Cheesecake should only be created and eaten in its purest form. For me, that means the classic recipe heavy on the Philadelphia cream cheese. I agree with Pastry Girl: in recent years, led undoubtedly by the Cheesecake Factory’s excesses, cheesecake has become nothing more than a leaden white (or sometimes chocolate or pumpkin-flavored) slab topped with icky, overly-sweet cherry toppings, or worse, in my opinion, whipped cream.

Says Pastry Girl:

My cheesecake preferences are pretty middle-of-the-road: I like my cheesecake not too firm and dense, but not too soft and creamy either; the texture should be smooth and velvety on the tongue, not gummy or leaden (this may sound obvious, but I’m surprised at how often I’ve had cheesecakes that are the equivalent of flavorless rubber blocks).

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I’m open to the possibility that there may be other cheesecake recipes out there that are worth tasting. Pastry Girl says this one–Goat Cheesecake Enrobed in Hazelnut Brittle with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce–is a “fun workout for your tastebuds.

Go to Dessert First for the recipe.

If you don’t feel like baking, try Juniors. I know there are lots of Juniors bashers out there, but for me, it’s pretty close to what I’m looking for in a cheesecake.

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