Why is a bain-marie so important in Cheesecake baking? Recipes without flour or corn starch (and, let's face it, you don't want to interrupt the cheese-y smoothness with powdery thickeners, though it might make the pie closer to cake) tend to crack, and it's easier to overcook a cheesecake (another cause of cracking) when you don't use a water bath.

Below are last week's white chocolate cheesecake and the other night's white chocolate caramel cheesecake. Guess which one took advantage of the bain-marie.