cheesecake – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

16-2: Cheesecake

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 12, 2025June 15, 2025all-purpose flour, blind bake, butter, cakes, cheesecake, cinnamon, cold desserts, college, cream cheese, crème fraîche, dessert, dried spices, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, folded, fruit, garnish, glazed, graham crackers, granulated sugar, grated, lemon juice, lemon peel, lemons, melted, meringue, nutmeg, party food, pie crust, revisited, soft peaks, stiff peaks, vanilla extract, vegetarian, whipped, zested

Question: Why did it take me so long to get to 16-2: Cheesecake (especially since cheesecake is one of my favorite foods)?

Answer: Technically, I’ve made it once before–when I lived in my first REAL apartment during college (20 years ago…YIKES). I’ve talked before about my cooking misadventures while in college (I went to a high-altitude school, which messes with baking more than you think), so we’ll take my note below in stride.

OK–why so long to make it again, then?

I held out on this one for so long because I wanted to make it with real dairy–the vegan/fake stuff was never going to do this cake justice. It’s not even a particularly GREAT cheesecake (Junior’s version is the one you want for that–I even won my work cheesecake “throwdown” with that one), but I wanted to at least try to do it right.

Dietary “needs” have recently evolved, so real dairy is back on the menu after many years of using substitutes. In honor of that, let’s give this one another try now that I’m closer to sea level and have 20 additional years of cooking experience behind me.

16-22: Apricot Swirl Cheesecake

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods July 14, 2024December 26, 2024all-purpose flour, almond meal, almonds, apricots, cheesecake, china caps, Christmas, cold desserts, cream cheese, creamed, dessert, dried fruit, dusted, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garnish, granulated sugar, grated, grind, jam/jelly/preserves, lemon peel, lemons, marbled, nuts, purée, sieves, simmered, springform pan, strained, strainers, summer, toasted, untested, vegetarian, whipping cream, XMAS 23, zested

In an attempt to finish off last year’s Christmas dishes (XMAS 23) before this year’s Christmas gets here, here’s 16-22: Apricot Swirl Cheesecake. Probably more of a summer recipe, but whatever, cheesecake is good any time of year. I made this together with 16-20: Chocolate Mousse Cake, because you need both a chocolate dessert AND a fruit dessert.

Fun fact: this may look okay-ish in the picture, but trust me, this does not go well. Jump behind the cut for the details (and mistakes).

17-42: Luscious Lemon Bars

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 23, 2016September 21, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking pan, baking powder, bars, butter, casserole, cheese, cheesecake, chilled, citrus, coconut, college, cream cheese, creamy, dessert, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, filling, flaked, food coloring, frosting, gift ideas, granulated sugar, grated, holiday baking, icing, lemon juice, lemons, lukewarm, melted, party food, pie crust, powdered sugar, revisited, salt, snacks, tart, vegetarian, XMAS 16, zested

17-42: Luscious Lemon Bars were the second of my holiday baking batches this year (XMAS 16), and one that I’ve baked in the past, given my rather bold notes. I think I was on a cheesecake kick, and thought these would be easier than making an actual cake. “BAD DO NOT MAKE” doesn’t exactly bode well for a recipe–why make it again?

Here’s why: sometimes it’s important to try again, even when the first experience wasn’t exactly a positive one. The first time I made these lemon bars was my junior year of college, so about 10-12 years ago. I had just moved into my first off-campus apartment with my friend, and we had a full kitchen, something I hadn’t had access to for a few years while living away from home in the dorms.

I remember making these in that kitchen (yes, I dragged these books with me all the way out to Colorado and back) and struggling with this recipe. Out of that frustration (and failure) came the note. I’ve learned a lot since then (culinarily and otherwise), so I think it’s time to figure out if it was the recipe or it was me.