Cooking Through Fiction: Percy's Blue Cheesecake

When I need comfort, there are a few items or activities that spring to mind. Just to name a few: 1) my twin-size Mickey Mouse quilt that used to be on my dorm bed in college; 2) my too-big Northwestern sweatshirt with frayed arm cuffs; 3) a long walk in nature; 4) laughing with friends and family; and 5) watching one of my favorite romantic comedies.

Food offers comfort of its own. For me, nothing quite beats a home-cooked southern meal. And then there’s homemade pizza. And melty double chocolate chip cookies. And rice (yeah, this is weird, but I really do love rice). Obviously, lots of food offers me comfort. For Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, he finds blue food especially comforting. And, boy, does he need comfort on his latest quest.

In Rick Riordan’s The Mark of Athena, Percy has returned from a quest in Alaska and has been reunited with his girlfriend Annabeth, daughter of Athena. Percy and Annabeth, along with five other demigods (a mix of Greeks and Romans), must travel to Rome, Italy, and save Nico Di Angelo’s life, defeat two twin giants, retrieve the Athena Parthenos, and stay alive. All in a couple of days’ time.

Percy needs a dose of comfort indeed. While dining inside the Argo II, he eats an all-blue pie. Percy, this blue cheesecake (created with both a blue crust and blue filling) is for you. Good luck and don’t die!

Percy’s Blue Cheesecake

Serves: 12

Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 box of Nilla Wafers

1 stick of butter, melted ⅓ cup of sugar

blue food dye

For the filling:

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

¼ c fresh lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

blue food dye

How to Make

For the crust:

1. Place cookies into a food processor and grind until cookies are a fine powder. Note: If you don’t have a food processor, put the cookies into a sealable bag and crush cookies with a rolling pin.
2. Add cookie crumbs and sugar into bowl and mix together.
3. Melt butter in the microwave. Add drops of food coloring to melted butter until desired color is reached.
4. Add butter to cookie crumb mixture. Stir until combined.
5. Press crumbs into a 9-inch springform pan. Freeze for 20 minutes.

For the filling:

1. Using an electric mixer set at medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth.
2. Beat in the condensed milk a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
3. Beat in the lemon juice, blue food dye, and vanilla.
4. Pour the filling into the crust; smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, 2 ½–3 hours.
5. Unclasp sides of pan, and remove cheesecake.