Interesting cheesecake facts:

A cheesecake is a sweet, cheese-based dessert.

Cheesecake is one of the most common desserts in the world and perhaps one of the oldest involving dairy other than milk. The first recorded mention of cheesecake was during the ancient Grecian Olympic games in the occidental world. Cato the Elder wrote of cheesecake preparation in his farming manual "De Agri Cultura".

Cheesecakes can be made of ricotta cheese, havarti, quark, twaróg, or, more usually, cream cheese. Other ingredients such as sugar, eggs, cream and fruit are often mixed in as well. Flavorings such as vanilla or chocolate may be added, and a fruit topping, like strawberries, is frequently added. Typically, the cheese filling or topping covers a crust, which may be pastry, cookie, digestive biscuit or graham cracker-crumb. Sometimes the base is a layer of cake.

Contrary to what its name suggests, cheesecakes are actually more like custards and are required to be baked at lower temperatures. 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 cake in a hot water bath to ensure even heating. Alternatively, a little cornstarch blended into the batter prevents the coagulation of eggs.

In the UK, cheesecakes are generally a cold dessert which is not 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 gelatin.

CheesecakeThe word cheesecake is also used to describe the creamy, cheesy flavor of the cake. In this usage, there are cheesecake yogurts, ice creams, brownies, and cookies.

There are also savory cheesecakes, often flavored with blue cheese and served as hors d'oeuvres or accompanying salads.