Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft,

fresh cheese There are many different types of cheese. Cheeses can be grouped or classified according to criteria such as length of fermentation, texture, methods of production, fat content, animal milk, and country or region of origin. The method most co ...

(typically

cottage cheese Cottage cheese is a curdled milk product with a mild flavor and a creamy, non-homogeneous, soupy texture. It is made from skimmed milk by draining the cheese, as opposed to pressing it to make cheese curd—retaining some of the whey and keep ...

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Stabilizers such as carob bean gum and carrageenan are often added in industrial production. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration de ...

ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after th ...

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, and sugar. If there is a bottom layer, it most often consists of a crust or ''base'' made from crushed

cookies A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chi ...

(or digestive biscuits),

graham crackers A graham cracker (pronounced or in America) is a sweet flavored cracker made with graham flour that originated in the United States in the mid-19th century, with commercial development from about 1880. It is eaten as a snack food, usually ho ...

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...

, or sometimes

sponge cake Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated ...

. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked (and is usually refrigerated). Cheesecake is usually sweetened with sugar and may be flavored in different ways.

Vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

, 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 In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

whipped cream Whipped cream is liquid heavy cream that is whipped by a whisk or mixer until it is light and fluffy and holds its shape, or by the expansion of dissolved gas, forming a firm colloid. It is often sweetened, typically with white sugar, an ...

, nuts, cookies, fruit sauce,

chocolate syrup Chocolate syrup is a sweet, chocolate-flavored condiment. It is often used as a topping or dessert sauce for various desserts, such as ice cream, or mixed with milk to make chocolate milk or blended with milk and ice cream to make a chocolate ...

, or other ingredients.

Culinary classification

Modern cheesecake is not usually classified as an actual " cake", despite the name (compare with Boston cream "pie"). Some people classify it as a

torte A torte (from German language, German ''Torte'' ( (in turn from Latin language, Latin via Italian language, Italian ''torta'')) is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with whipped cream, buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruit. O ...

due to the usage of many

, which are the sole source of

leavening In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...

, as a key factor. Others find compelling evidence that it is a

custard pie A custard pie is any type of uncooked custard mixture added to an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together. In North America, custard pie commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and sometim ...

, based on the overall structure, with the separate crust, the soft filling, and the absence of flour. Other sources identify it as a flan, or

tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes wit ...

History

An ancient form of cheesecake may have been a popular dish in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...

even prior to Romans' adoption of it with the conquest of Greece. 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 (—). The earliest extant cheesecake recipes are found in

Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor ( la, Censorius), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, senator, and historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He was the first to write his ...

's , which includes recipes for three cakes for religious uses: , and . Of the three, ''placenta cake'' is the most like modern cheesecakes: having a crust that is separately prepared and baked. A more modern version called a sambocade, made with

elderflower ''Sambucus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly called elder or elderberry. The genus was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified as Adoxaceae due to ge ...

and

rose water Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. Rose water is also used to fla ...

, is found in ''

Forme of Cury ''The Forme of Cury'' (''The Method of Cooking'', from Middle French : 'to cook') is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most fa ...

'', an English cookbook from 1390. On this basis, chef

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with u ...

has argued that cheesecake is an English invention.

The modern cheesecake

The English name ''cheesecake'' has been used only since the 15th century, and the cheesecake did not evolve into its modern form until somewhere around the 18th century. Europeans began removing

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...

and adding beaten eggs to the cheesecake instead. With the overpowering yeast flavor gone, the result tasted more like a dessert treat. The early 19th-century cheesecake recipes in ''

A New System of Domestic Cookery ''A New System of Domestic Cookery'', first published in 1806 by Maria Rundell (1745 – 16 December 1828), was the most popular English cookbook of the first half of the nineteenth century; it is often referred to simply as "Mrs Rundell", b ...

'' by

Maria Rundell Maria Eliza Rundell (née Ketelby; 1745 – 16 December 1828) was an English writer. Little is known about most of her life, but in 1805, when she was over 60, she sent an unedited collection of recipes and household advice to John Murray, of ...

are made with

cheese curd Cheese curds are moist pieces of curdled milk, eaten either alone or as a snack, or used in prepared dishes. They are consumed throughout the northern United States and Canada. Notably, cheese curds are popular in Quebec, as part of the dish p ...

and fresh butter. One version is thickened with blanched almonds, eggs and cream, and the cakes may have included currants, brandy,

raisin wine Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The result is similar to that of the ice wine process, but is a much older process and suitable for warm climates. The technique dates back ...

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

and orange flower water. Modern commercial American

was developed in 1872, when William Lawrence, from Chester, New York, while looking for a way to recreate the soft, French cheese Neufchâtel, accidentally came up with a way of making an "unripened cheese" that is heavier and creamier; other dairymen came up with similar creations independently. 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 A graham cracker (pronounced or in America) is a sweet flavored cracker made with graham flour that originated in the United States in the mid-19th century, with commercial development from about 1880. It is eaten as a snack food, usually ho ...

base. This type of cheesecake was invented in the United States.

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

South Africa

One popular variant of cheesecake in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

is made with whipped cream, cream cheese, gelatin for the filling, and a buttered

digestive biscuit A digestive biscuit, sometimes described as a sweet-meal biscuit, is a semi- sweet biscuit that originated in Scotland. The digestive was first developed in 1839 by two Scottish doctors to aid digestion. The term ''digestive'' is derived from th ...

crust. It is not baked, and is sometimes made with

Amarula Amarula is a cream liqueur from South Africa. It is made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African marula tree (''Sclerocarya birrea'') which is also locally called the elephant tree or the marriage tree. It has an alcohol content of 17% ...

liqueur. This variant is very similar to British cheesecake. This cheesecake is more common in British South African communities.

Asia

Japan

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 A chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavorings. Being made with vegetable oil, instead of a traditional solid fat such as butter or shortening, it is easier to beat air into the bat ...

. No-bake cheesecakes are known as ''rare cheesecake'' (Japanese: レアチーズケーキ).

Philippines

The most prominent version of cheesecake in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

ube cheesecake Ube cheesecake, also known as purple yam cheesecake, is a Filipino cheesecake 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 prepare ...

. It is made with a base of crushed

s and an upper layer of cream cheese and ''

ube halaya ''Ube halaya'' or ''halayang ube'' (variant spellings ''halea'', ''haleya''; from the Spanish ''jalea'', "jam") is a Philippine dessert made from boiled and mashed purple yam (''Dioscorea alata'', locally known as ''ube''). Ube halaya is the m ...

'' (mashed

purple yam ''Dioscorea alata'', also known as purple yam, ube (, ), or greater yam, among many other names, is a species of yam (a tuber). The tubers are usually a vivid violet-purple to bright lavender in color (hence the common name), but some range in ...

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.

Europe

Spain

The Basque cheesecake was created in 1990 by Santiago Rivera of the La Viña restaurant in the Basque Country, Spain. It achieved popularity online in the 2010s, helped by a recipe published by the British food writer

Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School, London. After graduating from the University of Oxford, where she was a member of Lady Margaret Hall, Lawson st ...

. The Basque cheesecake is composed of burnt custard and no crust.

Russia

Russian-style cheesecake ('' Vatrushka'') is in the form of a dough ring and filled with quark or cottage cheese. 0stkaka

North America

United States

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.

= Chicago

= 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.

=New York

New York–style cheesecake uses a

base, also incorporating

heavy cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

sour cream Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, ...

. The typical New York cheesecake is rich and has a dense, smooth, and creamy consistency.NY Cheese Cake Recipe & Video – Joyofbaking.com *Video Recipe*
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Galleries

Cheesecakes from around the world

File:Bavarian-Cheesecake.png, Bavarian baked cheesecake File:Quarktorte.jpg, Thuringian Quarktorte from Germany File:Tarte au fromage blanc.png, French cheesecake (''tarte au fromage'') File:Oberkrämer 23.05.2015 13-21-03.JPG, German cheesecake (''Käsekuchen'') File:Plăcintă cu brânză.jpg, Romanian cheesecake File:Carnegie Deli Strawberry Cheesecake.jpg, New York–style cheesecake with strawberries File:Japanese no-bake cheesecake.jpg, Japanese no-bake cheesecake with strawberry sauce

Fruit cheesecakes

File:Blueberry rare cheesecake.jpg, Blueberry and mixed-fruit cheesecake File:Cheesecake mit Beeren.jpg, New York–style cheesecake with berries File:Orange cheesecake.jpg, No-bake cheesecake with orange jelly File:Manga Basil Cheese Cake with Mango Ravioli3.jpg, Cheesecake with mango File:Lemon Cheesecake Fontanella Tea Garden.jpg, Lemon cheesecake File:Raw Strawberry Shortcake at Loving Hut Vegan Restaurant.jpg, Raw-food strawberry cheesecake

References

{{Authority control Ancient Greek cuisine Articles containing video clips British cakes Custard desserts English cuisine Jewish baked goods German cakes Israeli cuisine Types of food World cuisine Cheesecakes American cakes