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Cheesecake is a large family of sweet, cheese-based custard pies. Cheesecakes are generally made with soft, fresh cheeses. Other ingredients such as sugar, eggs, flour, liquids are often mixed in as well. Typically, the filling covers a crust, which may be pastry, cookie, or digestive biscuit.

American

American cheesecakes generally rely on cream cheese, invented in 1872 as an alternative to French Neufchâtel.The History of Cheesecake and Cream Cheese

• 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.

• Farmer's cheese cheesecake is the contemporary implementation for the traditional use of baking to preserve fresh cheese and often is baked in a cake form 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 lactose-free cream cheese or as an imitation using Vegan recipes combining non-dairy cream cheese alternatives with other lactose-free ingredients.