19 replies to this topic

[mongo_jones]

(not sure if this belongs in this forum or in "general food discussion")

tonight i ate something called ricotta cheesecake. i was under the impression that all cheesecake has ricotta in it and so was not expecting anything very different from all other cheesecake i've had in the past. perhaps this is true and the distinction lies elsewhere but i was surprised to be served something that had a much thicker, cakier consistency. no soft cheesecakey goodness here. me no likey. was i served an aberration? do i have horrible taste? is this how ricotta cheesecake is supposed to be? for reference, for those in l.a, this was at al gelato on robertson (between olympic and wilshire) in beverly hills.

[bigbear]

What you've had in the past was probably "New York" cheesecake, made with cream cheese. Ricotta goes into the "Italian" version of a cheesecake.

[helena]

the best cheesecake i've ever made/had was the one from Ramsay's Just Desserts: the filling calls for a mix of mascarpone/creme friache/sour cream. the recipe can be found online Pumpkin Cheesecake.

[omnivorette]

big bear is right. But Italian (ricotta) cheese cake can be quite wonderful when it's done well. It is not creamy like NY style cheesecake, but the texture is still great, and it should be lemon-y too.

[Daisy]

I'm in the opposite camp from mongo. I think the ricotta-based cake is bearable, although still not my favorite thing. But I despise New York-style cheese cake.

[TheMatt]

I'm with Prof. Mongo on this one. I'm not a fan of the ricotta cheesecake. Now, maybe it can be done well, but I haven't seen it yet. NY-style, though, I do love. Junior's...mmm.

Heck, I even like Cheesecake Factory's cheesecake. Granted, it's the *only* thing I like there (their tiramisu isn't too bad), so please don't kick me out for admitting that.

[Stone]

Can someone point me to a good recipe for NY cheesecake? I started off making a recipe off FoodTv's site (www dot dot. . .) but lately all my cheesecakes are too souflee-ee and light. Need help.

[SethG]

This is a joke, right? Paging Rose, paging Rose.....

Edit: here you go, I make this all the time, most recently Mother's day, and it's perfect:

Rose's NY cheesecake

[Lippy]

The absolute classic cheesecake was made by Lindy's, the Damon Runyon-esque Broadway hangout called "Mindy's" in Guys and Dolls. I had the cheesecake when I was a child and it is the benchmarkm not that Rose's isn't great. Lindy's is denser, although not everyone would consider that a good thing.

Lindy's cheesecake

[SethG]

Looks a bit eggier.

[Lippy]

There is one more egg in the filling, but there is more cream cheese too. In both cakes, there is one egg per half-pound of cream cheese. Rose is more satin-y than Lindy's.

edit: oops, yes, I see there are also two additional egg yolks!

[SethG]

I didn't mean to suggest I think egginess is bad... it could be good. I would think the Lindy's cake would be less dense and more satiny, given the cream! Looks like a good recipe. I'm intrigued by the pastry crust. I'll have to give it a try. I may face a rebellion, however. Both of my kids, my wife, my sister-in-law, and my mother-in-law have declared Rose's cheesecake to be their favorite of the desserts I make for them.

No water bath? That's a recipe for a cracked cake with an uneven top.

[Lippy]

I've had Rose's cheesecake much more recently in my life, so I'm going on my decades-old memory of Lindy's. I've never made the Lindy's recipe, but years ago, before it showed up all over the internet, it was a very big deal when the NY Times published the recipe, with the caveat of a question mark, since it was never "officially" published by the restaurant.

You could get plain cheesecake, but most people ordered it with strawberry topping. I think I have the recipe for the strawberry topping on my hard drive. I'll look and come back with it.

[Lippy]

Strawberry topping for Lindy's cheesecake:

1 qt. strawberries (in the restaurant they were very big, IIRC)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon butter
dash of salt

1. Wash berries and put about 1 cup in a saucepan. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the butter and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Stir in the butter. Allow to cook a bit.

2. Arrange whole berries on top of the cheesecake. Spoon the glaze over the berries. Chill for several hours.

This looks very old-fashioned and gluey to me. I thought it was delicious, but I was only a kid.

(My mother always called it "strawberry cheese pie." I don't remember what it said on the menu, one of which I have from the early 1950s -- somewhere -- but I think a serving was seventy-five cents.)

[SethG]

I've had Rose's cheesecake much more recently in my life, so I'm going on my decades-old memory of Lindy's. I've never made the Lindy's recipe, but years ago, before it showed up all over the internet, it was a very big deal when the NY Times published the recipe, with the caveat of a question mark, since it was never "officially" published by the restaurant.

You could get plain cheesecake, but most people ordered it with strawberry topping. I think I have the recipe for the strawberry topping on my hard drive. I'll look and come back with it.

You know, I think that I have had this cheesecake! My aunt Irene makes a cheesecake from the NY Times that her kids have enjoyed since they were tots. I had it at her house in Scarsdale a month or two ago-- and what I noticed most about it was that it was a bit eggier than the cheesecakes I make. It also had the concave top you get when you don't use a water bath. I bet she uses that same recipe. (Although... I don't remember that crust.)

I am a firm believer in plain NY-style cheesecake. I tend to eschew gloppy toppings.