The Infamous Cheese Torte

Back when I was a teenager working for the catering company, we catered a multitude of end-of-the-season dinners for bowling leagues. While we offered a variety of desserts, this cream cheese torte was far and away the favorite.

Cream Cheese Torte

Crust:

1/2 pound butter or margarine
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13"* pan with non-stick spray.

Melt butter in large bowl in the microwave. Add flour and sugar and blend well. Immediately press with fingers onto the bottom and bit up the sides of the prepared pan. Watch your fingers - dough is HOT! Bake at 375 about 12 - 17 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Cool thoroughly.

Filling:

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
16 to 20 ounces Cool Whip, thawed

Thoroughly blend cream cheese and powdered sugar. Blend in Cool Whip. Spread filling over cooled crust (Be careful - the filling isn't exactly fluid, and if you aren't careful, the crust will come up as you try to spread it - I just put smaller gobs (technical cooking term) all over the crust, then connect the gobs, as it were).

Refrigerate at least four hours - better, overnight.

Cut into 18 or 24** squares before adding topping (press down hard to be sure you get through crust) as it makes the final torte look a bit neater. Top with your favorite berries in season, or pie filling (cherry pie filling works very well) out of season.

*Pan size - A 9 x 13" pan will give you a torte about 1 1/2" thick. We made these in much lower rimmed pans that I think were about the size of a quarter sheet cake. That gave us a torte about 3/4" to 1" thick, and we would cut it into 35 pieces. The crust recipe here will cover either option; with the first, you may have crust dough left over, and with the second, you will need to use every bit for a slightly thinner crust.

**So many servings - This is my standard dessert to take to large gatherings, but it also can be halved and made in a 7 x 11" pan, although the slices turn out pretty thick. It's also possible to make just the filling and throw it in a premade graham cracker crust, or little tartlets. The filling is stiff enough to pipe through a star tip to fill mini-muffin size shells as well.

It's the combination of the smooth cheese taste with the sweets in the filling that is so satisfying. Unlike Sarah, I simply cannot make a decent traditional cheesecake, so this is my quick cheat, as it is impossible to mess up.

I'm proud to say that I resisted temptation Sunday and sent the few leftovers home with a large family (that was, however, after I ate two pieces).