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Spent three hours trying to fix a cracked cheesecake top
I was making a classic New York style cheesecake for a friend's birthday, and the top cracked right down the middle after it cooled. I figured I could fix it with a simple sour cream topping, but the first batch I made was way too runny. So I had to make a second, thicker one, which meant waiting for the whole cake to chill again. Then the topping itself started to pull away from the edges when I spread it. I ended up carefully patching it with a spatula and extra graham cracker crumbs around the border. The whole repair job took over three hours from start to finish, when the baking itself only took one. Has anyone else found a faster way to salvage a cracked top without re-baking?
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lewis.mila2mo ago
Yeah, kai_webb91's jam trick is a total game changer.
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kai_webb912mo ago
Ugh, that sinking feeling when you see the crack... been there. Last time it happened, I skipped the sour cream layer entirely. I just warmed some apricot jam with a tiny bit of water, brushed it over the warm cake to fill the crack, and let it set. It acted like a shiny glue. For the edges, I pressed the crust crumbs into the sides before it fully set. Took maybe 20 minutes total and looked intentional, like a fancy glaze.
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nancyjones13d ago
Seventy-three dollars worth of cheesecake ingredients down the drain last Christmas because I was too proud to try anything but the sour cream fix. I read kai_webb91's jam trick and rolled my eyes, thought it was just some shortcut that wouldn't hold up. But after my last cracked cheesecake I gave in and brushed on some warmed up raspberry jam mixed with a splash of water while the cake was still warm from the oven. Now I'm mad at myself for not trying it sooner. Does the jam ever soak in too much and make the crack soggy if you brush it on while the cake is still hot?
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That apricot jam trick from kai_webb91, does it work on a cold cake too?
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