The month of love just got sprinkled with more cheese. Bakers across Delhi whipped up their best New York Cheesecake, and the results are out. The #DSSCBlindTasteTest is the city’s most definitive and fun scout for top-of-the-pop savouries, sweets, and everything in-between. After knighting Delhi’s ultimate margherita pizza, most decadent chocolate cookie, and noodles that can toss up your world, we set forth to find the master cheesecake baker of #OurCity. Three judges, nine cheesecakes, and endless cups of green tea later, we have a winner.
All DSSC blind tastings follow a strict set of rules to ensure an impartial & objective result. From planning to ordering to delivery deadlines – all stages are kept under wraps from the jury and all participants are given a common brief. The Cheesecake Edition sought what you’d pick when you need that rich, creamy, tongue-teasing, and soul-pleasing cheesecake (fitness trainers, look away).
Meet the judges (also, Power Packer 2017 winners)
Right to left: Kainaz Contractor, Pankaj Balachandran and Karina Aggarwal
Pankaj Balachandran, Managing Partner at Bar Back Collective: He builds innovative concepts and beverage programmes for bars and restaurants across the country. Providing a one-stop-shop, this dapper gent caters to the diverse needs of the F&B industry.
Kainaz Contractor, Chef-Owner of Rustom’s Parsi Bhonu: She moved to Delhi to open her dream restaurant with a pixel-free vision of serving authentic Parsi food. Having set Delhi’s tastebuds rolling to the nuances of this complex-yet-simple cuisine, she offers warm and personalised hospitality to everyone who walks through her doors.
Karina Aggarwal, Beverage Commentator: With her in-depth knowledge on all things alcohol, she brings to the table gripping tasting sessions and informative workshops. Never shy to call a spade a spade, she piques #OurCity’s interest and nudges us to experiment with a bevy of products.
DSSC: Known across the country for constructively honest & no-holds-barred feedback, the DSSC tasting team transformed into No-Nonsense-Nancy, and was the fourth “person” on the panel.
Meet the contestants:
Cheesecake 01 – Cravity
We kicked off the tasting with a slice of pie from Cravity, the boutique pâtisserie nestled in Hauz Khas. Whilst it ranked high on crust, the judges were looking for an authentic baked cheesecake. Neither dense, nor creamy, this pie suffered from a mousse-like texture and a citrus aroma that failed to leave an imprint on the jurors. This blueberry version could have scored higher with the usage of cream cheese, hence got marked down for comfort-pie or calorie:guilt ratio.
Score: 3/10
Price: INR 1200+ taxes per kilogram or INR 150 for a slice
Cheesecake 02 – The Sinful Spoon
As we unpacked the dainty boxes to be secretly numbered by the jury, the team did agree that the coin-sized portions are perfectly sized for our 4 pm sugar cravings. This bakery based out of Gurugram failed to impress a pie-hungry jury, and lost points on the key parameters like texture, density, and aroma. The unanimous feedback for improvement for this pie was a tad longer in the oven and a crumbly base that would offset the creaminess on top.
Score: 4/10
Price: INR 200 for a box of four
Cheesecake 03 – Sugarama Patisserie
Dense looking and sweet smelling, with a good volume, Sugarama’s New York Style Cheesecake was promising all the way as it sat on the tray that made its way to the judges. While the looks charmed, the texture didn’t make it to the hall of fame, as it resembled the density of a cotton cheesecake more than a New York Cheesecake. As the bite came to a finish, the dessert left a citrus-essence flavour on the palate, scaling down the scores. It didn’t walk the talk in terms of density and was oddly light. While the lack of aroma could be attributed to it not being an all-out-authentic New York Cheesecake, the crust too failed to impress. However, if you’re looking for a cheesecake that’s light on the bite, put this offering from one of the capital’s most-loved bakeries on your list.
Score: 4.5/10
Price: INR 150 per slice
Cheesecake 04 -Sugar Blossoms
Nestled in Meherchand market, Sugar Blossoms created an innovative cheesecake, however it tipped at the middle of the scoring scale. The dessert could have been baked a tad longer, as it lacked the brown-cream hue, seeing which you just know it’s going to be a great cheesecake. While the texture was pleasing, it could be more dense to reach the consistency of a quintessential cheesecake. The flavour carried a strong trace of cinnamon, which isn’t an authentic note one would ideally want in this dessert. While the crust was a nice ratio of crumbly-yet-buttery, it left a tinge of coconutty flavour on the palate. Their version could’ve bumped up the rank ladder had the approach leaned more towards a classic New York Cheesecake.
Score: 5/10
Price: INR 250 per slice
Cheesecake 05 – Whipped
Alluring with a baked bronze-skin, the flight almost hit shore, had it not been for the lack-lustre crust. Whilst dense, creamy, and rating high on the decadence scale, the sweet aftertaste didn’t help its case. Ideal for a low key couch-marries-tushy Netflix-binge, Whipped wins brownie (or should we say cheesecake?) points for its volume to price ratio.
Score: 6/10
Price: INR 242 per slice
Cheesecake 06 – Defence Bakery
The next entry induced awe & surprise when revealed at the end of the taste test. This generously sized cake from nostalgia-inducing Defence Bakery scored high on the look-o-meter and pleased the power-packing quadro with its creamy texture. The dense, flavoursome, and aromatic pie had the judges dive in for many spoonfuls. Cutting very close to winning second position, this pie was only let down by the crust and a tad less cheese.
Score: 7.5/10
Price: INR 180 per slice
Cheesecake 07 – Bombaykery
Winner of the DSSC Blind Taste Test: Cookie Edition, The Bombaykery’s beautifully baked cake had the panel smiling from the second the cloche was removed. The creamy and dense cheesecake had a beautiful velvety texture that cut well to hold its shape. Ranked high on the taste-o-meter and widely appreciated for its fine and buttery crust, each spoonful of the cake burst with flavour. The Bombaykery would have bagged the title of the city’s best baked cheesecake but for the unfortunate and surprising eggy aroma from this eggless bake.
Score: 8/10
Price: INR 800 + taxes for a 6” cheesecake
Cheesecake 08 – Baked Love by Vatsala
Alright alright alright. Everybody lean in and listen up.
Championing the classic New York Cheesecake appearance, the entry from Baked Love by Vatsala was welcomed on the table. Rich, creamy, dense, sweet, with a hint of tang, this Green Park based pâtisserie whipped and baked the winning combination. The crust received a huge round of applause from the judges, while the aroma left them wanting more. With its natural appearance that followed a rustic and authentic approach, this pie was creamy and velvety in the centre, and suede-like on the edge. This tad-tinier-than-what’d-make-us-happy cheesecake weighed high on flavour, texture, and overall likeability. It was also the only pie that was categorically asked to stay on the tasting table from start till end for a continual nibble.
Do yourself a favour and order yourself an entire pie. Put on these shows, and thank us later.
Score: 8.5/10
Price: INR 220 per slice or INR 1700 per kilogram
Cafe Diva
Desserts at DIVA constantly keep wooing, and this cheesecake was no exception to the list of many. This classic Italian style cheesecake was whipped up using ricotta and mascarpone cheese, and topped with a formidable combination of pine nuts, orange zest, and satin-like caramel. Lighter than air and oozing deliciousness in each bite, the judges had a troubled disposition sending it out of the tasting room. Whilst not judged for this specific taste test, we would urge you to give this dessert a go – you’ll be a happy camper.
Price: INR 370 + taxes per slice
Please note that all opinions are relative and belong to the judging jury. We encourage you to order cheesecakes from all the participants and form your own opinion, because no one should tell you what to eat or not, without you even trying it. More importantly, specially for the sceptics, no inch of this feature is sponsored or bought.
If you’d like to apply for a seat on the #DSSCBlindTasteTest jury, please write to hello@theideaslab.com.
