# THIRTY DOLLARS for a fucking cheesecake? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690 "2005-12-15T04:04:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/41 "2005-12-15T16:08:20Z")
[Here’s the recipe for Cordon Rose Cheesecake](http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/stories/s1049771.htm), the best recipe I’ve encountered (Americans, use 1 lb. cream cheese). Note that hers is a crust-free cheesecake; **Bricker** is right that a good crust for a cheesecake consists of graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar, which you smoosh together and then prebake before pouring in the cheesecake (at least, that’s how I do it). You can also use chocolate wafer crumbs. Nevertheless, in reviewing the recipe, I’m gonna amend what I said before: I think that my $15-$20 calculation for ingredients must have included add-ons like strawberries, chocolate, etc. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/42 "2005-12-15T16:12:47Z")
Note the use of the water bath in the recipe Daniel links to above. Very important. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/43 "2005-12-15T16:17:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Note the use of the water bath in the recipe Daniel links to above. Very important. Yup. Also very important (and I speak from bitter experience): wrapping the pan securely and thoroughly in tinfoil. You know what’s sadder than working so hard to make a cheesecake, and then taking it out of the oven and realizing that the water bath haas soaked into the pan and mixed with the cake, ruining it? Me neither. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/44 "2005-12-15T16:22:17Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > **Bricker** is right that a good crust for a cheesecake consists of graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar, which you smoosh together and then prebake before pouring in the cheesecake (at least, that’s how I do it). You can also use chocolate wafer crumbs. We may have finally found an issue up which **Bricker** and I can agree. I like to use Oreo cookies for the crust. Don’t even scrape out the cream. You can cut back or even eliminate the added sugar that way. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/45 "2005-12-15T16:30:49Z")
I bought a cheesecake from Junior’s (near MSG) in New York when we were in the city last spring. It had to cost about $30 and the damned thing weighed a ton. By the time I schlepped it all the way back to our hotel (in Koreatown) my arms were falling off. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/46 "2005-12-15T16:35:11Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > and renamed Marie Callendar’s Grille (with the stupid trailing “E” at the end) Is that the thing on the front of Marie Callendar’s Car? (or just another instance of Dan Quayle’s Disease :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/47 "2005-12-15T16:37:05Z")
What if you substituted in some mascarpone for some of the cream cheese, would that be good (not that it would make it cheaper, of course)? ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/48 "2005-12-15T16:51:02Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > [Here’s the recipe for Cordon Rose Cheesecake](http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/stories/s1049771.htm), the best recipe I’ve encountered. Huh. My oven doesn’t seem to go to 1800 degrees… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/49 "2005-12-15T17:24:14Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And I refuse to believe that you’re making a “first class” cheesecake for under three dollars. Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little about that. Actually, I definitely was since I use five bricks of cream cheese and they are a little over a dollar a pack. But it still comes out to under ten dollars. Personally, I don’t know how someone can live with themselves after spending thirty dollars on a cake, “first class” or not. Maybe I don’t know the “pleasure” of a New York cheesecake, but I can look at myself in the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/50 "2005-12-15T17:40:40Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > We may have finally found an issue up which **Bricker** and I can agree. I like to use Oreo cookies for the crust. Don’t even scrape out the cream. You can cut back or even eliminate the added sugar that way. Yes indeedy, although I don’t use the Oreo crust unless I’m doing a chocolate cheesecake of some variety. > [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Yup. Also very important (and I speak from bitter experience): wrapping the pan securely and thoroughly in tinfoil. You know what’s sadder than working so hard to make a cheesecake, and then taking it out of the oven and realizing that the water bath haas soaked into the pan and mixed with the cake, ruining it? Me neither. > > Daniel True dat. Now, if you want to move into the non-springform territory – parchment paper lining and a heavy regular cake pan – you can avoid the heartbreak of seepage. But you have to be somewhat experienced here. The springform pan is much better for beginners and intermediate cheesecake cooks. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/51 "2005-12-15T17:44:39Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little about that. Actually, I definitely was since I use five bricks of cream cheese and they are a little over a dollar a pack. But it still comes out to under ten dollars. Personally, I don’t know how someone can live with themselves after spending thirty dollars on a cake, “first class” or not. Maybe I don’t know the “pleasure” of a New York cheesecake, but I can look at myself in the mirror. Well, I would say your cheesecake palette is not that discriminating. It’s like fine wine, fine scotch, fine anything. If you can’t taste the difference between a $5 bottle of zinfandel and a $50 bottle of semillion, then there’s no reason to spring for the $50 bottle. No shame in it, but I wouldn’t try to extrapolate your ability to taste to the world at large; there ARE people that can tell the difference, and see the extra dollars as a worthy investment. I’ve seduced women with my cheesecake. Top flight cheesecake is a worthy prize, and worth a few extra dollars. To me. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/52 "2005-12-15T17:54:12Z")
Also, if you think $30 is unconscionable to spend on a cake, just wait until you get married. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/53 "2005-12-15T18:35:53Z")
Don’t know if this is still a pit worthy thread as I am to fucking lazy to read the whole damn thread. However fuck all of you for talking so much about yummy cheesecake. Fuck all of you for linking to sites with yummy cheesecake. Fuck, I want some cheesecake. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/54 "2005-12-15T18:40:30Z")
I don’t think $30 is too outrageous for a cheesecake, as long as it’s good. If it were the same Marie Callendar’s cheesecake that used to cost $13.99, that’s one thing. But apparently it’s not. I actually find it hard to imagine that the $13.99 cheesecake could have been all that good, because that’s dirt cheap when you factor in ingredients, labor, storage, shipping, etc. I bought a large cheesecake at Costco recently for $14.99 and it was pretty darn good but nowhere near as good as The Cheesecake Factory’s or Alden Merrill’s versions. I wouldn’t have minded paying $10 more for something really fantastic. I figure they price it cheap as a loss leader. The people who are saying they can make, and could or should sell, \*excellent \*cheesecakes for $3.00 or $10.00 or whatever are grossly underestimating the time-value of your labor. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/55 "2005-12-15T19:21:14Z")
Neurotik, mascarpone is cream cheese. Substitute freely. But I don’t see how the ingredients can cost you $20.00 unless you’re adding exotic ingredients like $20/pound chocolate. Cheesecake at base is cream cheese, sugar and eggs. Cream cheese isn’t dirt cheap but it isn’t that expensive, especially if you buy it in blocks rather than 8 ounce packages. Btw, Oreos for the crust? Second rate. Nabisco Famous Wafers. And for chocolate cheesecakes I find cocoa to be much better than chocolate. Cocoa helps to set the cheesecake and increase density. Add almonds to the crust and ammaretto and extra vanilla to the filling. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/56 "2005-12-15T19:38:35Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > I bought a large cheesecake at Costco recently for $14.99 and it was pretty darn good but nowhere near as good as The Cheesecake Factory’s or Alden Merrill’s versions. I wouldn’t have minded paying $10 more for something really fantastic. I figure they price it cheap as a loss leader. Our Costco carries Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, both plain and in four different varieties. Cost about $10 for one (They are about 8 inch diameter, IIRC). Compare to $4-5 a slice at the Cheesecake Factory. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/57 "2005-12-15T19:48:20Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Our Costco carries Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, both plain and in four different varieties. Cost about $10 for one (They are about 8 inch diameter, IIRC). Compare to $4-5 a slice at the Cheesecake Factory. The one I bought wasn’t a CF-brand cheesecake (kept in the cold section); this was a Costco-made cake in the bakery section. I’ve had the CF type from Costco but since I found a foreign object in it (just paper, nothing too gross) I will never buy one again. (Yes, I know that’s irrational.) The Costco-made cheesecake was a 10 or 12" with strawberries. It could serve at least 15 people, if not more. So it was a good and to me, cheap, price. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/58 "2005-12-15T19:52:01Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Huh. My oven doesn’t seem to go to 1800 degrees… 😉 Well, you have to remember it’s on an Australian site, so they’re probably talking Celsius. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![SparrowHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/59 "2005-12-15T20:10:16Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Well, you have to remember it’s on an Australian site, so they’re probably talking Celsius. > > Daniel :eek: My oven definitely doesn’t go to 3272º F! I’m guessing it’s a typo and they mean 180º C, which ballparks at 350ºF. BTW, that recipe has a TON of sour cream in it! Three cups!! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690/60 "2005-12-15T20:21:14Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little about that. Actually, I definitely was since I use five bricks of cream cheese and they are a little over a dollar a pack. But it still comes out to under ten dollars. Personally, I don’t know how someone can live with themselves after spending thirty dollars on a cake, “first class” or not. Maybe I don’t know the “pleasure” of a New York cheesecake, but I can look at myself in the mirror. So if your ingredients cost something like eight bucks, the thirty-dollar Marie Callendar’s cheesecake isn’t so far off the mark, especially given that **Left Hand of Dorkness** said that bakeries charge triple the cost of ingredients. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thirty-dollars-for-a-fucking-cheesecake/335690.md?page=4)