:Cheesecake

{{Infobox food

| name = Cheesecake

| image = Baked cheesecake with raspberries and blueberries.jpg

| caption = New York–style cheesecake with fruit

| alternate_name =

| country = Ancient Greece

| region =

| creator =

| course = Dessert (predominantly) Savoury (eg. smoked salmon cheesecake)

| type = Various

| served =

| main_ingredient = Cream cheese, sugar, pie crust (graham cracker crust, pastry, or sponge cake)

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake.{{Cite web |last=Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses |title=A History of Cheesecakes |url=https://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/History/Cheescakes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131124231229/http://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/History/Cheescakes.html |archive-date=2013-11-24 |access-date=2008-10-12 |publisher=www.fergusonplarre.com.au}} Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually served chilled.

Vanilla, spices, lemon, chocolate, pumpkin, or other flavors may be added to the main cheese layer. Additional flavors and visual appeal may be added by topping the finished dessert with fruit, whipped cream, nuts, cookies, fruit sauce, chocolate syrup, or other ingredients.

History

An ancient form of cheesecake may have been a popular dish in ancient Greece even prior to Romans' adoption of it with the conquest of Greece.Dana Bovbjerg, Jeremy Iggers, The Joy of Cheesecake, Barron's Educational Series, 1989 The earliest attested mention of a cheesecake is by the Greek physician Aegimus (5th century BCE), who wrote a book on the art of making cheesecakes ({{lang|grc|πλακουντοποιικόν σύγγραμμα}}—{{transliteration|grc|plakountopoiikon sungramma}}).Callimachus, ap. Athen, xiv. p. 643, e The earliest extant cheesecake recipes are found in Cato the Elder's {{lang|la|De Agri Cultura}}, which includes recipes for three cakes for religious uses: {{lang|la|libum}}, {{lang|la|savillum}} and {{lang|la|placenta}}.Cato the Elder, De Agri Cultura, paragraphs 75 and 76. Available in English on-line at: [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cato/De_Agricultura/E*.html University of Chicago: Penelope] (Note: The "leaves" mentioned in Cato's recipe are bay leaves.){{Cite web |title=Cato's 'De Agricultura': Recipes |url=http://www.novaroma.org/religio_romana/cato_recipes.html |access-date=2008-10-12 |publisher=www.novaroma.org}}{{Cite web |title=Cato's 'De Agricultura': Recipes |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/cato/de_agricultura/e*.html}} Of the three, placenta cake is the most like modern cheesecakes: having a crust that is separately prepared and baked.{{Cite web |title=A Bit of Food History: Cheesecake |url=http://www.culinaryschools.com/newsletter/July%202007%20CulinarySchools.com%20Newsletter.pdf |access-date=2008-10-12 |publisher=www.culinaryschools.com}}

A more modern version called a sambocade, made with elderflower and rose water, is found in Forme of Cury, an English cookbook from 1390.{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=C. |year=2002 |title=Cheesecakes, Junkets, and Syllabubs |journal=Gastronomica |volume=2 |issue=4 |page=19 |doi=10.1525/gfc.2002.2.4.19}}{{Cite book |last=Pegge |first=Samuel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1VEBQAAQBAJ&q=sambocade |title=The Forme of Cury, a Roll of Ancient English Cookery |date=2014-12-11 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-07620-3 |language=en}} On this basis, the English chef Heston Blumenthal argues that cheesecake is an English invention.{{Cite book |last=Heston Blumenthal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdHYAQAAQBAJ |title=Historic Heston |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4088-0441-4 |page=35}}

The English name cheesecake has been used only since the 15th century,{{Cite book |last=John. |first=Ayto |url=https://archive.org/details/azoffooddrink00ayto |title=An A-Z of food and drink |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Ayto, John. |isbn=0192803522 |location=Oxford |oclc=48932542 |url-access=registration}} and the cheesecake did not evolve into its modern form until somewhere around the 18th century. Europeans began removing yeast and adding beaten eggs to the cheesecake instead. With the overpowering yeast flavor gone, the result tasted more like a dessert treat.{{Cite web |title=The Rich History of a Favorite Dessert |url=https://www.cheesecake.com/History-Of-Cheesecake.asp |access-date=2019-01-09 |publisher=Cheesecake.com}} The early 19th-century cheesecake recipes in A New System of Domestic Cookery by Maria Rundell are made with cheese curd and fresh butter. One version is thickened with blanched almonds, eggs and cream, and the cakes may have included currants, brandy, raisin wine, nutmeg and orange flower water.

Modern commercial American cream cheese was developed in 1872, when William Lawrence, from Chester, New York, was searching for a way to recreate the soft, French cheese Neufchâtel. He discovered a way of making an "unripened cheese" that is heavier and creamier; other dairymen came up with similar creations independently.{{Cite web |last1=Stradley |first1=Linda |last2=Brenda |date=2015-05-26 |title=Cheesecake History |url=https://whatscookingamerica.net/history/cakes/cheesecake.htm |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=What's Cooking America |language=en-US}}

Modern cheesecake comes in two different types. Along with the baked cheesecake, some cheesecakes are made with uncooked cream cheese on a crumbled-cookie or graham cracker base. This type of cheesecake was invented in the United States.

Culinary classification

File:Day 5 Cheese cake.webm

Modern cheesecake is not usually classified as an actual "cake", despite the name (compare with Boston cream "pie").{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmQjAQAAIAAJ |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |date=2006-09-21 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-280681-9 |pages=162 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Rosner |first=Helen |date=2017-03-02 |title=Sorry, Cheesecake Is Not Cake |url=https://www.eater.com/2017/3/2/14795518/how-is-this-even-a-debate |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Eater |language=en}} Some people classify it as a torte due to the usage of many eggs, which are the sole source of leavening, as a key factor.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-06 |title=New York Style Cheesecake – No water bath required! |url=https://chezgrenier.com/new-york-style-cheesecake/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Chez Grenier |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Womack |first=Cassie |date=2022-12-27 |title=Tart Vs. Torte: What's The Difference? |url=https://www.tastingtable.com/1148763/tart-vs-torte-whats-the-difference/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Tasting Table |language=en-US}} Others find compelling evidence that it is a custard pie,{{Cite book |last1=Roufs |first1=Timothy G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-bIEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22cheesecake%22+%22custard+pie%22&pg=PR187 |title=Sweet Treats around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture |last2=Roufs |first2=Kathleen Smyth |date=2014-07-29 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-15204-0 |language=en |quote=Some consider baked cheesecake a cake, some a tart, some even a custard pie. Alan Davidson weighs in on the side of cheesecake being a tart, "a flat, baked item consisting of a base of pastry, or occasionally some other flour preparation, with a sweet or savoury topping not covered with a pastry lid".}} based on the overall structure, with the separate crust, the soft filling, and the absence of flour.{{Cite book |last=Beranbaum |first=Rose Levy |title=The cake bible |publisher=William Morrow Cookbooks |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-688-04402-2 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=80 |language=en}}{{failed verification|date=August 2022}}{{Cite web |last=Ngo |first=Hope |date=2023-01-17 |title=The Reason Cheesecake Isn't Technically Cake |url=https://www.tastingtable.com/1169377/the-reason-cheesecake-isnt-technically-cake/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Tasting Table |language=en-US}} Other sources identify it as a flan, or tart.{{Cite book |last=Bender |first=David A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OlExDwAAQBAJ |title=A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition |date=2014-01-23 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-251842-2 |language=en |quote=cheesecake: A flan or tart filled with curd or cream cheese.}}

Smoked salmon cheesecake is a savoury form, containing smoked salmon.Ann Kask, Salmon Cookery: From the Salmon Capital of the World, pp.20-21, Firstchoicebooks, 2002 {{ISBN|0919537588}}. It is most frequently served as an appetizer or a buffet item.Carol Fenster, 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes, p.144, John Wiley & Sons, 2008 {{ISBN|0470067802}}.Susan & Enzo Ardovini, Cooking at the Cafe with Sue, p.93, Devanis Publishing, 2008 {{ISBN|0615233635}}. A smoked salmon cheesecake was a prize-winning recipe in 1996 in Better Homes and Gardens' Prize Tested Recipe Contest. The recipe called for the use of Swiss cheese along with the more usual (for cheesecakes) ricotta.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/prizewinningreci0000unse/page/34/mode/2up |title=Prizewinning Recipes : 200 of the Best Dishes from Better Homes and Gardens Prize Tested Recipe Contest |publisher=Meredith Books |year=2003 |isbn=9780696218552 |editor-last=Fuller |editor-first=Kristi M. |pages=34–35 |language=EN}}

National varieties

Cheesecakes can be broadly categorized into two basic types: baked and unbaked. Some do not have a crust or base. Cheesecake comes in a variety of styles based on region:

= Africa =

File:South-African Rose baked Cheese Cake.JPG cheesecake]]

One popular variant of cheesecake in South Africa is made with whipped cream, cream cheese, gelatin for the filling, and a buttered digestive biscuit crust. It is not baked, and is sometimes made with Amarula liqueur. This variant is very similar to British cheesecake. This cheesecake is more common in British South African communities.{{Cite web |date=August 2014 |title=A South African Favourite: Amarula Cheesecake |url=https://www.hotelschool.co.za/2014/08/south-african-favourite-amarula-cheesecake |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212003404/https://www.hotelschool.co.za/2014/08/south-african-favourite-amarula-cheesecake |archive-date=2015-02-12 |access-date=2015-01-01 |website=The International Hotel School}}

= Asia =

file:Japanese no-bake cheesecake.jpg

Japanese cheesecake, or soufflé-style or cotton cheesecake, is made with cream cheese, butter, sugar, and eggs, and has a characteristically wobbly, airy texture, similar to chiffon cake.{{Cite web |last=Williamson |first=Olivia |date=3 September 2015 |title=3 ingredient cotton cheesecake: why all the hype? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11837730/3-ingredient-cotton-cheesecake-recipe-put-to-the-test.html |via=www.telegraph.co.uk}} No-bake cheesecakes are known as rare cheesecake (Japanese: レアチーズケーキ).{{Cite web |last=Yoshizuka |first=Setsuko |date=2021-05-19 |title=Try This Japanese-Style Rare "No-Bake" Cheesecake With Yogurt |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/rare-cheesecake-2031083 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808203052/https://www.thespruceeats.com/rare-cheesecake-2031083 |archive-date=2018-08-08 |access-date=2021-01-30 |website=The Spruce Eats |language=en}}

The most prominent version of cheesecake in the Philippines is ube cheesecake. It is made with a base of crushed graham crackers and an upper layer of cream cheese and ube halaya (mashed purple yam with milk, sugar, and butter). It can be prepared baked or simply refrigerated. Like other ube desserts in the Philippines, it is characteristically purple in color.{{Cite web |date=5 February 2015 |title=Ube Cheesecake |url=https://www.thepeachkitchen.com/2015/02/ube-cheesecake/ |access-date=7 July 2019 |website=The Peach Kitchen}}{{Cite web |title=Creamy and Luscious Ube Cheesecake |url=https://www.womanscribbles.net/ube-cheesecake/ |access-date=7 July 2019 |website=Woman Scribbles}}{{Cite web |date=19 October 2018 |title=Ube Cheesecake with Coconut Cookie Crust and Coconut Whipped Cream (Video) |url=https://theunlikelybaker.com/ube-cheesecake-video/ |access-date=7 July 2019 |website=The Unlikely Baker}}

= Europe =

Basque cheesecake, composed of burnt custard and no crust, was created in 1990 by Santiago Rivera of the La Viña restaurant in the Basque Country, Spain.{{Cite news |last=Turnbull |first=Tony |date=2023-11-17 |title=Basque cheesecake: the pudding that broke the internet |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/food-drink/article/basque-cheesecake-the-pudding-that-broke-the-internet-gm5x3bckp |access-date=2023-11-17 |work=The Times |language=en |issn=0140-0460}}{{Cite web |last=Cloake |first=Felicity |author-link=Felicity Cloake |date=2021-12-01 |title=How to make the perfect Basque cheesecake – recipe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/dec/01/how-to-make-the-perfect-basque-cheesecake-recipe-felicity-cloake |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} It achieved popularity online in the 2010s, helped by a recipe published by the British food writer Nigella Lawson. The Spanish chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho serves hers with a liquorice sauce, which Lawson included in her recipe. In 2021, Basque cheesecake was widely shared on Instagram and became "ubiquitous" in the UK. In 2023, the British restaurant critic Jay Rayner complained that Basque cheesecake had become overabundant in London.{{Cite news |last=Rayner |first=Jay |author-link=Jay Rayner |date=2023-06-18 |title=La Gamba, London: 'A pleasing take on the Spanish repertoire' – restaurant review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jun/18/la-gamba-london-a-pleasing-take-on-the-spanish-repertoire-restaurant-review |access-date=2023-06-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

Crostata di ricotta is a traditional Italian baked cheesecake made with ricotta cheese, chocolate chips and eggs.{{Cite news |last=Bressanin |first=Anna |date=9 June 2023 |title=The Italian tart that tricked the Pope |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230608-the-italian-tart-that-tricked-the-pope |access-date=3 April 2024 |publisher=BBC}} Many cakes and desserts are filled with ricotta, like cassata Siciliana and pastiera Napoletana.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

Swiss Chäschüechli (ramequin in French-speaking parts of the country) are small cheesecake tartlets, savory rather than sweet.{{Cite web |date=20 August 2021 |title=Chäschüechli |url=https://www.helvetickitchen.com/recipes/chaschuechli |website=The Helvetic Kitchen}}{{Cite book |last1=Schumacher |first1=Boris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACxTEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT308 |title=Wie Familie halt so isst: Das ehrliche Friends & Family Kochbuch |last2=Schumacher |first2=Oliver |publisher=Omnino |year=2019 |isbn=9783958941076 |pages=308–9}}

{{lang|pl|Sernik}}, with {{lang|pl|ser}} meaning "cheese", is baked Polish cheesecake dating back to the 17th century. It uses {{lang|pl|twaróg}} (traditional Polish quark) and is based more on eggs and butter, without cream or sour cream. Variations include {{lang|pl|sernik krakowski}} (Kraków-style),{{Cite web |title=Krakow-style cheesecake (sernik Krakowski) |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/krakow-style-cheesecake-sernik-krakowski/ooouug7aa |website=SBS Food}} with a lattice crust on top, {{lang|pl|królewski}} (king's), made from cocoa crust on the top and bottom of the cheesecake filling,{{cite web |url=https://www.mmmfamilybakery.ie/whats-the-story-with-polish-cheesecakes/ |title=What's The Story With Polish Cheesecakes? |website=The Breadski Brothers |date=2021-10-21}}{{cite web |url=https://www.tasteatlas.com/sernik |title=Sernik |website=tasteatlas}} and {{lang|pl|wiedeński}} (Vienna-style), which is crustless.{{cite web |url=https://hollytrail.com/2021/01/30/traditional-crustless-polish-cheesecake-sernik-wiedenski/ |title=Traditional Crustless Polish Cheesecake (Sernik wiedeński) |website=Holly Trail |date=2012-01-30}}{{Cite web |date=September 4, 2022 |title=Sernik – Desserts of the World – Maverick Baking |url=https://maverickbaking.com/sernik-desserts-of-the-world/}}

{{lang|de|{{interlanguage link|Russischer Zupfkuchen|de}}}} (Russian "pulled" cake) is a German baked cheesecake with a cocoa crust base and edge, with chocolate dough scattered over the cheesecake filling.{{cite web|url=https://theunicook.com/russischer-zupfkuchen-german-baking-classics/|title="Russischer Zupfkuchen" - German Baking Classics|date=2020-08-29|website=TheUniCook}}

File:Nagoya Bar Basque cheese cake 2020-06 ac (1).jpg|Basque cheesecake

File:Tarte au fromage blanc.png|French cheesecake (tarte au fromage)

File:Oberkrämer 23.05.2015 13-21-03.JPG|German cheesecake (Käsekuchen)

File:Ricotta cheesecake detail.jpg|Italian-style ricotta cheesecake

File:7dcp5132544-russischer-zupfkuchen.jpg|Russischer Zupfkuchen

File:2023 Sernik polski (1).jpg|Polish-style cheesecake with raisins (sernik)

= North America =

The United States has several different recipes for cheesecake and this usually depends on the region in which the cake is baked, as well as the cultural background of the person baking it.{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Russ |date=21 November 2010 |title=Say Cheesecake! |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/say-cheesecake/ |access-date=17 December 2010 |work=CBS News}}

Chicago-style cheesecake is a baked cream cheese version that is firm on the outside with a soft and creamy texture on the inside. These cheesecakes are often made in a greased cake pan and are relatively fluffy in texture. The crust used with this style of cheesecake is most commonly made from shortbread that is crushed and mixed with sugar and butter. Some frozen cheesecakes are Chicago-style.{{Cite web |last=Krause |first=Andrew |year=2006 |title=Different Types of Cheesecake |url=https://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/snacks/cheese/different_types_of_cheesecakes.html |publisher=FoodEditorials Snacks Guide}}

New York–style or Jewish-style cheesecake uses a cream cheese base. Gil Marks traces the origin of the New York-style or Jewish cheesecake in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine to the 1930s, made famous in such establishments as Reuben's Restaurant and kosher-style Jewish deli Lindy's, opened by German-Jewish immigrant Leo Lindermann in 1921.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Andrew F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tnJBAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22reuben%22+cheesecake&pg=PA172 |title=New York City: A Food Biography |date=2013-11-26 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-2713-2 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Marks |first=Gil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC&dq=%22reuben%22+cheesecake&pg=PT392 |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |date=2010-11-17 |publisher=HMH |isbn=978-0-544-18631-6 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Arthur R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BmNqfU1lduwC&dq=%22reuben%22+cheesecake&pg=PA245 |title=Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited |date=2008 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=978-1-58008-898-5 |language=en}} Earlier cheese pie recipes called for cottage cheese.{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Leslie F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xspp12gCb24C&dq=%22reuben%22+cheesecake&pg=PA273 |title=Let Me Eat Cake: A Celebration of Flour, Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Vanilla, Baking Powder, and a Pinch of Salt |date=2009-04-14 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-9197-9 |language=en}} Cream cheese was invented in 1872 and made its way into American Jewish cuisine by 1929 according to Arnold Reuben, owner of the namesake restaurant, who claims credit for the recipe (as well as the Reuben sandwich) and is said to have won an award at the 1929 World's Fair in Barcelona. {{Cite book |last=Byrn |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hTR9DAAAQBAJ&dq=%22reuben%22+cheesecake&pg=PA158 |title=American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Stories and Recipes Behind More Than 125 of Our Best-Loved Cakes |date=2016-09-06 |publisher=Rodale |isbn=978-1-62336-543-1 |language=en}} Junior's, established by Harry Rosen in 1950, is another NY Jewish establishment famous for New York-style cheesecake.{{Cite book |last=Rosen |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UjgpRho4VkoC&dq=%22reuben%22+cheesecake&pg=PA4 |title=Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook |date=2007 |publisher=Taunton Press |language=en}} Jewish baker in Decatur, Illinois Charles W. Lubin created the Sara Lee brand of supermarket cheesecakes and expanded into other cakes such as coffee cake, being sold in 48 states.{{Cite book |last=Denker |first=Joel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_x6nrkcoUkC&dq=%22reuben%22+cheesecake&pg=PA83 |title=The World on a Plate: A Tour Through the History of America's Ethnic Cuisine |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-6014-6 |language=en}}