Baked Cheesecake Tasting "Eggy"

Our answer

Baked cheesecakes need to contain some egg as the egg thickens the cheesecake mixture as it bakes, in a similar way to a baked custard, so it is possible that you are more sensitive to the egg flavours within the cheesecake or maybe did not add quite enough flavouring (such as vanilla). If the recipe used has a lot of eggs in it then you could use half whole eggs and half egg yolks as it is the yolks that are really needed and removing some of the whites may help. The exception to this is if the cheesecake is a type where the egg whites are whisked and folded in separately then you need all of the egg whites to help with the texture of the baked cheesecake. You could also try reducing the number of eggs slightly if there are a large number, as a rule of thumb you should need a minimum of 1 egg per 225g/8 ounces cream cheese.

It is also possible that the cheesecake is overbaked. Some people feel that overbaked cheesecakes can taste a bit "eggy" though there is no factual reason for this. The most obvious sign of overbaking is that the cheesecake will tend to have a large crack on the surface. Nigella tends to prefer to bake cheescakes in a water bath at a relatively low temperature to ensure gentle and even cooking of the cheesecake. Wrap the base of the springform tin tightly in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) followed by a double layer of foil, making sure that the wrapping comes up the sides of the tin. Put the filled springform tin in a small roasting tin and fill with enough hot water from a freshly boiled kettle to come halfway up the side if the springform tin (and not over the top of the protective wrapping). Bake at 170c/325F/gas mk 3 for around 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours, checking regularly after 1 hour. The cheesecake should still have some wobble in the centre (though not be obvioulsly liquid) when it comes out of the oven as it will continue to cook as it cools.