Demystifying Cheesecake

Cheesecake might not be the first food creation that comes to mind when discussing historic cuisine. However, cheesecakes were reportedly served at the first Olympics in Greece in 776 B.C. The Romans took their cheesecake throughout Europe. Eventually, those personalized recipes were brought from the old country to the new world. American cheese makers were looking to produce a soft, yet simple cheese, similar to French Neufchâtel, to form the basis of their cheesecakes. In 1872, American dairymen invented cream cheese, but it wasn't until 1912 that James L. Kraft invented pasteurized Philadelphia cream cheese. Today, it's the No. 1 product in the world for making cheesecakes.

Cheesecakes have stood the test of time. Unlike the popular Italian tiramisu of the 1970s, the French crème brûlée of the 1990s and today's American chocolate molten cake, cheesecakes were found on menus in the 1950s and are still featured today. What other dessert -- apart from ice cream -- is offered in both fine-dinning steak houses and fast-food establishments in every city in the United States?

The ever-popular Cheesecake Factory chain, which started as a small shop in Detroit and then Los Angeles before moving into its first restaurant in Beverly Hills, CA, in 1978, now boasts over 75 restaurants in 25 states. This dramatic evolution of a business all started with cheesecake.

The ongoing popularity of cheesecake isn't solely due to consumer demand. From a business stance, cheesecake production also makes sense. The cost of cheesecake production is minimal and has a high return. Also, the amount of waste is lower on cheesecakes than other pastry items, which have shorter shelf lives. Shop owners want high sales, low overhead and appealing products. Cheesecakes meet these criteria and combined with high customer demand just might be the perfect dessert.

The structure's hardiness makes storage easy. Cheesecakes can go from freezer to refrigerator without losing any properties that might affect flavor or presentation. That's why cheesecake is usually available in white-tablecloth restaurants and coffee houses throughout the United States and Europe. They just move them from the freezer straight to the refrigerator for display and sale.

When hosts serve cheesecake for dessert at a dinner party, they receive rave reviews. Guests think that they just ate something special, unlike an "ordinary" piece of pie, which takes twice the effort to make.

Many people mistakenly think that the first cheesecake was created in New York, and I'm routinely asked for a recipe for "New York cheesecake."   However, cheesecake styles tend to differ in composition based on regional variations, including several types of American and European cheesecake.

New York cheesecake. This American classic, which is sometimes referred to as "Jewish cheesecake," is pure and unadulterated. It doesn't feature any fancy ingredients or flavors, just plain vanilla added to the cheesecake batter. The top is left unadorned and free from fruit or other decoration. The recipe contains cream cheese, heavy cream, eggs, egg yolks and sugar. Sometimes this cheesecake is made on a prebaked lemon cookie crust.

The term "Jewish cheesecake" stems from the popular Jewish delicatessens around Manhattan that serve these rich desserts. In the 1900s, cheesecake was very popular in New York, and every restaurant had its own version. New Yorkers began referring to this style as "New York cheesecake" and the appellation stuck. Some New Yorkers claim that cheesecake wasn't really cheesecake until it was created in New York. By 1940, cheesecake was the most popular dish served at Lindy's restaurant in Manhattan's theater district. In 1950, Junior's Deli in Brooklyn developed its own version of the rich, dense New York cheesecake. Junior's cheesecake was one of the first mass-produced cheesecakes that New Yorkers could call their own. Today, Junior's sells thousands of cheesecakes annually through QVC TV and QVC.com.

Eli's Cheesecake. In 1977, Chicago steak maven Eli Schulman created a perfect dessert to accompany his menu at his soon-to-be-famous restaurant, Eli's the Place for Steak. The now-legendary Chicago-based Eli's Cheesecake had been born and demonstrated that New York wasn't the only city with great cheesecakes. The baked cream cheese concoction sits atop a prebaked butter cookie crust, either vanilla or chocolate, and is firm outside and creamy inside. Today, Eli's Cheesecake is sold throughout the United States, as well as in England, Japan, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and other countries. It's also a featured dessert on some major airlines. Flavors offered range from plain to Passion Fruit Brulee to Pumpkin Praline. In 1993, Eli's baked a 2,000-lb. red, white and blue cheesecake for President Bill Clinton's inauguration and was invited back to create another for his second inaugural festivities.

American sweet cheesecake. These cheesecakes are typically rich but not as filling as the New York variety. They're made with lower levels of egg and are full of flavorful ingredients, such as fresh berries, chopped chocolates and so on. Also, the crust reflects the flavor of the inside of the cheesecake, such as chocolate cookie crumbs for a chocolate-mint cheesecake or a peanut-butter-cookie crust for a crunchy peanut-butter cheesecake.

Pennsylvania Dutch cheesecake. Many regional cheesecakes are based on the cheeses that are typically available in that part of the country. In Pennsylvania, cheesecake makers use a type of cottage cheese with larger curds and less water content, called "pot" or "farmer's" cheese. Draining cottage cheese longer than usual and packing the curd creates this mild, slightly tangy cheese variety.

American savory cheesecake. Savory cheesecakes will likely be making a big splash in the medium- to high-end restaurant market in the coming years. Storing a savory cheesecake in a freezer for weeks doesn't sacrifice the taste or texture. It can be prepared in single serving sizes and presented alongside a salad. Savory cheesecakes can also be made larger (around 6 in. diameter) as an appetizer for a group and served with stone-ground crackers.

The flavor choices are endless for savory cheesecakes. They can feature a variety of ingredient additions, including fresh herbs, hard cheeses or vegetables, such as sun-dried tomatoes, onions and so on. A cheesecake made with crab or lobster would work in a seafood restaurant. A chipolte chile cheesecake could create a stir in a southwestern-style establishment. Try using an herbed cheesecake to replace a meal's cheese course.

Italian cheesecake. Italian cheesecakes, mainly found in Florence and Rome, tend to be made with ricotta cheese and set on a pastry crust or breadcrumbs. This type of cheesecake is typically drier in consistency and frequently washed down with a hot espresso. Often, small bits of candied fruit, as are found in a holiday fruitcake, are added for visual appeal.

French cheesecake. French cheesecakes are very light, feature gelatin as a binding ingredient and are typically only 1 to 1½ inches in height. This variety gets its light texture and flavor from Neufchâtel cheese and is found in outdoor markets in the South of France and fine pastry shops in Paris.

German quark cheesecake. Germans tend to prefer a slightly sweeter cheesecake made with native quark cheese. Quark is a softened cheese similar to cottage cheese but, unlike cottage cheese, quark is very smooth. These light, creamy cheesecakes often feature a cookie-crumb crust.

Dutch cheesecake. The Dutch love their chocolates and chocolate cheesecakes. They're made with melted bittersweet or sometimes semisweet chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa and are a hit in the marketplace. You'll also find Dutch cheesecakes laced with nuts, candy pieces and fruit. However, chocolate is the mainstay of cheesecake in the Netherlands.

A basic cheesecake consists of a crust with a filling made of cheese that is flavored, sweetened and structured with egg products. It is then baked and topped or decorated with whipped cream.

Using all egg yolks in the batter creates a richer, heavier cheesecake while the addition of whites lightens the batter. However, if the whites are whipped into a meringue and folded in, the result is a light, soufflé-type cheesecake that will likely puff up and fall. The egg-to-cheese ratio is important in cheesecake creation. The general rule is 2 eggs to 1 lb. of cheese. When too much cheese is used, it results in a heavy product; without enough cheese, the cheesecake develops an "eggy" taste.

The crust is a key factor in holding the cheesecake together. It retains the filling and creates a "serving" layer on the cake. I don't press the crust up the sides of the cheesecake, just on the bottom, because the corners tend to become hard after baking. Crusts can serve as a subtle complement to the cheesecake. For a nut-flavored cheesecake, add the same nuts -- finely ground -- to the crust that accent the filling so that the overall flavor comes together. Another option is biscuits. Some bakeries make buttermilk-style biscuits, dry them out for a few days and then grind them into crumbs before pressing into pans to form cheesecake crusts. This crust style is sometimes featured in the southern United States and elsewhere to a lesser degree.

The most common cheese used is cream cheese. However, I use over 18 varieties of cheese, including ricotta, farmer's, cottage, Parmesan, Cheddar, Edam, blue and feta cheese, to create cheesecakes. The flavor and texture of each cheese changes the taste and structure of the cheesecake. A lower-fat cheese might not result in as creamy a texture, but it can reduce the fat, and thus the calorie content in the finished product.

When it comes to flavoring, natural ingredients, such as chocolates, berries and nuts, are usually best. Stay away from artificial flavors; they tend to lend a metallic, imitation flavor to the final product.

One note on decorating and finishing for foodservice desserts: When you see a cheesecake topped with a quart of whipped cream you can bet that underneath the top is noticeably cracked. Simplicity is the best approach to decorating. Fresh, perfect berries are very attractive on top of a cheesecake. Try adding just a swirl of whipped cream to each serving.

Many bakeries use cheesecakes as wedding cakes. They can prepare them weeks in advance and they make a welcome change from the typical white cake with raspberry jelly filling. Another benefit is that a wedding cheesecake will serve more people with a smaller cake. Also, the bakery can charge more for a wedding cheesecake even though production costs are lower.

For an in-store bakery that is experimenting with offering cheesecakes to a given market, purchasing plain cheesecakes and creating accompanying fresh fruit sauces or simply decorating them with fresh berries is a good start. Fresh fruit provides a colorful accent to any retail display case. Taking this route initially saves the expense of on-site experimentation before knowing how the market will take to the new product.

While working for the Walt Disney Company, Anaheim, CA, I researched different baking and production techniques for cheesecake and found a variety of interesting -- albeit somewhat impractical -- methods. One involved setting the oven to 500?F, turning the oven off and leaving the cake in for 6 hours. Now how is a commercial pastry kitchen going to survive without ovens for 6-plus hours? A similar method is to start with a 450?F oven, put the cheesecake in the oven and then every 30 minutes lower the oven 25?F until it reaches 200?F. Who is going to stand next to the oven for that long to lower the temperature? With the existence of such outrageous baking methods, it's easy to understand why so many people believe that it's difficult to create this dessert.

However, this process doesn't have to be difficult. In a standard 20-quart mixer, a bakery or restaurant can easily produce 12 cheesecakes. These techniques can also be adapted for mass-production. Follow these steps in order to produce perfect cheesecakes every time:

· Pans. Use cheesecake pans with removable bottoms. These are similar to tart pans but have higher sides and are made with heavier metal. Don't use springform pans, which tend to bend and warp at higher temperatures and rust if not properly washed and dried.

· Crust. Using cookie crumbs and chopped nuts that have been baked -- to release the characteristic flavor of the nuts -- eliminates the need to prebake the crust. This saves time. A small amount of melted butter or shortening can help hold the crust together. Freeze these crusts before pouring so the batter doesn't blend into the crust.

· Ingredients. Start with all ingredients at room temperature. This will help blend the cheese and sugar.

· Mixing. Blend the eggs a little at a time into the cheese mixture to help maintain an even texture. Blend the vanilla and other flavors at the end so they don't dissipate prior to baking. Vanilla's high alcohol content will cause it to flash off into the air if not properly blended. Do not overmix as this can adversely affect texture and promote cracking.

· Temperature and time. Never bake above 350?F. A 9-in.-round, 3-in.-high cheesecake shouldn't bake for longer than one hour.

· Doneness. This aspect is most important! When the sides look dry and just a little cracked and the center is soft and wet-looking -- like set Jell-O when you move the pan back and forth -- the cheesecake is done.

· Cooling. Cool the cake in the pan at ambient temperatures in a draft-free spot. Once I mixed, baked and cooled six cheesecakes all at the same time and oven temperature. Five looked like show cakes, but one had a crack down the center like an earthquake fault. It turned out that the air conditioning vent was blowing right onto the top of that one cheesecake. (So I topped it with plenty of decorative whipped cream ...)

· Refrigerating and freezing. Blast freezing is preferred. This rapid freezing method, common in mass production, seals in flavors and freshness. If the cheesecake will be used within 3 days, wrap with plastic wrap and then foil. The cheesecake can readily pick up odors from other food in a refrigerator. Leave the cake in the pan when freezing. After it has completely frozen, take it out of the pan, wrap it and place back in the freezer.

· Decorating. In a foodservice or bakery establishment, decorate cheesecakes immediately prior to sale or serving. First pipe with whipped cream, then top with fresh berries or chocolate shavings. (For mass-production, decorate prior to freezing.)

The mass-production of cheesecakes can prove profitable. When stepping into the deeper commercial waters of mass production, it's best to stick with a core set of flavors that would work year-round, such as lemon curd and the traditional plain vanilla varieties, and quarterly add a few flavors to suit the current season, like cranberry orange in the fall and eggnog during the holidays. It's best to sell the cheesecakes precut for easy serving.

Cheesecakes can let you create your own signature dessert. Since this is one of the easiest desserts to make and freeze, cheesecake creation is one of the best ways to show off your individual talents.                                    

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