san luis obispo

Make the Madonna Inn's Cheese Pie at Home

Have a bit of extra time to bake right now? You can make a classic California confection in your own kitchen.

Stanislav Sablin/Madonna Inn

A TRIP TO THE MADONNA INN? It's gives an adventure-seeking road-tripper a great chance to SLO down at the San Luis Obispo landmark, all while enjoying the over-the-top pink-plus decorations in Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steak House, those colorful, oh-so-iconic glass goblets, and the hotel's fancifully themed rooms. And finding the foodstuffs that are famously associated with the hospitality landmark? You don't have to look far beyond the bountiful dessert case to see several stunning and sweet examples. One longtime favorite among regulars has to be the Madonna Inn Cheese Pie, a dessert that includes loads of goodies that, in concert, make a meal-finisher to remember.

GRAHAM CRACKERS... are on the ingredient list, and cream cheese, too, and lemon juice, which gives it a subtle zing. If you've been missing this Cheese Pie, due to our stay-at-home response to COVID-19, and you didn't have it on Pi Day 2020, which was March 14, be gladdened: You can find the recipe, along with nostalgia-sweet snapshot of Mrs. Madonna, on the Madonna Inn blog. It's a recipe that was published in the Telegram Tribune in 1962, and its ingredients are still fairly easy to locate (sour cream, vanilla, sugar). Are you baking more these days? Looking to connect with your favorite on-the-road spots, even though you're not currently visiting them at the moment? Tie on an apron, find your favorite mixing bowl, and recreate the Madonna Inn Cheese Pie at home.

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