It’s traditional to eat dairy on Shavuot (Pentecost), so now is the perfect time dig out your very best cheesecake recipe. Dust off that spring-form pan and rev up your food processor. Delicious-ness is straight ahead!
So how do you begin a cheesecake that ends with the compulsion to lick your plate clean?
1. Mix like mad!
This is the most important rule of all. Use a mixer or food processor and blend that batter up until it is silky-satiny-smooth. This is not a quick bread people! Mix, mix and mix some more. When you think it’s mixed enough, scrape down the sides and even across the bottom with a spatula and blend again.
2. Use the best ingredients.
Don’t use low-fat anything and expect a rich cheesecake. And if you’re making a chocolate one, pick up a bar of Godiva chocolate. Don’t throw in the old chocolate chips from the cupboard and end up with 
a mediocre result. If you’re making a cheesecake, go all out!
3. Follow an excellent recipe.
I use the Dorie Greenspan “tall and creamy cheesecake” recipe from her cookbook Baking. It has 2 pounds of cream cheese, 4 eggs and over a cup of heavy cream. Find a recipe that comes from an unmistakably trustworthy source and follow it carefully.
4.Don’t forget the hot tub.
Fine custards are cooked in a hot water bath – think crème brûlée. Great cheesecakes are treated with the same elegant care, resulting in a soft, delicate texture.
Cheesecakes are really not too difficult to make. Just take your time, pay attention to the recipe and follow the tips above. You’re sure to end up with a slice of happiness-albeit temporal-on your plate this Shavuot.
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