Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Is the quintessential American desserts not apple pie but cheesecake? The creamy, decadent but simple dessert has a thousand variations. There are two main camps in New York: the Italian cheesecake with its cakey, ricotta filling and the Jewish-Eastern European cake that is based on cream cheese. The most famous cheesecake of them all is Junior's, "Give folk what they want, when they want it. If you do, they will come," is the mantra of the restaurant coined by the founder, Harry Rosen. Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook: 50 To-Die-Recipes for New York-Style Cheesecake (Taunton Press 20077) by Alan Rosen, grandson of the founder, and Beth Allen, is full of great tips for plain to extremely elaborate cakes. Can there be too much of a good thing? Apparently not. The original Junior's in Brooklyn opened in 1950 in a rough section of Flatbush. It is a full service restaurant specializing in heaping servings of hearty, mostly Eastern European food. It was open from early morning to late at night and attracted the well-heeled after-concert crowd to down-and-outers and everyone in between. Harry Rosen came up with the recipe for cheesecake with his Danish baker, Eigel Peterson after studying the competition from Lindy's, Reubens's and The Brass Rail. In 1973 the Village Voice pronounced the cheesecake best in the city. Then New York Magazine voted it best in the city, beating out 11 other rivals. Since then, Junior's has expanded to three outlets, one in Times Square and another in the Theater District. It also sells its cheesecake on QVC and online, wholesale and mail order. Why give the secret recipe away? Maybe it’s because people will still buy the real thing in its distinctive orange and white striped box. Maybe customers will be so tantalized by the cheesecakes they make, they'll want to make a pilgrimage to Brooklyn to sample the rest of Junior's menu. His father and uncle published the first Junior's cookbook, Welcome to Junior's (Morrow 1999) with many of their savory recipes and customers have kept coming. Maybe Alan has more planned. After all he went to Cornell's Business School and has doubled the annual sales of the company, according to Crain's. What's so special about Junior's cheesecake version? The book starts with a consideration of the whole baking process and why it works so well. Instructions are long and well thought out. There is a trouble-shooting guide: If Your Cheesecake is Not Perfect (pp. 14-16). The recipes start, literally, at the bottom with the Sponge Cake Crust (p. 17) the secret to the plain cheesecake. There are also recipes for alternate crusts such as a Shortbread Crust (p. 18) and an All-Butter Tart Crust (p. 19). Then there are recipes for fillings like Chocolate Ganache (p. 24) and Decorator's Buttercream (p. 28). The main act starts with Junior's Favorites, and first up is the Original New York Cheesecake (p. 34). It includes not only four packages of cream cheese, but also cornstarch and heavy cream. There is a tip from the Master Baker, Michael Goodman: Always bake the cheesecake in a water bath, as we do here at Junior's. It keeps the heat in the oven moist and helps the cake bake slowly, gently, and evenly. This helps ensure that your cheesecake comes out of the oven with a smooth top and no cracks. (p. 36) There is a Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake (p. 49) perfect for Halloween, and an Apple Caramel Cheesecake (p. 68) to celebrate the apple harvest in the fall. There is even a cheesecake Christmas Tree (p.99) decorated with M&M's. There is a whole chapter dedicated to chocolate cheesecakes (p. 105) and another for cheesecake cupcakes (p. 131). If you are looking for the ultimate book for a cheesecake fan who likes the cream cheese kind (not ricotta) or want to bake your kid's birthday cheesecakes cupcakes, this is the book for you. Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Alan Rosen, Junior's Cheesecake --> back to Super Chef