Despite what my Flickr photostream may have been implying lately, I don’t like baking. It’s such an exact science, full of measuring cups and timed ovens and expensive baking equipment. Cooking on the stovetop is so much more satisfying in that you can toss in nearly whatever strikes your fancy and come up with something palatable.

However, since my baking endeavours of late have been successful, and my guinea pigs at work have only given positive reviews, I tried my hand at an intermediate-level baking job: a cheesecake.

And not just any cheesecake–a Martha Stewart strawberries and cream cheesecake. I found it tantalizing me from inside July’s Martha Stewart Living magazine, and I just had to try it.

Result? Disaster. I even tried it twice. Ruined a decent baking pan by trying to roast the strawberries for the time specified in the recipe. The second time around, I cut the roasting time down to 35 minutes and it turned out fine. However, this time a) the number of cups of plain cream cheese mixture to reserve was totally off and b) the water from the water bath seeped in. This is how it turned out (see full photoset):

Next time, I will totally avoid all Martha Stewart recipes and stick to what I’ve now learned about making good cheesecakes:

Making sublime cheesecakes (article)
Making crumb crusts (photo tutorial)
Making cheesecake filling (photo tutorial)
Baking cheesecakes (photo tutorial)

If you want to try your luck at this Martha Stewart recipe, try it out and let me know how it worked out for you…

PS: Use these baking conversions, for any of you who are metrically inclined: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ConversionsEquivalencies.html