Fodorites: I'm completely obsessed with cheesecake and am on a quest to find the best! Where have you found the best cheesecake in the country (or out of it, the ubiquitous Cheesecake Factory excepted)?

Marty~
If you love good cheesecake, chocolate, and Bailey's, I've got a wonderful recipe for you! Found it in Bon Apetit years ago.

Junior's in Brooklyn, NY. Hands down, delicious!

Jay, I'd love that recipe if you've got it. Baileys cheesecake sounds quite good.
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Thanks

S&S Cheesecake on West 238th Street in the Bronx. If they're closed you can buy one fresh or frozen at the deli a couple doors down from Broadway. A company called Morey and Dorey ships them everywhere. As a matter of fact, Bob Hope was a recipient a couple of times.

My house, I have the best recipe for white chocolate raspberry cheesecake in a chocolate crust. Also have a fat free cheesecake recipe that can be flavored into chocolate, lemon, coconut etc. Interested?

You have to come to the island to get your 'real deal of a cheese cake' Have you ever eaten at hedonism 1,2,or 3 have you ever gone to grand lido braco!!! you will get cheese cake plus great live reggae music. have you ever tried out Jamaican rice n peas... that would put a buffer on your appetite for cheese cake. Check out what's happening at these great hotels at http://www.comingtojamaica.com and tell me what you think.
email at [email protected]

dianna

Yes, Arkansaslady. Fat free cheesecake is intriguing too.
[email protected] is the email
I'd love that recipe! Thank you.

Jay - I would also like to have the Bailey's cheesecake recipe. [email protected]

Haven't tried one so I don't know if they're any good, but the photos on this website sure do make your mouth water!
www.moonlitecheesecakes.com

In the very small town of Ebensburg, PA I just had the second best cheesecake ever. The name was "Off the Rack". The desert was so creamy and cheesy with caramel sauce on the side. I'm still dreaming about it. Also Benihana makes a pretty good cheesecake.

Carnagie Deli in NYC! They'll even Fedex it!

I miss NYC cheesecake...it is a regional gastronomic delight!

To everyone interested in the Bailey's cheesecake recipe-
I will dig it out and gladly post it on this thread as soon as I have a bit more time. Fyi, it has a semi-sweet glaze, and has never failed to impress.J.

Chocolate Glazed Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake
Crust- 6 whole graham crackers
1/4 c.(1/2 stick unsalted butter), melted
Filling
3 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
7 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. sour cream
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Glaze
1/2 c. whipping cream
9 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
chocolate curls, optional
For crustreheat oven to 350. Finely grind graham crackers in processor. Add butter and blend until combined. Press crust mixture onto bottom(not sides) of 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Bake crust until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer crust to rack. Maintain oven temperature.
For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in flour. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined. Mix in remaining ingredients.
Pour filling into crust(cake will not fill pan). Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp. to 250. Bake cheesecake until set, about 40 min. longer.Cool cake in pan on rack about 10 min.Run sharp knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Cool. Chill overnight.
For glaze: Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Add chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Cool glaze to lukewarm.
Release pan sides from cheesecake. Place cheesecake on rack set over baking sheet. Pour glaze over cheesecake, spreading with spatula to cover top and sides and allow excess to drip onto sides. Refrigerate until glaze stes, about 30 minutes.(Can be prepared one day ahead. Cover and refrigerate). Transfer cheesecake to platter. Garnish with chocolate curls if desired. Enjoy!!!

Sort of on topic.... but I was once in a small family owned PuertoRican restaurant and tried a dessert described to me as cheese flan. It was just what it sounds like - a cross between flan and cheesecake - amazing taste and texture.... I only wish I could find it again.

ArkansasNurse - please post the white chocolate raspberry recipe.

I'll second the nomination for the Carnegie Deli's cheesecake.

Since raspberries were mentioned, here's another recipe:

Double-Decker Raspberry and Almond Praline Cheesecake

Almond Praline - makes about 2 cups of almond praline powder

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup (about 4 ounces) blanched slivered or sliced almonds

Lightly oil a metal baking sheet. Put the sugar in a heavy 2-quart frying pan, preferably with a nonstick bottom, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the sugar begins to melt, about 2 minutes. When the sugar begins to melt and turn golden, begin stirring the sugar constantly until it turns evenly dark golden in color, about 6 minutes. Small lumps of hard sugar will form that melt as the sugar caramelizes completely. Add the almonds, stirring with the wooden spoon to coat them completely with the caramelized sugar for about 1 minute. The mixture will turn a slightly dark golden color. Immediately pour the almond praline onto the baking sheet, spreading it with the wooden spoon. The mixture is thick and spreads to a thick layer. Be careful, as the mixture is very hot. Cool the praline until it hardens and is cool to the touch. About 25 minutes. Break the praline into 1 to 2 inch pieces. Wrap pieces of praline in heavy aluminum foil and use a clean mallet, rolling pin, or meat pounder to crush the praline into approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces. To prepare praline powder, transfer the crushed praline to a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process for about 30 seconds, just until the praline forms a powder. Overprocessing can turn the praline into a paste, but this actually takes some time and is not likely to happen. Use the praline the same day or freeze up to 3 months.

Almond Praline Crust

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond praline powder
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan with thesides at least 2 and 3/4 inches high. Wrap the outside of the pan with a large piece of heavy aluminum foil. Have ready a large baking pan with at least 2 inch high sides that is large enough to hold the foil-wrapped pan.

Put the flour and praline powder in a medium bowl and stir thm together. Add the butter pieces. Rub the butter pieces and flour mixture between your thumb and fingertips or use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until fine crumbs form that are about 1/4 inch in size. Put the crumb mixture in the prepared pan and usethe back of your fingers or the back of a spoon to press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. The crust will be lightly golden. Set aside to cool slightly while you mix the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

Raspberry Cheesecake Filling

2 cups fresh or frozen and defrosted unsweetened raspberries
2 pounds cream cheese, softened 3 to 4 hours at room temperature
1 and 1/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1/2 cup almond praline powder

Put 1 cup of the fresh or frozen and defrosted raspberries in a strainer and plce it over a small bowl. Use a spoon to press on the raspberries to strain raspberry puree into the bowl. You will have about 1/3 cup of puree. Discard the seeds and pulp left in the strainer. Set aside the raspberry puree and remaining raspberries. Put the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture looks smooth. If using a handheld electric mixer, move the beaters around in the bowl. Mix in the flour to incorporate it. Put the eggs in a small bowl and use a fork to stir them vigorously to blend the yolks and whites. Add the eggs in 2 additions, mixing just to blend them into the mixture. Stop the mixer and scrape and thick batter from the sides of the bowl or any batter that becomes caught in the beaters as needed. Add the vanilla, almond extract, and cream, mixing to incorporate them. Put 2 and 1/2 cups of the batter in a medium bowl and gently stir in the remaining 1 cup of fresh or frozen and defrosted raspberries. The mixture will be thick. Set aside. This will be for the top vanilla layer that has the whole raspberries.

Mix the reserved raspberry puree into the batter in the large bowl, stirring just untilthe mixture is evenly pink. Pour the pink raspberry batter into the crust in the prepared pan.

Put the cheesecake in its wrapped pan in a large baking pan with at least 2 inch high sides and place it in the preheated oven. Pour hot water into the large pan to reach 1 inch high up the sides of the springform pan. Bake 40 minutes. Carefully slidethe oven rack out several inches. Sprinkle 1/2 cup ofthe praline powder over raspberry layer. Carefully spoon the reserved raspberry and vanilla batter evenly over the praline powder. Bak about an additional 25 minutes or until the cheesecake looks set of you give it a gentle shake. It may have a few tiny cracks around the edge. These cracks will close up as the cheesecake cools. Cool the cheesecake, covered loosely with paper towels, in the water bath for 1 hour. Carefully remove the cheesecake from the water bath. Remove the paper towels and foil wrapping and cool 1 hour more. The cheesecake should feel cool to the touch. Cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight. The cheesecake firms up when cool.

When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of praline powder evenly over the top. Use a small knife to loosen the cheesecake from the sides ofthe pan and remove the sides. Let the cheesecake sit at room temperature for 1 hour before serving. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the cheesecake into slices, wiping the knife clean after cutting each slice. Spoon fresh raspberries over each slice, if desired.

Since we suddenly turned into food.com, I always TRAVEL thinking of this fat free cheesecake recipe:
Ingredients:
2 8 oz pks of fat free cream cheese
2pks 4 serving sugar free instant pudding mix
2/3 cup dry milk powder (Carnation)
1 cup water
1 TBSP vanilla extract
3/4 cup fat free cool whip
graham cracker crust (if purchased will have small amt of fat)

Method: Beat cream cheese until smooth, add milk powder, dry pudding, and water. Mix until smooth, add cool whip and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Poor into crust, Chill 1-2 hours.

Suggestions: Use lemon, chocolate, or coconut pudding mix, for flavors. Use vanilla pudding or the new cheesecake flavor for regular.

that would be two 6 oz pks ff cream cheese.