We grew up in the era of quickie “cheesecake” made with Philadelphia cream cheese, tons of sugar, and an egg. The mixture was deposited into a graham cracker crust and topped with canned pie filling. We both loved it. But we always knew that there was something else called “New York cheesecake” that was presumably more complex and therefore superior.
When we spotted a location of Junior’s amid the neon clutter surrounding Times Square, we thought we might have located the cheesecake grail. After all, Junior’s holds a registered trademark on The World’s Most Fabulous Cheesecake®. We soon learned that the restaurant chain has been making it since the original Junior’s opened in Brooklyn in 1950. Times Square locations were merely Junior’s-come-latelies.
So we made the pilgrimage across the East River on the F train to Dekalb Avenue. The restaurant is across the street from the subway, an anachronistic squat building at the edge of a forest of skyscrapers. Our young server couldn’t tell us why the cheesecake is considered superior. For her, it was simply an article of faith. Of course, Junior’s makes the best cheesecake. It has been proclaimed as such across the food media and popularity polls. The recipe, found all over the web, hints why. In addition to cream cheese, Junior’s uses heavy cream. One special trick is the sponge cake base, which doesn’t get gummy like a traditional pastry crust or a graham cracker press-in crust. We suspect that the water-bath method of cooking also keeps the cheesecake from getting dry or cracking on top.
The taste test
The menu offers a slew of variations. When we opted for the plain original, our server suggested getting some strawberry topping on the side. (Strawberry cheesecake is the most popular at Junior’s.) She wasn’t wrong. Our adapted recipe for the topping is below.
Junior’s cheesecake is head and shoulders above the version we knew growing up. (You can probably find that version on the back of the silvery packages of Philadelphia® brand cream cheese.) It was moist, slightly fluffy, and not overly sweet or masked with flavored extracts. As we had long suspected, it was — in a word — refined. In the interest of research, we taste-tested other cheesecakes from famous New York delis.
Yes, Junior’s was the best.
STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE TOPPING
- 1 cup strawberry jelly
- 1/3 cup apricot preserves
- 10-12 ripe strawberries, cleaned and hulled
Mix jelly and preserves together. Melt in a small, non-reactive pan. Add strawberries and simmer until berries soften. Remove from heat and let cool. Use to top cheesecake.
Junior’s Brooklyn, 386 Flatbush Avenue Ext., Brooklyn NY 11201; 718-852-5757; juniorscheesecake.com