Zwieback Toast: R.I.P. And Another Attempt at Cheesecake
My husband is still on a mission to find the cheesecake of my youth, the dense, not creamy, deli cheesecake that I've described to him for years, with no luck so far. But I do have some interesting news.
For those who have been following my cheesecake saga, let me fill you in on the AWOL zwieback, the critical ingredient in the crust of a cheesecake my husband made a few weeks ago. After multiple but fruitless searches for zwieback up and down cookie, cracker and baby food aisles in a variety of grocery and specialty stores, I contacted Kraft Foods to find out where I could purchase their zwieback toast. I heard via email from a spokesperson there that the company no longer makes it. Zwieback R.I.P.
Back at our house, now cheesecake central, my husband has become more than a little obsessed with cheesecake. Over the holidays he made pumpkin cheesecake instead of pumpkin pie, and he decided to take on another mission--to find the cheesecake of his youth. The cheesecake that lives in his memory has a graham cracker crust, a sour cream topping and a rich creamy center. His Cousin Bob used to make it, but lost the recipe ages ago.
My husband recently ran into Bob and begged him to take one more look through his recipe files. After turning them inside out Bob found the lost recipe. (Thanks, Bob!) This particular cheesecake recipe is incredibly easy to make and comes by way of the Frankfurter, a hot dog stand that has had many outposts over the years, but is now down on Seattle's waterfront and at Seattle Center. Don't go looking for a slice of heaven at the Frankfurter any time soon, they haven't sold cheesecake in years.
The Frankfurter Cheesecake
Cake:
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1/4-1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Topping:
2 cups sour cream
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Crust:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
Scant 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
Directions:
1. Beat eggs. Then add sugar, lemon peel and lemon juice. Mix well and add cream cheese in small pieces. Blend for several minutes until smooth and creamy.
2. Mix crust ingredients and firmly press crust mixture into bottom of a spring-form pan. Add cream cheese mixture and bake in a 425 degree F oven for 20 minutes. While cake is baking, mix together topping ingredients. After 20 minutes, remove cake from oven and pour topping over baked cake. Return to 500 degree F oven for 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Chill several hours or overnight.
Serves 10-12
--Tracy Schneider
Evi on November 30, 2009 at 12:35 AM
germandeli.com has some Zwieback products. Hope these could help to find the long-lost cheesecake of your childhood. :)
http://gdcom.stores.yahoo.net/buzw22.html
http://gdcom.stores.yahoo.net/4000233001122.html
HopeSew on November 30, 2009 at 05:51 AM
This will probably sound kind of lame, but I found Burger brand zwieback in a search of Amazon Grocery. Says it's in stock, and it's a pretty good price too. If that's actually outdated, it seems like zwieback and rusk are equivalent so maybe look for rusk at your local store. I hope you'll find it and the cheesecake of your dreams somewhere. :)
Larry Sheldon on November 30, 2009 at 09:27 AM
A little googling around turns up several references--including other brands.
And this, among others: http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/formulafeeding/ht/zwieback.htm
Dani on November 30, 2009 at 02:55 PM
Extra work, but couldn't you bake your own zwieback? I've seen recipes for it.
Tracy Schneider on November 30, 2009 at 09:54 PM
Thanks, everyone, for all of your help. I'm going to try those Burger brand Zwieback from Amazon.
beege on December 01, 2009 at 06:45 AM
::coversearswithhandsandscreams::
A plaintive, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CanNOT be TRUES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
b on December 01, 2009 at 07:54 AM
Hi,
My husband and I used to make a deli style cheese cake, we would use the recipe on the back of philadelphia cream cheese, or something similar, then let it age in the fridge for a few days, it would shrink and dry out somewhat, that makes it dense.
memomachine on December 01, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Hmmmmm.
The dense texture was probably because it was combined without a mixing machine. The creamy texture is from the air bubbles that gets incorporated into the cream cheese by the mixer. Turn back the clock a few decades ago and consider what equipment was available then.
So probably room temperature cream cheese worked by hand with the beaten egg mixture incorporated last and just enough to mix well.
Though frankly are you certain that you're not looking through rose-colored glasses at that cheesecake? I remember eating a very dense cheesecake in my youth but that was because fresh cheesecake wasn't/isn't all that available in New Hampshire, not because it was exceptional. Personally I'd take a creamy light cheesecake over a dense one, but that's me.
Carl Pham on December 01, 2009 at 02:40 PM
To get dense cheesecake, my thoughts would be:
(1) Do not overbeat after you add the eggs. Just enough to combine them smoothly.
(2) Use nothing in the main filling but cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and eggs (plus lemon is you want). Put the sour cream on top, not in the main filling. (The topping is basically just sour cream and sugar; layer it on in the last 10 min of baking.)
(2) Bake in a moist oven. Put a baking dish with 1/2" water in the bottom of the oven as it is preheating and throughout baking.
(3) Let it cool in the fridge for at least 24 hours before eating.
I use the Philadephia Cream Cheese cheesecake recipe book, published by Kraft itself. I recall advice long ago that most of the good traditional recipes came out of corporate kitchens, the folks who made the ingredients. It's not so easy to get these cookbooks anymore, but they do have websites, I guess.
Another interesting crust is to crush Oreos after scraping off the white mushy stuff.
Harvey on December 02, 2009 at 03:42 PM
A friend, whose family heirloom recipe for Danish Apple Cake called for Zweiback found an abundance of it at our local, (Atlanta) Whole Foods Market. She also found them at Publix.
Krafts weren't the best anyway, in my opinion. And as for baking your own, it's a lot of work.
Tracy Schneider on December 02, 2009 at 09:15 PM
Thanks for all of your suggestions. Al Dente readers have passed along several more recipes, and we plan to give them all a try. We'll also incorporate your tips b, memomachine, and Carl Pham!
Harvey, any chance you can get a hold of that heirloom recipe for Danish Apple Cake and share it with us? It sounds delish!
Al Whitton on December 04, 2009 at 04:32 PM
I have that old cheesecake recipe. It came out of a 1948 cookbook called the - Mystery Chief - cookbook. If you need a copy of the recipe, I will gladly forward it. Hands down, it's the best heavy cheesecake ever ! Al Whitton
Al Whitton on December 04, 2009 at 04:35 PM
I have that cheesecake recipe. It came from the 1948 - Mystery Chief Cookbook. It is hands down the best heavy cheesecake ever. My father started making this before being shipped off to Korea. He is still alive and still makes the cake, it just takes him a little longer. I will be glad to share this with anyone at there request. You will throw away your other cheesecake recipe after tasting this one. Regards Al Whitton
Tracy Schneider on December 04, 2009 at 10:07 PM
Al, I would love to try out this recipe! Thanks for the offer. Please do share it with us.
Cheryl on January 08, 2010 at 07:56 PM
Hi, my cheesecake crust was zwieback, too. And I've been doing exactly what you've decribed--going from store to store until I finally got it through my thick skull that it was indeed AWOL. If you ever find it again, mix the zwieback crumbs with some melted butter, suger, and finely ground walnuts. It makes all the difference in the cheesecake and graham cracker crumbs just don't do it!