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Cheesecake is a large family of sweet, cheese
Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
-based tart
Tart

A tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, that is a type of pie with an open top not covered with pastry. The Tarte Tatin is a particular kind of "upside-down" tart, of apples, other fruit, or onions....
s and cake
Cake

Cake is a form of food that is usually sweet and often Baking. Cakes normally combine some kind of flour, a sweetener , a binding agent , fats , a liquid , flavoring and some form of leavening agent , though many cakes lack these ingredients and instead rely on air bubbles in the dough to expand and cause the cake to rise....
s. Cheesecakes are generally made with soft, fresh cheeses. Other ingredients such as sugar
Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
, eggs, flour, and liquids are often mixed in as well. Typically, the filling covers a crust
Crust (baking)

In baking, a crust is the outer, hard skin of bread or the shell of a pie. Generally, it is made up of at least shortening or another fat, water, flour, and salt....
, which may be pastry
Pastry

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baking made from ingredients such as flour, butter, shortening, baking powder or Egg s. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked goods are called "pastries"....
, cookie
Cookie

In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat-baked treat, containing milk, flour, eggs, and sugar, etc. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have different meanings?a cookie is a plain bu...
, digestive biscuit
Digestive biscuit

A digestive biscuit, sometimes referred to as a sweetmeal biscuit, is a semi-sweet biscuit or cookie, popular in the United Kingdom, in other Commonwealth of Nations countries, in the Republic of Ireland and in Greece....
 or any similar biscuit.

There are also savoury cheesecakes, often flavoured with blue cheese
Blue cheese

Blue cheese is a general classification of cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses that have had Penicillium cultures added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue, blue-gray or blue-green mold, and carries a distinct smell....
 and served as hors d'oeuvres or with accompanying salad
Salad

Salad is a mixture of cold or hot foods, usually including vegetables and/or fruits, often with a dressing, occasionally nuts or croutons, and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish, pasta, cheese, eggs, or whole grains....
s.














he United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, cheesecake is rich and creamy.

It is made with a biscuit
Biscuit

File:Runny hunny.jpgA biscuit is a small Baking product; the exact meaning varies markedly in different parts of the world. The etymology of the word "biscuit" is from Latin language via Middle French and means "cooked twice", hence biscotti in Medieval Italian ....
 base.






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Cheesecake is a large family of sweet, cheese
Cheese

Cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cattle, Water Buffalo, goats, or sheep's milk. It is produced by Coagulation of the milk protein casein....
-based tart
Tart

A tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, that is a type of pie with an open top not covered with pastry. The Tarte Tatin is a particular kind of "upside-down" tart, of apples, other fruit, or onions....
s and cake
Cake

Cake is a form of food that is usually sweet and often Baking. Cakes normally combine some kind of flour, a sweetener , a binding agent , fats , a liquid , flavoring and some form of leavening agent , though many cakes lack these ingredients and instead rely on air bubbles in the dough to expand and cause the cake to rise....
s. Cheesecakes are generally made with soft, fresh cheeses. Other ingredients such as sugar
Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many other sources....
, eggs, flour, and liquids are often mixed in as well. Typically, the filling covers a crust
Crust (baking)

In baking, a crust is the outer, hard skin of bread or the shell of a pie. Generally, it is made up of at least shortening or another fat, water, flour, and salt....
, which may be pastry
Pastry

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baking made from ingredients such as flour, butter, shortening, baking powder or Egg s. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked goods are called "pastries"....
, cookie
Cookie

In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat-baked treat, containing milk, flour, eggs, and sugar, etc. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have different meanings?a cookie is a plain bu...
, digestive biscuit
Digestive biscuit

A digestive biscuit, sometimes referred to as a sweetmeal biscuit, is a semi-sweet biscuit or cookie, popular in the United Kingdom, in other Commonwealth of Nations countries, in the Republic of Ireland and in Greece....
 or any similar biscuit.

There are also savoury cheesecakes, often flavoured with blue cheese
Blue cheese

Blue cheese is a general classification of cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses that have had Penicillium cultures added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue, blue-gray or blue-green mold, and carries a distinct smell....
 and served as hors d'oeuvres or with accompanying salad
Salad

Salad is a mixture of cold or hot foods, usually including vegetables and/or fruits, often with a dressing, occasionally nuts or croutons, and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish, pasta, cheese, eggs, or whole grains....
s.

United States

  • New York
    New York

    The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
    -style cheesecake relies upon heavy cream, cream cheese
    Cream cheese

    Cream cheese is a sweet, soft, mild-tasting, white cheese, defined by the US Department of Agriculture as containing at least 33% milkfat with a moisture content of not more than 55%, and a pH range of 4.4 to 4.9....
    , eggs and egg yolks to add a richness and a smooth consistency. Also called Jewish
    Jewish cuisine

    Jewish cuisine is a collection of international cookery traditions linked by Jewish dietary laws and Jewish holiday traditions. Certain foods, notably pork and shellfish, are forbidden; meat and dairy may not be combined, and meat must be Ritual slaughter and salted to remove all traces of blood....
    -style, it is baked in a special 13–15 cm (5–6 inches) tall springform pan in many restaurants. Some recipes use cottage cheese and lemon for distinct texture and flavor or add chocolate or strawberry to the basic recipe.


  • Pennsylvania Dutch
    Pennsylvania Dutch

    The Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of German people immigrants who came to Pennsylvania prior to 1800. According to Don Yoder, a Pennsylvania German expert and retired University of Pennsylvania professor, the word "Dutch" in this case owes its origin to an archaic meaning where it designated groups that are today considered Ger...
    -style cheesecake uses a slightly tangy type of cheese with larger curds and less water content, called pot or farmer's cheese.


  • Philadelphia-style cheesecake is lighter in texture, yet richer in flavor than New York style cheesecake.


  • Farmer's cheese cheesecake is the contemporary implementation for the traditional use of baking to preserve fresh cheese and is often baked in a cake form along with fresh fruit like a tart.


  • Country-style cheesecake uses buttermilk to produce a firm texture while decreasing the pH
    PH

    pH is a measure of the Acid or Base of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the Activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations....
     (increasing acidity) to extend shelf life.


  • Lactose
    Lactose

    Lactose is a sugar that is found most notably in milk. Lactose makes up around 2?8% of milk . The name comes from the Latin word for milk, plus the -ose ending used to name sugars....
     free cheesecake may be made either with lactose-free cream cheese or as an imitation using Vegan
    Veganism

    Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind....
     recipes combining non-dairy cream cheese alternatives with other lactose-free ingredients.


  • Gooey butter cake
    Gooey butter cake

    Gooey butter cake is a type of cake traditionally made in the USA city of St. Louis, Missouri, with a bottom layer of buttery cake and a top layer of either egg and cream cheese, or butter and sugar....
     a St. Louis variant that has a layer of regular cake with a cheesecake top.


British and Australian

In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, cheesecake is rich and creamy.

It is made with a biscuit
Biscuit

File:Runny hunny.jpgA biscuit is a small Baking product; the exact meaning varies markedly in different parts of the world. The etymology of the word "biscuit" is from Latin language via Middle French and means "cooked twice", hence biscotti in Medieval Italian ....
 base. The filling is a mixture of soft cheese, sugar, cream, and sometimes gelatin
Gelatin

Gelatin is a translucent, colorless, brittle, nearly tasteless solid, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and mostly bones. It has been commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceutical, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing....
. It can come in a variety of flavours including such traditionals as strawberry, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, chocolate, raspberry, mandarin and lemon. It can also be made with banoffee flavour, coffee, chocolate and Irish cream
Irish Cream

Irish Cream is a cream liqueur based on Irish whiskey, coffee, cream, and other ingredients, which can be served on its own or used in mixed drinks or as part of a shot....
 ,white chocolate
White chocolate

White chocolate is a confectionery of sucrose, cocoa butter, and milk solids. The melting point of cocoa butter is high enough to keep white chocolate solid at room temperature, yet low enough to allow white chocolate to melt in the mouth....
 and even marshmellow.

Italian

  • Ancient Roman
    Roman cuisine

    Roman cuisine changed over the long duration of their Ancient Rome. These Habit were affected by the influence of Ancient Greece culture, the political changes from kingdom to republic to empire, and the enormous expansion of the empire which brought many new culinary habits and cooking techniques from the provinces....
    -style cheesecake uses honey and a ricotta-like cheese along with flour and is traditionally shaped into loaves. Some recipes call for bay leaves
    Bay leaf

    Bay leaf , Greek Daphni, Romanian Dafin, Portuguese Louro; is the aromatic leaf of several species of the Laurel family . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance....
    , which may have been used as a preservative.
  • Italian
    Italian cuisine

    Italian cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political changes, with its roots traced back to 4th century BC....
    -style cheesecake uses ricotta or mascarpone
    Mascarpone

    Mascarpone is a triple-cream cheese made from cr?me fra?che, denatured with tartaric acid. Sometimes buttermilk is added as well, depending on the brand....
     cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and sometimes barley flakes. This type of cheesecake is typically drier than American styles. Often, small bits of candied fruit are added.


French

  • French
    French cuisine

    French cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of France. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The Middle Ages brought lavish banquets to the upper class with ornate, heavily seasoned food prepared by chefs such as Guillaume Tirel....
    -style cheesecakes are very light, feature gelatin as a binding ingredient and are typically only 3 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) tall. This variety gets its light texture and flavor from Neufchâtel cheese
    Neufchâtel (cheese)

    French Neufch?tel is a soft, slightly crumbly, mould-ripened cheese made in the region of Normandy. One of the oldest cheeses in France, its production is believed to date back to the 6th century....
    .


Greek

  • Greek-style cheesecake commonly uses mizithra
    Mizithra cheese

    Mizithra is a traditional unpasteurized cheese made from sheep milk - and/or goat-milk whey with some added milk. The cheese is soft, snow-white, creamy, and granular; its flavor is similar to ricotta salata....
    .


Swedish

  • Swedish-style cheesecake differs greatly from other cheese cakes. A Swedish cheesecake is not layered and is traditionally produced by adding rennet to milk and letting the casein coagulate. It is then baked in an oven and served warm. Since the process of curdling milk is somewhat complicated, alternative recipes intended for home cooking instead use cottage cheese as a base to simulate the texture of the dessert. Swedish-style cheesecake is traditionally served with jam and whipped cream or ice cream. There are two different types of Swedish cheesecake, from different regions in Sweden. To avoid confusion with other cheesecakes, Swedish cheesecake is usually called ostkaka
    Ostkaka

    Ostkaka, also known as Swedish cheesecake or Swedish curd cake, is a Sweden dessert that has its roots in two different parts of Sweden, H?lsingland and Sm?land The dish is usually eaten warm or lukewarm with Cloudberry jam and whipped cream, or with fruits or ice cream....
    , its Swedish name.


Middle European

  • German
    German cuisine

    German cuisine is a style of cooking derived from the nation of Germany. It has evolved as a national cuisine through centuries of social and political change with variations from region to region....
    -style cheesecake (Käsekuchen, Quarkkuchen, Matzkuchen; Topfenkuchen in Austria) uses quark cheese
    Quark (cheese)

    Quark is a type of fresh cheese of Central European origin. Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese. It is soft, white and un-aged, similar to Fromage frais....
    . The Käsesahnetorte (cheese cream tart
    Tart

    A tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, that is a type of pie with an open top not covered with pastry. The Tarte Tatin is a particular kind of "upside-down" tart, of apples, other fruit, or onions....
    ) adds cream and does not get baked. Germany is famous for its unique cheesecake recipes that add a bit of sweet and sour taste said to "melt in your mouth".
  • Dutch
    Netherlands

    The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
    /Belgian
    Belgium

    * A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
    -style cheesecakes are typically flavored with melted bittersweet chocolate. Belgian cheesecake also includes a speculaas
    Speculaas

    File:Spekulatius four pieces of.jpgFile:Speculaaskruiden.jpegSpeculaas is a type of shortcrust pastry biscuit , traditionally baked for consumption on St Nicholas in Belgium and the Netherlands ....
     crust (speculaas is a traditional Dutch-Belgian biscuit).


Latin American

  • Brazil
    Brazil

    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
    ian-style cheesecake usually has a layer of guava
    Guava

    Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium, which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. Native to Mexico and Central America, northern South America, parts of the Caribbean and some parts of North Africa, guavas are now cultivated and naturalized throughout the tropics, and are also grown in some...
     marmalade
    Marmalade

    Marmalade is a fruit fruit preserves usually made of citrus fruits. British-style marmalade is sweet marmalade with a bitter tang made from fruit, sugar, water, zest and a gelling agent....
     (goiabada).


Asian

Asian-style
Asian cuisine

Asian cuisine styles can be broken down into several regional styles that have roots in the peoples and cultures of those regions. The major types can be roughly defined as East Asian with its origins in Imperial era of Chinese history and now encompassing modern Japan and the Korean peninsula; Southeast Asian which encompasses th...
 cheesecake flavours include matcha (powdered Japanese green tea) and mango
Mango

Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae....
.

Japanese
Japanese Cheesecake
*Japanese
Japanese cuisine

Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of Shogun rule....
-style cheesecake relies upon the emulsification of cornstarch and eggs to make a smooth flan
Flan

Cr?me caramel, flan, or caramel custard is a rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to cr?me br?l?e, which is custard with a hard caramel top....
-like texture and almost plasticine
Plasticine

Plasticine, a brand of modelling clay, is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and fatty acids. The name is a registered trademark of Flair Leisure Products plc....
 appearance.

Culinary uses and challenges

Almost all modern cheesecakes in the United States use cream cheese
Cream cheese

Cream cheese is a sweet, soft, mild-tasting, white cheese, defined by the US Department of Agriculture as containing at least 33% milkfat with a moisture content of not more than 55%, and a pH range of 4.4 to 4.9....
; in Italy, cheesecakes use ricotta and Germany uses quark cheese
Quark (cheese)

Quark is a type of fresh cheese of Central European origin. Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese. It is soft, white and un-aged, similar to Fromage frais....
.

The type of cheese not only affects texture and taste but the ability to incorporate certain types of ingredients. When cheesecake batter is too thin, many cheesecakes will not be structurally sound and fall apart at the table. One way to get around this is to use unflavoured gelatin or a little cornstarch beaten with the eggs.

A common difficulty with baking cheesecakes is its tendency to "crack" when cooled. This is due to the coagulation of the beaten eggs in its batter. There are various methods to prevent this. One method is to bake the cheesecake in a hot water bath to ensure even heating. Other methods include blending a little cornstarch
Cornstarch

Cornstarch, or cornflour, is the starch of the corn grain. It is also grown from the endosperm, or white heart, of the corn seed. It has a distinctive appearance and feel when mixed raw with water or milk, giving easily to gentle pressure but resisting sudden pressure ....
 into the batter or baking the cheesecake at a lower temperature and slow cooling it in the oven, turned off, with the door ajar. If these methods fail, a common practice is to cover the top of the cheesecake with toppings such as fruit, whipped cream, or cookie crumbs.

Another common problem, particularly with baked cheesecakes, is that the biscuit base becomes too soft. For extra crunch, replace around a quarter of the crushed biscuits with Grape Nuts.

Many types of cheesecake are essentially custards, which can lead a novice baker to overcook them, expecting them to behave like true cakes.

A sour cream-style cheesecake uses close to a 1:1 volume ratio of cream cheese to sour cream to make the traditional texture that crumbles like a good roquefort cheese with a distinctive sunken center and a golden-colored top from the Maillard reaction
Maillard reaction

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. It is vitally important in the preparation or presentation of many types of food, and, like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning....
. An extra egg white brushed on the top can achieve the same effect in less time if you desire the cheesecake to be "gooey" when set.

Etymology


Despite their name, cheesecakes are technically tart
Tart

A tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, that is a type of pie with an open top not covered with pastry. The Tarte Tatin is a particular kind of "upside-down" tart, of apples, other fruit, or onions....
s, that is, open-topped pies; the word 'cake' was formerly applied to a much broader category of foods than it is today.

History


Cato the Elder
Cato the Elder

Marcus Porcius Cato was a Ancient Rome statesman, surnamed the Censor , the Wise , the Ancient , or the Elder , to distinguish him from Cato the Younger ....
's De Agri Cultura
De Agri Cultura

De Agri Cultura , written by Cato the Elder, is the oldest surviving work of Latin prose. Alexander Hugh McDonald, in his article for the Oxford Classical Dictionary, dated this essay's composition to about 160s BC and noted that "for all of its lack of form, its details of old custom and superstition, and its archaic tone, it was an...
 includes recipes for two cakes for religious uses: libum and placenta. Of the two placenta is most like modern cheesecakes having a crust that is separately prepared and baked.

Gallery


Popular culture

  • The cast of popular TV show, The Golden Girls
    The Golden Girls

    The Golden Girls is an United States situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a Miami, Florida home....
     was known for eating cheesecake together on numerous episodes in the series.
  • In 1999, at one of the weekend-long Phish festivals
    Phish festivals

    Starting in 1996, American jam band Phish hosted a series of music festival....
    , Big Cypress, held at the Seminole Indian Reservation in southern Florida, New Years Weekend, ABC Nightly World News broadcast a performance of Heavy Things
    Heavy Things

    "Heavy Things" is a 2000 single by American jam band Phish which appears on their album Farmhouse .Although it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100, the song is widely considered the band's biggest pop success, Reaching #22 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 and was a minor success on pop radio....
    . In an attempt to confuse viewers, members of the band requested that instead of applause at the end of the song, the audience chant "cheesecake" over and over. It became a running joke for Phish
    Phish

    eruses4|the band|deceptive internet practices|Phishing}}Phish is an United States band noted for their musical improvisation, extended jam sessions, exploration of music between genres, and their "fiercely loyal fans." Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983, the band's four members performed together for over 20 years until their hia...
     to reference cheesecake throughout the duration of the show. During a performance of You Enjoy Myself
    You Enjoy Myself

    You Enjoy Myself, known in short as YEM by Phish#Concerts and fan bases, is a Phish song written by Trey Anastasio. It is the most frequently played song by the band, having been played at 39% of their 1,183 shows....
    , the band went into a trademarked, vocal jam in which each of them sang "cheesecake", types of cheesecake, and so forth. This has since been commonly referred to as the "Ben Milan Jam".


See also

  • Ostkaka
    Ostkaka

    Ostkaka, also known as Swedish cheesecake or Swedish curd cake, is a Sweden dessert that has its roots in two different parts of Sweden, H?lsingland and Sm?land The dish is usually eaten warm or lukewarm with Cloudberry jam and whipped cream, or with fruits or ice cream....
  • The Cheesecake Factory
    The Cheesecake Factory

    The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. is a restaurant company in the United States. The company currently operates 146 dining restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory name is in 34 states and the District of Colombia....