Manhattan Cheesecake was my choice this month for the Cake Slice bakers. We're changing things up here a little at the Cake Slice. Instead of all of us baking the one winning vote, we get to choose to bake any of the four selections that are selected for the month. This change will be only for the remainder of the book, then when we bake from our new book in October the rules change back.
I was eager to make this cake, that I suggested it for my daughters birthday, she agreed! I gathered all my ingredients and went to work! I had a bit of trouble making the crust. I still don't own a food processor and had to do with what I had. I used my Ninja blender to grind the graham crackers, it was a bit of trouble but it turned out fine. When it came to making the batter, that's when I got really frustrated! My Ninja blender wasn't powerful enough to blend the ingredients! It took me a bit of time to get thinks incorporated. I'm not even sure after all that trouble if I over mixed my filling, I think I did.
I did love the flavor of the filling, I honestly thought it was heavenly! I finished placing the cake in the oven and baked it accordingly to the instructions. My cake sunk a little after I removed it from the oven, at the time it called to. It also cracked while baking. I was in such a hurry the next day to decorate the cake that I missed the instructions on how to place the strawberries on the cake. I don't think it turned out bad. I substituted strawberry preserves instead of apricot, since I knew the apricot preserves would go to waste.
Everybody seemed to enjoy the cake, and thought it was delicious! I honestly thought it was just okay. It was a bit too rich for me. I felt the cake was super creamy, and softer than I expected. The crust for me was really overpowering with richness, too sweet, and boy could I taste the butter!
I'm not sure I would make this cake again, my family loved it though. I think if I were to make it again I would cut back on the sugar, and completely leave it out in the crust. The butter in the crust would also be cut back. With all those changes I'm not sure I would even want to make it again, I would much rather just move on to another cheesecake recipe.
