Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I actually use a recipe from a Williams-Sonoma book someone bought me as a gift (only adaptations have been increasing the butter and decreasing the cooking time for the crust). There are 4 packs of cheese (I think), in a 9" (I think) pan. I can't recall time/temp specifics either, but I believe it cooks @ 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. As Jerzee said, it will jiggle, but will set once cooled. No foil tenting, water baths or temperature changes.

Puffing, I've found, is a sign of overmixing - make sure your cream cheese, eggs, and whatever else is being added to the filling is room temperature - otherwise, it will take longer to mix, and you'll incorporate more air, causing it to puff and/or crack. As soon as it's incorporated, stop mixing.

Also, take it slow when cooling - like Jerzee, I let mine cool to room temperature prior to wrapping it and putting it in the fridge.

I concur with Jerzee and stratusgd: don't overmix, low and slow, gradual cool down...I run a knife around and loosen (not remove) the sides after it comes out of oven/ before the fridge to help with cracking.

BUT: your cousin loves your cheesecake. Don't sweat it too much! Cracks mean it is homemade, not factory produced. Consider them a badge of honor and offer the cake with pride!

You definitely need the water bath, and the temp should not be higher than 350ºF in the oven. I agree about mixing too much, too -- one thing you can do is after you pour the batter into the pan, pick the pan up a couple of inches and drop it on the counter a few times to push out the air bubbles. Always start with room temp cream cheese and eggs (and if you use sour cream or anything else like that, it should also be room temp). And as stratusgd said, let the cake cool to room temp on a rack before wrapping and refrigerating.

Good luck! You're a great cousin :)

I think you only need a water bath if you are cooking at a higher temp. If you are in the 225-250 range, you should not need it. I get very consistent results throughout in a cheap electric oven and using 6-7 blocks creamcheese in a 10" pan. WAYYY too much trouble for not much difference.

that I usually don't sweat cracking, but if you've got the future in-laws or other guests you feel you MUST impress coming over and your almost done cheesecake is cracking, here's a tip from my much loved and very missed aunt - make a topping by mixing 1-1/2 cups sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 3 tablespoons white sugar, pour it over the top of the cheesecake and bake at 350 for another 5-8 minutes. This will taste great and cover any cracks.