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Cheesecake


mdjordy

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Carnegie Deli ships on line.  Is it the same cheesecake they made in house?  Don't know.  Does it ship well?  Don't know.  

If it is the same and ships well it is spectacular.  Before it hit Carnegie Deli it was the favorite cheesecake in all of Northern NJ--for decades.

(just convinced myself to order it. ? )

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Heidelberg Bakery and Pastries by Randolph have cheesecake, they also seem to have small ones, so you might be able to go and get a small one to sample and if it's good get a big one??  I will be honest, I hate to say this, but I LOVE CF cheesecake.  It is a guilty pleasure and I don't even really like cheesecake that much.

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On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 2:15 PM, DaveO said:

Carnegie Deli ships on line.  Is it the same cheesecake they made in house?  Don't know.  Does it ship well?  Don't know.  

If it is the same and ships well it is spectacular.  Before it hit Carnegie Deli it was the favorite cheesecake in all of Northern NJ--for decades.

(just convinced myself to order it. ? )

How was it? Back in December, I got a cheesecake to go from Carnegie when I was in NY before it closed and it wasn't very good.

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9 minutes ago, KeithA said:

How was it? Back in December, I got a cheesecake to go from Carnegie when I was in NY before it closed and it wasn't very good.

Damn it.  Forgot to order it.  I apologize.  I'll have to step up to the plate.  This was THE CHEESECAKE of my growing up years. Both extremely popular and garnered relatively speaking a lot of press (for that time and topic)  Loved it.  Here is a link to another link to the original recipe and chef's work.  Note the picture of the cheesecake on cover page.  It was extremely popular and in my younger days I swore by it. 

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In the event that you choose to make your own (I'm a fan of Maida's version of Craig Clairborne's), and it calls for lemon zest:  

After zesting the lemon, which I do using the Cuisinart (the whole lemon goes into the feeder tube with ZERO pressure where it bounces around on the grater blade, doing a pretty thorough job in seconds), switch to the regular blade, add the sugar for the recipe, and give it a few more seconds until the lemon rind is as fine as you want it.  

I stumbled into this when I felt the lemon rind was not as finely grated as I wanted and was trying to figure out how to chop it more in the Cuisinart without turning it into mush.

This method infuses your sugar with lemon oil.  Combined with an extended beating of the cream cheese with a good stand mixer, you have the base for a darned good cheesecake. 

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There used to be a cheesecake at Ray's the Classics - it was called vanilla bean cheesecake. It was soooo good. But then the person who had been making them went back to her day job. I don't remember much about the name now - think it involved the word "oven." I wish I could still get that cheesecake. Failing that, I wish I had the recipe.

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On 5/30/2017 at 1:48 PM, KeithA said:

How was it? Back in December, I got a cheesecake to go from Carnegie when I was in NY before it closed and it wasn't very good.

I happened to see a rerun on FB of an article about the Cheesecake of my youth, and one that continues to be acclaimed in Northern NJ.  Carnegie Deli "supposedly" makes the same recipe.

Here it is a year and a half and I haven't ordered it from Carnegie.  I'm sorry.  It slipped my mind.  When I went to the Carnegie website I was surprised at the costs, but frankly I haven't purchased an entire cheesecake for years.  When I went to local sites such as Heidelberg and CF Factory I found entire cheesecakes at a somewhat lower price.

As a single guy, I'm not ordering the Carnegie Cheesecake--too much cheesecake for one guy.  Hm.  If I'm invited to a party of some sort I could order it for the right folks--probably folks that experienced the "original" and still hold it fondly in their collective memories.  

Here is some backstory on how popular this once was.

A story from 2010 that identifies the self same original recipe and cheesecake at a little Jersey diner:  Link

A  follow up story a few weeks later in 2010 about the  "The Claremont Diner Cheesecake" with a description of the original baker, his son, and how this recipe landed at the Carnegie Deli  How the Claremont Diner Cheesecake became the Carnegie Deli Cheesecake

A story from 2015 where the author makes her version of the cheesecake using the Carnegie Deli recipe.  The follow up story from 2010 is the most often clicked story on that small local website, indicating how popular this memorable dessert was.

In any case I forgot to follow up and haven't ordered the cake from Carnegie.  I apologize.   In the meantime I still speak with family and friends from that location and era.   Every so often in someone's conversation the Claremont Diner (now the Carnegie Deli) cheesecake comes up.  Nobody forgets it.  Everyone fondly recalls it. 

Were I a baker of any skill I'd try and replicate the recipe using organic ingredients rather than rely on the Carnegie mass production facility.  Carnegie's website references that there are two current retail locations:  One year round in Las Vegas and one on a special schedule inside Madison Square Garden. 

I suppose I'd purchase a full Carnegie Cheesecake for at least the nostalgia value for old friends.  I suspect in that realm it would be the best cheesecake ever!!!!!

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Ahhh.  World famous cheesecake.  Just saw this little story and had to copy and share it:

Quote

In 1961 my mother- in-law P..... Williams (street address in the local town) was on a round the world two month cruise and struck up a conversation with a foreign fellow traveler who was a Doctor who had noticed her thyroid cancer scar. After discussing the operation he asked where she was from and she replied Verona NJ, and he exclaimed ahhh Claremont Diner, they have the best cheesecake! Small world.

That is the Carnegie Deli recipe.

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Picked up a cheesecake for the bartending school staff from C Cake..Factory.   Boy, they have a lot of variety, though the variety is primarily focused on the larger (feeds up to 15 or so) sizes.  If you opt for the two smaller sizes there is less variety.  With one staffer not liking chocolate mixed into the entire package we settled for a standard  (7" round) at $27 plus tax.

Cheesecake is a wonderful dessert...so rich and so many varieties or options. 
I probably could never criticize any but an entirely inedible version...I so like the dessert.   Having said that...I've had better.  It's still darned good.  Always worth eating...but frankly I've had better.

 

 

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In the December Giant grocery magazine, they had a recipe for eggnog cheesecake. It was surprisingly good, made exactly to the recipe.

The crust was imperfect, so next time I will tweak it. Too thick.

In reading it, and cooking it, I thought, perhaps I should take my Lindy's cheesecake recipe and just swap out the crust for a gingersnap crust, and the heavy cream for eggnog. I think I will try that next year.

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