My first ever encounter with a Cheesecake was when I was 14 and visiting my Uncle (the same one who ordered the Carrot Cake) in Singapore for summer. He had a wonderful House Keeper who was a brilliant cook and one of the many things she made brilliantly was a plain and simple good old fashioned Cheesecake topped with whipped cream. I remember my siblings and I having it for breakfast the morning we were leaving for the airport and ending our Summer Vacation. The next time I was able to taste a mouthful of cheese with such bliss was when I moved to London for a year and half for my Undergrad and living at my Uncle’s (yup! The same one) place. Along the way I got a taste of the Cheesecake Factory while visiting Boston from Mount Holyoke and my horizon was broadened immensely with the variations of Cheesecake offered.
So here I was, back home once again, and this time hosting a Lunch for my friends from Mount Holyoke to celebrate one of them getting married. So I gave the bride a choice between New York Cheesecake and Carrot Cake. She chose Cheesecake and I had never made one in my life – and to this day I’m not really sure why I even offered to make it when I’d never tested it. But I went for it, it turned out to be divine, everyone loved it and was frequently made on request for parties.
