Five years in the making (part two)

Cheesecake was my big undertaking this past Thursday. It turned out well, not one for the records, but still good. It took me about four hours of actual hands-on preparation and a grand total of eight hours considering the insanely long bake time. I chose a low fat recipe authored by the people at America's Test Kitchen. The recipe does a good job of not sacrificing taste or texture, but it is quite labor intensive. For this reason, I think it may be another five years before I bake this particular dessert again. As my mom put it, "Honey, maybe you should just go buy a cheesecake next time."

The odd thing about this whole undertaking is that I am not particularly a big fan of this dessert. Over five years ago, I became fascinated with the process after sharing a slice of Carnegie Deli's famous cheesecake while vacationing in New York. It was super rich and super delicious. I enjoyed it so much I thought about having some shipped out to California when I had a craving a few months later. I decided against it since the cost was a bit outrageous. So, a friend of mine gave me a top of the line springform pan and Carnegie Deli's cheesecake recipe for my 21st birthday. Five years later, with a lower fat recipe in hand, I finally closed the book on this one.