Chocolate Cheesecake Chèvre

TRICK OR TREAT! This week's feature is "Chocolate Cheesecake Chèvre," a sweetened fresh goat's milk cheese from Cherish Creamery of Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania.

Fresh cheeses, as opposed to fermented or mold-ripened cheeses, are pasteurized cheeses that have not been inoculated with microorganisms to aid with preservation. They're simply fresh and should be used within a small window of time soon after their creation.

Cherish's "Chocolate Cheesecake" is one fresh milk cheese that I really can't imagine ever having trouble finishing in a timely manner. Whether eaten for dessert, breakfast (smeared on a hot bagel or toast) or a midnight snack (by the spoonful), this stuff is almost too good to be true.

Personally, I enjoy "Chocolate Cheesecake Chèvre" with graham crackers or vanilla wafers. It's a simple cheese that confuses your brain a bit at first because, well, it's chocolate cheese, but once you get over that mental hurdle, I promise you'll be back for more!

To get the whole story on Cherish Creamery and cheesemaker Paula Keswick, one of Western Pennsylvania's newest farmstead cheesemakers, click on over to our previous post on Cherish Creamery's Feta.

Oh! One more thing. Paula has a wonderful, seasonal "Pumpkin Spice Chèvre," too. Naturally, it's been very popular in recent weeks. Stop by for a sample before trick-or-treating tonight at the East Liberty Farmers Market (in the parking lot at the corner of Station and Euclid).