If you were lucky enough to be a kid when Woolworth’s still had a lunch counter, you might remember their famous cheesecake — a fluffy, lightly lemon-flavored dessert with a graham cracker crust. It seems to have pre-dated my own Woolworth’s shopping days, but I love hearing stories from people whose mothers treated them to a meal at the counter, finished off with a slice of this nostalgic icebox cake style cheesecake.
Mary's Woolworth's Cheesecake
The original recipe comes from a woman named Mary, who worked at Woolworth’s and loved their cheesecake so much she came up with her own version at home. Her recipe, often called “Mary’s Woolworth’s Cheesecake,” used whipped evaporated milk and a simple graham cracker crust. It's more of an icebox cake than a traditional cheesecake, and very tasty. In this version, I’m switching things up a little by using Cool Whip and a gingersnap cookie crust for extra flavor.
Gingersnaps Crust vs. Graham Cracker Crust
A little about the crust. The original graham crust is probably softer, but I just couldn't resist making a thick no-bake gingersnap crust. I used powdered sugar since it binds well with butter and crumbs, and homemade gingersnaps ground into a fine powder in my Vitamix. It was very firm at first, but after sitting under that cream topping for a while it was just right. It's definitely good for creamy icebox cakes because it won't get soggy.
Lemon Filling
For the filling, I stayed pretty true to the original but used the quick set method for preparing the lemon gelatin. Once it thickened a little, I beat together the cream cheese and sugar, stirred in the gelatin, and added some fresh lemon juice and vanilla. The creamy mixture was thick enough to accomodate the whipped topping, so I folded it in right away and poured it over the ginger crust.
Pan Size
The recipe fits a 9x13 inch pan, but since his was for the two of us I halved it and used an 8-inch square dish, which was more than enough. You could probably even make a quarter size version using a small casserole dish of some kind. Just weigh out the gelatin and scale everything accordingly.
Freezing Woolworth's Cheesecake
This should stay fresh in the refrigerator for 3 days, but if you want to freeze the rest just slide the pieces on to some plastic wrap, freeze until sold, then wrap tightly and put the frozen slices in a heavy duty freezer bag.
Recipe
Woolworth’s Cheesecake Dessert
Ingredients
- 1 box lemon gelatin, (3 oz)
- ½ cup boiling water
- ½ cup ice water
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 12 oz sweetened whipped topping (1 large tub)
Gingersnap Crust
- 3 cups Gingersnap crumbs (1 pound)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (100 grams)
- 8 tablespoons butter, melted (114 grams)
Instructions
- Make the crust first (or you can it while the lemon gelatin is setting). Combine crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and mix evenly. Set aside about ½ to ¾ cup to be used as topping, then press the rest of the crust into the pan.
- Dissolve gelatin in ½ cup boiling water. Stir in ½ cup ice cold water, stirring until ice melts. Let cool until slightly thickened. No need to chill, and it doesn't have to be super thick, just slightly thickened.
- Beat the softened cream, sugar and vanilla together until well blended, then stir in the fresh lemon juice. Add the thickened lemon gelatin and stir until incorporated. If for some reason the mixture seems too wet to fold in the whipped topping, you can chill it for 30 minutes, but if you let the gelatin cool long enough it should be okay to fold it right in. Since it sets in a casserole dish it doesn't really matter.
- Pour over crust and scatter with reserved crumbs. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
- When it's time to cut it you might find the crust sticks to the bottom of the cold pan. An easy trick for getting it to slide off is to set the cold dish in a rimmed baking sheet filled with hot water. The heat from the water softens the cold butter just enough to loosen that cookie crust from the pan.
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