Food: The Subject Was Cheesecake

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The Subject Was Cheesecake
Saturday, April 15, 2006

Have you ever been to the restaurant "The Cheesecake Factory"? At first glance, you may think it's a place where you can only buy dessert. But no, it's a full fledged restaurant-- with a bar. It's just that, well, the cheesecake is their specialty.

And boy is it ever. Every time we go to "The Cheesecake Factory" (we're lucky enough to live near one) the biggest decision is not whether to order the chicken madeira or the hibachi steak. No, the biggest decision is what kind of cheesecake we're going to order for dessert!

The selections are vast. And both my husband and I love cheesecake. So every time we go there, we try to agree on two kinds-- that way we can share each of them and get to taste two different cheesecake flavors. But narrowing their extensive cheesecake menu down to two kinds is hard, because there are so many good ones and there are always new, special flavors as well!

Should we get the Godiva Chocolate cheesecake? Or maybe the Dulce De Leche Caramel. The Chocolate Oreo Mudslide Cheesecake never disappoints us. But then there's the White Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle or the Key Lime! Seasonally they offer selections like Pumpkin Pecan. It's all just too overwhelming!

When it's not convenient to go to "The Cheesecake Factory", there are other ways I get my cheesecake fix.

For a super quick fix, there's always the grocery store. Yeah, yeah I know that grocery store cheesecake may not seem quite as "gourmet" as other types. But there are a few brands that are really quite good. Sarah Lee makes a chocolate chip cheesecake that my family loves. I like their plain cream cheesecake too. If I'm in the mood for just one little bite of cheesecake, Sara Lee's Cheesecake Bites fit the bill. They're delicious cubes of cheesecake enrobed in chocolate—you just store them in the freezer and pop one out when you're in the mood. It's great way to have guilt-free cheesecake-- after all it's just a bite. That is, if you can stop eating at just one!

Another local grocery store features their own homemade Snicker's cheesecake, made fresh in their bakery. If you like candy in your cheesecake, then this one is for you!

I've also attempted to make some cheesecakes at home. Now keep in mind, I am not a baker by any means. I love to cook, but I usually leave the baking to someone else (like a professional). But I have managed to whip together a few decent cheesecakes in my day. In fact, cheesecake is really not that hard to make and it's pretty hard to even screw it up. The most important thing you need is a spring form pan, which I picked up at a kitchen supply store at the mall. The thing I like about making cheesecake from scratch is that I can make it low fat, if I'm in the mood. You can easily substitute low fat or fat free cream cheese in any cheesecake and it will still turn out pretty good.

But even I must admit that the best cheesecake is made by professionals. You can order boxed cheesecake from a variety of places and have it sent anywhere in the country as a gift.

Mrs. Fields, best known for their cookies, also offers raspberry cheesecake, lemon cheesecake and New York style cheesecake through their Mrs. Fields Gifts service. The Harry and David franchise sells their own original cheesecake and other cool offerings like a cheesecake party wheel -- it comes with a sampling of several of their cheesecake flavors, like chocolate orange, ripe blackberry and strawberry layered cheesecake. They even have bite size petit fours cheesecakes! Even Hickory Farms, a place I usually turn to for cheese and sausage samplers, sells cheesecake now-- in delicious flavors, I might add, like pumpkin and white chocolate raspberry. Their cheesecake dippers are another option-- they're drenched in chocolate and served on a stick. Yes there are many delicious options and all worth looking into if you have a hankering for cheesecake, which I often do.

In fact, one of these days I just may send a gift of a cheesecake-- to myself.

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