When people hear the word “cheesecake,” they usually picture a creamy, ivory, and smooth dessert. While this might be the standard picture of cheesecake, there are now numerous styles for the dessert. Even among the styles, there are still multiple crusts and toppings that you can use as creative flourishes for your cake. In all cheesecake styles, the cheese is mixed with eggs and sugar, and different flavors are added to it depending on the desired style.
The crucial ingredients you should look for in Wisconsin shops for your cheesecake are quality creamy cheese curds. You can nonetheless opt for Havarti, twarog, quark, or ricotta cheese. Here are your style alternatives for cheesecake:
New-York-style Cheesecake
This is the most popular style of cheesecake. It is an ultra-dense, rich, and firm yet creamy dessert that relies on considerable amounts of creamy cheese for its texture and tang. This is then bolstered using eggs, heavy cream, and sugar. Some bakers opt for sour cream rather than heavy cream for their cheesecake added into the filling or lightly sprinkled on top of the cake. Most people opt for New-York-style cheesecake with no flavors, though it can be topped with fruits such as strawberries.
Regular Cheesecake
This is shorter, sweeter, and lighter compared to New-York-style cheesecake. It is also often flavored with fruit or chocolate and garnished with candies, sauces, and other garnishes. Regular cheesecake, such as the New-York-style variant, is however baked in a spring-form pan and has a cookie crumb or Graham cracker crust.
No-bake Cheesecake
This style needs no cooking. You only need to mix its ingredients then chill them. No-bake cheesecake has a homogenous texture and is utterly smooth, provided you let your cream cheese soften adequately before adding in other ingredients. This is in contrast to baked cheesecake that features creamy centers and bottoms, firm tops, and slightly puffy, grainy, and dry edges. No-bake cheesecake does not also have eggs and is instead stabilized using whipped or sour cream, condensed milk, or gelatin.
Ricotta Cheesecake
The distinct Italian cheesecake uses ricotta instead of creamy cheese. It is less creamy and at times even granular and drier compared to New-York-style cheesecake. To guarantee an exceptional texture and taste of your cheesecake, use fresh ricotta cheese.
Japanese Cheesecake
This is sometimes known as cotton-soft cheesecake. It is an incredibly airy and light cheesecake because of the lofty whipped egg whites and cheese that will be folded into its batter. Japanese cheesecake has no crust and is at times called soufflé cheesecake. Although it shares many elements with German cheesecake, Japanese cheesecake is much fluffier than the latter and tastes a lot like New-York-style cheesecake.
Most people assume that anything goes when talking about cheesecake. To come across as a knowledgeable host, however, you should have some knowledge of the style options for your cheesecake. This way, you can pick the ideal one that matches your meal and guests. It will also allow you to select the right accompaniments for the cheesecake, including wine, bread, balsamic vinegar, jams, and jellies based on complementing or contrasting flavors.
