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Greek Brides Made Cheesecakes For Use On Their Wedding Day. This Led To Wedding Cakes Becoming The Norm

Each year on October 21st, National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day ushers in the flavors of fall. Cheesecake is one of America’s favorite desserts and by adding pumpkin, we celebrate the essential flavoring of the season.

  • An ancient form of cheesecake may have been a popular dish in ancient Greece. The earliest attested mention of cheesecake is by the Greek physician, Aegimus. He wrote a book on the art of making cheesecakes.
  • The first “cheesecake” may have been created on the Greek island of Samos. Physical anthropologists excavated cheese molds there which were dated circa 2,000 B.C.
  • James Kraft developed a form of pasteurized cream cheese in 1912. In 1928, Kraft acquired the Philadelphia trademark and marketed pasteurized Philadelphia Cream Cheese. In fact, bakers us Philadelphia cream cheese more than any other to make cheesecake than any other.
  • North America has several different styles of cheesecakes:
    • New York-style cheesecake
    • Pennsylvania Dutch-style cheesecake
      • Pennsylvania Dutch-style cheesecake uses a slightly tangy type of cheese with larger curds and less water content, called pot or farmer’s cheese.
    • Philadelphia-style
      • Philadelphia-style cheesecake is lighter in texture, yet richer in flavor than New York style cheesecake.
    • Farmer cheese cheesecake
      • Farmer’s cheese cheesecake is the contemporary implementation for the traditional use of baking to preserve fresh cheese and is often baked in a cake form along with fresh fruit like a tart.
    • Country-style cheesecake
      • Country-style cheesecake uses buttermilk to produce a firm texture while decreasing the pH (increasing acidity) to extend shelf life.
    • Lactose-free cheesecake
      • Lactose-free cheesecake may be made either with lactose-free cream cheese or as an imitation using Vegan recipes combining non-dairy cream cheese alternatives with other lactose-free ingredients.
    • Cheesecake Kludys
    • Chicago Style Cheesecake
    • Savory cheesecake
  • A cheesecake (at least an American-style cheesecake) is not a cake; it’s a baked cheese custard pie with a crust. The uncooked custard filling is poured into a crust and then baked.
  • History has the first recorded mention of cheesecake as being served to the athletes during the first Olympic Games held in 776 BC
  • Even though he is best known for his signature sandwiches, Arnold Reuben (1883-1970) is generally credited for creating the New York Style cheesecake. Reuben was born in Germany and he came to America when he was young. The story goes that Reuben was invited to a dinner party where the hostess served a cheese pie. Allegedly, he was so intrigued by this dish that he experimented with the recipe until he came up with the beloved NY Style cheesecake.
  • On “The Golden Girls,” the cast consumed more than 100 cheesecakes over the course of the TV show’s seven-year run.
  • Greek brides and grooms were also known to use cheesecake as a wedding cake. It also became a custom for a Greek bride to bake and serve cheesecakes to her new husband’s friends as a gesture of hospitality. Incidentally, this concept eventually paved the way for wedding cakes to become a tradition that continues today.
  • SouthFloridaReporter.com recently posted two Pumpkin VIDEO RECIPES you may have missed:

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Foodimentary

Mobile-Cuisine

Just Fun Facts