The ultimate dessert- to me it proclaims that summer is officially here. Cheesecake is universally the most salivatingly versatile mouthful anyone has ever committed to. The cheesecake originated in ancient Greece, but over the years many have claimed a place-mark on this dessert, thus proclaiming it as their BEST cheesecake. Almost every nation has its own version that is different and unique to the region, such as The English Cheese Custard Pie, The New York Cheesecake, South African Cheesecake doused with Amarula liqueur, The Asian-style Matcha Cheesecake, The Philly Cheesecake, The Russian personal yeast dough Cheesecakes yet they all have one thing in common… they all use CHEESE as the main ingredient.
Cheesecakes are typically classified into two categories, baked and non-baked. It is then further distinguished by the type of cheese used to create the base; the denser and fatter the cheese, the richer the dessert will be, try my Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake recipe. There are recipes where a combination of cheeses is used to lighten up the cake which creates a light, tall and fluffy cheesecake that melts in your mouth, try this Light as Air Vanilla Cheesecake recipe. Also, the number of eggs used establishes the height of the cake. For my vegan friends, it can be made with tofu cream cheese and flaxseed/chickpea water to replace eggs.
As scrumptious as it is, baked cheesecake could prove challenging for even the most experienced home baker, humidity, oven temperature, water bath, the right time to pull it out of the oven are all vital variables that are difficult to control. The non-bake cheesecake typically includes a stabilizer as one of its key ingredients which eliminate the need for the technical temperature control.
Now all that is left to do is pick which cheesecake you would like to indulge in and go for it. Make sure to leave a comment on the facebook page and tell me about your cheesecake experience.