The Luxury of Cheesecake

Some people yearn for chocolate—that's their ultimate in decadent fare. For me, it's cheesecake.

And no, I don't mix the two. While I've tasted my share of chocolate-swirled, Amaretto, Kahlua, or pumpkin-flavored cheesecakes, I don't find myself hankering for them.

I fancy plain cheesecake's sweetly rich, clean, slightly tart, and tangy taste. It is the one that fills my reveries. When I want to splurge, I bake a cheesecake. When I step on the scale and find that I've lost a few pounds, I bake a cheesecake. When life feels overly-hectic, when I've been working too hard, and when the calendar seems to be filled with a continuous stream of drudgery, I reach for a slice of cheesecake.

I don't know when this obsession began. I recall being a kid and passing cheesecake by. There were only a few foods we were allowed to turn down. Usually discipline reigned and we were forced to eat the food that was set before us. But, I distinctly remember being allowed to decline cheesecake and shitake mushrooms. My father willingly devoured what I left behind. And now I understand why. My mother bakes a delectable cheesecake, similar to the "Montana Mom's" recipe that follows. (And shitake mushrooms - what a luxury these morsels must have been for my folks, living in Minnesota in the 1950's.)

Over the years, I've mostly baked my mother's cheesecake. But, with this article in mind, I tried different recipes and found that my sister's favorite cheesecake (Montana Mom's) is my new favorite as well. I will be making Lindy's cheesecake again - on those occasions when I've lost a few pounds. The Ricotta Cake is not the cheesecake of my dreams, but it's plenty good with fresh fruit, or with a fruit sauce. It's also lower in calories - for those occasions when one has gained a few pounds.

The Montana and Ricotta cakes are from the New Revised Edition of the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. Lindy's recipe is from Villas at Table by James Villas. Lindy's is (for those not amongst the cheesecake cognoscente) the quintessence of the New York style cheesecake. You may notice that the recipes call for different sized springform pans. Since I've only one 8-inch pan, I adjust the recipes' ingredients proportionally to fit.

Montana's Mom's Dynamite Cheesecake

Make it a day ahead, so it will have plenty of time to set.

Note: Use food processor or blender to make the graham cracker crumbs.

Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 stick butter or margarine, melted

Combine and press firmly into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan.

Filling:
16 oz. (two packages) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. lemon rind

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Beat all filling ingredients together until smooth.
3. Pour onto crust and bake for 25 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. You will need the oven again, so either leave it on, or reheat it.

Topping:
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Reheat oven to 375°F.
2. Blend topping ingredients well and pour on top of cooled cake.
3. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature, then cover tightly (still in the pan) and chill at least 12 hours.

Lindy's Cheesecake

Pastry:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 t. grated lemon rind
Dash of vanilla
1 egg yolk
8 T (1 stick) butter, softened

Filling:
2 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 T. flour
1 1/2 t. each grated lemon and orange rind
1/4 t. vanilla
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup heavy cream

To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar, lemon rind, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center, add the egg yolk and butter, and mix with your hands till well blended, adding a little cold water if necessary to make a workable dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

To make the filling, place the cream cheese in another large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer. Add the sugar, flour, lemon and orange rinds, and vanilla, and beat well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating lightly but thoroughly after each addition. Add the cream, beat lightly, and set the mixture aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Butter the base and sides of a 9-inch springform pan and remove top from the pan. On a lightly floured surface, roll out about one-third of the dough 1/8-inch thick, fit it over the bottom of the pan, and trim by running a rolling pin over the edges. Bake 15 minutes or till golden, then let cool.

Increase the heat to 550 degrees F.

Place top of springform over the base. Roll the remaining dough 1/8-inch thick, cut in strips to fit almost to the top of the sides of the pan, and press so that the strips line the sides completely. Fill the pan with the cheese mixture, bake for 10-minutes, reduce the heat to 200 degrees, and continue baking 1 hour.

To serve, loosen the pastry from sides, remove the top of the pan very carefully, and cut the cake into 12 wedges.

Ricotta Cake

(Italian-style cheesecake)

Butter for the pan
Flour, fine crumbs, or ground nuts - for the pan
4 large eggs, separated (OK to omit yolks)
2 lbs. ricotta cheese (lowfat OK)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each: orange and lemon rinds
2 Tbs. lemon juice
Optional: Berry Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 10-inch springform pan, then dust lightly with flour, fine crumbs, or ground almonds. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Set aside.
2. Without cleaning the beaters, beat together ricotta, egg yolks (or not), sugar, flour, extracts, salt, rinds, and juice in a large bowl.
3. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Transfer to the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 50 minutes, or until solid in the center. Cool completely before serving. This tastes best cold, with room temperature Berry Sauce.

Berry Sauce
1 cup fresh (or frozen, defrosted) berries
1-2 Tbs. sugar
a few drops of fresh lemon or lime juice

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and puree
2. Strain through a fine sieve to separate out and discard the seeds. Taste to adjust sugar and lemon juice
3. Transfer to a container, cover tightly, and refrigerate. This sauce keeps very well for a week or longer.

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