Some of the best moments of The Golden Girls involve the ladies sitting around the kitchen table, talking out their lives over cheesecake. Over the years, cheesecake has become the unofficial fifth Golden Girl in the house.

The man behind the sweets, George Geary, had no idea how famous his baking would be when he was working in the bakery department of a Safeway grocery store. Being close to Paramount Studios meant productions often put in orders for their projects. One day, Geary was asked to make a wedding cake for a show about “three old ladies and a mother that visited occasionally.”

A year later, Geary was asked to re-create the cake for the pilot of a little show called The Golden Girls. Paramount picked him, he said, because they were impressed with his knowledge of how studio lighting could change things. “Obviously, things have advanced a lot since then, but at the time they were impressed that I understood how white frosting could read yellow on camera and things like that,” Geary said.

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When the show moved studios and began incorporating cheesecakes, they kept coming to Geary.

Geary would make seven cheesecakes for each episode, in case they were needed for reshoots. When there were leftovers (and there often were), they would be shared amongst the cast and crew.

Here’s how to make your own The Golden Girls cheesecake, from Geary himself:

Golden Girls Cheesecake
(Recipe courtesy of George Geary)

Makes: One 10-inch Cheesecake

Crust:
1/3 pound graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1. In a bowl mix the above and press into a cheesecake pan, and freeze.

Filling:
2 lbs cream cheese, softened (Philly)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Adjust the rack to the center, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In the mixer, place cream cheese and sugar, blending until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, while mixing. Add lemon juice and vanilla, and blend well.
3. Pour batter into frozen cheesecake bottom, smoothing it out to touch sides. Bake it until the top starts to pull away from sides and still look a bit loose in center, about 35-40 minutes. It will look like it is puffed up. Take it out of the oven (do not turn the oven off) and set it on a rack 10 minutes. (This will cause cake to sink slightly, which is normal)

Topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Pour it into center of the cheesecake, then place cheesecake back into oven for 5 minutes only; cool for 1 hour prior to serving. Top with fresh berries.