CHRISTMAS TREASURES

I love the holidays because they are all about desserts! Everywhere you turn there are cookies, cakes, candies, pies and new treats to sample. This Christmas many desserts abounded at the hoiday gatherings I attended, but the most noteable and worth sharing was the French Style Cheesecake I tried for the first time this year.

The only thing French about cheesecake though is its pure decadence. In fact, it is believed that the first cheesecake was enjoyed by the ancient Romans who created the cakes by pounding cheese with a mortar, then adding wheat flour and eggs. The molded cake mixture was placed on a bed of fig leaves and cooked under a brick until firm.

Cheesecake has come a long way since then and the version we are most familiar with today came to New York via Europe in the early 1900's. This festive holiday version evolved from my gormande grandmother's vast recipe collection and has the unique twist of a layer of fruit between the luxurious crumb crust and the cheese filling:

French Style Cheesecake
Serves 18

Crust for a 10 inch cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Crush or blend in a food processor until very fine:
1 1/2 cups of Zwieback toasts (available in the baby foods section of your grocery store)
6 tablespoons ground unblanched almonds
1/4 cup light cream
1/2 cup melted butter

Pat the dough into the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides of 10 inch springform cheesecake pan. (The pan should be 3 inches deep.) Bake for 15 minutes. Let the crust cool to room temperature then add fruit filling

Fruit Filling:
12 ounce jar of sour cherry compote. Drain and the fruit and place the reserved cherries on top of the cooled crust.

The fruit filling I used at Christmas for this cheesecake was a sour cherry compote by D'Arbo French preserves. However, in the summer this cake would be fantastic with freshly sliced strawberries layered between the crust and filling.

Cheese Filling:
Scald in the top of a double boiler 1/3 cup of milk with a vanilla bean

Beat:
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Remove vanilla bean and gradually add the warm milk to the egg mixture. Heat and stir this custard over hot water until it thickens. This will take several minutes.

Soak:
2 Tablespoons of unflavored gelatin in 1/2 cup of water and stir this mixture into the hot custard until it is dissolved. Slightly cool the custard but do not allow the gelatin to firm up.

Beat in a separate bowl:
Three 8 ounce packages of room temperature cream cheese. Add the cheese to the custard until well blended.

Whip until stiff: 4 egg whites. Gradually whip into the egg whites 1/2 cup sugar. Fold the egg white mixture into the custard and beat until stiff.

Then fold in:
1 cup whipping cream.

Finally:
Pour the finished cheese mixture into the crust and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. This cake may be made a day in advance.

The steps in this recipe must be followed in the order listed above to ensure quality results. It is a true labor of love that is worth every bit of the effort. It is a real treat for Christmas, for a special Valentine or just because you deserve it!