Next week all of the girls in the office decided to bring lunch in for bosses day and we were asking what they wanted to eat and strawberry or cherry cheesecake came up. I've only made two cheesecakes, one was a snickers cheesecake that came out great, no problems, and then I used the same recipe without the snickers and ribboned preserves in and on top. It came out pretty good except that in the top where I put the jam and ran the knife through to make that design it cracked during baking. I've heard about putting the springform pan in a larger pan with water and this prevents this - is this true?

I need help and hints with the baking and if anyone has a really good recipe for a New York type cheesecake could you please share? Thank you!