M. Suzanne Terry

You know how, when you show appreciation for something or show someone how much you love it, you suddenly start getting a startling amount of those things as gifts? Now, this works out well when you hint to people who know how to pick out good coffee – like my sister – that it would be a stellar gift to receive. And it is pure delight, when you actually collect things like souvenir coffee mugs, to receive them when people return from their travels. But it also sometimes means you go from having one cute crystal pig wine stopper that you make the mistake of gushing over to receiving pig-themed items for years to come.

This is what happened when you told MeMaw Sharp your favorite dessert.

Almost every kid goes through an adventurous (relatively speaking) phase where they’re excited about trying new things. Every new thing they like is suddenly “the best” or “their favorite.”

I didn’t think I liked cherries when I was little. Aunt Gale’s cherry pie was very intense for a kid whose expectation when you said, “pie” was either chocolate or coconut cream. So when I tried MeMaw’s cherry cheesecake, I did not have high hopes. But it was delicious. I was over the moon. I immediately declared it the best thing I had ever eaten, in much the same way my sister praised the German chocolate cake (even though it had nuts in it, which we were generally opposed to as young girls).

Ah, the hyperbole of youth.

From that moment on, every time we had dinner at MeMaw’s house, the desserts were a choice between cherry cheesecake and German chocolate cake. You’re welcome, family. How any of us even like either of those things anymore is a mystery.

In fact, until recently, I hadn’t had a cherry cheesecake in years. Cherry is still not my favorite fruit pie, although I will no longer turn a slice down. Because pie. And really – because of the ice cream that I inevitably put on top of fruit pie.

But during my icebox pie phase that is still continuing from the summer, I tried to recreate MeMaw’s cherry cheesecake, and I was delighted to find that I still love it just as much as I did when I took that first bite.

My version doesn’t taste exactly like hers. I think she added lemon juice which I did not, and I definitely dosed mine with a healthy glug of Chairman’s Reserve. But it still hits my nostalgia receptor right on its synapse (don’t @ me if my olfactory memory science is off – you get the point).

Ingredients:

• 1 premade graham cracker crust (or make your own like this)
• 8 ounces cream cheese (or the lighter Neufchâtel works fine, too), softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1-2 tablespoons vanilla
• A shot of spiced rum (or two half shots, as you will not use it all at the same time)
• Your favorite cherry pie filling (canned or you can also make your own)

Steps:

1. In one bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and half the rum.
2. In another bowl (or, if you don’t want to wash the beaters after step 1, a quart-sized mason jar with a tight lid), whip the cream until soft peaks form (alternatively, shake the daylights out of the jar for about four minutes to yield the same results).
3. Fold the results of steps 1 and 2 together until fully mixed and pour into the prepared pie crust.
4. Refrigerate or freeze until set (four-ish hours).
5. Add the rest of the rum to the pie filling and spoon it over the top.
6. Enjoy!

The pie pictured above was made with a premade crust and canned pie filling because I threw it together in the middle of the week between work and choir practice and topped it during a short break from writing later that night. But when you have the time, I highly recommend making both from scratch. The pie, while already delicious just as it is, will be infinitely better.

Also, if you’re on the fence between refrigerator or freezer, it basically comes down to time (freezer is faster) and texture. Do you want the first serving to have the consistency of thick pudding or ice cream? I am Team Ice Cream, so I put mine in the freezer to set, but kept it in the fridge after adding the cherries because they get real weird in the freezer. I have, however, combated this phenomenon before by stirring them right in with the cream cheese /whipped cream before pouring it into the crust, and then you can just keep it frozen. It neither looks nor tastes like MeMaw’s at that point, but it is still glorious.

What was your favorite childhood dessert?

I’m writing about all sorts of foods I grew up with this month.