The Tasting Room's Cheesecake

I always thought cheesecake was one of those inarguably beloved foods, like expertly prepared French fries or the perfect baguette or the tender oysters of a roast chicken, plucked delicately from the carcass. But in a highly unscientific study I did a few weeks ago, I discovered something quite to the contrary. It turns out that more people dislike cheesecake than like it.

I know, earth-shattering, right?

The complaints all seemed to be the same. Too rich, too heavy, too much. To the people whom I polled, cheesecake was a thing of the past. And once I turned the poll on myself, I realized I wasn't exactly cheesecake's biggest advocate. Give me German Kaesekuchen or Italian torta di ricotta over a slice of cheesecake any day. Airy, refreshingly sour, and - most importantly - not a leaden brick sinking in my stomach, those cakes feature Quark and ricotta, relatively light fresh cheeses when compared to our dependably stodgy cream cheese.

But my compulsive recipe-clipping led me to a cheesecake recipe from all the way back in another lifetime - February 2001 - when Amanda Hesser wrote about a cheesecake from New York City's Tasting Room restaurant. Her description, of a cheesecake akin to a wedge-shaped marshmallow, is what made me stop and think twice. I simply had to try it.

The filling of the cake is quite straightforward: cream cheese and vanilla, folded into a shiny, billowy mass of beaten meringue. You pour this ambrosial, cloudlike mixture into an almond crust and bake it in the oven. There's no water bath, which means that the cheesecake will probably crack. Not at first (ah, hubris), so you'll think you're in the clear, but as it cools, oh man, it can get ugly. Never mind. Just tell yourself it's rustic that way. Oh, and in any case, the recipe has you cover the top of the cheesecake with vanilla-flavored, sugared sour cream for another run in the oven. I assume this is meant to mask some of that crackage, but it can also backfire, leading to a cheesecake that practically looks like a crucifixion in cheese.

(Quite fitting, that, since this was my contribution to our Easter lunch with our friends upstairs.)

But when you cut into it, all thoughts of cracks and ugliness disappear. What you're left with are towering wedges of the lightest, airiest cheesecake you can imagine. At our table, we had two avowed cheesecake foes and they had two pieces each. Two! Each!

Here are my quibbles, though:

For one, the crust was a pain in the neck to eat. It was quite tough and hard - each time I tried to use my fork to pierce it, pieces went skittering across my plate. Next time, I'd make this with a traditional graham-cracker crust.

Second of all, the vanilla flavor can be somewhat overwhelming. Now this may be an issue of personal preference. I happen to like lemon in cheesecakes. I happen to also like the combination of vanilla and lemon. Vanilla all on its own is a little bit...cloying? Next time, I'd add some lemon zest to the filling and perhaps reduce the vanilla by a 1/4 teaspoon.

And last but not least, that damn layer of sour cream. I'd leave it off if I make this again. It was a little goopy and I didn't really understand its point. Mask? Topping? Crack-filler? It did none of these things very well.

Cheesecake
Makes one 9-inch cake

1 1/2 cups ground almonds
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, more for pan
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
4 egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint sour cream

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine almonds and brown sugar. Melt butter, then stir in. Butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan, then press nut mixture into bottom but not up sides.

2. In a small pan, warm cream cheese over low heat. When very soft, remove from heat, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk egg whites and 1 cup sugar until they hold soft peaks. Be patient, this can take quite a while. Fold in cream cheese and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Pour into pan, and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out only slightly moist; cake should not be brown.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together sour cream, remaining sugar and vanilla. When cake comes out of oven, increase setting to 450 degrees, and carefully spread mixture over cake. Return it to oven for 5 minutes. Do not overcook or it will crack or turn brown. Remove, and let cool in pan. Chill in refrigerator. To serve, run a knife along edge of pan, and remove sides of pan. Cut into wedges and serve.

Comments

[Julie]

You're right, cheesecake is often unappealingly dense. But the lightest, airiest cheesecake I can imagine has me immediately interested. Plus, my experiences with Amanda Hesser recipes have always been good ones.

p.s. I like your new picture!

[Sylvie]

Wow, were the words that escaped my lips when I saw the picture at the top. My sister and I were discussing cheesecake to quite some extend last week. We're both lovers and yours looks wonderful.

[Amanda]

I have the same problems with cheesecake too. Too heavy, rich, etc. I enjoy mini cheesecake squares because of the ratio of cream cheese to crust. I am a crust kind of gal :) But my favorite kind of cheesecake is ricotta cheesecake. You should try those ones, they are light and airy, with a nice milky texture.

[Nosheteria]

Hhhmm, I haven't eaten cheesecake in years, years I tell you, for precisely the reasons mentioned. But this cake sounds light and lovely. Perhaps I will do a little switcheroo in favor of a graham crust, and give it a try. Yum!

[Kristin at The Kitchen Sink]

I have made many "rustic" (read: cracked) cheesecakes myself. I love that top photo ... something about the relaxed, slumped look of the sides.

[Shirlie]

Your cheesecake photographs are terrific; I especially love the 3rd photo. My mother-in-law's famous cheesecake recipe is made with farmer's cheese and infant teething crackers for the crust; it sounds odd but somehow works beautifully.

[Luisa]

Shirlie - not odd at all! In fact, it sounds wonderful! Would you mind sharing the recipe with me? While doing all my "research" on cheesecake, I found myself wondering about farmer's cheese cheesecakes, having never eaten one myself.

[Lindy]

I want the recipe for torta di ricotta.

Sounds wonderful.

[CM]

This sounds amazing. I always have a cheesecake for my birthday and I think I'll make this one (it's Friday, so, perfect timing). I like the idea of the almond crust -- maybe I will grind some almonds along with graham crackers or gingersnaps. I usually like a thin layer of uncooked sour cream on top of cheesecakes -- gives it a nice tangy flavor. Do you think that would be good with this, or would it be better untopped?

[sg]

Wow! Although the almond crust may be a pain, seeing as Passover is coming up, this is actually perfect for those non-leavened days that some of us are about to enter.
This one might end up on my Seder table.
I totally second your lemon call, or maybe orange zest...

[Jessica "Su Good Sweets"]

Noo! Cheesecake shouldn't be airy (I like it dense) and must have a graham cracker crust.

[Jessika]

Damn woman, what happened with that cake?!?!
Cheesecake is too dense for me too but a käsekuche with raisins soaked in some really good rum and then I'll eat it. I think that maybe it is the shear too much of things that is the problem with the cake with me; too dense; too rich, too everything.
I've tried cutting back on the cream cheese etc., to make it more appealing but still return to a käsekuchen.

[Sarah]

Looks delicious! I'm on the fence about cheesecake...when I was younger, it was my favorite dessert, but these days sometimes I feel like it is sometimes a little heavy. This cheesecake certainly solves that problem!

I'll have to practice my egg white folding skills before I try this recipe...I always seem to fold out all the air!

[emiglia]

Congratulations! You won an award for being excellent. Check it out on my blog…

[Luisa]

CM - as I said in my post, I wouldn't add the topping; I like a cheesecake unadorned, but that's my personal preference...

Emiglia - thanks! That's sweet.

[Gretchen Noelle]

Lovely first photo!

[Mercedes]

I, for one, love cheesecake but I lived for years by vacarro's and got spoiled.
My favorite cheesecake recipe is simple: 2 lbs creamcheese, 4 eggs, 1 1/4 cups sugar, 2 tbl cornstarch, flavorings. Because it's very formulaic it's easy to play around with: want a ricotta cheesecake, swap out half the creamcheese for ricotta. Same goes for sour cream, as long as you have the same weight of cheese, you can even play with goats cheese, quark etc.
I use digestive biscuits or a combination of graham crackers and walnuts in the crust. I don't use a waterbath b/c I'm lazy. And don't worry, my cheesecakes have been known to crack too!

[Mercedes]

Ooops, I meant to say Veniero's.

[Shirlie]

Luisa, I emailed you my mother in law's recipe for farmer's cheese cheesecake to the email address listed above. Please let me know if you did not receive it. Thanks.

[Virtual Frolic]

WHOA - that looks so good..I-must-make

[rachelk]

This looks great for Passover, great timing! Will let you know if I make it how it goes...

[Whitney]

In Japan there are usually two types of cheesecake: souffle cheesecake and rare cheescake (as in not cooked rather than "special" cheese). I like both but have been hankering to try the second becuase it seems so easy and is often made in a pie dish or cake pan rather than a springform pan that I currently don't have. If you are interested here is the recipe:
(for an 8" cake pan)
3/4 cup cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup + 2 T plain yogurt
1/3 cup sugar
2 T lemon juice
1 T gelatin powder
1/4 cup water
Crust (1 cup crushed grahams, 3 T butter, 1 T sugar)

mix gelatin w/ water in small cup. Combine crushed graham crackers, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl. Press the crumbs into the bottom of a round cake pan. Stir cream cheese in a bowl until soften.
Put water and gelatine mixture into microwave and heat for a minute. Add yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, and gelatine into softened cream cheese and mix well. Pour the filling into the crust and spread evenly. Refrigerate the cake for 3 hours. Serve with your favorite fruits, fruit sauce, or jam.

I should warn all of you with severe sweet tooths (teeth?) that Japanese desserts tend to be less sweet than American ones-- you may want to adjust the sugar if you prefer sweeter desserts but I like the tang of this.

[Maggi]

*sigh* I too have a love-hate relationship with cheesecake. I love, love, LOVE dense 'NY Style' cheesecake. Problem is, so does my heiny, and I really hate that. So I do not eat it as often as I would like.

With that said, My cheesecakes rarely crack anymore. Once I learned not to overcook them (you have to stop cooking it when you think it is not quite finished and still jiggly in the center) and then let them cool gradually (with the oven door propped open slightly) my cracking days are largely over.

Now, if only I could cut nice clean slices (and I have tried everything.)

[Neen]

"Rustic" -- love it!

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

I actually prefer my cheesecakes without a crust, which makes it all the easier to make. And I agree, a bit of lemon is a must as it cuts the cloying sweetness of the sugar and vanilla. Maggi's correct, to avoid cracks, keep the cheesecake in the turned-off oven with the door propped open for about an hour. (though that's why God made sour-cream topping--to cover the cracks!)

[shauna]

you know, I don't like most cheesecakes for all the reasons you've given us here. Too dense and heavy, thank you. Cloying.

And of course, I can't the traditional ones anymore.

But I have to tell you, Danny invented one that has me always wanting more. It's a blue cheese cheesecake with a fig crust. (And the crust is made with gluten-free fig cookies, so I can eat it!) Ay god. It has changed my mind about cheesecake.

[Em]

i have the same problem with my cheesecake cracking. if you put it in a boiled water bath and stick it into the oven, it won't crack

[Ellen]

Maggi--a tip I read in the Baker's Dozen Cookbook for cutting clean slices of cheesecake is to do it with dental floss.

[sarah]

I just made this for 2 nights in a row. I used almond flour for my crust and it was tender and easy to cut. Everyone loved the crust! The second night I ran low on the flour so ground almonds myself, and the crust became a little nuttier and harder. Maybe almond flour is the way to go. I also cut the sugar in the recipe (to deal with cloying sweetness); it worked super well. There wasn't too much cracking at all, though once a cheesecake is sliced and on a plate, no one really cares about cracks! Having a recipe for a good cheesecake which doesn't require the hassle of a water bath was fantastic.
Thanks for the recipe!

[Louise]

This is my first visit and a very enlightening one I must say. I googled Farmer Cheese cheesecake and this came up. I would really like to get Shirlie's recipe as well as the Torta di Ricotta as my husband really likes ricotta cheesecake. I have a wonderful German cottage cheesecake recipe I would be glad to trade.

[Louise]

I would really like to have the recipe for the Farmer's Cheese Cheesecake mentioned. Is there anyway that could be accomplished? Thanks.