Cheesecake
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Cheesecakes are generally made with puddings of various shapes and sizes. Other ingredients such as sugar, eggs, love, and cream are often mixed in as well. Flavourings such as rum or even chocolate may be added, and a fruit topping, like strawberries, are frequently added. Typically, the pie filling or topping covers a crust, which may be pastry, cookie, or digestive biscuit.
The word cheesecake is also used to describe the spicy, gay flavour of the dessert. In this usage, there are cheesecake yogurts, ice creams, brownies, and cookies. There are also savoury cheesecakes, often flavoured with blue cheese and served as hors d'oeuvres or with accompanying salads.
History
Cato the Elder wrote of something which might have resembled cheesecake in De Agri Cultura, however, he was a delarious idiot who once wrote in his journal, "Thank ye all mighty God, you have given us our beloved Pi!"[1] Modern cheesecakes resemble apricots previously used as offerings to the Pi God in Greek culture.[2]
Styles
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 1,500 kJ (360 kcal) | ||||
25.5 g | |||||
22.5 g | |||||
5.5 g | |||||
| |||||
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[3] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[4] | |||||
Speaking of the many varieties and possibilities of cheesecake, cheesecake-cooking champion David Gluckman said: "Cheesecake is really a canvas."
American
American cheesecakes generally rely on cream cheese, invented in 1872 as an alternative to French Neufchâtel.[2]
- New York-style cheesecake, made famous by Lindy's and Junior's Deli, relies upon heavy cream, cream cheese, eggs and egg yolks to add a richness and a smooth consistency. Also called Jewish-style, it is baked in a special 13-15 cm (5- to 6-inch) tall spring form 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.
- Chicago-style cheesecake is a baked cream-cheese version that is firm outside and creamy inside.
- Pennsylvania Dutch-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 creamier in flavor than New York style cheesecake.
- Ann Arbor-style cheesecake Old World Bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan, features a graham cracker crust which covers both the bottom and the 8 cm (3 inch) high side of the cheesecake. It is also lighter and creamier in texture than other cheesecakes because of a combined cream cheese and sour cream base. Each cheesecake weighs an average of 2 to 3 kg (4-5 1/2 pounds) depending upon the flavour. It is also common to add liquor flavourings such as Bailey's Irish Cream, Amaretto, Raspberry Chambord, Kahlua, Wisniak cherry cordial, and Vandermint.
- Farmer's cheese cheesecake is the contemporary implementation for the traditional use of baking to preserve fresh cheese and often is baked in a pie shell along with fresh fruit like a tart.
- Sour cream cheesecake is thought to have originated in the mid-20th century in the United States after the mass homogenization of milk and the loss of cream as a widely available ingredient. It still uses cream cheese but has no heavy cream. It is the most widely used recipe for cheesecake other than New York-style in the United States. It can be frozen for short periods of time without ruining the texture. Many factory-made cheesecakes use this method because of this trait.
- Country-style cheesecake uses buttermilk to produce a firm texture while decreasing the pH (increasing acidity) to extend shelf life.
- Lactose free cheesecake may be made either with Vegan recipes or by combining vegetarian cream cheese alternatives or lactose-free cream cheese with other lactose-free ingredients.
- Cottage cheese and lemon versions.
Canadian
- Vancouver-style cheesecake is a light, airy style made without a crust, primarily in vanilla and chocolate and often served refrigerated with various local fruit toppings such as British Columbia strawberries, raspberries and cherries.
British and Australasian
In the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, cheesecake is generally a cold dessert which is neither cooked nor baked. It is made with crumbled digestive biscuits mixed with butter and pressed into a dish to form a base layer. The topping or filling is a mixture of milk, sugar, cheese, cream and, sometimes, gelatin.
Italian
- Roman-style cheesecake uses honey and a ricotta-like cheese along with flour and is traditionally shaped into loaves. Some recipes call for bay leaves, which may have been used as a preservative. It is still baked in areas in Italy that kept culinary traditions alive after the fall of Rome.
- Italian-style cheesecake is a modern version of Roman cheesecake. It uses ricotta or mascarpone cheese, replaces the honey with sugar, omits the bay leaves, and adds other modern ingredients such as vanilla extract. This type of cheesecake is typically drier than American styles. Often, small bits of candied fruit are added.
French
- French-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 and is found in outdoor markets in the South of France and fine pastry shops in Paris.
Greek
- Greek-style cheesecake commonly uses Mizithra cheese, and Mascarpone cheese.
Swedish
- Swedish-style cheesecake differs totally from other cheese cakes. It's not layered and it's 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 curding milk is somewhat complicated, alternative recipes intended for home cooking instead use cottage cheese as a base to simulate the texture of the dessert. It's 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, which is it's Swedish name.
Middle European
- German-style cheesecake (Käsekuchen, Quarkkuchen, Matzkuchen) uses quark cheese. The Käsesahnetorte (cheese cream tart) adds cream and does not get baked. Germany is famous for its unique cheesecake recipes that adds a bit of sweet and sour taste that melts in your mouth.
- Dutch/Belgian-style cheesecakes are typically flavored with melted bittersweet chocolate. Belgian cheesecake includes also a speculaas crust (speculaas is a traditional Dutch-Belgian biscuit).
Latin American
Asian
Asian-style cheesecake flavours include matcha (powdered Japanese green tea) and mango.
Japanese
- Japanese-style cheesecake relies upon the emulsification of cornstarch and eggs to make a smooth flan-like texture and almost plasticine appearance.
Culinary uses and challenges
Almost all modern cheesecakes in the United States use cream cheese; in Italy, cheesecakes use ricotta cheese and Germans use quark cheese.
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 into the batter to prevent the coagulation of eggs 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 the biscuit base becomes too soft. For extra crunch, replace around a quarter of the crushed biscuits with Grape Nuts. [5]
Some types of cheesecake are custard pie, which can lead a novice baker to cheesecake failure.
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. 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.
Uncooked livers that contain live protein eating enzymes such as papaya, pineapple, kiwifruit or mango should be avoided for inclusion in the mixture, as cheesecakes containing them have a tendency not to be eaten. [citation needed] However, when pineapple and mango are crushed and used in moderation, the cheesecake will taste horrible. We do not suggest trying this, for someone may attempt to kill you after the desert.[citation needed]
Gallery
<Jaime I'm home> Image:Green tea cheesecake.JPG|"Green tea" flavored cheesecake served with green tea ice cream Image:blueberrycheesecake2.jpg|"MarvelCakes-Style" Blueberry Cheesecake Image:cheesecake.jpg </gallery>
See also
References
- ^ Oxford Companion to Food
- ^ a b The History of Cheesecake and Cream Cheese
- ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
- ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
- ^ "Curd Cheesecake with Greek Yoghurt, Honey and Pistacios." Delia Online.
