For those gloomy days, when everything seems to be turning into dross, I have this note of encouragement to offer: We are living in the great age of cheesecake.

It's a minor consolation, to be sure, but it's the best I can come up with at the moment.

The decade of the '80s, notable for so many epochal events, also managed to bring cheesecake to new heights. The fashion for culinary Americana that set in during the mid-'80s brought cheesecake, always a popular standard, to high-profile dining.

It's always been the dessert of choice at places like delis, diners, steakhouses and seafood dives. But now it shows up in any setting, regardless of price range, and there's probably more cheesecake around these days than ever before.

If you're so minded, you could argue that tiramisu, a dessert that nowadays is hard to avoid at Italian restaurants, counts as a kind of cheesecake, seeing that a primary ingredient is mascarpone, the Italian version of cream cheese.

Among standard baked types, variations have blossomed forth in endless profusion. A popular Southern California restaurant chain called the Cheesecake Factory regularly stocks some 35 flavors.

Two recent books on the subject -- "Cheesecake Extraordinaire" by Mary Crownover (Taylor) and "Mother Wonderful's Cheesecakes and Other Goodies" by Myra Chanin (Holt) -- up the ante to more than 200 possibilities.

The origins of what we know as cheesecake are pretty clearly Eastern or Central European. The Austrians like their topfentorten, and the Hungarians go for turos racsos, both made with pot cheese; similar fillings show up in strudels.

The Germans are fond of using quark, a fresh cheese somewhat similar to ricotta but only distantly related to the subatomic particles of the same name. The lavish Russian cheesecake, pashka, is traditional at Easter.

Another ancestor of the American cheesecake, particularly in the lighter variations, would be the Italian ricotta puddings and pastries.

Still, there's nothing quite like our cheesecake, which seems to have been developed by Jewish delicatessens, particularly those in New York. This is an uncompromisingly rich and luscious creation, actually more of a cheese custard than a true cake.

Cheesecake is among the easiest of desserts to prepare, essentially a matter of beating the ingredients together and baking. No-cook versions have long since made their appearance, and so have those with less than the usual load of calories.

Preliminary note: Authorities agree that the quality of finished cake depends a lot on the quality of the cream cheese. Choose a good brand, such as Philadelphia; the fewer additives, the better.

The classic among cheesecakes must be the one served at the legendary New York restaurant Lindy's. The original restaurant has long since departed, but recipes for the cheesecake abound, including one at a successor house of the same name.

Of four published versions, three agree that this is the original. In any case, it is very much a cheesecake in the classic New York style -- impossibly rich, heavy as lead and quite irresistible. We have adapted the crust to the food processor.

Lindy's cheesecake, consensus version

Makes 12 to 16 servings.

FOR THE PASTRY:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest (see note)

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened

dash vanilla

1 egg yolk

FOR THE FILLING:

2 1/2 pounds (40 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (see note)

1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest (see note)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup heavy cream

In a food processor, place flour, sugar and lemon zest. Pulse together. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add vanilla and egg yolk. Process until dough just clings together. (Add a very little cold water, if necessary.) Working quickly, form into ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

By hand, mix together flour, sugar and lemon zest. Cut in butter. Add vanilla and egg yolk, mixing until dough just clings together, adding a very little cold water as necessary. Form into ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter base and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Remove sides. Roll out one-third of dough about 1/8 inch thick; place on base and trim to fit. Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Let cool.

Heat oven to 550 degrees. Make filling by beating cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add sugar, flour, lemon and orange zest and vanilla; beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each, until just incorporated. Add yolks in same way. Lightly beat in cream.

Fit sides of pan over base. Roll out remaining dough, cut in strips and line sides of pan almost to top. Pour in filling. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 200 degrees; continue baking for 1 hour. Cool on rack.

To serve, carefully loosen and remove sides. If you are careful, you can slide cake from base of pan. Otherwise, leave it on base and serve from there.

Note: Instead of grating rind, you can use this method, provided that the blade of your food processor is sharp: Shave zest from fruit and combine with sugar called for. Process together until zest is finely ground into sugar. Then proceed with recipe.

Most no-bake cheesecakes are mousses, made with gelatin and beaten egg whites. Myra Chanin has another approach. She depends on the fact that acidic substances -- she calls for Fruit Fresh, a commercial form of ascorbic acid or vitamin C -- thickens milk protein. This is the way it works, in a fanciful flavor:

No-bake Caribbean banana cheesecake

Makes 12 servings.

2 3/4 teaspoons unsalted butter

8 ounces white chocolate

1 teaspoon banana flavoring

3/4 cup finely ground vanilla wafer crumbs

1/4 cup banana chips, chopped

1/2 cup pecans, chopped medium fine

1 pound cream cheese

1 can (about 1 1/3 cups) sweetened condensed milk

4 teaspoons Fruit Fresh

1/3 cup frozen pineapple-orange-banana (or pineapple-orange) juice concentrate, thawed but undiluted

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons dark rum

1 1/2 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 6 ounces)

1/2 banana, sliced thin

1/2 cup sliced pecans

orange slices, lime zest strips for garnish

Melt butter and 5 ounces of white chocolate over simmering water atop double boiler or in microwave oven. When melted, remove from heat and whisk into a smooth mass. Beat in 1/2 tablespoon of banana flavoring.

Measure cookie crumbs into a food processor. Add 1/4 cup banana chips and nuts. Process in bursts, until fine and dry, not mushy. Add crumb mixture all at once to butter mixture. Mash together with fork until well blended. Use to line bottom and sides of 10-inch springform pan, going no more than 1 1/2 inches up sides. Press and smooth down with back of a soup spoon. Reserve 2 tablespoons of crust to sprinkle on cake.

Melt 3 ounces of white chocolate over simmering water or microwave oven. Reserve. In mixer, whip cream cheese on high speed for 5 minutes. Add condensed milk and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until creamy and well blended.

Dissolve Fruit Fresh in juices. Add to cream cheese along with remaining banana flavoring, rum, melted white chocolate and mashed banana. Beat briefly until blended. (The same thing may be done in a food processor, but don't overbeat mixture. Process only until blended.)

Fold in sliced banana and pecans. Pour into crust and spread batter evenly, until it is well pressed against crust. Garnish with orange slices and slivers of lime zest. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours or overnight.

If you ask me, chocolate and cream cheese don't sit well together -- unless it's in this particularly luscious recipe:

Chocolate cheesecake

Makes 12 or more servings.

1 (8 1/2 -ounce) package chocolate wafers

pinch salt

pinch cinnamon

1/3 cup ( 2/3 stick) unsalted butter, melted

13 ounces best quality semisweet chocolate

1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Crush wafers into a meal (a food processor does this easily). Mix in salt and cinnamon; add 1/3 cup of butter and toss. Spoon into 9-inch springform pan and press down to cover bottom and a little way up sides of pan. Chill 10 minutes.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Melt chocolate over double boiler. With electric mixer, beat cream cheese lightly, adding sugar, beating until dissolved. Incorporate eggs 1 at a time, but do not overmix. Beat in melted chocolate, butter, cream and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Pour into pan.

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until firm. Turn off oven, but leave cheesecake in with door ajar for another 30 minutes. To serve, carefully remove sides from pan. Serve chilled or at room temperature on its base.