So cheesy :)
I am finally making good my promise to write about one of my favourite desserts - Cheesecake. Now personally, I am on a mission to excel at all kinds of cheesecakes, to make them, bake them and eat them. Hey if there can be Wine tasters and Cheese connoisseurs, I certainly am extending that philosophy to Cheesecake (you may scoff at me, I don't care!).
So where did it all start? On a sunny day, in the Blue Mountains (aka The Nilgiri Hills near Coimbatore) when my mother got her first recipe of the cheesecake and made it for dessert. The sweet and tangy, soft white and pink, light as a cloud filling with a brown buttery base and a baby pink glassy smooth topping - it was the Cherry cheesecake. Then came another one, the Pineapple cheesecake. More than a decade later, the dessert hasn't changed and I have acquired an obsession for it.
Cheesecake is a 3 tiered dessert. The bottom, thin base is either made with biscuits or sponge cake. The central filling is made with soft cream cheese (best used is Philadelphia (Kraft) or you can make it yourself using the recipe here) which is flavoured according to the recipe. It is important that a cheesecake has a tang otherwise it is no different from a mousse. The tang comes from lime juice, curd or sour cream. The topping or the "glaze" is optional and is flavoured according to the cheesecake with fresh fruit or flavouring.
I am not sure where Cheesecake originated but some of the most famous ones are New York Style Cheesecake, Philadelphia Cheesecake, Italian style cheesecake (which uses ricotta or mascarpone - which I am sorry to say are extremely difficult and expensive to source in India - Hey, is anybody listening ????). Wikipedia lists the extensive variety. A cheesecake is either bake or no-bake. Some like only the baked version, some absolutely love the non baked ones. For the strict vegetarians, its good if you can get hold of some edible agar-agar (a concept I cannot digest for many reasons - sorry), or make sure you whip the cream well so that it sets.
Here are a few that I tried:
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So where did it all start? On a sunny day, in the Blue Mountains (aka The Nilgiri Hills near Coimbatore) when my mother got her first recipe of the cheesecake and made it for dessert. The sweet and tangy, soft white and pink, light as a cloud filling with a brown buttery base and a baby pink glassy smooth topping - it was the Cherry cheesecake. Then came another one, the Pineapple cheesecake. More than a decade later, the dessert hasn't changed and I have acquired an obsession for it.
Cheesecake is a 3 tiered dessert. The bottom, thin base is either made with biscuits or sponge cake. The central filling is made with soft cream cheese (best used is Philadelphia (Kraft) or you can make it yourself using the recipe here) which is flavoured according to the recipe. It is important that a cheesecake has a tang otherwise it is no different from a mousse. The tang comes from lime juice, curd or sour cream. The topping or the "glaze" is optional and is flavoured according to the cheesecake with fresh fruit or flavouring.
I am not sure where Cheesecake originated but some of the most famous ones are New York Style Cheesecake, Philadelphia Cheesecake, Italian style cheesecake (which uses ricotta or mascarpone - which I am sorry to say are extremely difficult and expensive to source in India - Hey, is anybody listening ????). Wikipedia lists the extensive variety. A cheesecake is either bake or no-bake. Some like only the baked version, some absolutely love the non baked ones. For the strict vegetarians, its good if you can get hold of some edible agar-agar (a concept I cannot digest for many reasons - sorry), or make sure you whip the cream well so that it sets.
Here are a few that I tried:
1. Cherry Cheesecake:
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2. Chocolate Cheesecake (baked):
3. Mango Cheesecake:
Now for the enthusiasts and all my cheesecake loving friends, I am not going to reveal my recipe (not publicly anyway ;) ) but I can point you in the right direction
Click Here for a recipe of Mango Cheesecake
Click Here for an insight into Cheesecakes, and
Click Here for the ultimate baked cheesecake!!
All I can say is, writing about this has given me an urge to go eat some cheesecake.. I hope it has interested you too..
(Hah! that is soooo cheesy! Right??!!)
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