This post was written by Delicious guide Tova Garr, who finds time to take Delicious guests on her amazing tours in between working for Good Deeds Day, running her own counseling business and taking care of a very, very cute dog!

More than anything, the holiday of Shavuot is associated with a celebration of dairy products. You may be wondering why. Well, it all goes back to the bible. This is the holiday when we celebrate Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with the 10 commandments — the new set of rules the Israelites are meant to live by. Among these rules are the rules of Kashrut, what is now known as ‘keeping Kosher.’

I won’t give you a class in keeping kosher now, so to keep it simple, let’s just say, that a main rule is not eating meat and dairy together. Since the Israelites needed to learn the new laws, the solution was to eat dairy in the meantime. In modern Israel, this has become a great holiday for the dairy industry to promote eating dairy. Every year, new dairy products are launched around Shavuot and almost every dairy product goes on sale to entice you to try their product. (Check out our posts on our favorite dairy farms and another one on market cheese shops) The one dish that is a constant every year and in every house is the cheesecake!

In our family, my mother is considered a cheesecake expert. No matter where we go, she is the one checking out the cheesecake and is she is highly particular about what is considered good. With her blessing, I share with you two great family cheesecake recipes to try this holiday.

The first is my mother’s recipe. It is simple, relatively low-fat (without tasting like it). It is made Israeli style, with a layer of biscuits very similar to petit-beurre cookies (known in Israel as ‘petti bear’) on the bottom and creamy, delicious cheese on top. The second one is my mother’s auntie Toni’s recipe, which is decadent, rich, and delicious!

I’ll leave it up to you which one to make, but with a year like the one we’ve had so far, who says you need to choose? I will personally be going for the rich version!

Minda’s Delicious, Lightened-Up Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 ½  cups crushed Petit Buerre biscuits (about 24 small ones)
⅓ cup melted butter
½  cup sugar

For the filling:
750 grams white cheese - ‘gvina levana’ (5% or 9% — if you don’t have gvina levana near you, try using a mix of sour cream and cream cheese)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla .

For the topping:
1 ½ cup yogurt
2 tsp. vanilla
⅓ cup sugar

Instructions:
1. Prepare the crust: mix together all ingredients by hand or in food processor, and pat into the bottom and sides of a rectangular pan.
2. Make the filling: mix in all the ingredients in the food processor or with hand mixer.
3. Pour the filling mix over crust and bake at 350F (175C) for 1 hour.
4. Make the topping: mix topping ingredients and pour over cake. Return it to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.  

Auntie Toni’s Classic Rich Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 package crushed petit beurre biscuits or graham crackers
100 grams melted butter
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt

For the filling:

3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
750 grams cream cheese (for an extra-rich cake, use a high-fat cream cheese)
2 tbsp. flour

Instructions

1. Mix together all crust ingredients in food processor or by hand and press into 9x11” baking pan.

2. In a bowl, beat egg whites stiff, adding ¼ tsp salt.

3. In a separate bowl, mix in the sugar, cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, and flour.

4. Fold cheese mixture in to the whipped egg whites, mixing well.

5. Bake at 325F (160C) for 1 hour.

6. When done baking, open oven door and let stand for 1 hour. ENJOY!

Photo via Jewish United Fund