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07/15/1999 Archived Entry: "New York Fancy Food and Confectionery Show & Eggless Cheesecake"

I spent my afternoons at the New York Fancy Food and Confectionery Show on Monday and Tuesday. From 2 to 4 p.m. I was at the "Meet The Authors" booth signing books and schmoozing with people. One doesn't sell many books at an event like this, but it is good exposure, or at least that is what we cookbook authors tell each other. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. In any case, I did it, then spent the final hour of the show (it closes at 5) seeing what little I could see in that time.

I never did find the potato chips fried in olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and rosemary that everyone was talking about. It won a new product award and, what with all the word-of-mouth it got, I suppose these chips will be well-distributed and soon we won't be able to avoid them.

Every year, an overwhelming number of products at the show are either chocolate and other candies, olive oil, or condiments. Only several years ago, the big condiment was mustard, which, as you must remember, was made in every conceivable flavor. Then it was salsas. Everything was salsa. This year, it was spice rubs and marinades.

What's happening with olive oil is that small producers who used to sell their oil in bulk to other companies, who in turn blended oils and put them under their own label, are now bottling their oils as "single estate" oils. So there are more different labels than ever. From talking around, I found there was a little confusion about one of the expressions found on olive oil labels. If an oil is truly extra-virgin, the words "cold pressed" do not have to appear on the label. They often do because Americans find it reassuring, but extra-virgin oils are by definition "cold pressed." In other words, in order for the oil to meet the criteria of extra virgin - low acidity being a major one -- it must not be extracted by a heat or chemical method. It's just … well … cold pressed, although many extra-virgin oils are today extracted in a centrifuge. Heat destroys anti-oxidants.

These days, the Fancy Food Show is mainly geared to the gift basket business. In fact, there are many booths devoted to the baskets themselves, or other containers in which one can package products. Most of the companies who have booths at the show are looking for distribution, or better distribution, or are there to take orders from retailers. It's strictly a trade show.

On a homier note, I had Rosemarie Emro as a guest on Food Talk Tuesday. I met Rosemarie several years ago when she self-published a little cookbook of desserts made without eggs. Her daughter, Caitlin, is allergic to eggs and Rosemarie, being the doting mom that she is, was frustrated that she couldn't bake for her child. So she developed eggless cookie and cake recipes. Somehow she got it together and self-published Bakin' Without Eggs. Now the book is published by St. Martin's Press and we only hope Rosemarie does as well with it as a mainstream book as she did when it was self-published. The new edition of the book has 50 recipes the original did not have, and some 50 recipes were also eliminated. Among other imbalances, the original book had too many chocolate cake recipes, says Rosemarie. One thing that was missing from the original was an eggless cheesecake. Now there are two recipes. Following is the one that Rosemarie favors.

I Cannot Believe It Has No Eggs Cheesecake
From Bakin Without Eggs by Rosemarie Emro (St. Martin's Press, 1999)
Makes 12 to 16 servings

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups finely crushed chocolate cookie crumbs or graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons sugar

For the filling
1 (8-ounce) package regular cream cheese, room temperature
2 (8-ounce) packages low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 pint (16 ounces) light sour cream

To prepare crust: In a small bowl, combine chocolate cookie crumbs, melted butter or margarine, and sugar; blend well. Press into bottom of an ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Put foil around bottom of pan so it does not drip. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

To prepare filling: In a large bowl, with a handheld electric mixer set on medium speed, beat cream cheese, condensed milk, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon rind (if used), and vanilla. Beat until smooth, approximately 3 minutes. Add sour cream; blend well. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour on center rack. Knife inserted in outer side of cake should come out clean when cake is done. Middle will still be creamy.

Turn off oven and open door; let cake sit in oven for another 2 to 3 hours to cool slowly.

Remove from oven after it is cooled, loosen sides of pan with a knife, and remove sides of pan. Place on a plate and allow to cool completely at room temperature before placing it in refrigerator (so it does not create condensation) covered with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a couple of hours
before serving.

Variations: You may use 4 (8-ounce) bars of light or regular cream cheese and one cup (8 ounces) sour cream instead of 16 ounces of sour cream for a slightly thicker cake. Or, for a softer cake, use 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup cornstarch. It is great in either of these variations.