All About Cheesecakes!

Kinds of Cheesecake

Cheesecakes available nowadays are a type of cake made of cheese, generally roasted with a bottom coating, which can be, “a light dusting of breadcrumbs, a cookie top or a pastry top.” In this regard, cheesecakes are similar to pies or tarts (pastry shells with shallow sides, no top crust, and any kind of fillings). Some cheesecakes, however, have no crusts at all. Here, I may add that cheesecake is not a dessert for all time. Salty cheesecakes are served with nuts as an appetizer. However, for this article, cheesecake means the amazingly rich, delicious dessert as we all know. 

The texture of diverse cheesecakes can differ a lot. They can be less in weight and well-ventilated, thick and rich or even and creamy. The most essential ingredient is cheese. Cheesecake filling is made by. Commonly used cheeses are cream cheese, Neufchatel cheese, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, Swiss cheese, cheddar cheese. The quality and flavor, as well as the capacity to incorporate certain ingredients depend on the kind of cheese used. 

About history of cheesecake

Not many of us think about history when we bite into a scrumptious slice of creamy cheesecake. It may surprise you (as it did me) to learn that cheesecake has been around for centuries, at least as far back as ancient Greece. A Little Bit of Cheesecake History  

Historians have revealed that cheesecake was presented to the athletes during the first Olympic Games held in Greece in 776 B.C. Centuries later, when the Romans conquered Greece, one of their little mentioned acquisitions was the discovery of cheesecake. The Romans named this cake as ‘placenta.’ “Placenta was similar to a cheesecake, roasted on a pastry base, or occasionally within a pastry case”. A Roman politician, Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 B.C.), wrote a treatise on agriculture, which includes a recipe for cheese ‘libum’, the Roman word for cake: 

“Recipe for Libum was: 2 pounds cheese finely crushed in a mortar; after finely crushing, put in 1 pound bread-wheat flour or, if you desire it to be lighter, just 1/2 a pound, to mix with the cheese. Add one egg and mix all together well.
 From these ingredients, prepare a loaf, having leaves under it, and then bake slowly on a brick resting above a hot fire. Around 230 A.D., a Greek writer by the name of Athenaeus recorded another cheesecake recipe that included honey.  

Cheesecake became popular across Europe and Great Britain as a result of the Roman occupation of Western Europe (this fact is generally not taught in history classes) Around 1000 A.D., cheesecake had become trendy throughout Scandinavia, England, and northwestern Europe, that’s why nowadays there are hundreds of different cheesecake recipes and cheesecake fashions.

The records of the Countess of Leicester, of  the year 1265 mention "cheese for tarts" and the first English cheesecake recipe was revealed in a 14th century English recipe collection, the Forme of Cury. Below mentioned cheesecake recipe is related to Tudor England (mid 16th century) 

“To make a tarte of Chese  - Take harde Chese and cutte it in slyces,and pare it, than laye it in fayre water, or in swete mylke, the space of three houres, then take it up and breake it in a morter tyll it be small, than drawe it up thorowe a strainer with the yolkes of syxe egges, and season it wyth suger and swete butter, and so bake it.” 

Cheesecake, of course, came to America with the European immigrants. 

Cheesecake is a popular dessert in many parts of the world: 

• Cream cheese is an important ingredient of the majority of American Cheesecake recipes.  New York Cheesecake has been explained as, “… the unadulterated, uncontaminated cheesecake with no fancy components inserted either to the cheesecake or placed on top of it.     It is made from pure cream cheese, cream, eggs, and sugar.” Chicago cheesecake, also a baked cream cheese version, is firm outside and creamy inside, while Pennsylvania Dutch cheesecake uses ‘farmer's cheese,’ which is slightly tangy, has larger curds and less water content. Sour Cream Cheesecake uses cream cheese except heavy cream. It can be frozen for short periods without its texture being affected and is therefore used for factory-made cheesecakes. The most admired cheesecake recipes in the United States are Sour Cream and New York cheesecake recipes. Country-style Cheesecake, that uses buttermilk and has a denser feel and can be preserved for a longer period is one more type of cheesecake available in the United States. After it is baked, American cheesecake is chilled and almost always topped with sour cream, whipped cream, fruit or other flavorings.

• In the U.K, Australia and New Zealand, cheesecake is made with a biscuit base, soft cheese, sugar and cream. It is not put on fire and it comes in numerous different tastes (blueberry, lemon, strawberry, chocolate, coffee etc. 

• Ricotta or mascarpone cheese, sugar and vanilla extract are The chief componenets of Italian cheesecake formulae. Cheesecakes of Italy are usually more dehydrated than American cheesecakes. 

• French cheesecakes use Neufchatel cheese. They use gelatin as a cementing component and they are very light in weight. They are also much smaller than American cheesecake (about 3 to 5 cm in diameter), and are often decorated with delicate slivers of candied fruit. 

• Germany is famous for its special cheesecake recipes, which use quark cheese (a soft, un-ripened, cow's milk cheese that has the texture and flavor of sour cream). One type, the Käsesahnetorte, inserts cream. The Käsesahnetorte is not roasted unlike traditional Middle European cheesecake. 

• In Holland and Belgium, flavor melted bittersweet chocolate is added to cheesecakes. An exceptional speculaas outer layer (customarily slim, crispy, somewhat browned biscuit taste with cinnamon and other spices) is hallmark of Belgian cheesecake.

• Cheesecakes have a deposit of guava marmalade, in Brazil, while in Japan Cheesecakes have cornstarch and eggs and have a very smooth surface. Cheesecake have flavorings in Japan include white chocolate, green tea and mango.

As you can see, cheesecake is a global term. However, the American type of cheesecake, has richness and is but firm surface – in addition to its different flavors – appears to march into the restaurants, cake stores and patisseries of countries through out the world. As we all know, American cheesecake today comes in many, many flavors - Banana Cream Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, and more. Cheesecake has made a long journey: from ancient Greece, it spread across the Old World, travelled across the ocean to the New World and now, improved and enriched, it appears to be going back home!

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