I recently ran across this recipe for what’s known as New York City’s best cheesecake. It does taste just like the real thing. I used to bring Junior’s cheesecakes home with me when I would drive upstate to my parents’ place for the weekend while I was working at Merrill Lynch in New York City’s World Financial Center.

So, for those of you on Facebook who have asked me to share, here’s the recipe.

Junior’s Famous No. 1 Cheesecake

Sponge Cake Layer

1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
3 extra-large eggs, separated
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 drops lemon extract
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter

Cream Cheese Filling

Four 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º. Generously butter a 9-inch springform pan.

To make the sponge cake layer, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg yolks for 3 minutes. Then, with the mixer still running, gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue beating until thick light-yellow ribbons form in the bowl, about 5 minutes more. Beat in the vanilla and lemon extracts.

Sift the flour mixture over the yolk mixture and stir it in by hand until no more white flecks appear. Blend in the butter.

In a separate bowl, using clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together on high speed until frothy.

Gradually add the 2 tablespoons sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Stir about 1/3 cup of the whites into the batter; then gently fold in the remaining whites (don’t worry if a few white flecks remain).

Gently spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake just until the center of the cake springs back when lightly touched, about 10 minutes (watch it carefully, and bake longer in higher altitudes). Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack while you make the cream cheese filling. Do not remove the cake from the pan.

To make the cream cheese filling, place one package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture is creamy, about 3 minutes. Then beat in the remaining 3 packages of cream cheese.

Increase the mixer speed to high and beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar, then beat in the vanilla. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating the batter well after each addition. Blend in the cream. Mix the filling only until completely blended; don’t overmix the batter.

Gently spoon the cream cheese filling on top of the baked sponge cake layer. Wrap the bottom of the pan with foil. Set the springform pan in a large shallow pan and place in oven. Add enough water to the shallow pan to come up about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake until the center barely jiggles when you shake the pan, about 1 hour (longer in higher altitudes).

Let the cake cook on a wire rack for 1 hour. Then cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate in the pan until it’s completely cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Serve by itself or with your favorite cheesecake topping.

The whipped cream mixed with cream cheese makes this light and airy, but still very tasty.

This frosting is a great topping on the banana bars, as I’m sure it would be on many other desserts.

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

These are great banana bars!

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a 10×15 inch jellyroll pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana, followed by the chocolate chips. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting (if you want to try our recipe for that, see the next post).

Pork Taco Salad

Pork

4 pound pork roast
4 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
3 teaspoons pressed garlic
3 cups brown sugar
4 teaspoons cumin
4 cups Dr. Pepper
4 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker or crock-pot, cover and cook for 10 hours on low or 5 hours on high. Baste as needed. When pork is cooked, remove and shred with forks to serve. Add back in some juice for extra flavor on pork and salad to liking.

Lime Rice

2 tablespoons butter
1 ¼ cups rice
2 ¼ cups chicken broth
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Juice and zest of 1 large or 2 small limes
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
¼ teaspoon cumin

In cooking pot, melt butter with rice, then add liquid and other ingredients. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Note: we use the Pampered Chef rice cooker. You just drop all the ingredients in the bowl, cover and cook as directed.

Creamy Cilantro Dressing

1 8 ounce can of green salsa
1 package buttermilk ranch dressing (dry)
½ cup sour cream
½ cup low fat mayonnaise
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves pressed garlic
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon cumin
½ cup sugar
a few drops of Tabasco sauce (to liking)

Blend all together in blender until smooth and creamy.

Other Basic Taco Salad Ingredients

Chopped lettuce
Black beans
Pico de gallo/salsa
Guacamole
Shredded cheese
Tortilla chips
Cilantro
Limes

I have experimented with a recipe to get just the right flavor and texture and have one that’s pretty close to the real thing.

Great Harvest serves their chocolate chip cookie as a large, flat cookie. The ones I’ve made keep some of their height, so if you want the cookie to spread out more, I suggest adding more butter. Also, I used the large scoop from Pampered Chef, not the quarter-cup of dough as suggested by the recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups rolled oats
2 eggs
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon milk
1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips (you could also use semisweet chocolate chips)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• Beat together the sugar and butter until well combined. Add oats, eggs, molasses, and milk; beat well. Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture; beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop dough and drop about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

• Bake at 350° for 12 to 13 minutes, until just starting to brown around the outside. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets. Remove and cool on racks.
• Makes 24 giant cookies.

Note: A variation is to add raisins instead of chocolate chips.

Ingredients

½ cup butter
½ cup chunky peanut butter
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon vanilla (Mexican vanilla is best)
sugar (to roll dough in before baking)
unwrapped peanut butter cups (large or small; 1 for each cookie)

Directions

Heat oven to 375º.

In a mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer for a minute or so. Add ½ cup of the flour, the sugars, egg, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat till thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour.

Shape dough into 2-inch balls. We use the Pampered Chef large scoop. Roll in sugar. Place a couple inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. We use a Pampered Chef baking stone.

Bake in a 375º oven for 7 to 9 minutes or till bottoms are lightly browned.

Remove from oven and with cookies still on the cookie sheet, place unwrapped peanut butter cups in center of cookies, pushing down firmly.

After a few minutes, remove the cookies to cool on a wire rack.

Once the chocolate of the peanut butter cup has melted, use a toothpick to smooth out the jagged edges of the peanut butter cup chocolate.

Makes a little more than a dozen, depending on how large you make the cookies.