Cheese Cake: From Olympic Games to New Delights like
Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheese Cake  

Chocolate tuxedo cream cheesecake is one of the latest and delightful variations of a very old cheese cake recipe dating back to 776 B.C. The chocolate tuxedo cream cheesecake was invented here in the United States at the famous Cheesecake Factory.  But the earlier form of cheesecake originated in ancient Greece and was actually served to the athletes during the first Olympic Games held in 776 B.C.

According to the Oxford Companion to Food, Marcus Porcius Cato's  De re Rustica around 200 BC described making his cheese libum (cake), which is remarkably like  our modern cheesecake.

After conquering Greece, the Romans spread cheesecake across Europe. And from Europe, cheese cake was brought to America by immigrants. William Lawrence of Chester, N.Y., in 1872, accidentally produced cream cheese while trying to reproduce a French cheese called Neufchatel.

He called his cheese Philadelphia Brand Cream. It was bought by the Kraft Cheese Company in 1928. Kraft Foods still owns and produces Philadelphia Cream Cheese today. In 1912, James L. Kraft invented pasteurized cheese, which lead to the development of pasteurized Philadelphia Brand cream cheese. Pasteurized Philadelphia Brand cream cheese is now the most popular cheese used for making cheesecake today.

The cheesecake-cooking champion David Gluckman said: "Cheesecake is really a canvas” because there are so many to make cheesecake and so many regional variations of cheese cake.  For example, the New York style cheesecake uses heavy cream, eggs, egg yolks, and cream cheese to make its rich and smooth consistency.  Whereas, Chicago style cheesecake version is more of a baked cream cheese that is creamy on the inside and firm on the outside.

The Philadelphia style cheese cake is creamier in flavor than the New York Cheese cake but lighter in texture. The Mid Western, Ann Arbor style cheese cake has a graham cracker crust and has a combined cream cheese and sour cream base.  There also include liquor flavorings such as Amaretto, Bailey’s Irish Cream, Raspberry Chambord, and Kahlua.

Because most milk now is homogenized, sour cream cheese cake has become more popular in the United States. It does not use the heavy cream but still uses cream cheese. Because it can be frozen at least for short periods of time, it can also be stored by factory made companies.

Lactose-free cheesecake can be made using lactose-free cream cheese. It can also be made using an imitation using Vegan recipes combining other lactose-free ingredients with non-dairy cream cheese alternatives.

The Seattle style cheese cake is light with out a crust, usually chocolate or vanilla and often refrigerated.  It can be topped with cherries, raspberries or strawberries and is delicious.
Almost all modern cheesecakes are cream cheese in the United States; in Italy, ricotta is used in cheesecakes. In France, cheese cakes are very light using gelatin to bind the ingredients. Its light flavor and texture comes from the famous Neufchatel cheese.  Quark cheese is used in Germany to make cheesecake.

From its ancient Greek roots to the modern chocolate tuxedo cream cheese cake, the cheese cake has evolved from a simple tasty recipe into a canvas of many new favors and regional tastes.  We are the luckier for it.