Jessica Badalana

Like people love cheesecake.

The secret's going to come out at some point in this episode that cheesecake is actually not my top dessert.

So I imagine in the 3,000 recipes that you did for The Chew, and then you have cookbooks, you have your magazine, you've probably developed a cheesecake or two in your time.

Yes.

Correct.

Well, let's talk about that whipping thing, because I think that's interesting.

You know, you're starting with a cream cheese based cheesecake, right?

So you've got your softened cream cheese in there and you're beating it.

But there is a risk of overbeating.

You know what I mean?

I think the cracking is a real pain point for people.

Yes.

So let's talk about that.

So over whipping, getting too much air in it causes your cheesecake to rise in the oven.

And then, I mean, collapse is a strong word, but it settles, right?

That speaks to the custard element of it too, because you've got your cheese, you have your egg yolks.

And so I think gentleness is sort of the order of the day as far as like you get that nice sort of even cooking heat.

It's gentler than just, you know, throwing the oven, hoping for the best.

Okay.

But by then the water bath is like room temperature.