# Cheesecake: cake, pie, or neither? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689 "2012-02-03T22:31:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/1 "2012-02-03T22:31:53Z")
Help settle an ages-old argument. Into which category would you place cheesecake? Is it a cake, is it a pie, or is it something all its own? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/2 "2012-02-03T22:35:31Z")
It is obviously a pie despite the name. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/3 "2012-02-03T22:48:17Z")
Crust with filling. It’s a pie. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/4 "2012-02-03T22:59:32Z")
You can make a cheesecake pie - that is a piecrust with a cheesecake filling. But a real, traditional [cheesecake](http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/Cheesecake.jpg) is not a pie. Nor a cake, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/5 "2012-02-03T23:07:11Z")
And lo, the great AB proclaimed, “Cheesecake isn’t a cake - it’s a custard”. Thus spake AB. Hallowed be his name. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/6 "2012-02-03T23:19:55Z")
Well, if you put blueberry filling on a buttered graham cracker crust, would you call it a pie or cake? That’s your answer. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/7 "2012-02-03T23:34:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Crust with filling. It’s a pie. What of cheesecakes without crusts? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/8 "2012-02-03T23:39:59Z")
Who is AB? Because I totally agree with him. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/9 "2012-02-03T23:40:43Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Who is AB? Because I totally agree with him. St. Alton ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/10 "2012-02-03T23:43:18Z")
Okay, I don’t always agree with HIM, but it contains eggs and needs to be cooked so they set up. A custard. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/11 "2012-02-03T23:51:43Z")
> [@MN\_Maenad](#): > > And lo, the great AB proclaimed, “Cheesecake isn’t a cake - it’s a custard”. > > Thus spake AB. Hallowed be his name. Ooh, a new contender. This is intriguing. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/12 "2012-02-04T00:08:00Z")
Neither. A cheesecake is sui generis. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/13 "2012-02-04T00:59:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Into which category would you place cheesecake? The category of my stomach! 😃 I voted neither. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/14 "2012-02-04T00:59:42Z")
It’s a form of pie. And a Boston Cream Pie is actually a form of cake. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/15 "2012-02-04T03:12:53Z")
I have had cheesecake type pie before. It has a graham cracker crust in a pie pan and is refrigerated to set instead of bake. It seldom has eggs in it. (as in almost never.) Real cheesecake to me is the New York baked cheesecake. That is nothing like a pie. It is also nothing like a cake. Cheesecake is it’s own type of desert and is not part of a larger group. (I will disagree with Alton on the custard thing, not that my opinion means anything at all.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheesecake-cake-pie-or-neither/611689/16 "2012-02-04T03:14:52Z")
cheeseCAKE How much more obvious could it be?