Not everyone likes New York-style cheesecake but if, like me, you can’t fathom any other kind, this is for you; it’s not any old New York cheesecake recipe, it’s Junior’s of Brooklyn.
What’s New York cheesecake? It’s dense, creamy and so rich you’ll want to marry it. It’s not fluffy, we don’t top it with canned pie filling (!), it’s pure indulgence, not lightened with sour cream or reduced-anything cream cheese. It’s fat and calories on a fork. It’s a party for my mouth.
Who “invented” it remains in dispute, but this style of cheesecake was popularized by East European Jewish immigrants in New York, who gave us so many foods that are mainstream American now. While Junior’s is synonymous with New York cheesecake these days, thanks in part to expanding its restaurants to Manhattan and its mail-order business to a shopping channel and the Internet, it used to be Reuben’s, now gone, and then Lindy’s that held that distinction. The Lindy’s of old, founded by the late Leo “Lindy” Lindermann, a German immigrant, is also gone. Today’s restaurants bearing that name are owned by the corporation that owns chains such as Houlihan’s and TGI Friday’s.
Lindermann died in 1957, seven years after Harry Rosen opened Junior’s on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn on the site of his former nightclub. It was the time of the Brooklyn Dodgers and poodle skirts and three generations later, the Rosens still own Junior’s. Over the years some of the cheesecakes have become jazzier (and they now make a sugar-free, low-carb version of the plain) and a version with a sponge cake base was added. 
But this recipe is the one Junior’s gave us all via Molly O’Neill’s wonderful New York Cookbook in 1992 — one year before her brother Paul joined the Yankees and seven years before Junior’s published its first cookbook.
I’ve been making this classic crumb crust version ever since. I still miss Paulie in right field and Sunday breakfasts at Junior’s, where the eggs were just an excuse to get to dessert.
See my post on making better cheesecakes to learn how to prevent cracks and other common cheesecake problems.
Junior’s Original Famous NY Cheesecake
Adapted from Molly O’Neill
1/4 cup /24g graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup /150g sugar
3 TB sifted cornstarch (cornflour), measure after sifting
30 ounces /900g full-fat cream cheese, very soft, cubed
1 large egg
1/2 cup /120 ml heavy cream or whipping cream
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Generously butter or spray the bottom and sides of an 8″ (20 cm) springform pan. If you wish, you can place parchment on the bottom and spray or butter it too. See Fast Parchment Rounds.
Coat the bottom of the prepared pan with the graham cracker crumbs and refrigerate the pan. [I've left it there for 12 hours when life interrupts me ~ ella]
Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F/180C/Gas 4.
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the cream cheese and mix vigorously to blend. If using a KitchenAid stand mixer, use the paddle but don’t go higher than Speed 2 for any step in this recipe.
Beat in the egg. Drizzle in the cream, mixing the entire time. Add the vanilla and stir well. Very briefly, beat the mixture to make sure it’s smooth.
Scrape into the pan and bake until golden. The original recipe says 40 to 45 minutes but I have always needed 50 – 52 minutes, in both gas and electric ovens. That still leaves a jiggy center, which is what you want.
Move the pan to a rack and run a thin knife around the edge, pressing against the pan, to loosen the top. Let cool for three hours. Transfer to the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, for another two to three hours or more, up to overnight.
Let come to room temperature before removing from the pan and serving.
Related: For another New York classic, see The Last Egg Cream.
For more cheesecake, albeit less sinful, see Lemon Cheesecake Squares and, a favorite, my Individual No-Crust Cheesecakes.
Copyright (C) 2009 From Scratch All Rights Reserved 
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for what I am sure is a fabulous Cheesecake recipe! I’m with you – New York style cheesecake is the only way to go. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Cheers!
Kathy Maister’s last blog post..Baked Cod and Microwave Salmon
Hi, Kathy! Oh, this is bliss. What I like most about making it are the lack of any fuss or work with the crust (and we want as much filling as possible) and not needing a water bath. The hardest part is waiting for it to be ready to cut.
Thanks for stopping by!
Into the “lab” we shall go! It occurs to me this would be the perfect birthday cake for my mom on her 91st this year.
Not only that, fewer ingredients means less effort. Fewer steps means less confusion.
Less concern with “slimming” down a traditional favoite means fewer unhappy dessert freaks. And, less publicizing of the fact I’m going to make it means fewer neighbors showing up to finish it off.
Yep. I liked THAT post, too!
shoreacres’s last blog post..Content Theft ~ It Matters to Me
I think it would be a perfect birthday cake, Shore and I’d be honored if you chose it. And it would benefit from being in the fridge (well covered) from the day prior, leaving the big day for celebrating. Let me know if you need any further information.
As for slimming down cheesecake, somebody (from Buffalo) said in comments on my football food post that anyone who’s worried about fat in Buffalo wings shouldn’t eat them. And so it is with cheesecake, a treat once or twice a year.
Ella your Cheesecake tips were excellent as well. Often when recipes from scratch (literally!) have few ingredients it means you have to be extra careful with measuring and technique. (Making scrambled eggs should be a cinch but more often than not people mess up because of over mixing or using too hot of a pan.)
Thanks for making it all look so simple!
Kathy Maister’s last blog post..Baked Cod and Microwave Salmon
Thank you so much, Kathy. With your expertise, that’s quite gratifying. It is simple, it just took me a long while to learn the whys and whats and hows.
Your example of scrambled eggs is spot-on. I’d add pancakes too, for the very same reasons.
I completely agree with your cheesecake attitude!
Your post got me thinking about how I learned to make cheesecake. It was a chapter in John Thorne’s 1987 book Simple Cooking, called “Ultimate Cheesecake (With a Note on Lindy’s)” that inspired me to try. He suggested using a coating of chopped nuts on the bottom of the pan, and I’ve used blanched almonds ever since. The chapter includes “A Simple Cream Cheese Cheesecake” with only cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon rind, and vanilla, then variations with cottage cheese, or sour cream, or heavy cream, or beaten egg whites. Variations on the theme of dairy.
I’d recommend the book for your library. Thanks for reminding me I have it!
(And I just realized he’s got an on-line presence. A newsletter? interesting.)
tess’s last blog post..Mochi + Waffles = Moffles
Ah, it’s a party for his mouth too! Thanks for the tip. I’m sure it’s long out of print but Jessica’s Biscuit (Useful Links page) is always strong on remainders, so next time I place an order I’ll check for it. And ricotta pie is just as NY as this kind but still seems to be largely identified with the Italian-American community.
I love the idea of chopped nuts for a crust. The thinner the crust, the better. I’ve always thought Junior’s went to the layer cake bottom because their business exploded from TV and I suspect it holds up better in shipping.
Thanks, Tess. I’ll check for Thorne online!
It looks like there is a paperback edition on Amazon. His website is odd (almost non functional??) but it appears he is still doing his newsletter by subscription (thanks to Google search), which that book was composed of (articles from his newsletter I mean) and he has some other books!
Thanks again for reminding me about this book—back then I’d been repeatedly checking it out of our local library until my daughter gave me a used book as a Christmas gift—now, I’d forgotten all about it! I love his philosophy of cooking.
I had ricotta pie in Boston when my husband was working there a year or so ago. MMMM…fabulous. It was the day before Thanksgiving and there was a line out the door at the bakery. I was quite surprised because I’d been there earlier in the week and that bakery had been very quiet: order a ricotta pie and a coffee, sit undisturbed for an hour, reading. Must be a holiday tradition on the East Coast, or in Boston, anyway?
tess’s last blog post..Mochi + Waffles = Moffles
I’ll check the library. I’m always reluctant to buy cookbooks sight unseen, especially when I’m drowning in them.
I don’t know if that’s a Boston thing. In NY, my Italian-American friends had ricotta pie for Easter and lasagne for Thanksgiving with the turkey. They might have had ricotta pie too. In any case, you must have been in the North End. Wow, some of the Italian bakeries there. I’m gaining weight just thinking about them!
You’re right, it was in the North End. Amazing bakeries!
The book is not so much a cookbook as a collection of essays on eating, though there are recipes in it.
tess’s last blog post..Raccoon Miso Soup!
I’ll certainly look for it. I love books like that (no plot) that I can just turn to a page and start reading. I have a stack I call my insomnia books. I know some of them by heart.
I made a cheesecake with gingersnap crust that did not turn out very good (the cake came out fine, but the crust was so compacted I couldn’t cut it). I was considering doing the sponge cake base. Do you prefer the graham cracker crust or the sponge base?
Nate’s last blog post..Sensational Sushi at Sakae Sushi (Burlingame), Part 2
No sponge cake base for me, Nate. I don’t get that whole thing, beyond the possible shipping benefits. Why not try just using the gingersnap crumbs naked, as the graham cracker crumbs are here? You can see from the photos that this base does work and it’s easy-peasy.