I made the cheesecake for a holiday we have in here, in which it is tradition to eat dairy food, and cheesecake is the common dessert.
At first I was worried because I went for the ladyfingers version, which requisites a 9 inch by 3 inch springform pan, but I only have an 8-inch pan. But I guessed i would use less batter and it should be fine; the rest can be baked in custard cups.
Then, as I poured the batter into the pan, really really slowly- and with a SPOON- the ladyfingers on the bottom started coming up and float in a see of liquidy batter!
So i pulled them out and left only the ones on the sides.

But then, THOSE started coming up too!!
So I tried nudging them down and quickly putting the cake in the oven, where they tried that trick again, so i periodically nudeged them down until they looked set [after about 15 mins]. Then I baked the cake regularly.

After all my alterations and interferences, the cake tasted divine. Creamy and luscious.

P.S. We only have ladyfingers [Savoiardi] which are crunchy and crispy, and not soft, which is why I think it was hard for them to stick to the pan. Does anyone else faced that problem- and handled it? I think maybe next time I should moisten them a bit to make them adhere.

Beautiful, McBrownie!  I love how you have the ladyfingers with the cheesecake between them.  I assume it’s not intended, but it’s a beautiful kind of happy accident!!!  The top is so perfect and even and the cherries look beautiful!!  Congratulations!  Where is ‘here’ that you have this tradition?

McBrownie, the soft ladyfingers won’t float as easy as the hard ones do.  the soft ones are normally baked together and kept together.  or, if separated, you can squeeze them together as you line your ring, one tight to another, so the ring is more solid.

McBrownie, I did that cake a couple of months ago and foresaw that issue before I made the batter. I simply drug the tops(rounded) of the ladyfingers lightly across a stick of butter and let it be the ‘glue’ to hold them in place, then poured the batter in. I slit the ones for the bottom lengthwise and cut them into wedge shapes so they fit the round pan better. The butter cooked into the cookie and no one was the wiser. There’s a photo of my finished caked on my blog, the second from last entry I think. Yours is beautiful and I know how it tastes- nothing better in my opinion- well, maybe chocolate, or lemon curd, or….

Thanks everyone!

Anne- I love that too! There are a few ladyfingers that stuck together and didn’t let the batter come between them [ha], but tehy are hidden in the back as I do think it’s prettier like that.
Oh, and ‘here’ is Israel; The holiday is called Shavu’ot.

Hector- Yeah, I thought so. I wonder if the soft ones are available here..

K Nelson- Thanks for the tips!
I actually did that for the sides, But probably not properly.. 
For the bottom I didn’t halve them because I was afraid they would crumble. I just cut them into pieces.
Didn’t they crumble? Though, actually, it doesn’t really matter how they look on the bottom.
I guess if you halve them, because they are shallower, they will also tend to stay down more.

The photo on the blog looks lovely! I love how royal it looks with the high crown, doily and ribbon. And that cranberry topping that drips from the piece looks amazing too.

By the way, you can see on the left a rebellious, obstinate ladyfinger that sticks out more than the rest! Funny.
Thanks everybody!