Cheesecake

I love cheesecake that has been well made. It is said that the first cheesecakes, which are vastly different from the modern ones that were invented in the U.S. and that use commercial pasteurized cream cheese, those first cakes came from Ancient Greece. They weren't at all like the ones we eat today, but I think we should thank those Greeks as much for their cheesecake as for that democracy thing they gave us. In fact, if I had to choose between democracy and cheesecake it would be a tough choice.

Anyway, in the late 1800's when a guy from New York named William Lawrence invented the first commercial cream cheese, the modern cheese cake became a possibility. William Kraft (of the famed Kraft food corporation) then came up with an idea in the early 1900's for pasteurized "Philadelphia Cream Cheese" and that same Philly Cream Cheese is what the best cheesecakes are still made of . I know the Germans, Dutch and Polish use Quark cheese, the Italians use Ricotta and a few less distinguished cheese cakes use other varieties of cheese, but once you eat a cheesecake made with Philly Cream Cheese you will want that style most of the time.

My favorite cheesecake is the plain one. That means no flavorings in the filling and no toppings on the finished cheesecake. Putting toppings on cheesecakes is like putting too much salt on a steak. It kills the flavor of the cheese and confuses the palate. I can always tell a cheesecake terrorist by watching what he or she eats. If it's not a plain cheesecake the terrorist just doesn't know what a real one is about. The best ones are simple and bring forth the taste of the cheese.

A proper cheese cake must have eggs, cream cheese, cream and sugar in the filling. Adding a little sour cream is to some cheesecake lover's taste and is ok, but I don't like it in mine. Instead, I use sour cream in the topping to give it a contrast.  It tends to bring more creaminess but less texture to the cheesecake. For me, texture trumps creaminess in cheesecake. That's probably why I also don't like the no bake style cheesecakes. No bake Cheesecakes are like a Mc Donald's hamburger....suspect in taste, texture and depth.  The novice or non cook will make no bake cheesecakes but a real chef would rather take a bullet than  make one.

Ok, I think I have you curious about or even desirous of eating a cheesecake. So here is my recipe, passed down from my grandmother to my mom and then to me. Unlike most recipes, except for the crust which I changed from the traditional graham cracker crust to an Oreo cookie crust,  I never changed a thing about the contents or baking style of it. It's that good. If you decide to make it read all the directions first and follow the baking technique as written. Otherwise you will make an inferior cake.  Remember too, that just because you don't live near a bakery doesn't mean you have to skip the cheesecake tonight.

CHEESE CAKE Use a 9x9x2 metal pan
Ingredients for crust:
15 Oreo cookies crushed (use vanilla Oreos for regular crust and chocolate Oreos for chocolate crust)
3 tablespoons melted butter
Preparation
1) Crush Oreos and add melted butter to form crust. Press mixture evenly in the bottom of the lightly buttered pan to form crust
-------------------------------------------
Ingredients For Cake:
4 eggs
1/2 lb (3  8 oz. packages) Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoons cream
Preparation:
1) Beat eggs and sugar together well-set aside
2) Beat the softened cream cheese and milk with mixer until smooth.
3) Add the sugar and egg mixture and beat
4) Pour into the prepared crust and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes
5) Turn off oven! Cool in oven for 40 minutes
6) Take cake out of oven, set aside, and turn oven back on at 450 degrees while the cheese cake cools

---------------------------------------------
 Sour Cream Topping:
Ingredients:
1 pint all natural sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1) Stir together all three ingredients and put on top of cooled cheesecake
2) Return the Cheesecake to the 450 degree oven  and bake for another 10 minutes
3) Remove cheese cake from oven, cool  and then place it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours