Cheesecake - is it a pie or cake?

Mannimar

Mannimar

This delicious goodness.... 

Kayeil

It's a custard tart in a pie crust.

Krypton

You make it in a cake pan, not a pie tin. Duh, much?

Cooper

My mom made hers in pie tins.

Berenene

It's even more obvious than that. It's in the name. It's cheeseCAKE. Not cheesePIE. 

Krypton

Meh, naming convention is not always reliable. "Headcheese" is not cheese, "sweetbread" is not bread.

Tahquil

Obviously needs new cooking design.
' a delicious '

Cidusii

Does it have eggs in it? If no, it is a pie. If yes, are the eggs fried or scrambled or otherwise pre-cooked? If no, it is a cake. If yes, it is a pie. If you find an exception to this rule, keep it in your pants.

Blujixapug

Cheesecake is a baked custard. It is not a cake.

It is arguably similar to what Americans call pie, which is a tart crust with some kind of sweet filling, with an open top, usually baked (eg. key lime pie, pumpkin pie). I don't know if this terminology is some kind of cultural rebellion against French/European patisserie, because the rest of the world calls these things 'tarts' (and uses the metric system).

Cheesecake is cheesecake.

Tael

If forced to make a binary choice between cake or pie, it's pretty clearly more a pie than a cake.

In reality, I wouldn't normally call it either - it is neither a cake nor a pie. It is a strong, independent dessert that doesn't need to participate in your small-minded binary system of labels.

And @Cidusii, there are plenty of pies with eggs in them. I'm not keeping them in my pants.

Krypton

My go-to pie recipe uses 4 eggs.

Berenene

@BlujixapugNot all cheesecakes are baked.

Ellodin

they are on 4/20

Blujixapug

Berenene said:

Blujixapug Not all cheesecakes are baked.

Those are just imitators!

I started researching this, but it made me want to make a cheesecake so I had to stop Actually I think I have everything to make tiramisu...

Cidusii

Tael said:

If forced to make a binary choice between cake or pie, it's pretty clearly more a pie than a cake.

In reality, I wouldn't normally call it either - it is neither a cake nor a pie. It is a strong, independent dessert that doesn't need to participate in your small-minded binary system of labels.

And @Cidusii, there are plenty of pies with eggs in them. I'm not keeping them in my pants.

Keep it in your pants! Great place to store secret pies until they burn.

In Kiwiland pies mostly contain meat (sometimes with pre-cooked egg like bacon and egg pies) or fruit. What are these pies with eggs in them! And how many can you fit in your pants?  

Krypton

Cidusii said:

What are these pies with eggs in them! 

Crack pie, a.k.a. The Best Pie:

http://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-crackpierec11-2010feb11-story.html

Daklore

Mmmm... cheesecake.

Arador

Frozen cheesecake is a tart. Baked cheesecake can be a cake. There are thousands of variations on the dessert with some form of cheese being the only common ingredient. There are variations with eggs, with gelatine with heavy cream, you name it. It would never be considered a pie anywhere but America where the word pie is used for tarts and even pizza. 

Ruth

Are we talking about the type where an entire wheel of cheese is the cake. Because a wheel of Mozzarella melted on a biscuit base would be good thanks

Nicaara

All other pies go in pie crusts. Cheesecake gets its own special springform pan into which you pat graham cracker crumbs into the bottom. Not a cake, not a pie. It is its very own realm of blissful delight. 

Also if the cheesecake is not baked, that cheesecake is a lie. 

Sena

Graham cracker crusts are used for a lot of different pies (or tarts or whatever else you want to call them), and cheesecake can be made with a lot of different crusts, there's no special relationship between the two.

Krypton

Yeah, key lime pie, lemon meringue pie, etc. all use a graham cracker crust...

I have never used a springform pan to make cheesecake. Too easy. You ain't no boss baker unless you can make your cheesecake in a normal cake pan, then invert and plate it without destroying the cake or its graham cracker crust.

Eld

Cidusii said:

Tael said:

If forced to make a binary choice between cake or pie, it's pretty clearly more a pie than a cake.

In reality, I wouldn't normally call it either - it is neither a cake nor a pie. It is a strong, independent dessert that doesn't need to participate in your small-minded binary system of labels.

And @Cidusii, there are plenty of pies with eggs in them. I'm not keeping them in my pants.

Keep it in your pants! Great place to store secret pies until they burn.

In Kiwiland pies mostly contain meat (sometimes with pre-cooked egg like bacon and egg pies) or fruit. What are these pies with eggs in them! And how many can you fit in your pants?  

Pecan pie would be my go-to example of a pie with eggs in it. I don't know how many would fit in my pants, and I don't intend to find out. 

Trey

Ruth said:

Are we talking about the type where an entire wheel of cheese is the cake. Because a wheel of Mozzarella melted on a biscuit base would be good thanks

Like, I can't decide if that's great or fear-inducing. On the one hand mozzarella on a biscuit might be good. But I think the resulting coronary disease might kill you with that.

Xith

Cidusii said:

Does it have eggs in it? If no, it is a pie. If yes, are the eggs fried or scrambled or otherwise pre-cooked? If no, it is a cake. If yes, it is a pie. If you find an exception to this rule, keep it in your pants.

I got in trouble the last time I put dessert in my pants.

Fool me once...

Blujixapug

Trey said:

Ruth said:

Are we talking about the type where an entire wheel of cheese is the cake. Because a wheel of Mozzarella melted on a biscuit base would be good thanks

Like, I can't decide if that's great or fear-inducing. On the one hand mozzarella on a biscuit might be good. But I think the resulting coronary disease might kill you with that.

But is it a cake? Or a pie?

I guess it kind of looks like a creampie

Kyrra

Blujixapug said:

Trey said:

Ruth said:

Are we talking about the type where an entire wheel of cheese is the cake. Because a wheel of Mozzarella melted on a biscuit base would be good thanks

Like, I can't decide if that's great or fear-inducing. On the one hand mozzarella on a biscuit might be good. But I think the resulting coronary disease might kill you with that.

But is it a cake? Or a pie?

I guess it kind of looks like a creampie

That looks like a wheel of camembert or brie and now I have cravings for cheese

Nicaara

Kyrra said:

Blujixapug said:

Trey said:

Ruth said:

Are we talking about the type where an entire wheel of cheese is the cake. Because a wheel of Mozzarella melted on a biscuit base would be good thanks

Like, I can't decide if that's great or fear-inducing. On the one hand mozzarella on a biscuit might be good. But I think the resulting coronary disease might kill you with that.

But is it a cake? Or a pie?

I guess it kind of looks like a creampie

That looks like a wheel of camembert or brie and now I have cravings for cheese

It's pastry-wrapped brie. It would be delicious, if brie didn't taste like.... things.

I'll just stick with cream cheese, thanks.

Blujixapug

I think it's just a brie in its rind, no pastry. I googled "baked brie" and that was one of the more food porny results. Might be maple syrup on top, beneath the pecans - looks too thin to be brown sugar, and you wouldn't imagine it would be balsamic.

Nicaara

Blujixapug said:

I think it's just a brie in its rind, no pastry. I googled "baked brie" and that was one of the more food porny results. Might be maple syrup on top, beneath the pecans - looks too thin to be brown sugar, and you wouldn't imagine it would be balsamic.

Well that just makes it nastier.