How Do You Like Your Cheesecake?
Photograph from sabotrax on Flickr
This week is the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which celebrates the Jews receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. The holiday is perhaps most famous for its connection with eating dairy foods, a tradition whose origin is usually traced to a line in Exodus (3:17) that refers to Israel as a land "flowing with milk and honey." It is fitting, then, that one of the most prominent dairy foods Jews eat on Shavuot is cheesecake, one of the greatest expressions of the beautiful marriage between sweetness and cream.
Almost everywhere where fresh cheeses can found, one can find a regional twist on cheesecake. Most American cheesecakes use cream cheese and heavy cream as the base, although there are variations which substitute sour cream for the heavy cream. (Using sour cream additionally allows one to freeze the cake for a short period of time.)
The most famous (to me anyway) is New York cheesecake, which places an emphasis on heavy cream. To me New York is the standard-bearer, but that's what I grew up with so I am biased. Other regional variations differ mainly on whatever type of fresh cheese is most available. For instance, Roman cheesecake uses ricotta and honey, while the German version relies on quark. The Swedes have an interesting take on cheesecake; according to Wikipedia, Swedish cheesecake "is not layered and is traditionally produced by adding rennet to milk and letting the casein coagulate. It is then baked in an oven and served warm."
Cheesecakes can also be an ongoing source of woe for the home baker. They fall, they crack, the crusts become soggy, they're lumpy, they don't set. Allrecipes.com has published a great set of tips for troubleshooting failed cheesecakes.
What about you? What's your favorite cheesecake variation? What's the best type of cheese to use?
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22 Comments:
Oooh, I about died the first time I tried a turtle cheesecake. But that's when I was little - my sweet tooth has receded since then. Now I love it plain, or with blueberry. One of my fave restaurants here pours strawberry sauce on cheesecake with a balsamic vinegar reduction. That is just plain delicious.
lo82070 at 12:17PM on 06/10/08
What is the cheesecake in the picture made out of? It looks soft and creamy, not like the cold hard bricks that see in restaurants.
The pic actually looks like a piece I had in a mexican taco shop years ago, it was so different tasting, but I never asked what they made it out of.
Carosone at 12:19PM on 06/10/08
Usually just plain, but a slice of Simma's cheesecake here in Milwaukee will send me to momentary heaven.
Nezrite at 1:38PM on 06/10/08
Shavuot! A wonderful reason to eat cheesecake!
(As though I need one).
RichardCrystal at 1:52PM on 06/10/08
I love cheesecake anyway I can get it!
tracychin at 1:54PM on 06/10/08
I think one of the keys to a really creamy cheesecake is not serving it ice-cold. All that butterfat is a lot softer then. I just knocked off a pina colada cheesecake for a party I went to, a new recipe, and by the time it had been out on the table for a couple of hours, what was left (not much) was the consistency of really thick sour cream.
lemons at 2:04PM on 06/10/08
Mmmm, plain with a sour cream top or with a touch of strawberry or blueberry glop.
Kerosena at 2:54PM on 06/10/08
my favorite is with pineapple sauce with a little bit of maraschino cherry juice.
jennywren at 3:02PM on 06/10/08
not a big sweet tooth here but I do enjoy cheesecake once in a blue moon... If I could snap my fingers and a piece would appear right now I'd like it to be a white chocolate cheesecake, or dulce de leche cheesecake with caramel drizzled over the top.
*snap* *snap* *snap* sigh.... my snap isn't working :(
Southern_bella at 3:22PM on 06/10/08
oops, left out another one that I like... creme brulee cheesecake.
damn now I could go for a nice slice
Southern_bella at 3:32PM on 06/10/08
plain, plain, plain! i definitely hate mixed fruit fillings. they're okay on top, but in it? no thank you.
Kaley at 5:01PM on 06/10/08
Carrot cake cheesecake ... best of both worlds!
poke87 at 5:11PM on 06/10/08
Mmmm..want!
Now I gotta make one.
My fave way now is to add about 8-16 oz of goat cheese to the cream cheese and sour cream mix. It ends up a little tangy and has a nicer crumble to the cake. Well-drained ricotta is also good, but I prefer the goat.
I ALWAYS add whiskey to the mix, and then either go vanilla bean or citrus juice/zest. Plain with fruit topping.
I like to skip the crust, but when making for others I use crushed ANZAC biscuits for it rather than graham crax.
And yep-serving it a little closer to room temp is much better than ice cold.
Those bricks in restaurants/grocery stores...ick. I don't even like to think about what that stuff is made out of.
That pic is gorgeous..screams summer. Yum.
sadiepix at 5:40PM on 06/10/08
Ohhhh got this from the dreaded Food Network. Giada's cheesecake with biscotti crust with honey, orange, ricotta, cheesecake is to die for!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never recieved so many kudos on anything. Just thinking about it----I haven't made one in about a month----must have tonight!!!
finsbigfan at 5:48PM on 06/10/08
I am a cheesecake purist--nothing but New York Style, graham cracker crust, with a sour cream topping.
I LOVE Cooks Illustrated's NY Style Cheesecake recipe, anything with 2.5 lbs. of cream cheese is going to taste good in my book!
bobcatsteph3 at 9:27PM on 06/10/08
I like half cream cheese half ricotta cheesecake with pate sucre crust. A little vanilla crush with vanilla bean flecks and pinch of orange oil. (or Fiori di Sicilia if you have it) pinch of cinnamon. I make this at easter time. I make NY style with pineapple or cherries at christmas time but its not that good to me. My all time go to is the Baltimore style Smearcase. That is some good stuff.
JerzeeTomato at 8:19AM on 06/11/08
Junior's Strawberry Cheesecake in downtown Brooklyn is at the top of my list. When I can't get there, my girlfriend makes her own version that is equally delicious.
spicedyankee at 9:16AM on 06/11/08
The best cheesecake I ever made was a recipe from a Hadassah cookbook and it was made with cottage cheese and sour cream (I decided I would put the cottage cheese in the blender so it would be smooth. Added all other ingredients and poured it into a cookie dough crust. The concensus of opinion from all who tasted it found it fantastic and it was. Smooth, silky and who cares if there's a little crack in the top.
If anyone wants the recipe I'll send it on.
surrah@optonline.net
shirl at 9:40AM on 06/11/08
Some of the best fruit topping for cheesecakes comes from wild berries you can pick during the summer or get all year around at www.nwwildfoods.com. Wild huckleberries and blackberries make a delicious cheesecake topping, probably the best ive ever tasted.
nwwildfoods at 1:06PM on 06/11/08
I made a cheesecake from a recipe I got here (kinda)! It's an orange cheesecake with a maccaroon crust (kosher for Passover and gluten free!) that was made with... well... I fudged the recipe a bit. 1 block of cream cheese, one block of neufchatel, 1 cup of sugar, 4 oz of sour cream, 5 eggs (well blended one at a time with the cream cheese), and a tsp or so of vanilla. Um. Pinch of salt. I think. ;-D
Stufsocker at 2:00PM on 06/11/08
@jennywren- THAT SOUNDS AMAZING!!
I like all cheesecake. Key lime, chocolate, original with fruit topping!
smile at 8:25PM on 06/11/08
I like Juniors Cheesecake (I get it online and get it delivered to Texas), and I like a Raspberry Habanero sauce on top of it.
sean_mcgee at 1:49PM on 06/12/08