Cheesecake

I Don't Care What You Call Cheesecake—I Just Want to Eat It

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March  9, 2017
7 Comments

Is cheesecake a cake? Is it a pie? Is it a tart?

These are the spellbindingly boring philosophical questions that have preoccupied a few food media publications over the past week. It began with an admittedly funny, self-aware piece from the folks at Eater published last week, prompting a response from TODAY’s Matt Lauer. A poll of the show's viewers overwhelmingly suggested that cheesecake is not cake. Some on the show described it as a cake-pie hybrid. Thrilling. Are you asleep yet?

Semantics, semantics. I’m someone who begs for more precision and care with the language we use to talk about food. But this debate strikes me as one of the more aggressively meaningless I've come across, right up there with “is a cheeseburger a sandwich?”

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Maybe it’s because I have no horse in this race. Keep calling it cake. Call it pie. A tart. A flan. Use your imagination. I honestly do not care. To the question of what we should call cheesecake, I answer: Call it whatever you'd like. It’s good. Just eat it. Here are 18 of our best.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Mocha Marble Cheesecake

Mocha Marble Cheesecake

Crème Fraîche Cheesecake with Apple Cardamom Compote

Crème Fraîche Cheesecake with Apple Cardamom Compote

Matcha-Black Sesame Cheesecake

Matcha-Black Sesame Cheesecake

Butternut Squash & Spice Cheesecake

Butternut Squash & Spice Cheesecake

Cappuccino Cheesecake

Cappuccino Cheesecake

Nigella Lawson's No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake

Nigella Lawson's No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake

Amaro Ricotta Cheesecake

Amaro Ricotta Cheesecake

Ricotta Cheesecake Pie with Chocolate-Coffee Ganache

Ricotta Cheesecake Pie with Chocolate-Coffee Ganache

Lime n' the Coconut Mini Cheesecakes

Lime n' the Coconut Mini Cheesecakes

Cider Cheesecake Pie

Cider Cheesecake Pie

Raw Mixed Berry and Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Raw Mixed Berry and Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Lemon Bar Cheesecake

Lemon Bar Cheesecake

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake With Biscoff Crust

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake With Biscoff Crust

Gran's Gifted Cheesecake

Gran's Gifted Cheesecake

Amaro Ricotta Cheesecake

Amaro Ricotta Cheesecake

Raw, Vegan Strawberry Vanilla Cheesecake

Raw, Vegan Strawberry Vanilla Cheesecake

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

So, what's the verdict? Is cheesecake cake or not, in your eyes? Weigh in on this historic debate in the comments.

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Mayukh Sen
Mayukh Sen is a James Beard Award-winning food and culture writer in New York. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Bon Appetit, and elsewhere. He won a 2018 James Beard Award in Journalism for his profile of Princess Pamela published on Food52.

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7 Comments

Puckick
Puckick March 11, 2017
It's pretty simple: cheesecake is a custard. If you bake it in a pie shell, I suppose it's a custard pie; if you make it in a tart pan with only a bottom crust (my preference), I suppose it's a custard tart. But really, it's the custard part that's important.
 
Carol D.
Carol D. March 10, 2017
I would call it a torte. Personally, don't care what you call it, just make sure it's made with cream cheese, mascarpone, sour cream, etc. Not too much of the embellishments, please. Let the texture and simplicity shine!
 
JulieQC
JulieQC March 10, 2017
Love cheesecake ! I happen to see vegan cheesecake in the recipe in your list....not on board to call it cheesecake. Just as much as I hate nut based vegan 'cheese' being called cheese (and cauliflower 'steak'...or any let's pretend it's not vegan vegan denominations). Don't get me wrong, they are perfectly fine, they are just not cheese. So that is were I draw the line.
 
Whiteantlers
Whiteantlers March 9, 2017
Never touch the stuff. My mother was a wretched, inept baker who turned out a vile cheesecake topped with canned cherry pie filling every week. You'd have to pay me to eat a slice.
 
E
E March 9, 2017
Cheesecake *heart eyes* Can't say it's something I want to make though, having failed spectacularly the one time I tried to make it, but maybe I can persuade the people in my life to use one of these recipes.

Failing that... Two Little Red Hens, Petee's Pie Company, and Mah-Ze-Dahr have some awesome ones in NYC. *more heart eyes*
 
Megan L.
Megan L. March 9, 2017
Yes to Two Little Red Hens! My favorite!
 
witloof
witloof March 9, 2017
Cheesecake with a lot of other stuff in it seems to me to be beside the point. It's the milky tang of cream cheese and sour cream that is the whole reason to eat it and the other ingredients just cover it up. I like this recipe but make it with digestive biscuits instead of chocolate wafers to let the vanilla and milk fat shine.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7210-sour-cream-cheesecake-with-vanilla-bean