by Shawna Blake

Created on: December 14, 2008

Let's face it, there is nothing better at the dinner table than dessert. It's akin to a luxury, as we don't usually find ourselves eating full blown meals with family and friends like we should. These days dessert is more like an ice cream run on a hot summer day, or pie after a heavy holiday meal. But, we are often confronted with gooey, sweet, delicious, eye catching offers whenever we go out to a restaurant. This is usually the time that we indulge in dessert, though it isn't what we really crave. We base our needs by what looks the best in the full color pictures that the restaurants advertise for us. Luckily for me, my absolute favorite dessert is one that is pretty common and carried by many restaurants. I love New York Cheesecake and find it quite difficult to resist.

When I was small, mom would allow us to choose each year our favorite dinner and dessert on our birthdays. I would always choose cheesecake, though mom made it different than it was supposed to be made. I didn't care, it was still cheesecake. It still had the soft buttery graham cracker crust filled with Philadelphia Cream cheese. I always wondered what was the proper way of making my favorite treat, but since I was a kid, I had no idea where to even begin!

Since then, I have found a recipe for the best cheesecake in the world. The solution is simple; you must use a springform pan. Many people overlook this one small spec while making my favorite dessert. You can not make cheesecake with a pre-made graham cracker crust, I am sorry you just can't. that is the mistake that many people make. If you don't use a springform pan then your cheesecake will not turn out like you hope that it will.

Adding to my love of cheesecake is the option of hundreds of different added flavors. I can choose cheesecake swirled with sweet fruits (or topped with it), or flavored cheesecake. If I am so inclined I may choose vanilla bean cheesecake, or peanut butter, chocolate or caramel. Whatever my taste is I can combine it with my favorite dessert and enjoy it to the fullest extent.

The taste of cream cheese in cheesecake is perfect. It is just sweet enough but not overly powerful, as my sweet tooth is easily overwhelmed. the best thing about cheesecake is that it is so creamy and full of flavor. It is easy to make, popular and not too filling. It is comprised of the simplest of ingredients (with very little actual sugar grains, depending on your recipe) and it is a very common dessert. I am a cheescake addict, but that is the only dessert that makes me weak in the knees.

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