Easy Sweet Recipes at Home: The Ancient History and Recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake

If you are unaware of the story of cheesecake and how sauces eventually moved away from just being fishy and savory, to the sweeter dessert sauces, you are in for a treat. We also have a recipe we recommend you try in honor of the treat that blueberry cheesecake, store-bought or made, can never rival a homemade version.

The History

Life was a lot simpler back in the day, we are talking of Ancient Greece, where the simplest version of the cheesecake was being eaten as an energy booster. It was simply made with three ingredientscheese, wheat and honey. There are recorded shreds of evidence of this, and someone called Aegimus, a Greek physician, had documented the cheesecake recipe, around the 5th century AD. In came the Romans with their meandering ways and found interest in the cheesecake, and adapted it to include eggs, which is a lot closer to the modern-day cheesecake.

As the Romans kept expanding their domain, the cheesecake also flourished in different regions of Europe and also hopped the pond to Japan. Cream cheese, which is the main ingredient that goes into the “cheese” component of the cheesecake, was still waiting to be discovered. And this happened in the US, around the late 1800s, when William Lawrence, a New York dairyman, was attempting the French Neufchâtel. Anything French can be deceptively simple, but it's actually quite complex to make and master. So what Lawrence ended up making was the world’s first cream cheese, which went on to fill every American-style cheesecake – the New York Cheesecake, we know today.

As for the blueberry topping, it was ingenious too and it’s kind of a dessert sauce. Just like some desserts like custard or tarts, even the sauces used in desserts had a savory start. It was again, a surprise, the Romans who were using fermented fish and spices to make their sauces. This was around 200 BC and these sauces were used to make their every meal, mostly meat and poultry. Several years down the line some cook or a home baker might have realised the potential of sauces to sweeten desserts and there was no looking back.

Blueberry is one of the major berries in the US, that is grown en masse, and indigenous to the continent too. So, it's hardly surprising that like cherries, blueberries were also pulped, cooked or crushed to be used as sweet compotes, thick sauces or as a topping on its own in simpler desserts like cheesecakes and tarts. Celebrate this wonderful addition to the cheesecake by baking and making both of them, right in your kitchen.

Blueberry Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 235 gm digestive biscuits (crumbled)
• 60 ml melted butter
• 25 gm + 150 gm white sugar
• 450 gm cream cheese (softened)
• 240 gm sour cream
• 30 gm all-purpose flour
• 5 ml vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 300 gm frozen blueberries, dry pack

Blueberry Sauce Topping:

• 320 gm blueberries
• 70 gm granulated sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 150 ml water
• 4 tsp cornstarch

Instructions

1. Put the oven rack in the centre and preheat the oven to 165°C.
2. Put the digestive biscuits, butter, and 25 grams of sugar in a bowl. Mix these until well combined. Scoop the mixture into a 23cm springform pan. Then press the mixture evenly into the bottom and pat some on the sides.
3. Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer, in a sturdy bowl. It will turn smooth and creamy. Add the sour cream, 150 grams of white sugar, flour, and vanilla. Beat again until just combined. Crack the eggs and add one at a time, beating briefly after each.
4. Pour the cheesecake batter, scraping every bit over the biscuit crust. Bake for exactly 60 minutes. The centre of the cheesecake will be a tad wobbly.
5. Turn off the oven. Then let the cheesecake cool in the oven, for an hour. Make sure to keep the door slightly open. Then remove from the oven and let it cool, for 2 hours. outside.
6. Now run a knife around the edge of the pan, to unstick the cheesecake from the sides. Unlatch and remove the outer ring of the pan. Place cheesecake on a plate.
7. For the sauce: Make a cornstarch slurry in 60 ml water and set aside. Pick a saucepan, add blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and the rest of the water. Heat over medium flame. Stir occasionally, allowing some berries to break down.
8. Once the pulpy liquid starts boiling, reduce the heat. Then quickly add the cornstarch slurry. Cook for 1-2 minutes until thickened. To check, see if it coats the back of a spoon.
9. Top evenly with the blueberry sauce. Use a spoon to dollop on the cheesecake, allowing some to drip down the sides. Consider topping with a few frozen blueberries.
10. Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 2 hours before slicing to allow the sauce to set. Serve chilled.