Instructions
The shop owners reassured us that there were only 32 cakes to sample.
Only 32???
There were tall cakes, fat cakes, plain cakes and glitzy ones. One, covered in mounds of white chocolate curls and festooned with pink satin ribbon, looked too gorgeous to cut.
One cake was already cut. The contestant’s husband had taken a piece for himself, not realizing it was for a contest.
The garlic-and-herb flavored savory cheesecake (with bread crumb crust and tomato rose garnish) was the biggest surprise. We started there.
We tasted New York Cheesecakes, Italian style ricotta cheesecakes, nut-filled cheesecakes, cherry covered ones and a couple topped with glazed or chocolate-dipped strawberries. In between each taste we drank sparkling water.
We tasted all 32 and each finished 3 liters of water.
The white-chocolate fancy cake was terrible, an overload of sugar and no cheese flavor. But it got a special “most beautiful” prize.
The cut cake was very good, but out of 32 entries there were three excellent tasting-looking cheesecakes that were clear winners.
It’s really difficult to be a judge at a local food contest. When the contestants and their families started to file into the store just before the winners were to be announcedwe realized how hard everyone worked and how eager they were for us to like their recipes.
And yet, we could only choose three. First place, by a lot, was Leslie Sutton’s chocolate and vanilla layered cheesecake enveloped in a chocolate cookie crust. It was capped with a thin, sweet-and-tangy sour cream icing cover and decorated with dark chocolate leaves and a white chocolate swan. The cake’s delicate beauty was matched by an exquisite flavor.
We announced the winners, prizes were given and then it was all over but the Alka Seltzer.
Leslie, wherever you are now, thank you and you should know that this is still my favorite. And so, on National Cheesecake Day, I am sending this recipe out to any readers who might want to try your recipe for the best cheesecake I ever tasted.
Mix sour cream and sugar. Use as a topping for cheesecake.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the cheese, sugar and salt together (use a mixer set at medium) until smooth, creamy and well-blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and blend thoroughly. Pour half the batter into the springform pan. Add the melted chocolate to the remaining batter, bend thoroughly and slowly pour the chocolate batter on top of the vanilla layer. Bake the cake for . Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit for . Reset the oven to 450 degrees. Pour the topping over the cake. Return the cake to the 450 degree oven and bake for . Remove the cake from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Remove the sides of the pan and refrigerate cake until well chilled. Garnish with chocolate leaves, swan, etc, of your choice.
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