In the old days, if you’re Jewish, and you knew the holiday Shavuot was coming your first food thought would be “YUM. CHEESECAKE.”

Cheesecake and Shavuot go hand in hand. This is a dairy-eating kind of holiday.

Why is not important really. It’s tradition.

But a lot of food writers, like me, try to steer you away and suggest that there are, after all, lots of other dairy foods that you can (and should) eat during the holiday. Not just cheesecake. 

Of course.

But cheesecake is still the number #1 favorite I think.

So, what kind?

I love the plain old, Lindy’s sort of cheesecake. Creamy, smooth, rich. No gloppy fruit on top. The kind that softens on your tongue and melts away inside your mouth in time for the next bite.

I make a darn good cheesecake. But my trainer Robbie, who makes me do millions of pushups and something called mountain climbers and other things called squats in order to work off any cheesecake I may have eaten in between workout sessions, told me his cheesecake is awesome. He’s not Jewish and probably never heard of Shavuot.

He brought a slice along to one of my workouts.

Now, I have to ask — do you think that’s fair????

But I have to say, it was YUMMY. 

I asked for the recipe and here it is.

Whether or not you are Jewish and whether or not you celebrate Shavuot, which starts this year at sundown on June 7th, do make this cheesecake! You can store this in the fridge for days and even freeze the leftovers, if there are any.

Robbie’s Cheesecake

• 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese

• 1/4 pound butter

• 1-1/2 cups sugar

• 1 pint dairy sour cream

• 5 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 12-inch springform pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and beat the ingredients until they are smooth and thoroughly blended. Add the sugar and beat until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Add the sour cream and beat until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the cornstarch and vanilla extract and blend them in thoroughly. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Place the pan in a larger pan filled with water that comes up one-inch on the sides of the cake pan. Bake for about one hour or until set and lightly browned. Remove the cake pan from the water bath. Let the cake cool on a cake rack. When the cake is cool, refrigerate until well chilled. Remove the sides of the pan and serve.

Makes 12-16 servings