I am very excited for next month because my entire extended family is spending a few weeks in New York for my cousin’s wedding. What was supposed to be a one-night celebration is now a week and a half of themed daily events. Although I am anxious to be back home on Long Island with my favorite people, I am mostly excited about the food. There is nothing better than waking up and ordering an egg sandwich from the deli down the street or walking into town to pick up a large cup of Ralph’s Italian Ice.

I decided that I would find authentic family recipes to share with you guys while I’m away to give you a taste of New York and my Italian/Irish heritage. I snooped through old boxes in our laundry room, knowing my mom had a cannoli recipe in one of them, and came across handwritten recipe cards for random things. I immediately became excited because I thought they might have been from my grandmother. She passed away when I was really young and I have a really hard time remembering her. Older relatives always tell me that out of all the grandchildren —and there are a lot— I am the most like her. I immediately ran to the store, picking up everything I would need to finally connect with her…

… just to find out that the recipe cards didn’t belong to her at all. Some are from my mom’s friend and some are from some old Italian lady that used to come into the office where she worked and just drop off random recipes she liked. Several in the boxes are Grandma’s, but I suppose for now a random New Yorker’s cheesecake will suffice.

Recipe: Chocolate Cheesecake

What You Need:

• 1 box Chocolate Fudge cake mix
• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• 4 eggs
• 2 packages cream cheese (8.oz)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate bar
• whipped cream, for serving

What To Do:

1.) Heat oven to 300 F

2.) Measure out 1 cup of the cake mix and set it aside.

3. ) In a large bowl or mixer, combine remaining cake mix, 1 of the eggs, and the EVOO. Gently press the mixture into a  greased 13 x 9 cake pan.

4.) In the same bowl, mix together cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Add in remaining eggs, your reserved cake mix, vanilla, and milk until smooth.

5) Pour mixture onto crust. Bake for 65 minutes.

6) While your cheesecake bakes, grate your chocolate bar into a small bowl.

7) After your cake cools, top the cake with chocolate shavings.

8) Serve with whipped cream and extra chocolate shavings, if desired.