Ode to my granny

Passport & Plate - Special Cheese Cake

USA | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 2 photos

Ingredients
3 8 oz. pkgs, cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
5-6 zweibacks
½ pint sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. sugar

 

How to prepare this recipe
Cream until very soft, the cream cheese and 1 tsp. vanilla. Add stiffly beaten egg whites, which have been beaten with one cup sugar, and beat until smooth and creamy. Pour into 8” or 9” spring form pan, which has been very liberally buttered and dusted with fine crumbs of 5 or 6 zweibacks. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and turn heat to 375 degrees. Pour over the hot cake a mixture of the sour cream, vanilla and sugar. Return to over for five minutes. Remove and cool.

This is a very different and delicious cheese cake. Not a looker of a cake, but absolutely mouth-watering delicious and easy to make. enjoy!!

 

The story behind this recipe
In 1970, my grandmother Viola and her best friend Ruthie created a cookbook with historical photos and recipes from their hometown friends and the sister communities. Called: ‘Pots, Pans and Pictures’, this handmade cookbook was compiled with the hope that it would be an enjoyable way of reading about and preserving local history though their favorite topic, “What’s for Dinner?” Thumbing through this cookbook is like a visit with friends, old and new, with families nearby or afar, with those we see everyday or occasionally, and with those who live on in memory only.
In it is my granny’s ‘Special Cheese Cake’ recipe - one she passed down to me, along with her 1968 stand mixer. From start to finish, when I make this recipe, it takes me back in time as a little girl eating it at Christmas time.
My grandmother is still alive and at 95 years old, she has two ‘food requirements’ with her meals. First, is her love of sweets and second is her fear of choking. What makes her recipe so serendipitous is that now, 40+ years later, I can make it for her as it is sweet, soft and she is able to enjoy every bite.
She loves it and with every nibble, comes the oral history of her life stories about her love of baking, creating the cookbook and other past reflections – one of which was a trip to Italy, taken with the love of her life, her second husband Augusta. Gus surprised her with a romantic holiday and hired a driver to travel with them throughout Italy. Her stories are vivid, funny and delicious mostly due to their love of culture and passion for Italian food! It is also in these tender moments when sharing the ‘Special Cheese Cake’ that I record her stories to write about in my own cookbook.
I entered this contest in honor of my grandmother, her love of all things Italian and to share the ‘Special Cheese Cake’ recipe as the soul of this recipe is love - a delicious kind of love one has with their grandparent – one that your tastebuds, as your heart, never fails to remember.