Three-Tiered Cheesecake

Cheesecake, in one form or another, has been around since the ancient Greeks. Indeed, it was given to athletes at the very first Olympic games in 776 BC. When the Romans conquered Greece, they adopted cheesecake as their own. They called their cheesecakes placenta — consisting of many layers of dough with a mixture of cheese and honey between each layer — or libum, which were used as offerings in the temples of their gods. (FYI, our modern term placenta is derived from this ancient term, apparently because the Roman version of cheesecake resembled the afterbirth of a human pregnancy. Appetizing, huh?) 

As the Roman Empire spread, so did the recipe for cheesecake, and nearly every culture it touched has developed its own version, using whatever cheese is available — ricotta in Italy, quark in Germany, Neufchâtel in France. What we in America recognize as cheesecake today owes its birthright to a man named William Lawrence, who in 1875 took an old recipe for French-style Neufchâtel cheese, which uses only milk, and added cream to it. He called it cream cheese, but then a cheese distributor named Alvah Reynolds convinced him to name it Philadelphia Cream Cheese (even though it was made in Chester, N.Y.) because Philadelphia was known at the time for its dairy farms. And an iconic brand was born.

Today, cheesecake is defined as “a dessert consisting of a creamy filling usually containing cheese baked in a pastry or pressed-crumb shell.” There is some debate as to whether it should be classified as a cake, a pie, or a tart, but I think we can all agree that cheesecake, in all its cream-cheesealiciousness, is in a class by itself!

For this challenge, the bakers in the Great White Tent were asked to create a three-tiered cheesecake. It had to be sweet, not savory, but it could be any shape and decorated any way they liked. Mary Berry said the judges were “really throwing it at them this time,” with “three different cheesecakes, three different sizes, three different baking times.” Paul Hollywood added, “It’s all down to a good bake, good cheesecake, good density, and a good finish.”

For my three-tiered cheesecake, I chose three different flavors with a different cookie-crumb crust for each: Pumpkin spice cheesecake with a gingersnap crust, rhubarb ripple cheesecake with a speculoos (a.k.a. Biscoff cookie) crust, and lemon poppyseed cheesecake with a shortbread cookie crust.

Cheesecakes need to be completely cool and preferably chilled before being served, so it’s best to make them the day before. Because I also made the cookies for my crusts from scratch, this turned into a multiday bake:

• Day 1 — Made the cookie dough; let chill overnight.
• Day 2 — Baked cookies; made the crumb crusts.
• Day 3 — Made cheesecakes; chilled overnight.
• Day 4 — Topped, stacked and served cheesecakes.

To make these recipes simpler, you could certainly use store-bought cookies. And obviously, it’s not necessary to stack your cheesecakes; that was a requirement of the challenge for the GBBO bakers. Feel free to make any or all of these cheesecakes individually.

Here are a few tips I learned from watching Mary Berry make her three-tiered white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake in the Masterclass episode:

1. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature before starting out.
2. Mix the cheesecake mixture on low speed so you don’t aerate the mixture.
3. When done, there should still be a slight wobble in the middle of the cheesecake but, hopefully, no crack. (However, if you do end up with a cracked surface, you can always disguise it by topping the cheesecake with sour cream, fruit or whipped cream. I speak from experience.)
4. Let the cheesecake cool completely before removing it from the pan. 
5. Don’t refrigerate the cheesecake until it’s completely cool. (Apparently this can contribute to cracking.)

Despite a cracked surface on two out of three of my cheesecakes, I’m happy to report they all tasted great. The lemon poppyseed one has some goat cheese in it, which gives it a distinctive, yet subtle, flavor. To decorate it, I brûléed some lemon slices and stacked them on top. I topped the pumpkin spice cheesecake with a whipped cream/sour cream mixture, a lighter twist on the sour cream topping traditionally used on cheesecakes. It tasted much like a richer, denser version of my Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. The rhubarb ripple cheesecake needed no topping; the ripple gave it a pretty, two-toned appearance and provided a burst of tangy, juicy rhubarb in every bite. 

Up next: Sugar-Free Cake