Cotton Blues Cheesecake, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Cheesecake lovers, we understand you. You choose a cheesecake over a layer cake for your birthday every year. Your wedding cake had a cheesecake layer. You’re the one who brings cheesecake squares instead of brownies to any gathering of two or more. You’re our kind of people. So when we tried Cotton Blues Cheesecake we knew we found your dessert nirvana. Pure. Cheesecake. Bliss.

Cotton Blues’ Cheesecake, perfected by pastry chef Shaun Davis, has balanced the teasingly tangy taste of rich cream cheese with just the right amount of sweetness. It’s that delightful, friendly tug of war between tangy and sweet baked into a rich but not cloyingly dense cheesecake that will have your fork reaching for more. We are purists and adore their classic Cheesecake, but you can also purchase the Strawberry Swirl, Blueberry Swirl or Caramel Sea Salt Swirl cheesecakes.

Made with just seven classic ingredients, starring, of course, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, each 10-inch cheesecake weighs in at four generous pounds. Serves 8 to 10 it says? It would easily serve double that. We did the math: Eight servings of a 4 pound cheesecake would equal a half pound slice each. But, hey, you do as you please. This classic cheesecake will have you going back for seconds and thirds anyway.

Each cheesecake arrives frozen, beautifully packaged in a sleek styrofoam cooler. At $65 and free shipping, this cheesecake is not only a bargain, it’s a gift you’ll be proud to send, or, let’s be real, delighted to receive. From this cheesecake-loving New Yorker we’ll go so far as to say this sets a new standard for New York Cheesecakes. You can rush ahead and buy yours now via Goldbelly, while we serve up a brief history of New York Cheesecake.

New York Cheesecake: A Very Brief History

Why do some cheesecakes carry the title New York Cheesecake? Was cheesecake invented in New York? Nope. Cheesecake recipes have been around for centuries. So, New York must make the “best” cheesecake? Not true. The reason New York managed to attach its name to a popular version of this dessert is thanks to William A. Lawrence who, in 1873, “invented” cream cheese in Chester, New York. Mr. Lawrence was trying to improve on the French version of the soft unripened cheese, Neufchatel, which was made of milk. Mr. Lawrence’s contribution was adding cream to the original milk mixture, which resulted in a richer, creamier cheese product, hence “cream cheese.” That’s why you find the close cousins Neufchatel and Cream Cheese next to each other in your grocery’s refrigerated section.

So if cream cheese was invented in New York, why is it called “Philadelphia Cream Cheese”? That development is credited to the brilliant marketer, Alvah Reynolds. In the late 1800s, Philadelphia was better known for its fertile grazing land and cheese production. Reynolds convinced Lawrence to market the cheese under the “catchier” name Philadelphia Cream Cheese, which created a unique identity for the product. With this new branding sales of cream cheese soared.

Brand names aside, any cheesecake that uses cream cheese rather than Neufchatel, ricotta or other cheeses as its main ingredient, is properly called New York Cheesecake. All this goes to explain why a bakery in Mississippi can give you a master class experience in how a New York Cheesecake should taste. Try it and taste for yourself.