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The Essential Cheesecake Cookbook

  • Green Bean Books
  • The Essential Cheesecake Cookbook
    • The-ultimate-cheesecake-book
    The Ultimate Cheesecake Cookbook
    66 Delicious Recipes From Around The World 
    Author: Michael Leventhal
    Foreword By: Giles Coren
    Introduction By: Judi Rose

     

    Price: £25 / $34.95
    Pages: 144
    Format: Hardback
    ISBN: 9781805001614

    Buy now

    READ THE TIMES OF ISRAEL COVERAGE HERE 

    Highlights

    • A superb collection of more than 60 cheesecake recipes from the world’s best-known chefs and cookery writers
    • Contributors include: Nigel Slater, Ravneet Gill, Helen Graham, Mary Berry, Josh Katz, Tom Kerridge, Leah Koenig, David Lebowitz, Silvia Nacamulli, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sari Packer, José Pizarro, Ainsley Harriott, Mark Hix, Victoria Prever, Judi Rose, Meera Sodha, Adeena Sussman, and many others, plus wonderful restaurants and culinary companies including the Bull & Last pub and the Piped Dreams Bakery.
    • The perfect book for cheesecake fans and anyone keen to try new and unusual cheesecake recipes and flavour combinations from around the world
    • Also features delicious gluten-free and vegan recipes
    • Includes recipes with influences from Russia, Mexico, England, Israel, North America, Turkey, Egypt, Portugal, the Netherlands and more
    • All royalties from sales of the book will be donated to Chai Cancer Care

    Description

    Simple to make and delicious, cheesecakes are among the oldest desserts in the world.

    Discover 66 irresistible recipes from around the globe with this unique collection by some of the best-known chefs and cookery writers, as well as tried and tested family recipes.

    Highlights include classics such as Mary Berry’s chocolate truffle cheesecake, Ravneet Gill’s Basque cheesecake and Mark Hix’s borset blueberry, ricotta and cobnut cheesecake.

    The book also features a foreword by acclaimed food writer Giles Coren, and a brief history of cheesecakes and insights into the important role cheese has played in Jewish culture through the centuries.

    Illustrated with stunning photography, this is the perfect book for cheesecake fans, or anyone who enjoys trying new and unusual flavours. Whether you prefer your cheesecake baked or unbaked, rich and chocolatey or tangy and fruity, sweet or savoury, simple and refined or with toppings piled high, there’s something here for everyone.

    The Essential Cheesecake Cookbook is published in conjunction with the British Jewish charity Chai Cancer Care, and 100% of royalties will support their work

    Author Details

    Michael Leventhal is the publisher of Greenhill Books and Green Bean Books. The Chocolate King is his first book for children and won a PJ Library Author Incentive Award.

    Previously he founded Gefiltefest, a Jewish food charity which organised Europe’s biggest Jewish food festival. He is co-author of Jews in Britain and edited The Hand of History (illustrated by Chris Riddell). He eats a lot of chocolate and also compiled the Green Bean chocolate cookbook Babka, Boulou & Blintzes. You can see more of his work at www.michaelleventhal.co.uk

    Laura Catalán has illustrated numerous fiction books and educational material for Spanish, UK and US publishing houses. Her picture books include Two Peas in a Pod, The Naughty Spectre and Daughter of the God Sülde.

     

    Reviews

    Before you take your next bite of some delicious chocolate, you may want to check out a new book by British autor Michael Leventhal, that explores the history  of chocolate in Jewish food and culture. In his book, the author of  “The Chocolate King,” which won a PJ Library Author Incentive Award, creates a unique recipe book, bringing together individual recipes from more than fifty noted Jewish bakers….  If you’re a chocoholic, or know one, this book of chocolate-based recipes, or those with an interest in the diverse ways that chocolate is used around the world, this book is for you.’ – Jordan Palmer, STL Jewish Light

    This is definitely one of the best books for chocoholics everywhere. Anyone who is lucky enough to own it will use it often. The mouthwatering photographs will tempt even the most dedicated dieter.’ NetGalley

    What a terrible book to read if you’re on a diet or crave chocolate! It begins with the earliest involvement in the development of edible chocolate, moves on to Jewish involvement in chocolate usage/chocolate trade, and then begins a beautiful but dangerous (to me, a chocolate addict) illustrated book of recipes. The photography is excellent and the recipes astounding. Best of all, the proceeds are being donated to Chai Cancer Care.’ – NetGalley

    ‘Michael Leventhal tells the story of Jews’ involvement with chocolate and he sweetens the tale with 53 recipes, new and old. Esteemed food writer Joan Nathan contributed a 400-year-old recipe for chocolate almond cake that was passed down orally in a Jewish family from Bayonne, France, where Spanish Jews settled in the 16th century. The recipes span sweet dishes like chocolate and Nutella blintzes, as well as savory foods as well like noodles with cocoa. It’s truly a Jewish chocolate lover’s dream.’  Rachel Ringler, The Nosher

    ‘Rich, fra­grant, entic­ing, heav­en­ly choco­late — it’s almost too good to be true! Michael Lev­en­thal presents a recipe book filled with spectac­u­lar gourmet offer­ings, lush pho­tographs in col­or, and fas­ci­nat­ing bits of Jew­ish his­to­ry that tell the sto­ry of choco­late as it relates to Jew­ish cul­ture and his­to­ry all around the world. It’s almost too good to be true, but it is tempt­ing­ly, sen­su­ous­ly, sat­is­fy­ing­ly real.

    The book’s col­or­ful­ly illus­trat­ed intro­duc­tion delves into the his­to­ry of choco­late and choco­late-mak­ing, with a par­tic­u­lar empha­sis on Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties and their many, many con­nec­tions to choco­late lore. For exam­ple, the Span­ish con­quis­ta­dors learned about chocolate from the Aztecs and, when they car­ried the knowl­edge home, Jew­ish traders in Spain, barred by anti­semitism from many oth­er trades, devel­oped an enthu­si­as­tic mar­ket for the spec­tac­u­lar new treat. The French learned choco­late craft from the Jews and then banned them from pro­duc­ing it. In Bel­gium, a Jew­ish immi­grant was grant­ed the first license to man­u­fac­ture choco­late. The Caribbean was a Jew­ish choco­late-mak­ing cen­ter as ear­ly as the 1600s. Choco­late Chanukah gelt, which seems so tra­di­tion­al, was devel­oped in the Unit­ed States in the 1920s. Choco­late’s deli­cious his­to­ry flows onward into mod­ern times.

    The sweet cen­ter of the book fol­lows this engross­ing his­to­ry: the recipes them­selves. Each con­tains a brief intro­duc­tion, often includ­ing the coun­try in which the recipe orig­i­nat­ed. The recipes are clear, con­cise, easy to fol­low, and are accom­pa­nied by scrump­tious photographs of the fin­ished prod­ucts. Clas­sic choco­late rugelach, three dif­fer­ent bet­ter-than-basic recipes for brown­ies, unusu­al offer­ings such as Choco­late Beet­root Cake, exot­ic recipes such as Tunisian Choco­late Tart with Mahlab, veg­an choco­late chip cook­ies, Israeli White Choco­late Cheese­cake, and so many more. There seems to be no end to the fab­u­lous creativity.

    Per­son­al favorites include Tahi­ni Choco­late Chip Banana Bread, tru­ly mag­i­cal Mag­ic Squares, and the ever-pop­u­lar bab­ka with­out which this cook­book would feel incom­plete. There’s a sec­tion called ​“Savoury Dish­es and Drinks” which includes such unusu­al inter­na­tion­al delights as Choco­late Chili and Sicil­ian Capona­ta. Who ever imag­ined that read­ing a cook­book could be so fascinating?

    The only thing that could pos­si­bly make this book any bet­ter is know­ing that all the pro­ceeds are being donat­ed to a char­i­ta­ble orga­ni­za­tion, in this case, Chai Can­cer Care of Lon­don. Deli­cious choco­late, fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry, and tzedakah, too? Who could ask for more?

    The book is pub­lished in the UK, so a glos­sary of UK-US terms is includ­ed to avoid con­fu­sion and to be sure that as many peo­ple as pos­si­ble are wel­comed into this world of choco­late delight. A short biog­ra­phy of each recipe’s con­trib­u­tor is includ­ed as well.

    For the Epi­cure­ans among us, those for whom choco­late is prac­ti­cal­ly a reli­gion, this book is for you. It’s a valu­able addi­tion to the cook­book shelf for every­one else, too.’  – Michal Hoschan­der Malen, Jew­ish Book Coun­cil

    This collection of chocolate recipes gathered from Jewish cooks around the world begins with a pithy, eye-opening survey of the long involvement of Jews in the chocolate tradebefore plunging into the heart of the matter: chocolate recipes.

    Michael Leventhal, the publisher of a line of Jewish children’s books, draws on the talents of famous cooks and bakers such as Joan Nathan, Claudia Roden, David Lebovitz, Michael Solomonov, and Adeena Sussman for sweet and savory recipes.

    Some are firmly rooted in local traditions, such as the titular boulou, a Jewish-Tunisian treat served to break the Yom Kippur fast. Panlevi, crisp sponge cookies, are traditional among Curaçao Sephardim.

    Others are imaginatively modern: an Israeli white chocolate cheesecake; dark chocolate and roasted beet ice cream; cream cheese and Nutella blintzes.

    Attractively presented and studded with bits of history and culture.

    – Kitchen Arts & Letters

    ‘I cannot encourage people enough to go out and buy this book.’ – The Jerusalem Post

    ‘There’s never a wrong time to focus exclusively on chocolate. In Babka, Boulou & Blintzes: Jewish Chocolate Recipes from Around the World, author Michael Leventhal explores the history of chocolate in Jewish food and culture. Featuring recipes from more than fifty accomplished Jewish bakers (like chocolate and cream cheese blintzes!) this will be your go-to cookbook if you’re a chocoholic or simply have an interest in knowing how chocolate is used throughout the Jewish diaspora.’ – The Nosher

    A sumptuous ode to, let’s face it, the world’s best dessert. Whether you like your cheesecake sharp or sweet (or savoury!), burnt or no-bake, you’ll find something irresistible in these pages.’ — Rachel Myerson, The Nosher

    ‘Read the book, do some baking, and devour every cheesecake like it was your last!’ — Giles Coren

    ‘A celebration of a timeless classic; this rich and sumptuous collection of sweet and savoury recipes is a cheesecake lover’s dream’. — Alan Rosenthal