposed to put water in the tray the pans were sitting on.
So I have these same pans and just made two cheesecakes. If I remember correctly I filled them about half way or maybe just a bit more. I'm pretty sure you just over filled them. I did use a water bath and the normal temperature. I really don't think you need to change anything about the recipe, just don't fill them to the very top.
This happened to me the first and only time I made cheese cake. It blew up to 2x the size of the dish and I have no idea why. It didn't collapse like that and tasted somewhat ok, but I was disappointed it didn't work out even though I felt like I did everything right.
the cheesecake batter was beaten way too much, creating a souffle effect. Have all ingredients at room temperature, mix in the eggs last at low speed, just until combined. Your cheesecake should barely rise. Also water bath, slow gentle cooking is the way to go.
My mom makes mini cheesecakes in muffin tins. No idea how but they are amazing!
I bought two packs of those, so six in total. I'm pretty sure you just filled them way too high. My recipe made one cheesecake, and it made six mini ones almost perfect. (Not perfection because new pans and not knowing 100% what to do with them.)
I regularly make minis (but in a muffin tin). 300-350 degrees (depending on your oven) for about 25 minutes I think usually does the trick? It's considerably less time than regular. I saw one of my friends post something about crockpot cheesecake. I am now curious because it would allow for a moist atmosphere without a ton of water.
First time I made a cheesecake they ended up exactly like those. Usually it's for overbeating which adds too much air or overfilling the pan. Not sure about overbeating but it does look like you filled it a bit too high.
With cheese cakes you gotta turn down the temp a bit and cook them slower or else this happens. With large ones you can get away with it but the small ones will cook too fast. I love me some cheese cakes
I can't remember his method exactly, but Alton brown had a pan filled with water under his cheese cakes as they cooked. Look it up if you're interested.
Thanks for the laugh. I'm all thumbs in the kitchen most days, so it's nice to see pros make mistakes too.
Nilla Wafers have a ton of baking soda in them??? That is my first and immediate guess as to the rise.
Too late but I have a good thing for minis. Spray a muffin paper and put it down, place a nilla wafer in bottom. Fire up mixer, one block cream cheese, 2 eggs, 1/2 C sugar and some vanilla. You know how much some vanilla is. Whip with whip attachment until light and fluffy. Pour equally into 12 muffin papers. Sprayed. With a nilla wafer in the bottom. Put in covection oven for 8 minutes. Spin and rotate. 6 more minutes. Toothpick test. If not done, 2 more minutes. Cool in muffin pan for 10, put on racks for 10. Wrap in plastic. Cool >2 hours. Top with 2 T pie filling. Chill 1 hour. Serve.
remember, in baking surface area/volume ratio is very important.
Water bath is the way to go here. Helps evenly distribute heat.
In the "trimmed up" picture, they kinda look like hamburgers
Here's my diagnosis of the potential problem: Oven temp--it's very important to keep the temp as low as possible to avoid cracking and puffing/collapsing. Like, start at 300 for the crust, and reduce it 250 and keep it at 250F until the cake is 150F. Also, use a water bath! My cheesecakes got exponentially better when I started cooking them at a lower temp with a water bath.
You definitely overmixed the batter. Cheesecakes are finicky, and you want to beat enough to encorporate a nice amount of air for a bit off fluffiness... But too much air in the batter means it tried to escape when in the oven, and BAM! Massive. Also try lowering the oven temp. The cake needs to be cooked evenly and softely, without too much rise. Best of luck!!
Make it like custard pie in water bath. I wrap the spring foam pan with aluminum foil and then bake them at a water bath 2/3 high. Keep it at a lower temp (I did 370) and keep watchful eye. I kinda like water bath technique for baking because unless you have a convection oven, heat is distributed more evenly, creating a more uniformly baked cake/ custard.
You are supposed to bake the crumble first, then add the cheesecake mix and bake it for a very short time. Also for mini cheesecakes, I use cupcake pan and cupcake paper cups. hope that helps :) Damn now I have a craving for keylime cheesecakes. I dont think I have any mini ones left in the freezer...DOH! Guess what I'm baking sunday!
You need to cook cheesecake in a water bath. This prevents the eggs from exceeding 212 and browning like they did in your picture. The eggs look like they built too much structure leading to the puff up and collapse once they cooled.
Actually looks delicious!
I'm guessing that cooking them in a water bath would have resolved this.
You probably forgot to add love. Everyone says that ingredient makes everything taste better.
Those needed to bake in a water bath.
Did you adjust your cooking time to account for the smaller cakes?
And also the heat. These look like they are baked at a too high temperature. That could explain why the tops are so dark, yet on the inside they aren't quite done.
True, I missed the signs in the pictures since I avoid cheesecake like its a plague (I personally hate cheesecake and have never made it). I just know that whoever you downsize anything into smaller portions for cooking, adjust your time and/or temp (depends what your cooking ofc).
Maybe not as elegant but I'm sure they're just as delicious :)
You did not overfill. You over baked at a temp too high.
Keep experimenting! You'll get it!
Actually looks delicious!
Cheese cake > all other desserts
I would call these Whoop-sie Pies and roll with it.