I finished Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires:The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise about a month ago on a ridiculously long Amtrak train ride from Orlando to New York. I thoroughly enjoyed the great length that Ruth went to keep herself disguised as she went to review all the restaurants she mentioned in the book. She was so vivid and descriptive of her journey I felt like I was a guest dining at her table. She made things I didn’t think I would ever attempt to eat sound so delicious.
I made Ruth’s New York Cheesecake about 2 weeks ago. It’s the first recipe in the book and I feel in love with it from the start. I wanted to make this cheesecake special for Shaun so I made it Gluten Free. One of Shaun’s favorite desserts is cheesecake. He hasn’t had cheesecake since being diagnosed with celiac disease. It’s not something I can easily go into a supermarket or a bake shop and get for him. I think the best way to describe the taste of most pre-packaged gluten free desserts is “funk”. Yes they taste like funk, that is until I found cookies by Aleia’s Gluten Free Foods © http://www.aleias.com. I was lucky enough to find the Gluten Free Ginger Snap Cookies for the crust at the Whole Foods near my work. I used that for the crust since they taste amazing and was unable to find gluten free graham crackers. These cookies made such a tasty and awesome crust. Honestly, if no one knew the cheesecake was gluten free I don’t think they would have been able to tell the difference. Shaun loved the cake so much I was asked to make it again this weekend! It came out great. This time I used a spring-form pan. I went and bought the pan special for this. I am really not a fan of this kind of pan. I guess with practice I will get accustomed to using it. The first time I made the cake I used a 9-inch silicone pan. I really don’t think I could bake without silicone. As I get the hang of this whole cooking and baking “thing” I am beginning to realize there are so many awesome recipes I can alter to be gluten free. Sky is the limit!

New York Cheesecake
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (about 6 ounces)
1 cup sugar
½ cup melted unsalted butter
1 ½ pounds cream cheese, preferable without gum, at room temperature
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
Grated zest of one lemon
2 cups sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the graham crackers with ¼ cup of sugar and, melted butter and press into bottom and sides of a 9-inch ungreased spring-form pan. Chill while preparing filling.
Beat the cream cheese, ½ cup sugar, eggs, 2 teaspoons of the vanilla, and lemon zest until smooth. Pour into chilled crust and bake 50 minutes to an hour, or until the cheese is set and starting to turn golden in spots. Remove the oven (leave oven on) and cool for about 15 minutes until glossy and set.
Cool completely, cover, and chill at least 8 hours.
Serves 8