I just made a White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake, and it ended up being a failure appearance-wise.
For some reason, it cracked a lot, and the batter ended up super lumpy, so the cheesecake is all heterogenous looking:
The main problem though can be seen in the large crack at the bottom of the image. For some reason, when I took it out, there was liquid pooling in the cracks. I tried wicking it with some paper towel, and it came out yellow. I felt it, and it was greasy. The only thing I can think that it might be is butter.
I've never had this happen before. It must have been because to make a chocolate layer in the middle, I added some butter to the chocolate to thin it a bit (~1 tsp/oz of chocolate), and I must have overdone it. I was BS'ing this recipe as I went, so I don't really have a recipe book to blame here.
Now, I can't taste it because it was made for someone else. I have no idea what the "damage" is in the inside. My problem now is deciding if it's salvageable, and how to go about fixing it if it is.
I've been wicking the butter out with a paper towel, but that doesn't get much, and I don't want to risk widening the crack further.
Does anyone have experience with cheesecakes that have had too much fat added to them? Is there a way to get rid of the butter on the top? Is there a way to tell if it'll be edible?
Update:
So, after chilling it overnight, the butter on top seemed to have receded back into the cake. At that point, I was worried less about the appearance (because that was already out the window), and more about it being a butter-sponge when bitten into. I guess after the fact though, there's likely nothing that can be done about that.
And I've already given it to the ""customer"" (a coworker). I offered to refund it if it's inedible. She's convinced that it will be fine, but we'll see.
From this point, I'd like to know how, in the future, a situation like this can be dealt with should it happen again.
Here's the recipe that I had put together by the end:
Crust:
3 cups Ginger Cookie Crumbs
⅓ cup butter
Filling:
500g Cream Cheese
½ cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla
¼ Cup Raspberry Jam (+ a little to compensate for moisture loss from heating)
2 eggs
Chocolate Layer:
6-8 oz White Chocolate
6-8 tsp butter (~1 tsp/oz of chocolate)
Preheat to 325F
Crust:
Combine ingredients
Pack into 9-10” springform
Bake at 375F for 5-7 minutes
Set aside
Filling:
Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla
Heat jam just until warm and runny, and mix in to batter
Mix in eggs carefully, mixing just enough to combine
Layer:
Melt butter, and add chocolate on very low heat
Pour a thin layer of about half the melted chocolate over the crust
Spread half the batter over chocolate covered crust
Pour the rest of the chocolate over the first layer of batter
Pour in the rest of the batter
Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until centre is almost set.
Allow to cool, then chill overnight.
Edit: I asked the buyer how it was. She said it tasted fine, but that the chocolate layer had an odd consistency and crunchiness. Apparently the oozing butter was non-consequential.