Recipe of the week: Classic New York Cheesecake

This is a modified version of the Cheesecake served at Sea Fare, my grandma Cora’s restaurant on Hood canal. Mary Wing, her business partner, got it indirectly, from Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York which was famous for many things, including their cheesecake. I sold hundreds of them as part of the wholesale baking I did out of my tiny restaurant on San Juan Island. It was often the last chore of the week, on Friday evening, to lug them on sheet pans down the rickety back staircase at Roche Harbor Resort where bustling chefs, sometimes smiling, sometimes grunting, would make room for them.

It is simple and produces a solid indulgent hunk of a slice, the zippy topping is optional. It is lovely with fresh berries, or even thawed frozen ones with a little sugar (in winter).

Classic New York Cheesecake Yield: 1 cake

1-kilo or 2 pounds quality cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

'/4 cup or 4 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup cream or orange juice

2 tablespoons good vanilla

6 eggs

mix thoroughly in food processor with “s” blade or in mixer with whip, being careful not to whip too much air into the batter.

base or crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup white or brown sugar

½ cup melted butter

Combine crumbs, butter and sugar and press lightly on the bottom and up the sides of a medium (10 inch) spring form or cheesecake pan. Pour cheesecake batter on top, don't overfill or when it bakes it will topple over the side and fall off and your cheesecake will look funny. Bake in 325 degree low fan oven for 75 minutes or more. Jiggle slightly and the middle should NOT seem at all liquid. Turn off oven and let rest for an hour. Remove and cool completely then chill. If the cake is stuck set on stove top burner on medium for about 30 seconds or use torch ( briefly) on outside of pan to release the crust from the pan.

Optional topping: 30 grams sour cream, 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, 3 tablespoons cast sugar. Blend by hand until there is no detectable graininess. top and spread out on cheesecake but leave edges uncovered (1-2 cm around the edge free of topping)