Foolproof Frazzled Mamma Cheesecake or The Pope Made Me Do It
A Culinary Comedy of Errors and Experimentation
Adri’s Great Blog Cook-a-thon #7
This is the story of three women, eleven pounds of cream cheese and two Popes.
It started innocently enough when I read a post by Trisha Thomas, AKA Mozzarella Mamma. “Dear Blog Readers — I’m seeing RED. I’ve become obsessed with Cardinals. I am constantly contemplating Cardinals.” It was mid-February 2013, and Trisha, an APTN reporter in Rome was covering the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI and the Conclave that would elect his successor. That’s where the two Popes come in.
The third woman is Linda Prospero, author of the Italian food site Ciao Chow Linda. She too reads Mozzarella Mamma. There we were, connected online by a mutual love of Italian culture and food and an interest in i papabili (men likely to be elected Pope.)
Aside from being an intrepid reporter and blogger, Trisha is a wife and mom to three teenagers. Her home life did not stop just because the Catholic church was in transition. Her kids needed all her Mamma doings and her husband Gustavo needed a birthday cake. Trisha opted for her Foolproof, Frazzled Mamma Cheesecake. She wrote “I love my foolproof, frazzled Mom cheesecake because I figure I can drop it on the floor, flip it upside down, throw it across the room, and my kids will still eat it. The ingredients just make it taste so good, it doesn’t matter how much you mess it up– which is fairly often in my case.” That’s where the eleven pounds of cream cheese come in.
Trisha, a self confessed non-cook, made a birthday dinner for her husband, three kids and in-laws. When it was time for dessert she asked her son Nico to help. ” I told him to spread the whip cream on top of the cheesecake and grate some chocolate flakes on top. But once again, I messed up. I forgot the cake was still hot from the oven and when he put the whipped cream on top it melted into a messy liquid. Oh well, like I said, we ate it anyway and it was yummy.”
The comedy of errors was on. Trisha invited her readers to make the cheesecake. Linda and I could not resist the challenge. Trust me. It was a challenge. You see, even though Trisha calls this Foolproof, Frazzled Mamma Cheesecake, Linda and I had quite a time trying to duplicate her recipe. We also had fun. We compared notes along the way, sharing photographs and cheesecake contemplation. Click here for Linda’s report. Read on for mine.
I started with Trisha’s original recipe. There was a little trouble at the beginning. No oven temperature was called out and no pan size was listed. Undeterred, I thought about Cheesecake 101, set my oven to 300 degrees F. and grabbed a 9-inch springform pan.
I pressed the graham cracker crust into the pan and turned to the filling, a blend of cream cheese (Philadelphia brand, per favore,) sweetened condensed milk, and eggs. The question of what to do with the chocolate chips quickly arose. No directions were included, and I had no photo of the cheesecake. I dropped the chocolate chips into the batter, gave a quick stir, turned the mixture into the prepared crust and watched as the chips fell to the bottom of the pan. Oh dear. There was nothing to do but spread them evenly about the bottom and bake the cheesecake. After forty minutes in the oven it was ready. When I cut the cheesecake I saw that the chocolate chips had formed a layer over the bottom.
This could not be right. I tried again. This time I dredged the chips in flour thinking the coating might keep them in suspension. Again, like little stones the chips descended, once again forming a layer on the bottom. What to do next?
Fortunately, on the drive to the market I had plenty of time to think of a new approach. Maybe the chocolate was supposed to be melted and marbleized into the batter, I thought. Marble cakes are, after all, quite beautiful. I melted the chocolate and lightly swirled it into the batter. Trouble again. While it looked pretty, there was too much chocolate. I set another pound of cream cheese on the counter to warm to room temperature.
This time I decreased the amount of chocolate by half, melted it and combined it with 1 cup of the batter. I poured the plain batter into the prepared crust and poured the chocolate batter in a ring on top, ½ inch in from the border and used a spoon to lift and move the batter to marble it. It looked great, and baked up beautifully.
The trouble was I had now altered Trisha’s recipe, and as good as it was with the play of rich chocolate against the sweet plain batter, I really wanted to make Trisha’s cake This, for those of you who are counting, was Attempt Number Four. To those among you who are wondering why I did not email Trisha and inquire about the true nature of this dessert, I respond I was having too much fun figuring it out for myself. Bart remarked that I was like the blind man who was trying to describe an elephant.
Blind or not. Elephant or no. I would not be deterred. For Attempt Number Five I proceeded to the experiment’s logical conclusion, a chocolate cheesecake, the melted chocolate completely incorporated into the batter. This really was the no-hassle cheesecake – no fretting over falling chips, no worry about marbling, and no swirling. I figured this had to be the real deal. At last.
In case you are wondering, I finally did ask Trisha about the true nature of this dessert. The answer is Foolproof, Frazzled Mamma Cheesecake is chocolate all the way through. Now I know. This cheesecake is also, by the way, crack-proof. Having made five, I can attest to that. I suggest that if you are serious about cheesecake experimentation, consider the purchase of a second pan, possibly a third. There is less waiting that way. Get a cooking buddy too. It makes the entire process great fun.
So ends the account of six of the eleven pounds of cream cheese, my five and Trisha’s one. For the account of the remaining five pounds, read Ciao Chow Linda’ s report.
Click here for Trisha’s recipe.
Note: You can click on any picture for a slide show!
I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 11:16 am |
Well Adri – You intrepid baker! You really managed to capture the fun of this whole adventure with your sense of humor and Bart’s great photos. Now we both know a little more about what to question when a cheesecake challenge befalls us again. On second thought, let’s not go there again. My waistline can’t take it.
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 11:45 am |
Ciao Linda,
This was fun, especially with a bit of distance between the baking and the writing. I really did enjoy it, but you are right about the waistline. The truth is I could have added a shot of the size tags in my jeans – the newer ones are a size larger. No jive.
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 12:49 pm |
Wow Adri, you are one determind lady! I thought all your cheesecakes looked great by the way!
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 12:50 pm |
Thanks, Deborah! Linda and I had a blast with this one!
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 1:08 pm |
ADRI -YOU’RE AWESOME!! This whole story just makes me laugh!!! You are so persevering and every cheesecake you make is beautiful!! What a talent you have. And you sure know how to tell a story too. Thank you for taking my disastrously sloppy recipe and turning it into great cakes and a wonderful story. Big hugs, Trisha
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 1:38 pm |
Hi Trisha,
I had a blast! Thanks for the inspiration and the kind words.
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 2:43 pm |
What fun you and Linda had experimenting with this delicious cheesecake recipe, Adri! I chuckled while reading both Linda’s post and yours! 🙂
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 2:45 pm |
Hi Pat,
We did have fun, and I am glad we made you smile! Thank for dropping by.
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 5:44 pm |
Lucky you!!! All those cheesecakes to eat…
Friday, April 19th 2013 at 7:34 pm |
Hi Laney,
Yes, lucky indeed! Wed had fun with this project. Thanks for visiting.
Saturday, April 20th 2013 at 1:18 am |
che golosità Adri!!! mamma mia!!!!
Saturday, April 20th 2013 at 6:24 am |
Davvero!
Saturday, April 20th 2013 at 6:21 am |
adore le cheeoecake!!!!!
Saturday, April 20th 2013 at 6:25 am |
Ciao Simona,
Anch’io!
Saturday, April 20th 2013 at 1:51 pm |
LOL – that is a lot of cheesecake! I love your determination 🙂 Chocolate through and through would be my choice too!
Saturday, April 20th 2013 at 2:03 pm |
Hi Susan,
This was fun – lots of laughs and loads of cheesecake!
Sunday, April 21st 2013 at 1:59 am |
Dear Adri your cheesecake +attempts look delicious! I only tried a couple of times to bake cheese cake and it was a failure! I feel inspired to try again now!!!
Sunday, April 21st 2013 at 7:19 am |
Ciao Rita,
This was fun. Linda and I traded emails and laughs along the way. And we consumes a tremendous amount of cheesecake in the process!
Sunday, April 21st 2013 at 3:25 pm |
Holy Pope, that cake looks delicious! Looks like all the attempts were successful to me! I’d definitely be down to test them, anytime! Great recipes! I can’t wait to read more!
Sunday, April 21st 2013 at 3:35 pm |
Thanks, Jeff!
This project was a blast from start to finish! Thanks for stopping by.
Sunday, April 21st 2013 at 6:14 pm |
I don’t know from popes, but I do know from tenacity, and I am incredibly impressed at how many times you tried this! Honestly none of them sound like fails to me, but chocolate does remind me of a certain antique cello chocolate-covered voice of a certain someone, so that sounds most delicious to me ; )
Sunday, April 21st 2013 at 6:30 pm |
Benvenuta!
If you think this is tenacity – it was eight, count them eight attempts for my Pumpkin Cheesecake – there was dry heat, water baths, baking bags, you name it. In sooth, a woman could say it was Cheesecakes on Parade. Now about that voice… do you suppose he bathes that throat in cheesecake…
Sunday, April 21st 2013 at 10:32 pm |
ti confesserò cara Adri che la cheesecake non l’ho mai fatta ma adesso, guardando la tua, penso proprio che proverò!Buona settimana, un abbraccio !
Monday, April 22nd 2013 at 6:38 am |
Chiara, Il Cheesecake e un classico Americano. Ci sono migliaia di ricette Questa e solamento una! Per un’altra, clicca qui.
Monday, April 22nd 2013 at 1:25 am |
Adri, this is certainly the most fun post that I have read in a while! I am quite impressed not only by your patience and the wonderful pictures but by the way all of the cheesecakes turned out – I do not know which one I like the best, they all look fabulous! What a creative way to bake and what a fun project! Respect my dear, respect!
Have a lovel Monday!
Monday, April 22nd 2013 at 6:42 am |
Hi Andrea,
This really was great fun. At first, I thought it would be just one cheesecake, but as you can see, that was far from the case. I really did have a blast.
Monday, April 22nd 2013 at 10:37 pm |
Adri che bel post, la mia prima cheese cake l’ho mangiata a New York e mi sono subito innamorata di questo meraviglioso dolce, il tuo è bellissimo!!!! Complimenti
Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 at 8:18 am |
Grazie Mariangela! Il New York Cheesecake e il migliore!
Wednesday, April 24th 2013 at 12:01 pm |
I can always depend on you for all my Papal needs. GREG
Wednesday, April 24th 2013 at 2:14 pm |
Hi Greg,
Just think of me as your Vaticanista!
Wednesday, April 24th 2013 at 12:36 pm |
Ha, what an awesome post! I have to say, all of your versions of the cheesecake look absolutely delicious – the choco chip layer, the marbled, + the melted choc all look so amazing. I’m jealous of the lucky folks that got to help you eat all of that deliciousness!
Wednesday, April 24th 2013 at 2:14 pm |
Hi Amy,
It was fun – lots of laughs and lots of cheesecake!
Monday, April 29th 2013 at 6:18 pm |
This was a great post Adri! OMGoodness, all that cream cheese, and you’re so tiny! This would be utter danger for me and my husband who has a real sweet tooth. If we lived closer we would have stopped by to help eat them. They all looked beautiful btw! You and Linda are a great baking team!
Monday, April 29th 2013 at 9:54 pm |
Hi Marie,
It was a regular mountain of cream cheese. You husband too, eh? My husband Bart loves sweets. We could have used your help eating all of this. It was wild. Linda and I enjoyed this project. It was my first time pairing up with someone on a topic. We ought to all try it some time.
Monday, May 13th 2013 at 3:37 am |
Hi Adri – Apologies for the late reply. Just wanted to tell you that I developed a Mocha Chocolate Chip Cheesecake many years ago, and found I had to use mini chocolate chips AND coat them with 1 tablespoon of flour to keep them from sinking. After the recipe was published, we received a letter from a woman who was upset because her cheesecake looked different from the photo — she melted her chocolate chips! Interesting observation and analysis that sweetened condensed milk might prevent cracking. I’ll have to look into that more! Beautiful cheesecakes, as always!
Monday, May 13th 2013 at 6:17 am |
Hi Irene,
As always, thank you for your kitchen wisdom. I never considered using mini chocolate chips. That is a great idea. Next time I want a chocolate chip cheesecake, I will definitely use the mini chips. I am not certain if even minis would have saved this cheesecake as the batter was quite loose. As for your reader, I have come to believe that it is much better to be quite explicit in recipe writing. I used to worry that I would insult seasoned cooks out there with too much detail, but I believe it is far worse to have a new enthusiastic cook be disappointed for lack of one tidbit of info.
I am very curious to see what you and your staff come up with vis a vis the use of condensed milk and cracking. I was floored that not one of my cakes cracked. Could it have been divine intervention?