{"id":8312,"date":"2026-10-19T15:18:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8312"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:37","slug":"new-york-cheesecake","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/new-york-cheesecake\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Cheesecake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New York cheesecake is a cake made by combining cream cheese, eggs, sugar, dairy products and other ingredients and baking them until smooth. The thick, pale cream-colored filling has the richness of milk fat and the mild tang of cheese. Because the egg whites are not whipped to a large volume and the cheese is mixed until no lumps remain, the texture turns out dense. Different bases are used: cookie, crushed crackers and sponge.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A New York\u2013style cheesecake bought in Pittsburgh, showing its tall filling and browned edge. Photo: Dllu, 2015-10-20, location unknown. Original image<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version from the source, with no further processing.<\/p>\n

Combining without adding excess air<\/h2>\n

Cheese brought to room temperature is mixed with sugar at low speed, incorporating any lumps left on the bottom and sides of the bowl. The eggs are then added one at a time and mixed until uniform. Sour cream and lemon add tang, while fresh cream adds dairy richness. Depending on the method, a small amount of flour or cornstarch may also be added to the cheese filling. Flour is used not only in the base but also in the cheese filling.<\/p>\n

Baking with a wobble left in the center, then cooling slowly<\/h2>\n

In King Arthur\u2019s recipe (ingredient proportions and method) for a 10-inch pan, a base made of flour, butter, sugar and egg is pricked, prebaked at about 204\u00b0C for 15 minutes and cooled to room temperature. The filling is then added and baked at about 163\u00b0C for 45\u201350 minutes, stopping when the edges are set and the center still wobbles. The guideline temperature of about 79\u00b0C is measured not at the center but about 2.5 cm in from the edge.<\/p>\n

The cheesecake is then left in the oven with the door slightly open for another hour, so that the heat remaining in the outer part finishes cooking the center. This helps prevent cracks caused by sudden cooling or overcooking the eggs. A filling soft enough to wobble straight from the oven becomes dense and smooth once chilled.<\/p>\n

Water baths, and switching between high and low temperatures<\/h2>\n

There are several ways to bake it. Junior\u2019s surrounds the pan with hot water to conduct heat evenly into the dense filling. For the Lindy\u2019s style, there is also a method of first coloring it at a high temperature and then baking it slowly at a low temperature. The temperatures and ways of applying heat used to bake it smooth vary from establishment to establishment.<\/p>\n

Three types of base and fruit sauces<\/h2>\n

There are several types of base. A cookie base made by working flour and butter together and a base of crushed crackers bound with melted butter differ in both process and bite. Junior\u2019s sponge creates a light, soft layer underneath. Some versions are topped with a thickened cherry or strawberry sauce, adding the tartness and moisture of fruit to the rich cheese filling. Japanese souffl\u00e9 cheesecake is made light with whipped egg whites, and Basque cheesecake<\/a> has a deeply browned surface. New York cheesecake differs from these in the texture of its filling and how it bakes.<\/p>\n

\n\"Cheesecake\n
Cheesecake served at the Carnegie Deli in Las Vegas (September 28, 2009). A thick layer of cheese with strawberries alongside. Photo: allison \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The history of cream cheese production and its spread in New York<\/h2>\n

Baked cheese desserts had long been made in Europe, but in New York, rich cakes using plenty of cream cheese came to be favored. The company behind the Philadelphia brand says it was made by William Lawrence of New York State in 1872, while a regional history study records factory production as beginning in 1875. Although accounts of the year production began differ, both record that the distributor Alvah Reynolds gave it its brand name in 1880. Cream cheese commercialized in this way later came to be used as the main ingredient of cheesecake.<\/p>\n

Food historian Gil Marks explains that in 1930s New York, cream cheese cakes, which were richer and smoother, became fashionable in place of the earlier curd-based cakes.<\/p>\n

The cheesecakes of Reuben\u2019s, Lindy\u2019s and Junior\u2019s<\/h2>\n

Arnold Reuben, a German Jewish restaurateur, recalled in later years that he had improved on a cheese pie served at a gathering he was invited to in 1929. Alongside this, cheesecake also became popular at Lindy\u2019s, a deli in the theater district. A restaurant with a name playing on Lindy\u2019s, along with its cheesecake, appears in the 1950 musical \u201cGuys and Dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same year, 1950, Harry Rosen opened Junior\u2019s in Brooklyn and created a recipe with baker Eigel Peterson. Placing the cream cheese filling on a light sponge is still a hallmark of the restaurant. The bases and baking methods vary by establishment, but all are rich cheesecakes cherished under the New York name.<\/p>\n

\n\"New\n
A single slice of New York\u2013style cheesecake sold at the Walmart in Fair Lakes, Virginia, USA (June 19, 2020). The container\u2019s label also reads New York Style Cheesecake. Photo: Famartin \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Cream cheese<\/strong>: A soft, unripened cheese with a mild tang, made from milk or cream.<\/p>

Curd<\/strong>: Coagulated milk protein. Cheese is made from it by removing excess moisture and through other steps.<\/p>

Sour cream<\/strong>: Cream fermented by lactic acid bacteria. It adds tang and dairy flavor.<\/p>

Deli<\/strong>: A term also used for eateries and other establishments rooted in New York\u2019s Jewish food culture.<\/p>

Water-bath baking<\/strong>: A method of baking in which the cake pan is placed in an outer container filled with hot water.<\/p>

Gil Marks<\/strong>: A food historian and cookbook author who studied Jewish food culture and American desserts.<\/p>

William Lawrence<\/strong>: A dairyman who produced cream cheese in New York State. The manufacturer gives 1872, while a regional history study gives 1875 for factory production.<\/p>

Arnold Reuben<\/strong>: A German Jewish restaurateur in New York. One of the people who popularized cakes made with cream cheese.<\/p>

Harry Rosen<\/strong>: The founder who opened Junior\u2019s in Brooklyn in 1950.<\/p>

Eigel Peterson<\/strong>: The baker who created the Junior\u2019s cheesecake recipe with Harry Rosen.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. NY Cheesecake Recipe | King Arthur Baking<\/a> \u2014 low-speed mixing, room-temperature ingredients and a small amount of wheat flour, prebaking the base, 163\u00b0C and 79\u00b0C near the edge, the wobbling center, residual heat and cooling, fruit sauce.<\/li>
  2. Mondel\u0113z International, \u201cPhiladelphia\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the manufacturer\u2019s history of Lawrence in 1872 and the brand name in 1880. Does not give a year for the invention of the cake.<\/li>
  3. Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, \u201cPhiladelphia Cream Cheese\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Lawrence\u2019s factory production in 1875 and the brand naming by distributor Alvah Reynolds in 1880. The discrepancy with the manufacturer\u2019s 1872 is left as is.<\/li>
  4. American Cakes – New York Cheesecake History and Recipe<\/a> \u2014 the spread of the cream cheese style in the 1930s, Reuben\u2019s own account and Lindy\u2019s popularity, the musical, changes in the base, dairy and eggs, water baths, etc.<\/li>
  5. Junior\u2019s Cheesecake, \u201cOur History\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the founding of Junior\u2019s in 1950 and recipe development by Harry Rosen and Eigel Peterson.<\/li>
  6. Junior\u2019s Cheesecake, \u201cBizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations\u201d<\/a> \u2014 a direct explanation by Alan Rosen, who is in charge of production: minimal air and adding ingredients in stages, the sponge base, water-bath baking.<\/li>
  7. Junior\u2019s Cheesecake, \u201c10-inch Original NY Cheesecake\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the current product\u2019s cream cheese, fresh cream, eggs, starch and cake base.<\/li>
  8. Lindy\u2019s Cheesecake | Saveur<\/a> \u2014 Lindy\u2019s-style filling with wheat flour, cookie base, high temperature first and then low temperature, long refrigeration.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    New York cheesecake is a dense cake made with plenty of cream cheese and finished by baking. Its pale cream-colored cross-section has no large layers; its appeal centers on the smoothness of a thick slice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7034,"menu_order":67,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"New York Cheesecake","subtitle":"A cake named after a city, with cream cheese baked into a thick layer","topics":"Cream cheese \/ Baking \/ Differences in bases","country":"United States","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["fruit","cheese","cream","egg"],"texture":["smooth"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[154],"class_list":["post-8312","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8311,8252,8253,8256,8261,8262,8263,8264]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t