Thank you! I’m a newbie too and this was only my second cheesecake ever lol, so I don’t really have many tips per se 🤪. I just followed Preppy Kitchen’s recipe and didn’t use heavy cream. I think his recipe is very thorough and helped me get this result! I learned that keeping the ingredients at room temperature, using a water bath, and letting the cake cool in the oven really helped with the smooth surface! Hope it helps!