Michael wrote on 14 May 2006 in rec.food.cooking

> I like making cheesecakes, but my crusts suck. They are much
> harder than what I want. I am using ratios of 1 cup crushed
> graham crackers, 3 TB sugar, and 3 TB butter. Maybe a little
> heavier on the butter and lighter on the sugar, but that's close.
> I mold the crust up the sides, so I usually triple or quadruple
> that amount to get about a 1/4 inch crust. I have tried molding
> gently rather than pressing hard. That helped some but not
> enough.
>
> I quit pre-baking the crust at all in order to reduce its hardness,
> but that hasn't fixed it. The recipe I use is pretty close to the
> New York Cheesecake that's inside the Philadephia Cream
> Cheese boxes. I underbake by about 15 minutes. Recipe
> calls for 65 minutes and I go for 50. Works for me.
>
> How do I make my crusts soft? Do you have a simple
> alternative crust I could try?
>
> Thank you, Michael
>
>

Try using more butter...say 4 tbsps... (I mean 1 more tbsp more than you
use now) see what that does...

Add some cinnamonor some such to the crust mix... try adding almond
crumbs or both. But increasing the butter should work.

The other stuff might make the crust taste better or more to your liking.



--
-Alan