Everything you ever wanted to know about Shavuot cheesecake…

When it comes to Shavuot, I skip the blintzes and go straight to the cheesecake.   Sliced in wedges or cut into bars, if it has cream cheese, I’ll eat it.

While I love a generous slice baked on top of a classic graham cracker crust, many different ingredients and baking techniques reflect distinct styles of this delightful dessert.

Italians make cheesecake with sweetened ricotta cheese (some flavor it with honey and bay leaves) while the French favor a thin version lightened with Neufchâtel cheese and gelatin.  Greek-style features mascarpone or mizithra, a flavorful Greek cheese similar to ricotta, but drier.

Within America, the two most popular kinds of cheesecake are New York style, an extremely rich and smooth version made from cream cheese, heavy cream and egg yolks, usually baked in a graham cracker crust; and Chicago-style, which has a firm outside and light, creamy interior due to sour cream added to the cream cheese batter, and typically baked in a shortbread cookie crust.

If you love cheesecake but want to do something different for Shavuot, chuck the springform pan and try one of these contemporary takes, none of which resemble the traditional finished product but all which are just as delicious.

Kids will love rolling kosher cheesecake pops into colorful toppings while adults while be enchanted by kosher chocolate covered cheesecake-stuffed strawberries, made famous by the now-defunct Eminger Berries.  And if you are pressed for time, kosher no-bake mini cheesecakes will become your favorite Shavuot stand-by.

Enjoy this 2 part video cooking show on how to make kosher cheesecake for Shavuot:

Kosher Cheese Goes A Cut Above

During the past five years, kosher cheeses have passed beyond the basic varieties. No longer are there just a few choices, but so much more now that there has been an increase in all the kinds available. After waiting for years for kosher cheese to be on par with nonkosher kinds, consumers now have plenty to choose from. And because of the surge of competition, kosher cheese sometimes gets more attention from customers who don’t even eat kosher.

Israel and Europe export many exotic flavors of cheeses, and this has added to the growth of choices now available. It seems as if lately this ‘cheese rivalry’ has created an explosion of the kinds of quality kosher cheese. Cheese makers are adding spices and flavors to their kosher cheese, and selling cheeses to all markets, not just kosher consumers alone. This would include vegetarians and upscale restaurants, looking for quality in taste and purity in the product.

The word is getting out that kosher cheese is gaining strength as a growing trend. People are getting educated, and are willing to pay a little more in order to get a lot more. In return, they get more choices and higher quality kosher cheese that they can enjoy. Kosher certified cheese is making a real run for popularity lately and the demand is rising. And cheese makers are meeting that demand now that they have found that selling kosher really sets their product apart.