Experiencing Cheesecake.

Me, The Cheesecake, and You.

So what exactly is supposed to be cheesecake? Oh wait, a cake made up of cheese; or cheese that looks like a cake? Thankfully, most of us reading this article have already tried the so called ‘cheesecake’. Why the sarcasm in my voice, you ask? Well, my friends, I don’t think we’re actually eating cheesecake. Let me explain.

First, let’s begin with what makes cheesecake so unique in taste as well as composition. Basic ingredients: Cream cheese, sour cream and an equally good biscuit or pastry crust that holds the weight of the rest of the ingredients. Particularly, the cream cheese is what provides the tang to a cheesecake. It’s what makes the cheesecake so tantalizing and unique to our taste buds. It gives the cheesecake its sharpness and our senses the satisfaction which only the fulfilment of our more intimate desires give. It’s fascinating.

As a kid, I was very satisfied with the cheesecake we get in most pastry shops in India: a biscuit crust holding a mixture of almost no cream cheese and a lot of whipped cream with a spread of fruit puree. It’s more light than dense in texture and more sweet than sour in flavour. Perfect to accustom to Indian taste buds, just like how most world cuisines are designed to adjust. The cheesecake I just described is more inclined towards the United Kingdom style of cheesecake, which is not baked. It wasn’t until I tried the cheesecake in Hard Rock that I realised what a cheesecake with the right amount of cream cheese is supposed to taste like; a cheesecake that is not baked, one that represents the authentic British style.

Thanks to Nigella Lawson (ironically, she is British), I recognized the American style cheesecake, which I must say is more famous around the world, for reasons that are more than justified. Now, this cheesecake blew my mind. Literally, I was seeing stars, and later in my dreams ( I am not kidding ), cheesecakes; Only to find myself waking up in the morning and rushing to Desmond’s, where you actually get the New York style baked cheesecake. Notice the word BAKED. Yes, the baked cheesecake, or rather the actual cheesecake, which includes eggs and a high temperature for the formation of its dense texture and intense flavour.

I somehow feel the need to inform you how good this cheesecake is, because I want you to go to Desmond’s (located on Lavelle Road and in Koramangala) and try their New York style Baked Cheesecake. It’s like making you aware of how good the environment can be if you recycle plastic, it’s like inspiring you to take action. Getting back to the point, this cheesecake is simple with no fruit puree but yet complicated in flavour. It’s a fusion of sweetness and tang; elation and ecstasy. It’s the seventh heaven. Moreover, the density adds to its richness. My life would be incomplete otherwise, and I would like to believe likewise for you.

Do you know that this cheesecake inspired me to bake? Yes, I tried to bake this cheesecake at home, or I would like to think that I tried. Before I could venture on this delightful journey, I lost my way while finding the equipment needed to even take this challenge. Let me justify: I am a student and I am broke most of the time; so finding cream cheese in Bangalore wasn’t as bad as finding the money to buy this cream cheese. Cream cheese, the Philadelphia variety, is expensive (You’ll get it in Fifth Avenue on Brigade Road for close to 500 rupees). Unfortunately, I still haven’t found local cream cheese.

But I won’t give up. I will try, I will find and I will extract secrets. I will keep eating the Desmond’s cheesecake until I find the right cream cheese. I am still looking. And when I do, I shall find the perfect recipe for the perfect cheesecake.
I will be back, do not lose hope.

- Priya