As a child, I would classify myself as having been a fairly adventurous eater. I was rarely picky (sure, like most folks, there were a few foods I really despised, but overall I was quite the little gastronome), usually jumped at the chance to try new dishes, and adored it when my mom "guinea pigged" us with a recipe she'd never made before. And yet, in spite of loving the ingredients in it separately, I wasn't terribly fond of cheesecake when I was little.
I think that part of the reason was that most of the ones that I'd tried were, to be brutally honest, rather subpar. Too dry, too watery, too acidic, too cloying, or just too dull. It was, interestingly enough, a cheesecake made by a Portuguese friend of the family that stared ricotta, not cream cheese, tried somewhere around the age of thirteen that began to sway my taste buds for the first time.
Jump ahead another two or three years once, especially I began baking my own, and this rich, decadent, completely scrumptious dessert had been elevated to the highest echelons of my dessert repertoire and very quickly became one of the most frequently consumed sweet treats on my birthday.
With that particular event rounding the bend again in just three days time, it seemed only fitting to launch this celebratory week with off with a marvelous looking 1950s recipe for Borden's Party Cheesecake (isn't that name wonderfully fitting for a birthday fete dessert?).
{One of, if not "the", mid-twentieth century's best known dairy brands, Borden’s, delivered this classic, elegant, party perfect cheesecake recipe to readers back in 1951 and it remains as appealing today as it did sixty-three years ago. Image source.}
Unlike many cheesecake recipes over the decades, this one does not call for crushed graham crackers or chocolate cookies as the base, instead it suggests one use zwieback, a form of rusk that originated in Germany, spreading to North America via the Mennonite community. While it zwieback can sometimes be found in specialty food shops and well stocked grocery stores in larger cities, most of the time your best bet is to order it online (Amazon, for example, stocks Brandt Der Markenzwieback and Jacobsen's Original Zwieback Snack Toast).
By all means, feel free to use graham crackers, your favourite suitable cookie, or even crushed pretzels here if you prefer. Being a GF myself, for years now I've most commonly used Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Graham Style Crumbs when making cheesecakes myself (they're very tasty and really work well for this purpose).
Despite it's name, this isn't a wildly fancy or over-the-top cheesecake as it stands now by any means, so if you want to jazz it up with your favourite fruit, chocolate, Nutella, caramel, or butterscotch sauce drizzled over top, by all means have at 'er! You could also swirl some fresh fruit, peanut butter, or cocoa power in the batter before baking, if desired. Top it with fruit, chocolate shavings, nuts, chocolate truffles, candied flowers, sprinkles, or mint leaves - and of course, if this is a birthday cake, at least a few candles for the gal or guy of honour to blow out and make a special wish on.
As with most years, I'm still debating what I'm going to make for my birthday dessert right up until the last minute, but as always, a cheesecake (a fresh raspberry and strawberry version of which is what I whipped up for my 29th last year) is definitely in the running. At the moment, it's a bit of a three way tie between a cheesecake, raspberry trifle, and bacon + salted caramel brownies (which, if you've never had, are mind blowingly delicious and can even be made with chicken, turkey or vegetarian bacon).
Given that this is my 30th birthday, a rather big milestone, maybe I should just go to town and make all three! One for each decade of my life that I've lived so far. Hmmm, tempting as that thought is, I'll probably just stick to one and enjoy a generous helping of it as I ring in the next exciting chapter in my life. One which, I hope with all my heart, will be every bit as a sweet as this lovely vintage cheesecake recipe is.
