As long as there is cheesecake in the fridge, I’ll have some

Alavida Sophie

In this case, I suppose he was trying to tell me that once something goes wrong in your life, many other misfortunes are likely to follow. This will go on for as long as it takes the devil to finish his dirty business and there is not much you can do but to stand tall and wait until the proverbial storm blows over. It is not easy and it is surely unpleasant.

Of late, glorious Greece seems to have been the Devil’s target. It is just one mishap after the other and the poor people of Greece must be thinking what did we do? How did it all go bad so quickly?

Which was exactly what I was thinking just the other day as I witnessed yet a few more news reports on the latest troubles in Greece from the comfort of my couch, with a hefty slice of cheesecake in my hand. Which means I was enjoying extraordinary comforts compared to the Greek people of late.

A Greek friend once joked that it was the Greeks who invented sex, but that it was the Italians who introduced women to it. But he was not joking when he said that in his view the whole world owed the Greek people big-time, for it was they, the Greeks, who gave the world cheesecake.

It was only under great duress that he finally admitted that it was indeed not them, but the Romans who introduced the world to it.

The first cheesecakes may have been made on the Greek island of Samos some 2,000 years BC. Or even earlier if you want to consider how long milk and milk products have been around.

There is evidence that the first Olympians (776 BC) ate cheesecake and that cheesecakes were as popular as wedding cakes around the same time. Early recipes listed flour, wheat, cheese and honey as ingredients.

Athenaeus’s recipe from 230 AD called for the cheese to be pounded into a smooth paste, and then mixed with honey and wheat flour, baked and finally cooled before serving.

The Romans conquered Greece, stole their cheesecake recipes, added eggs to the base mixture and introduced Europeans of all sorts to it. From there, it was a free-for-all basically, as the new nations added new, local ingredients and flavours to create their own version of the cheesecake.

Perhaps the single most important innovation in the modern, American version of the cheesecake was the accidental discovery of cream cheese in 1872 by William Lawrence of New York. Lawrence was looking at ways to make Neufchâtel cheese, a soft, mould-ripened cheese originally from Normandy, France, when something went “wrong” and he ended up with something a lot smoother and creamier that looked and tasted nothing like Neufchâtel.

The world is covered in cheesecake recipes, and for the ordinary eater it is often hard to tell the various types apart. So here is a little help with some of the most popular.

British and Irish cheesecakes use crushed biscuits as a base and often have fruit compotes (fruit cooked in a sugar syrup) as toppings. These cakes are not baked but refrigerated.

The most popular variety of German cheesecake in this country is possibly the Quarkkuchen using Quark cheese made from sour milk. Look out for real, traditional Bavarian, baked cheesecake.

The French version still uses Neufchâtel cheese and gelatin is used to set the cake.

For the Italian version, use ricotta or mascarpone cheese, sugar and vanilla.

In Belgium quark cheese is also used but the cake is not baked. Chocolate is a common addition.

In Brazil condensed milk is added to the cream cheese and jams are a popular topping.

From this short cheesecake survey it is clear that there are thousands of possible permutations for one to try. Distinctions are based on local variances in types of cheese, fruits and toppings used.

The version of cheesecake I like best is New York cheesecake. Its taste is distinct because sour cream is added to the cream cheese. Also, I have added the rind of a lime to the mix to add some freshness. There is no excuse for blandness even when making cheesecake.

To make it extra special, I added one sliced and marinated strawberry, just for Sophie. She would have loved it as much as I loved her gentleness. And as our earthly ways are about to part one last time, I am reminded of what Thomas Campbell said: “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” To which I can hear Sophie reply: “As long as there is cheesecake in the fridge, I’ll have some.”

Alavida Sophie

Ingredients

• 250 g plain butter biscuits

• 125 g butter, melted

• 500 g cream cheese, softened

• ¾ cup castor sugar

• ¾ cup sour cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

• 1 teaspoon lime rind

• 3 eggs



Directions

• Preheat your oven to 160°C.

Grease a 20cm round spring-form

cake pan with some soft butter or

non-stick spray.

• Add the biscuits to a food

processor and process until the

mixture resembles fine bread

crumbs. Add the melted butter

and process until combined. Press

the biscuit mixture over base

(and if you like) the sides of pan.

Refrigerate the base for 30

minutes.

• Process cream cheese, sugar,

sour cream, vanilla paste and

lime rind until smooth. Add the

eggs, one at a time, and process

until just combined. Pour into

the prepared pan with cooled

biscuit base.

• Bake for 50 minutes to one hour.

The cake should be just set and

the centre should wobble slightly.

Open the oven door slightly and

leave ajar to allow the cake to

cool in the oven for two hours.

Transfer the cake after two hours

to a cooling rack and let it

set outside until it reaches

room temperature. Transfer to the

refrigerator and refrigerate

overnight. Serve with fresh

or marinated fruit or even a fruit

compote.