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 New York–style cheesecake with fruit | |
| Type | Various |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert (predominantly)Savoury (eg. smoked salmon cheesecake) |
| Place of origin | Ancient Greece |
| Main ingredients | Cream cheese,sugar, pie crust (graham cracker crust,pastry, orsponge cake) |
Cheesecake is adessert made with a softfresh cheese (typicallycottage cheese,cream cheese,quark orricotta),eggs, andsugar. It may have acrust or base made from crushedcookies (ordigestive biscuits),graham crackers,pastry, or sometimessponge cake.[1] Cheesecake may bebaked 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 withfruit,whipped cream,nuts, cookies,fruit sauce,chocolate syrup, or other ingredients.
An ancient form of cheesecake may have been a popular dish inancient Greece even prior to Romans' adoption of it with the conquest of Greece.[2] The earliest attested mention of a cheesecake is by the Greek physicianAegimus (5th century BCE), who wrote a book on the art of making cheesecakes (πλακουντοποιικόν σύγγραμμα—plakountopoiikon sungramma).[3] The earliest extant cheesecake recipes are found inCato the Elder'sDe Agri Cultura, which includesrecipes for three cakes for religious uses:libum,savillum andplacenta.[4][5][6] Of the three,placenta cake is the most like modern cheesecakes: having a crust that is separately prepared and baked.[7]
A more modern version called asambocade, made withelderflower androse water, is found inForme of Cury, an English cookbook from 1390.[8][9] On this basis, the English chefHeston Blumenthal argues that cheesecake is an English invention.[10]
The English namecheesecake has been used only since the 15th century,[11] and the cheesecake did not evolve into its modern form until somewhere around the 18th century. Europeans began removingyeast and adding beaten eggs to the cheesecake instead. With the overpowering yeast flavor gone, the result tasted more like adessert treat.[12] The early 19th-century cheesecake recipes inA New System of Domestic Cookery byMaria Rundell are made withcheese curd and fresh butter. One version is thickened withblanchedalmonds, eggs and cream, and the cakes may have includedcurrants,brandy,raisin wine,nutmeg andorange flower water.
Modern commercial Americancream cheese was developed in 1872, when William Lawrence, fromChester, New York, was searching for a way to recreate the soft, French cheeseNeufchâtel. He discovered a way of making an "unripened cheese" that is heavier and creamier; other dairymen came up with similar creations independently.[13]
Modern cheesecake comes in two different types. Along with the baked cheesecake, some cheesecakes are made with uncooked cream cheese on a crumbled-cookie orgraham cracker base. This type of cheesecake was invented in the United States.[8]
Modern cheesecake is not usually classified as an actual "cake", despite the name (compare withBoston cream "pie").[14][15] Some people classify it as atorte due to the usage of manyeggs, which are the sole source ofleavening, as a key factor.[16][17] Others find compelling evidence that it is acustard pie,[15][18] based on the overall structure, with the separate crust, the soft filling, and the absence of flour.[19][failed verification][20] Other sources identify it as aflan, ortart.[14][15][21]
Smoked salmon cheesecake is a savoury form, containingsmoked salmon.[22] It is most frequently served as an appetizer or a buffet item.[23][24] A smoked salmon cheesecake was a prize-winning recipe in 1996 inBetter Homes and Gardens' Prize Tested Recipe Contest. The recipe called for the use ofSwiss cheese along with the more usual (for cheesecakes)ricotta.[25]
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:
One popular variant of cheesecake inSouth Africa is made with whipped cream, cream cheese,gelatin for the filling, and a buttereddigestive biscuit crust. It is not baked, and is sometimes made withAmarula liqueur. This variant is very similar to British cheesecake. This cheesecake is more common inBritish South African communities.[26]
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 tochiffon cake.[27] No-bake cheesecakes are known asrare cheesecake (Japanese: レアチーズケーキ).[28]
The most prominent version of cheesecake in thePhilippines isube cheesecake. It is made with a base of crushedgraham crackers and an upper layer of cream cheese andube halaya (mashedpurple 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.[29][30][31]
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Basque cheesecake, composed of burnt custard and no crust, was created in 1990 by Santiago Rivera of the La Viña restaurant in theBasque Country, Spain.[32][33] It achieved popularity online in the 2010s, helped by a recipe published by the British food writerNigella Lawson.[33] The Spanish chefNieves Barragán Mohacho serves hers with a liquorice sauce, which Lawson included in her recipe.[32] In 2021, Basque cheesecake was widely shared onInstagram and became "ubiquitous" in the UK.[32] In 2023, the British restaurant criticJay Rayner complained that Basque cheesecake had become overabundant in London.[34]
Crostata di ricotta is a traditional Italian baked cheesecake made withricotta cheese, chocolate chips and eggs.[35] Many cakes and desserts are filled with ricotta, likecassata Siciliana andpastiera Napoletana.[citation needed]
SwissChäschüechli (ramequin in French-speaking parts of the country) are small cheesecake tartlets, savory rather than sweet.[36][37]
Sernik, withser meaning "cheese", is baked Polish cheesecake dating back to the 17th century. It usestwaróg (traditional Polish quark) and is based more on eggs and butter, without cream or sour cream. Variations includesernik krakowski (Kraków-style),[38] with a lattice crust on top,królewski (king's), made from cocoa crust on the top and bottom of the cheesecake filling,[39][40] andwiedeński (Vienna-style), which is crustless.[41][42]
Russischer Zupfkuchen [de] (Russian "pulled" cake) is a German baked cheesecake with a coca crust base and edge, with chocolate dough scattered over the cheesecake filling.[43]
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.[44]
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.[45]
New York–style or Jewish-style cheesecake uses acream cheese base.Gil Marks traces the origin of the New York-style or Jewish cheesecake inAshkenazi Jewish cuisine to the 1930s, made famous in such establishments asReuben's Restaurant andkosher-styleJewish deliLindy's, opened by German-Jewish immigrant Leo Lindermann in 1921.[46][47][48] Earlier cheese pie recipes called forcottage cheese.[49] Cream cheese was invented in 1872 and made its way intoAmerican 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.[47][50]Junior's, established by Harry Rosen in 1950, is another NY Jewish establishment famous for New York-style cheesecake.[46][51] Jewish baker inDecatur, Illinois Charles W. Lubin created theSara Lee brand of supermarket cheesecakes and expanded into other cakes such ascoffee cake, being sold in 48 states.[52]
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".
cheesecake: A flan or tart filled with curd or cream cheese.
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