Tropical Local Flavor Cheesecake

Originally, cheesecake is served in the table not as dessert but purposely as energy source of Greek athletes participating Olympic. The ancient cheesecake is made of cheese, flour and honey baked using earthen cheese mold. The original recipe of mixing the pounded the cheese, honey and flour in the mold then allowing to cool after heating was modified when Rome conquered Greece. The Roman added crushed cheese and eggs. As Roman empire expanded, the cheesecake was introduced to Europe. It was warmly welcomed and loved by British. They began experimenting on the recipe and there are a lot of versions and flavor of cheesecake.

I visited the pastry shop of my acquaintance to their cheesecake. The name of their shop is Mama Catalina. Unlike other shops, they serve  local Filipino flavor cheesecake that came from their farms. They started to serve their product on December of 2019.

Aside from cheesecakes they also have tropical jams, chocolate chips, house blend coffee and healthy juice. But for this post, I'll focus on the cheesecake.

1. Coconut Cheesecake

These has been favorite of their Korean customers. The coconut smell is not overwhelming  and is unique. Though the crust easily crumbles it is not dry and has hint of coco flavor. It is good for people who do not want to eat super sweet dessert plus it is topped with coco shreds.

       

2. Lime Cheesecake

Lime is local version of lemon. Most of the time lime is used for cooking and marinade. It has unique taste from line but won't make have sour face. The citrus flavor was highlighted but it did not overpowered the cheese flavor. Though the sour taste which is inherent to lime was eliminated, it is not the sugar or cheese that overpowered it. I think it is their recipe which harmoniously balanced the lime, cheesy and sweet flavor. It is also topped with lime jelly and lime zest that made the cheesecake cheery.

3. Black Bean Cheesecake

I have sweet tooth but among all of their cheesecake, black bean is the one I fancy the most. It reminds me of my childhood. In elementary, during our break we would buy ice drop with red bean. 

The black bean cheesecake has texture of pounded bean. For me it's novel experience to enjoy my childhood sweets in other way. Sometimes it is not the excellent tastes or exquisite technique that makes people love the fond. Sometimes it is the fond memories we are reminded when eating that affects our judgement which food is the best for us.

4. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

This is newly added flavor in their cheesecake in late of 2020. I have not tried it. But looking at the cheesecake, I might be reluctant to slice the glossy beautiful cake. One thing I can say is that the chocolate is definitely homemade. They have cacao farm which ensure that the ingredients for the cheesecake is definitely unique.

5. Ultimate Oreo Cheesecake

This is additional flavor for their cheesecake which was introduced in later part of 2020. I tried this one just recently, sadly we are on meeting so I did not focus much to appreciate this cheesecake. Still I recommend this to people who doesn't want their cake to be too sweet. Original Oreo on top plus the homemade chocolate the winning chip of this dessert.

Mama Catalina's cheesecake, I can say follow the 3S: short, simple and sweet. I will not say that they did not invest on the aesthetic of the cake rather it has been carefully designed. Looking at the cheesecake you can guess what flavor you can get without knowing what you ordered. Primarily because of the the presentation of the cheesecake, people would focus on the taste. In this case, I must say my acquaintance is confident enough of his dessert to satisfy every customer.

Additionally they have 4" cheesecake, which might encourage you have 3 flavors on your first try. I think they wisely introduce this size so that the customer can enjoy other flavor with being bloated due to eating too much of this dessert.

So which cheesecake would be interested to try? You can contact them through their Facebook Page.