Shadowing Practice: The Perfect Cheesecake - Anyone Can Bake - Learn English Speaking with Video

Welcome back to Anyone Can Bake, the series where I show you how to make classic baking recipes in a way that actually feels doable.

Today, we're making my perfect cheesecake.

It's silky smooth and ultra creamy, has a perfect balance of sweetness, and sits on top of a classic graham cracker crust.

If cheesecake's ever felt intimidating, I'm here to walk you through simple steps that will make it come out perfectly every time.

So here's how to make it.

Starting off with a graham cracker crust, place your graham crackers into a food processor or high -powered blender and pulse until they form fine crumbs.

Then add in melted butter, granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt and pulse again until the mixture resembles wet sand.

Next, prepare your cheesecake pan.

Take the bottom part of your pan and stencil it onto a sheet of parchment paper.

Cut that out and you have a perfect barrier that will prevent your graham cracker base from sticking to your pan.

Then, pour in your crust.

I like to start by using my fingers to push it to the edges, then switch to a cup measure or anything else with a flat bottom

and use it to really pack the crust into an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

And voila, a perfect graham cracker crust.

Set that aside while you make your cheesecake filling.

Now here is the most important thing about making cheesecake.

Your ingredients need to be fully room temperature or else your cheesecake could turn out lumpy instead of smooth.

Cold cream cheese does not blend properly, so I put mine on the counter for a few hours until it's soft to the touch.

Same for sour cream.

It should be completely room temperature.

As for the eggs, I like to place those in a container of hot water for five minutes, which gets them up to room temp in no time.

Add that softened cream cheese to a stand mixer, it will look pretty gloopy.

Then add in the sour cream along with 1 1⁄4 cups of granulated sugar.

Mix everything together on medium speed until it's combined.

It should look very soft and creamy at this stage.

Then with the mixer still running, add in the eggs one at a time, letting each fully incorporate.

Then add in vanilla extract and salt and mix until combined.

Pour your batter into your prepared pan.

As you can see, even with all those room temp ingredients, my batter was still slightly lumpy, but as long as everything really was room temperature it's okay

and pro tip before it bakes bang your pan on the

counter a few times to help release any air bubbles then

place a baking pan filled with hot water into your oven this adds moisture to your oven

which helps keep your cheesecake creamy while it bakes

and reduces chances of cracks on top then put in your cheesecake

and bake it for 55 minutes you'll know it's done

when it looks slightly puffed on top

but still jiggly especially in the middle now instead of taking

your cheesecake out of the oven turn off your oven open the door a crack, and leave the cheesecake inside to cool slowly for one more hour.

This helps it to settle gently and prevents cracks from forming as it cools.

After an hour, cover it with tinfoil

and transfer it to the fridge to let it chill for at least two more hours, but up to overnight.

And then it's ready.

A perfect cheesecake in all her glory.

No cracks, no fuss, just a classic cheesecake that tastes even better than it looks.

Top her with some fruit compote and you have yourself a dessert that's equal parts smooth, creamy, and rich.

And as you can tell from my reaction, I'm obsessed.

You can find the full recipe in my profile or on brumbabakery .com under the perfect cheesecake.

Enjoy!

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43 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Perfect Cheesecake - Anyone Can Bake”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: cheesecake, pan, add, perfect, cracker. This video has 48 sentences and 668 words to shadow. The speech runs for 2:54. The speaker talks fast, about 230 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 76% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
bake verb	/beɪk/	To cook (something) in an oven (for someone).
graham noun	/ɡɹæm/	Flour made by grinding wheat berries including the bran.
crust noun	/kɹʌst/	A more solid, dense or hard layer on a surface or boundary.
crack noun	/kɹæk/	A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.
oven noun	/ˈʌ.vn̩/	A chamber used for baking or heating.
smooth adjective	/smuːð/	Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
egg noun	/ɛɡ/	An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell…
recipe noun	/ˈɹɛs.ɪ.pi/	Any set of instructions for preparing a mixture of ingredients.
combine verb	/kəmˈbaɪn/	To bring (two or more things or activities) together; to unite.
pour verb	/poɹ/	To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it.
pulse noun	/pʌls/	A normally regular beat felt when arteries near the skin (for example, at the neck or wrist) are depressed, caused by the heart pumping blood through them; the…
sour adjective	/ˈsaʊ.ə/	Tasting of acidity.
ingredient noun	/ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/	One of the substances present in a mixture, especially food.
batter verb	/ˈbætə/	To hit or strike violently and repeatedly.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
turn off verb		To power down, to switch off, to put out of operation, to deactivate (an appliance, light, mechanism, functionality etc.).
turn out verb		To end up; to result.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Advice with “should” should + verb — saying what is a good idea	should be · should look
Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction	will make · will prevent · will look

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 4 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, you'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

Long words — get the stress right: ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, incorporate /ɪŋˈkɔɹ.pɚ.eɪt/, intimidate /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like bake, graham, crust.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: The Perfect Cheesecake - Anyone Can Bake - Learn English Speaking with Video

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