Cheesecakes Gone Wrong:(

Hi there! I am a very novice baker, so my advise is certainly not that of a pro, but hopefully you find it helpful. That seems like a lot of flour for one cheesecake. That could be contributing to the blandness. The NY Cheesecake I make is slightly different in the ingredient measurements from those in the one that you have from AllRecipes.com. Here's mine:
5 pkgs of crm cheese
1 c. sugar
3 T flour
1 T vanilla
1 c. sour cream

If you want, I can send you the entire recipe or you could try the one you have again and just reduce the amount of flour and possibly increase the amount of cream cheese. Good luck!
-D.

I love cheesecake, but have never made this kind. It can be a difficult thing to make, which is usually why I stick with the no bake kind.

I read some reviews for this recipe and one said that is you grease the sides of the pan it doesn't crack as much and this review sounded pretty helpful as well:

"OK - I don't want to be rude, but this is the deal: this is a perfect recipe, and if it fails for you, it's your fault, not the recipe's. A couple of things you should know about cheesecakes: OVERBEATING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO CRACK. Beat cream cheese with sugar only until smooth. Proceed with a wooden spoon for the rest of the recipe. OVERBEATING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO HAVE THE "WRONG" TEXTURE. Air bubbles, gritty/not creamy texture, etc., are fixed my the same instructions above. OVERCOOKING WILL CAUSE A CHEESECAKE TO CRACK. Do NOT cook this cheesecake until it's set. Matter of fact, don't check it at all. Put the cheesecake in the oven, set the timer to 60 min., turn the oven off, and forget it. I mean it! Don't open the oven, just leave it alone to do its thing. And that's it. A beautiful cheesecake. Far from bland: this is a PURIST'S cheesecake. It's great as is, but also a great foil for other flavours. I serve mine with passionfruit pulp or mango puree.

this one seemed pretty helpful as well:

"I found this recipe a few years ago, and have been making it ever since. I have changed a few things according to my taste. I bake mine in a water bath, and that helps to keep it more moist, and also to avoid cracking. Make sure you put it into boiling water instead of cold. Also, put your cheesecake in an oven bag before you put it into the water bath. Wrapping the pan in tin foil just doesn't seem to keep the water away from the crust. I also don't even add the flour. It allows the cake to be less like cake, and it makes it so creamy and rich. I also double the butter in the crust, and I add the whites of one egg. This allows it to hold together better, so it's a lot less crumbly. Lastly, I don't let mine sit in the oven for 5 to 6 hours, who has the time? I put mine straight into the fridge. It seems to turn out just as well. Good luck! :)"

and this one talks about reducing the flour for a creamier texture:

"I reduced to 2 tbsp. of flour for a creamier texture. For a flawless, no crack or browned cheesecake, it is best to bake it in a water bath on the middle shelf of the oven. Cover bottom and sides of cheesecake pan with foil (to prevent water from seeping in) and set in larger roasting pan. Pour boiling water in roasting pan so that it reaches approx. halfway up cheesecake pan. I never ever get cracks, and my cheesecake never browns. Also, it is important to bring cream cheese to room temp., so you don't end up overbeating the filling (which causes cracks and bubbles). I only left it in the oven for 1 hour after I stopped baking. Let it cool properly before putting it in refrigerator or you will end up with condensation on top."

I've made a few cheesecakes (pumpkin, marble, blackforest, and apple)---but though I'm not an expert by any means, my personal opinion is too many ingredients. I've never put flour in any of my cheesecakes, for example. The best cheesecake I've ever made, hands down, is allrecipe's "autumn cheesecake". My husband always said he liked it "plain" best, until this one...and my friend who is actually from New York City said this one rocked her world and tasted "like home" (a real compliment!)--she insists on this being her birthday cake every year. You may want to try it out!
You can check the recipe (autumn cheesecake) for how to make the crust. I do my own, with gingersnaps I get from the British Emporium, but it has a recipe for crust included. There's a few changes to the recipe though that a lot of people agree on, and the way I do it is like this:
4 (8oz) cream cheese, softened (are you letting it soften before mixing? also, are you using a name brand instead of store brand? thinking that may affect the recipe you tried before).
1/2 C Sugar (not powdered! I made that mistake one time when I didn't have normal sugar)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium just until smooth. Then add 1 egg at a time, mixing well after each, and then blend in the vanilla and pour into the baked crust.

For the topping:
4 C apples: peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (I think Braeburn works perfectly for this: not too tart, not too sweet)
1/3 C sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Best to put all this in a larg ziploc bag and shake it up to mix it well, then microwave a few seconds to let the apples be a little softened. then arrange the apples on top of the cheesecake batter. You can top the apples with 1/4 C of chopped pecans, but that's optional. I love pecans but haven't bothered with that. Do a water bath (hot water) or at least put a pan of water on the tray below, which is what I usually do. Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes. Don't mess with the oven while it's cooking...just leave it alone for 60 minutes and then check it by sticking a toothpick through to see if it's cooked. If not, adjust the time then. When it's cooked, I turn the oven off and leave the oven door open a little and leave it there awhile to cool off (30 minutes?). When it's cooled down it will "settle" where the top comes back down to a normal level (not high above the crust, lol) and then you can put it in the fridge and chill it.
Another mistake I have made in the past was putting it in the fridge before it cools down on its own. That screwed up the texture a bit, but not the taste. Don't rush it. :) Hope this helps.

I have made this recipe before too, a few times before, and I also found it a little lack luster. I don't think it's the method, it's the recipe. If you read all the reviews there are several people who thought it wasn't sweet enough. Over beating generally changes the texture not the taste and the water baths are meant to keep it from cracking. If anything I just don't think this recipe is sweet enough (just my opinion).I have found that I personally am not a fan of cheesecakes made with sour cream. I know a lot of people like that one, I guess it's just not our cup of tea. Happy Baking!

There's no flour in cheesecake ; )

Many people add a flavoring... a stick of marzapan/almond paste, chopped heath bars, 1/4 tsp lemon extract, almond extract, or amaretto. Sometimes I add almond flavoring and stir in raspberry preserves (just stir enough to create a marbled look).

Or a topping for added flavor...chocolate icing, fruit topping, lemon/cream cheese icing, chocolate-peanut butter icing...or add a cheesecake layer...lord I could go on and on! I can't imagine any dessert that couldn't be mixed in!

It's funny you sent this recently b/c I JUST made this recipe again on Sunday for my MIL's bday -- she requested it. My husband's family LOVES this recipe. Actually I think it's TOO rich and sweet for my taste! That's funny how some people think it's not sweet enough. You guys must have extremely SWEET teeth! yowsers! Seriously -- I need water/milk/coffee to drink b/c it's too rich for my taste. But my husband's family loves it. How can FOUR 8oz blocks of cream cheese taste like air?!?! Oooo-weee! that's a lot of cream cheese! And it's sooo sweet!

oh and mine is never hard. What I do is I bake it in the water bath but I also wrap 2 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil around the bottom of the cheesecake pan -- then I put it in the water bath. AND after baking for one hour, I let it cool off in the oven (turned off) for 5 hrs. then I transfer it to the refrigerator (put a plastic wrap cover on it).

Have you tried making it again? B/c maybe you didn't measure out everything correctly. Read ingredients very carefully. I know I get ingreds. measured out first and ready to go (like a cooking show) first, then I start mixing things together. Plus, from other cheesecake tips I've read online. ... I bring the cold ingreds to room temp (eggs, butter, milk, cream cheese, sour cream) then I start mixing - that makes the mixing easier/faster so you won't overbeat it.

I would recommend trying a new recipe. This one from Cook's Illustrated looks great: http://www.grouprecipes.com/20528/cooks-illustrated-chees...

My trick for cheesecakes is that you have to take them out of the oven before they look like they are done. This is scary, because the outsides should be slightly set, but the middle should looks jiggly, like it's not ready at all. Take it out at this point and let it set up completely. It will firm up and continue to cook through on residual heat; the result will be a beautifully creamy cheesecake.