Kathie's Cheese Cake

Kathie’s cheesecake is a crustless, deep-baked Oreo cheesecake with a clever twist: the cookies aren’t a base, they’re folded right into the batter so every slice is studded with chunks of chocolate cookie. Two pounds of cream cheese, almost two cups of sugar, five eggs, and a dose of both vanilla and almond extract make a tall, dense, almost candy-rich cake.

The water bath is what keeps this one from cracking. A bain-marie of an inch or more of water turns the oven into a humid chamber, so the surface stays soft while the center sets gently over a slow 90 minutes. After cooling completely in the water, you flip the whole cake upside down and dust the new top with crushed cookie crumbs.

Pro Tips

• Make sure the cream cheese is fully at room temperature before whipping. Cold cream cheese leaves stubborn lumps you can’t beat out without overworking the batter.
• Don’t beat too long after adding the eggs. Aggressive mixing pulls in air, and that air expands and cracks the surface as it bakes.
• Wrap the outside of the springform or solid cake pan in heavy-duty foil before setting it in the water bath. Even a tiny leak ruins the texture.
• Test for doneness when the center has a slight wobble but the edges look set. It firms up considerably as it cools in the water bath.

Variations

• Swap the Oreos for crushed Heath bars or chopped Twix as the recipe suggests for a caramel-toffee version.
• Drop the almond extract and double the vanilla for a cleaner, more classic flavor.
• Drizzle cooled slices with warm hot fudge or salted caramel for a sundae-style finish.