Published: · Modified: by Alica · 35 Comments
The morning of the day I made this cheesecake was a pretty rough one for me.I was taking a final exam and could actually feel during the exam that I wasn’t doing as well as I had hoped. After 2 ½ went by, I walked out of the exam room and decided I was going to go home and make something really time consuming to get my mind off of the exam. I love cheesecakes, it's probably one of my most favorite desserts.This vanilla bean cheesecake has three different layers and once it all comes together it is an experience to die for!
I thought of finally making those French macarons that I have been putting off for so long or even the tedious Petit Fours that I dream of. My friend casually suggested a Vanilla Bean Cheesecake and I thought “oh my! I can use the extra Madagascar vanilla beans hidden in my cupboard for this recipe!" A cheesecake lover’s dream is what I call this cheesecake. It’s dense like a New York Style cheesecake, but sweet and fluffy at the same time. It has two layers one with the actual vanilla bean cheesecake and the second with a sweet cream white chocolate spread, finished with vanilla flavored whipped cream roses.
I searched pretty rigorously for this recipe and I actually used my own recipe for the crust.I love taking pieces of different recipes and putting them together.
Some may say this cheesecake is reminiscent of The Cheesecake Factory’s Vanilla Bean Cheesecake or TGI Fridays (did you know that Friday’s actually purchases their cheesecakes from The Cheesecake Factory). However my cheesecake didn’t turn out as tall and my topping is a little different. Save yourself the $8 a slice and make this cheesecake. It will probably cost you around $12 in ingredients and you will get about 10-12 slices out of it. I guarantee even if you don’t make the cream topping this recipe will be a keeper. Enjoy!
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
Yield: 9 inch springform pan
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups finely crushed graham crackers
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
Batter
- CHEESECAKE:
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 stick salted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- vanilla beans from one pod
White Chocolate Mousse
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 4 ounces ⅓ less fat cream cheese, softened
- 5 ounces white chocolate baking squares, melted
Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
- Beans from one vanilla pod
Instructions
Crust
- Crush the graham crackers. Mix in the sugar. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, then stir in the melted butter. Line a springform pan with non-stick foil. Press graham crackers into the pan. Bake at 375º for 8 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. Remove and let cool.
Cheesecake
- Combine cream cheese and butter and mix well then add sugar mix till all sugar is incorporated. Now add sour cream, corn starch, and vanilla beans, blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into the graham cracker crust. When you take this out the oven it will be jiggly and you will think its not cooked but it will set up beautifully once it is cooled. It will be dense and smooth. Bake at 320 minutes for 1 hour. Cool 1 hour.
White Chocolate Mousse
- In a cold mixing bowl beat 1 cup cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Put this in a bowl in the fridge. In a small bowl melt chocolate and *let it cool! (You will be mixing in the whipped cream and if the chocolate is even the slightest bit warm it will deflate the whip cream). Now in a bigger bowl beat cream cheese and melted chocolate together until fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream from the fridge slowly then put back in fridge.
Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
- In cold mixing bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add powdered sugar and then vanilla beans, beating until stiff peaks form.
- After the cheesecake has cooled spread the mousse evenly on top. Refrigerate for about an hour.
- Spread the whipped cream on top and then drizzle the chocolate on top OR instead of spreading whipped cream you can pipe it on after drizzling the chocolate over the mouse. I drizzled chocolate over the vanilla bean mousse and then piped the whipped cream roses around. Refrigerate several hours before serving.
Notes
This recipe makes one 9 in Springform pan. You can use a bigger size for a thinner cheesecake or an 8in for a tall cheesecake. I used a 9in for this recipe.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
poch
This comment has been removed by the author.
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Paola
Simple Lovely!!
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Brent
LOVE the pictures. Well done! Looks absolutely amazing!
A great way to keep the cost down on recipes like this is to plan ahead a bit and order from specialty stores online. For example, Beanilla Trading Company has really nice, Grade A vanilla beans for around $1.50 each... much cheaper than the $9.00 the grocery store in town wants. You can find Beanilla at http://www.beanilla.com
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Ms. Gourmet Express
Brent- thanks for the tip i will check that site out!
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ShivaShakthi Asuri
wow, simply super. i m drooling over this cheesecake.
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Seredhiel
I can't wait to try this out! Also, I found that World Market carries vanilla bean pods from Madagascar in bunches of 2 for 2.99.
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Emirii
I just made this, It didn't turn out exactly like the pictures but it taste great! Ovcourse I haven't made too many cheesecakes... I wouldn't put the foil in the pan though because it was really hard to peel off the springform pan... The Cheesecake is pretty close to Friday's except the cheesecake part tasted a little sweeter (maybe a little too much). Instead of using regular ingredients, I used the low fat alternatives such as fat-free cream cheese, low fast/cholesterol butter, low fat whip cream, light sour cream, and splenda sugar substitute. Aside from the cheese part being too sweet for me, my boyfriend said it was perfect (but he has more sweet tooth than me)! Thank you.
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Shel7869
This was my very first cheesecake and I was extremely pleased at how well it turned out. My boyfriend specially requested a vanilla bean cheesecake so I was happy when I found your blog. I served it at a dinner party and everyone raved about how delicious it was. I will definitely be visiting your blog again soon!
Reply
Linds + Eric
Today is Wednesday and I have a dinner party friday. I am making teh cheesecake portion now. Should I freeze it until Friday or just keep it in the fridge? how long would it take to thaw? thanks! it's looking great so far!
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Alica
Hi there! Thanks for visiting! I recommend refrigerating the cheesecake portion until friday. If you freeze then thaw, the crust might get soggy during the thawing process. Good luck!
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Anonymous
Is there not any eggs in this cheesecake?
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Anonymous
Made this over Thanksgiving. Substituted the white chocolate with dark chocolate. Fantastic Cheesecake! Everyone raved about it. With dark chocolate, it didn't make the cake overly sweet. The cheesecake part is much better than the Cheesecake Factory quality because it is not as sweet, a nice tart cheesecake flavor.
Oh I used parchment paper based on another reviewer's comment that it was hard to get out of foil. Worked like a charm. Thank you for the recipe. This is definitely a keeper!
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Alana
I made your cheesecake for Thanksgiving. It was my first attempt at the cake and it came out perfect. I got so many compliments I was asked to make it again this weekend! The only thing I found was that a half cup of butter made the crust too wet so I cut it down a bit. Besides that it was absolutely incredible. Thanks for sharing!!
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Cassie
I love the pictures and how easy it is to understand your instructions. I am going to try to make this tomorrow. Thanks for all of the great advice!!
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Anonymous
Made this last evening...enjoying a piece of it as we speak. Hands down the BEST recipe I have ever had.
Honestly I prefer this to Cheesecake Factory's. It is slightly lighter and has a better finish I think. I paired this with a glass of a light Moscato. Best pairing for dessert I have EVER had! Thanks for this recipe! Will share this with some of my classmates 🙂
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Anonymous
Enjoying a piece of this cheesecake right now! It is by far the best cheesecake I have ever made or even eaten. This will be my new go-to cheesecake recipe! Thanks for sharing, and I love your pictures and descriptions! 🙂
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Madison
Absolutely delicious! Made 2 days ago and only 2 pcs are left! My family loved it! Great description of the process! I used 2 vanilla beans in the batter to give it more flavor.
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Tina
Seems like the perfect way to use the vanilla bean I've been saving for something special. Will update with how it turns out.
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abelletolls
Thank you so much for this lovely cheesecake!!! I made it for my boyfriend's birthday. I used a chocolate graham cracker crust.
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Valentm99
My crust burned and tasted terrible. Any suggestions as to why this could have happened ? I did not use the foil....
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AZWildCat
OMG the chocolate graham cracker crust sounds so good with this cheesecake!
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Llh13
I have to say thank you for this recipe! I do enjoy cooking, but not always baking because I never know how it will turn out. This cheesecake totally exceeded my expectations and everyone was so impressed. I substituted 1/2 cup of the graham crackers for crushed oreos in the crust. Everything else turned out perfect with your wonderful instructions. Thank you, I can't wait to make it again!
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Llh13
I have to say thank you for this recipe and your detailed instructions! I enjoy cooking but not always baking and this recipe exceeded my expectations! I did substitute 1/2 cup of the graham crackers for crushed Oreos. Everyone was so impressed and I was dissapointed there were no leftovers and I couldn't have a second piece!
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Allison
I want to make this for this coming Thanksgiving. I was concerned about the amount of butter that goes in the the filling. Is 1 cup the correct amount to use/
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Tracie Wood
VERY good! I'd like to recommended vanilla bean paste instead of the pods! You made be able to find it at TJ Maxx, Ross, or Home Goods (I couldn't), but you can buy it online http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/4792--madagascar-vanilla-bean-paste-by-lorann.html. One tablespoon is equal to one pod. I use the paste in place of vanilla extract in cakes too. It makes the cake richer! Mmmmmmm!!
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angie
It's funny that you mention TGIFriday buying from The Cheesecake Factory because they don't even make their own cheese cake either haha they are all cheaters. Thay are dang good though.
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JRoll
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I made it recently and it turned out great! I realize you posted this over 3 years ago, but just wanted to let you know it is still being viewed/used. Thanks again!
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Rachelle Potter
So can anyone clarify that it is only 2Tbs of butter in the cheesecake?
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Alica
Hi Rachelle,
The cheesecake itself has 2 sticks of butter which is equal to 1 cup of butter. The crust has 1/2 cup melted butter. Hope this helps.
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Stephanie Waterman
Ok..sofar so good im using part of this recipe and anothr chzcake recipes to make my chz cake....my question is on the whit chocolate mousse...when I folded it in togethr it seems kinda lumpy tast grt...so I stopd foldoing ive nevr made a homemade mouse b4..any suggestions on less clumps??
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Amy Lenhardt
Loved this cheesecake! I wasn't sure about a cheesecake without eggs but it was awesome! I used a chocolate crust and added some liquid vanilla as well. It was a great recipe. Thank you.
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Llh13
OK, I have made this recipe about 5 times and love it! It is now my husbands request for his birthday. I just mde it for his party tomorrow and it has been sitting on the stove cooling 1 hour. I just checked it and it very mushy inside. The edges are slightly brown and turned up. Should I refrigerate? Or bake for longer. I have never had this problem before but this time I have a 7 month old so maybe I am not doing something right! Thank you!!!!
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Grandma Bakes
Does this cheesecake require a water bath? It sounds so delicious and I'm truly looking forward to baking it! 🙂
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MsMe-Me82
I truly love this recipe. I have been using it every Christmas for the past 3 years and every loves it as well. Thank so much for adding a tradition to my family.
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Celia D
For the cheesecake the recipe says 1/2 teaspoon vanilla on one line and vanilla beans from a pod on the next line. Are these two separate ingredients or should only use one - the instructions only mention the pod beans
Reply
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