More creamy than sweet, Junior’s has been making their signature cheesecakes since 1950. Now Junior’s is a third generation family-run business with grandsons Alan and Kevin Rosen at the helm. Thanks to Kraft’s invention of pasteurized Philadelphia Cream Cheese in 1912, it has been the main ingredient in American cheesecakes ever since. New York style cheesecake is defined by Junior’s and Lindy’s and is made with cream cheese, egg, heavy cream, vanilla, sugar, butter, cornstarch and a graham cracker or sponge cake crust. Junior’s sells thousands of cheesecakes each week.

While I’m partial to my own Italian-style cheesecake recipe with lemon zest and ricotta, I like Junior’s cheesecake and recently mail-ordered one of their “samplers.” This combo cake is divided into four quarters ofdifferent cheesecake flavors - Original, Raspberry Swirl, Chocolate Ganache, and Cherry Crumb. As a purist, I tend to think of the various flavors as a disgusting violation. But I ended up liking them all well enough. The Chocolate Ganache was the most intense, as the chocolate masks some of the natural brightness of the cheesecake making it tough to get all the way through a slice. Their Original is light, smooth and slightly sour and is still the boss.

Junior’s
386 Flatbush Avenue Extension at Dekalb Avenue