Monday, July 30th: Yummy, yummy; here’s MY kind of holiday. Today is NATIONAL CHEESECAKE DAY! Although an unofficial holiday, I couldn’t locate the origin of the day; it’s still a popular holiday. My goodness, who knew there were so many kinds of cheesecake?
North American styled cheesecakes vary by region. There’s New York style, Pennsylvania Dutch style, Philadelphia-style, and a St. Louis variant called Gooey butter cake.
If that isn’t enough to confuse a person, then take a look at cheesecakes in other countries. The United Kingdom and Ireland use a base of crushed, buttered biscuits, often topped with fruit compote. They also feature unique flavors as coffee, tea, Irish cream and even marshmallow.
Germany has a unique cheesecake using quark that has a bit of a sweet and sour taste.
Bulgaria uses cream cheese, similar to our New York style filling, with Smetana for a top layer, often with ground nuts added to the crust mixture.
I want to try a Brazilian style cheesecake, with a layer of guava marmalade. Most of all, I want to try a Japanese style cheesecake using matcha (powdered Japanese green tea), topped with a scoop of green tea ice cream.
Since there’s some chocolate cheesecake waiting in the freezer for me, I’ll be celebrating with that tonight. What’s your favorite cheesecake?
Happy Cheesecake Day!
