The Man Who Made Eating (Ethnic and Otherwise) Cheesecake Iconic on TV

Chef George Cheesecake reached a new plateau when the hit TV series The Golden Girls made pulling it out of the fridge for a kitchen table talk a ritual.  Pastry chef George Geary made those luscious and delicious cheesecakes, and many other foods for hit sitcoms. His stories about how first his cheesecakes and then he arrived on the TV scene are role-model worthy and also very funny.  For example, The Golden Girls production crew told him they needed seven cheesecake backups;  it turned out it was because they ate them after taping the shows.  Geary later became the first award-winning pastry chef for the Walt Disney Company at Disneyland.  His cheesecakes became a signature and a wildly popular calling card.  Geary first shared the most favorite recipes in his first cookbook, 125 Best Cheesecake Recipes (2002), and it was such a hit that a follow-up book was in order and it also became a bestseller, The Cheesecake Bible (2008). pate

Geary has expanded his enormous cheesecake repertoire even more with the highly anticipated 2nd Edition of The Cheesecake Bible: 300 Sweet & Savory Recipes for Cakes and More. George provides home cooks with extensive how-to instructions, tips and techniques to make the perfect cheesecake, both sweet and savory. He has opinions on everything cheesecake from the equipment needed to make one to how it is served.  “The paddle is the only attachment you need on this mixer,” he declared at our food demo.  “You can just throw away the beaters.”

George loves making savory cheesecakes, another commandant of his could apply to this. Cheesecake, as it turns out, was savory in the first place.  According to historical sources, it originated in ancient Greece.  One of the first documentations of this treat (now considered a rich comfort food) is a form of cheesecake that may have been served to the athletes during the first Olympic Games held in 776 B.C. to give them energy.  The Romans spread the tradition of cheesecake from Greece across Europe.

Ethnic-inspired recipes have their own category that could constitute a commandment:  A World of Cheesecakes.  The variety shows in the names, which range from Austrian Cheesecake, Italian Ricotta Cheesecake, Cassata Siciliana Cheesecake  and Italian Zabaglione Cheesecake Bars, to English trifle Cheesecake and Dulce de Leche.  And yes, the Golden Girls Cheesecake is in the book, too.

The Cheesecake Bible, 2nd edition includes 300 delectable recipes that George has taken on as his mission to make as easy to use as possible.  And who should know better than George?  He estimates that he made 1.2 million cheesecakes in his TV days alone.  He is consultant to the Cheesecake Factory (“If you notice”, he says as an aside, “there is always a fruit topping on their cakes.  That’s to hide the “Andreas Fault” or the crack”).  He reveals how to avoid the dreaded cracks: never leave the cake in a draft and never over-bake it. He also is adamant about following the recipe the first time. George told a story about a dinner guest at a party he attended. The guest declared that he had made his own version of one of George’s recipes. George added wryly, “Then that is not my recipe.”

Another commandment is to only have crust on the bottom and not on the sides.  The reason? ” I’ve seen that there is no reason for it,” he explains. “When you do have it on the sides, there is a very thick piece right where the side and bottom connect that you can’t pierce with a fork.  After I saw how many pieces of this kind were left on the place I decided just do the bottom. Other commandments include not beat the filling because there will be too much air in it.  And George insists that you do not have to time how long you mix the crust: “mix it until it has the consistency of wet sand,” he repeated over and over.

I joined these winners with a wonderful Melissa’s Dried Fruit and Wine basket after Chef George picked my article and social media as his first choice.  Thank you, Chef!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Master baker, teacher, culinary contest judge and food guide who has traveled to 118 countries and taught on all 7 continents, Geary has authored 11 cookbooks including: L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants, Fair Foods, The Cheesecake Bible; The Complete Baking Cookbook; 650 Food Processor Recipes, 150 Donut Recipes, 500 Sauces, Salad Dressings and More.., and 125 Best Biscuit Mix Recipes. George has shared some of his favorite recipes on local and national TV and major media outlets. George lives, and loves to live in “sunny California.”. He told a story about being in Iowa one 4th of July.  When he went into a grocery store, during a chat with a young clerk, he was asked where he lived, and replied, “California.”  He recalls that the clerk looking up at him and exclaiming, “California!  Then why ever would you want to be here?”.