Cheesecake is an indulgent dessert, because it looks and tastes incredible, people think cheesecakes are hard to make. Well, they aren’t as easy as chocolate chip cookies but they aren’t rocket science either! Our Turtle Cheesecake with Shortbread Crust looks like it came from the best bakery in town.
I’m excited that this is On The Go Bites 100th recipe and post! And how special that it gets to be for one of my sons birthday cakes!
Turtle cheesecake with shortbread crust is a New York style cheesecake with a Chicago style shortbread crust. Why not combine two incredible city’s tastes with this incredible dessert.
Several years ago my middle son, Cort, requested turtle cheesecake for his birthday and he’s requested it ever since. This cake is for his 20th birthday! A couple of weeks ago I posted my youngest son’s chocolate birthday cake with Nutella buttercream frosting. And in yet another week you’ll see Angel Food cake with whipped cream and strawberries for my oldest son’s birthday. Whew, 3 birthdays in one month but 7 years apart.
What Is A New York Cheesecake?
Ah, the New York cheesecake is rich, dense (in a good way), smooth, satiny and tall. Nothing like the 1” tall versions you’ve seen in the grocery freezer aisle. The cheese is cream cheese as opposed to ricotta or cottage cheese. The baking method does not use a water bath and starts at a high temperature and then finishes at a significantly lower temperature. The high temperature gives the New York cheesecake it’s classic lightly brown exterior. Finally, extra egg yolks are added to give creaminess.
New York cheesecake was made famous by great New York bakeries, especially iconic is Junior’s. Our recipe is adapted from Joy of Cooking’s version.
If you don’t want an abstract design then put a checkerboard of chocolate, turn the plate 90 degrees and then a checkerboard of caramel.
How To Make Turtle Cheesecake With Shortbread Crust
Make and bake your shortbread crust. Brush with a whipped egg white and spread evenly over the entire crust.
Make sure to bring all of the ingredients out onto your counter at least an hour before making to bring them to room temperature. This will mix the ingredients better for a smoother texture and will help prevent cracking.
If your cream cheese is still cold you can do one of two things. Either cut the cream cheese into small 1/2” cubes before adding to the mixer or put the 8 ounce brick of cream cheese in the microwave for about 20 seconds, but be careful you don’t melt it, I prefer dicing the cream cheese.
Mix 8 ounces cream cheese in the electric mixer on about speed 3-4 for 3 minutes. Then add the next 8 ounce brick and a little more sugar. Keep going until you have all of the cream cheese and sugar incorporated. You don’t want to overmix, you are going for a smooth texture. The reason for adding the cream cheese a little at a time is to avoid lumps. Once all of the cream cheese and sugar have been mixed, pull the mixer bowl down and scrape the mixture from the bottom up. You’ll see that most likely the mixer has missed lumps of cream cheese on the bottom of the bowl. Put back on the mixer and whizz for about 30 seconds.
Now it’s time to add the vanilla and then the eggs one at a time. Finally, on low speed add the cream for about 30 seconds more. Add to the baked crust. Bang the springform pan a few times on the counter to get out the air bubbles. Or use a table knife in a S pattern a few times, that will pop the air bubbles too.
You’ll start baking the turtle cheesecake at a very high temperature, 500 degrees. It’s important that you know if you oven runs high so that you don’t burn the top of the cheesecake. Only cook for 15 minutes at this high temperature, then drop the oven temperature to 200 degrees for the rest of the baking time.
Turn off the oven when the turtle cheesecake is firm, the edges are starting to rise and the center jiggles just a bit. Turn off oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another hour with the door ajar.
Equipment Needed For Turtle Cheesecake
You’ll need a 
If you don’t have an electric mixer, then make sure to cut all ingredients small, that way it won’t be so hard to mix them.
Do Ingredients Really Need To Be Room Temperature For Turtle Cheesecake?
Yes. If the ingredients aren’t room temperature, then two problems can occur.
If the cheesecake isn’t at room temperature, then you may end up with chunks of cream cheese that hasn’t mixed thoroughly into the batter leaving chunks in your finished cheesecake. Typically, I use 5 blocks of Philadelphia cream cheese. When I went to the big box store they didn’t have the Philadelphia cream cheese, so I bought a big block of the stores brand. This is fine, but with a big block, as opposed to five bricks, it takes the cream cheese longer to come to room temperature. I’d recommend leaving the 8 ounce bricks of cream cheese on your counter for about an hour, the big ole brick probably 2 hours would be ideal.
If the ingredients for turtle cheesecake are not at room temperature it can also lead to cracking.
How To Prepare The Cheesecake Springform Pan
Butter the bottom and edges of the pan. Add a little flour, about a tablespoon. Over the sink, shake the pan to spread the flour. Tilt and lightly hit the pan while turning the pan to evenly distribute the flour on the bottom and sides of the springform pan.
How To Make Shortbread Crust
Do you love shortbread cookies? Then you’ll love this crust! Graham cracker crust will work as well, but I like the shortbread crust for a different change of pace, and even more decadence.
I use the recipe from Joy of Cooking for their Pat-In-The-Pan Shortbread Dough. Using a food processor makes it a breeze to make this crust, but if you don’t have one then you can whisk the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut softened butter into ½” cubes, add to the dry mixture and mash with the back of a fork until you get coarse crumbs. Add the egg yolk and mix until it comes into a ball.
In all likelihood, you will need to chill the dough. I add the dough to the prepared springform pan and press down. When it gets stick I will chill the springform pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Then it’s much easier and less frustrating to press the dough into shape.
Make sure to put extra effort in the bottom edges of the pan where the crust will be very thick. Then prick with a fork all over.
Can You Freeze Turtle Cheesecake?
Turtle cheesecake with shortbread crust freezes beautifully.
Tips For Making Turtle Cheesecake
- How do you keep cheesecake from cracking? Cracking is a common problem and is caused by several different factors.
- Remember earlier when I wrote about room temperature ingredients? Well, it’s true. There isn’t a lot of hands on time to making cheesecake, but you do need to allow enough time for bringing ingredients to room temperature, chilling time for dough and chilling time for the cheesecake.
- Have patience and trust. Don’t open the oven to check the cheesecake until you really think it’s done. Sudden changes in temperature cause the cracking. This is also why you’ll want to gradually cool down the cake by turning off the oven when the cake is ready, propping open the oven door and leaving it to cool in the turned off oven for about an hour. Then bring the pan out onto the counter to completely cool, then finally into the refrigerator (covered).
- You can use a water bath to help keep moisture in the oven thus preventing the cracking. But there is more work to be done here so I usually skip the step and almost always my turtle cheesecakes come out great…………now look at the picture of my most recent cheesecake, a MAJOR crack!
- Over mixing can cause air bubbles that causes the cheesecake to rise and then fall, yet again, causing cracking.
- Full disclosure, I had to run a timely errand when the turtle cheesecake was baking and I think it overcooked, one more reason for cracking. If I had been home I would have checked around the time the oven should be turned off.
- I’ve served a cheesecake just after being baked and it’s still delicious. But giving it 24-48 hours brings the flavor to a whole new level.
Homemade caramel sauce. Great to make if you have the time, but otherwise buy the bottled version of ice cream topping. The caramel is a nice addition to the party, but it’s not the main event.
- To store or transport the cheesecake, if you have already put on the turtle cheesecake toppings, then stick a couple of toothpicks around the outer edges of the cheesecake so that the plastic wrap is tented over the cheesecake and won’t ruin the decoration. Of if you are lucky enough to own a
or another container like that put the turtle cheesecake in there.
- The cheesecake will look like it’s not quite ready, there will be a jiggle in the center of the cake and you’ll be tempted to keep it in the oven. Have faith. The cake will firm up on the counter and later in the refrigerator.
- Take 30 seconds and decorate the plate with caramel or chocolate by zig zagging a pattern on the plate. I like using a graefruit spoon because it has the pointy end and makes the drizzling easier.
What To Do If Your Beautiful Turtle Cheesecake Cracks?
This is where toppings come into play. With the turtle cheesecake the caramel and chocolate sauce will cover any mistakes. If you aren’t making a turtle cheesecake then you’ll need to add fresh fruit and/or whipped cream and no one will be the wiser regarding the crack. Even one as big as you see in the picture below.
That huge crack you saw in the turtle cheesecake picture earlier is covered up by caramel and then chocolate.
What Are The Toppings For Turtle Cheesecake With Shortbread Crust?
You can use a spoon to drip the chocolate lines or filled a plastic bag with the chocolate and snip a tiny bit off of the corner of the bag.
Caramel, chocolate ganache and if you want, pecans. I keep the pecans in a separate bowl because some people don’t care for the nuts.
Use homemade caramel and chocolate ganache or buy some at the grocery. The best place to find the toppings is in the ice cream topping aisle. Just buy a jar of each topping. The chocolate can be fudge, semisweet or dark chocolate, whatever you like best. You’ll have a ton left over for ice cream sundaes!
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Turtle Cheesecake With Shortbread Crust
Another showstopper cake! Turtle cheesecake with shortbread crust combines the dense, creamy interior of New York style cheesecake with the shortbread crust of Chicago cheesecake. It's as beautiful as it is yummy!
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 1/4 Cup All-purpose flour
- 1/3 Cup Sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon Table salt
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1 Large Egg Yolk
Cheesecake
- 2 1/2 Pounds Cream Cheese 5 (8 ounce) bricks
- 1 3/4 Cups Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 5 Large Eggs
- 2 Large Egg Yolks
- 1 Large Egg white
- 1/2 Cup Heavy cream
Toppings For Turtle Cheesecake
- 1/4 Cup Caramel sauce homemade or store bought
- 1/4 Cup Chocolate sauce homemade or store bought
- 1 Cup Pecans toasted and chopped, optional
Instructions
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Prepare 9 inch springform pan by lightly buttering and flouring the pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Shortbread Crust (Optional, you can make cheesecake without any crust if you like)
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In a food processor mix the flour, sugar and salt. Then add 1 stick of butter, cut into 8 pieces. If working by hand use softened butter cut into smaller pieces and see post for instructions.
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Mix until it looks like coarse crumbs. Then add the egg yolk and pulse a few times until the dough comes together in a ball.
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Add the shortbread crust to the prepared pan and press down. If the dough is sticky put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or freezer for 15 minutes. Believe me, it will save you frustration if you take the time to chill the dough.
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Press as evenly as possible into the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides. Press really well at the wall of the pan so that you don't have a big build up crust. Prick with the tines of a fork all over. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until starting to turn golden. Remove the crust from the oven and turn the oven up to 500 degrees to preheat for the cheesecake.
Cheesecake
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While the shortbread crust cooks, start on the cheesecake. In a stand mixer beat 1/2 of the cream cheese on low-medium until creamy, should take a couple of minutes. Then add remaining cream cheese.
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This next step is tempting to skip but will make for a smoother cheesecake and prevent lumps. Lower the mixing bowl and completely scrape the sides and especially the bottom of the bowl as well as the beaters. Then place back on the mixer and whizz for 30 seconds to get rid of any lumps of cream cheese.
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Add sugar, beat for 1-2 minutes on medium-low. Add vanilla extract while it's beating.
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Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl and the beaters in between eggs.
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Then finally add the heavy cream and mix on low for about 30 seconds.
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Brush the crust with the beaten egg white. Fill crust with cheesecake batter and smooth the top. Either bang the pan on the counter a few times to relieve the air bubbles or take a table knife and run it through the batter in a S shape a few times.
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Bake the cheesecake for 15 minutes at 500 degrees, then turn down to 200 degrees and cook for another 50-60 minutes. Check the oven after 10 minutes at 500 degrees to make sure that the crust isn't burning. If so you can add some foil lightly over the cheesecake, then remove the foil once you bring the oven down to 200 degrees.
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Check the cheesecake after 50 at 200 degrees. Don't use a toothpick to check for readiness. Instead you want to see a slight jiggle in the middle of the cheesecake, the sides may have started to release. You will have an ultimate creamy cheesecake if you take the chance and remove at this exact point. You don't want it to be liquid, but you do want a jiggle similar to jello, just in the center part about 3-4 inches wide.
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At this point turn off the oven and prop the oven door open and leave the cheesecake in the turned off oven for 45 minutes. Finally remove the cheesecake from the oven and let cool on your countertop until completely cool. You can remove the springform pan at this point. Refrigerate if not ready to decorate yet.
Decorate the Turtle Cheesecake
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You can either pour the caramel in the center of the cheesecake, swirl with the back of a spoon to smooth out and then pipe chocolate decoration. Go for abstract or for a more linear look with parallel lines.
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Optional; set out a bowl of chopped pecans, preferable toasted for nut lovers to add to their piece of cake. I typically don't add the nuts to the cheesecake because there are several people who don't care for the nuts.
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