Are cheesecakes cake?

[Victorious Decepticons]

Cheesecake, ice cream cake, and all of their ilk are just lame pretenders trying to ride on the coattails of actual cake.

[Sanghyeok]

Cheesecake is not a cake as it often lacks critical ingredients (or their substitutions) such as a cooking oil, egg, and flour.

Cheesecakes bedecked to imitate pies such as key lime and lemon meringue; I shall not discuss, as they offend me in several critical ways.

Cheesecakes with fruit or chocolate are treated as what a cheesecake is, with toppings. And what is cheesecake?

An abomination of both cheese and sugar, which should not exist. Much like Ricotta pie. #makeitillegal

Is this your first post? I'm honoured.

[Sanghyeok]

Cheesecake, ice cream cake, and all of their ilk are just lame pretenders trying to ride on the coattails of actual cake.

Do you make a distinction of American-style and Japanese-style cheesecake?

[Oerkar]

Yeah.Iv’e always thought by the way they're served with the pie slices that they are like pies.The structure is like a cake though,so it borderline between pie and cake.

Interesting that there are many national varieties for cheesecake that I didn’t know about.I prefer cheesecake in US or New York-Style personally.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesecake

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

Not only is cheesecake cake, but it's the best kind of cake.

Other than chocolate, that is.

[Sanghyeok]

Not only is cheesecake cake, but it's the best kind of cake.

Other than chocolate, that is.

Strongly disagree. Strawberry cake is the best!

[Infected Mushroom]

This is one of those things that’s hard to put into words.

But if you see a cookie, it’s clearly a cookie... if you see a cake it’s a cake. Cheese cake would seem to be a cake.

Why though? What’s the objective test? Hmmmm... that’s where it gets hard to verbalize somehow

And that’s before we get into, “puddings va cakes? Puddings vs mousse cakes?”

I feel this is one of those “you know it when you see it” thing

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

Not only is cheesecake cake, but it's the best kind of cake.

Other than chocolate, that is.

Strongly disagree. Strawberry cake is the best!

Philistine.

[Sanghyeok]

This is one of those things that’s hard to put into words.

But if you see a cookie, it’s clearly a cookie... if you see a cake it’s a cake. Cheese cake would seem to be a cake.

Why though? What’s the objective test? Hmmmm... that’s where it gets hard to verbalize somehow

And that’s before we get into, “puddings va cakes? Puddings vs mousse cakes?”

I feel this is one of those “you know it when you see it” thing

But that is an opinionated issue, right?
Consider that one person may say "this looks like a cake to me", and another says "this does not"
If one person, during their childhood is presented with cheesecake next to cake, they may associate them as the same type of dessert, while another may not.

[Dytarma]

Bruh I don't even know what cheescake is

[Infected Mushroom]

This is one of those things that’s hard to put into words.

But if you see a cookie, it’s clearly a cookie... if you see a cake it’s a cake. Cheese cake would seem to be a cake.

Why though? What’s the objective test? Hmmmm... that’s where it gets hard to verbalize somehow

And that’s before we get into, “puddings va cakes? Puddings vs mousse cakes?”

I feel this is one of those “you know it when you see it” thing

But that is an opinionated issue, right?
Consider that one person may say "this looks like a cake to me", and another says "this does not"
If one person, during their childhood is presented with cheesecake next to cake, they may associate them as the same type of dessert, while another may not.

So are you saying it’s instead a pudding?

Or a separately unique category on its own?

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

Bruh I don't even know what cheescake is

Philistine.

[Neanderthaland]

Are cheesecakes cheese?

[Sanghyeok]

Are cheesecakes cheese?

Yes, and therefore not cake

[Neanderthaland]

Are cheesecakes cheese?

Yes, and therefore not cake

Is chocolate cake "chocolate, and therefore not cake?"

[Sanghyeok]

Yes, and therefore not cake

Is chocolate cake "chocolate, and therefore not cake?"

......
We pretend this never happened

[Narland]

So, do you consider cheesecake to be a cake? And, if cheesecakes are also cakes, then what are the criteria to be a cake? Can we also claim that cookies, pies, and cupcakes to be cake? What about the ice-cream cake, or maybe crepes? Please discuss.

Edit: In my opinion, cake as a concept is rather narrow compared to other foods. There are certain ingredients and a certain texture that someone expects from a cake, which most cheesecake lacks. Therefore, I argue that cheesecake is not a cake. But this is my opinion, and you are free to debate.

Reference:
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=472645&start=4375

In late modern English bread, cake, pastry, and pies are fairly distinct. In early modern English (Elizabethan English -- Shakespeare, Raleigh, King James Bible) not so much.

Bakery breads rely on yeast and long bake time for leavening creating its texture. The gluten and sugar content is added for binding so its not flaky, not for sweetness.

Quickbreads like pumpkin bread, banana bread, and fruitcake, are breads no matter how sweet or plain.

Cake relies on eggs and baking soda or baking powder for its leavening. I consider cornbread a cake (especially if it is the sugary northern recipe) but I am not going to belabor the point if it is served with ham and red beans. Muffins are more a cake than bread, and cupcakes are cake. (American style) English muffins are bread. Crepes are a cake for the same reason (as are flapjacks).

Pastry is the most broad that includes cookies, dessert fritters, and miscellaneous sweets that include pies.

But I expect traditional baked pies (square or round) to have crust on top and a cobbler to not. Sometimes cobblers will have a fretty of pastry on the top, but never a full cover.
Cobblers are deeper, usually thicker and mostly in square pans, but not always. A tart is a shallow usually round cobbler.

Traditional American pie is a distinct type of pastry (sweet or savory -- chicken pot pie) in that it is best needs served on a plate, whereas while a fritter is a type of pie that is more of a pastry that can be eaten without a dish that comes in many shapes.

"Cream pies" are pie because they are made in a pie pan, have pie crust and a soft sweet filling and are offered as a selection among other pies. But they are typically no-bake and need no top crust -- banana cream , chocolate cream, key lime, cream cheese, et al.

I consider American cheesecake to be a form of cream cheese pie.

Japanese cotton cheesecake is a souffle that uses cake flour in its recipe so I would consider it a cake. Some of my friends would argue that a souffle is not cake, but I grew up with families that do not make that distinction. (I had an argument with a former fiancee over this, maybe that is why she is a former fiancee.)

Ice cream shaped like a short cylinder with frosting on top, is not a cake unless it has a layer of cake in it, no matter what Basket-Robbins sez (imnsho).

Sweetbread is a "meat" from pancreas or other spongy organs of livestock and is none of the above. As an aside, my grandmother would prepare sweetmeat with a ton of bay and summer savory wrapped in hush puppy batter and deep fried the size of nuggets. They were good enough that other classmates at school would want to trade them during lunch.

American style biscuits (British style scones) weren't mentioned, but are an exception in that they are served and sold next to baked breads, although some would consider them a cake. I like to think of them as a special case.

[Torisakia]

Yes. What idiot would call it a "cheesecake" if they didn't think it was a cake?

[Cordel One]

It's technically not a cake but it's close enough.

[Infected Mushroom]

“Is chocolate cake cake?”

Yes.

“Is carrot cake cake?”

Yes.

“Is cheese cake cake?”

[Infected Mushroom]

Yes, and therefore not cake

Is chocolate cake "chocolate, and therefore not cake?"

Is this a cross examination?

[Alternamerica]

Not only is cheesecake cake, but it's the best kind of cake.

Other than chocolate, that is.

Strongly disagree. Strawberry cake is the best!

Lemon Cake is best cake. Meet me in front of the White House, we'll settle this like real food simps

[Neutraligon]

Not only is cheesecake cake, but it's the best kind of cake.

Other than chocolate, that is.

Strongly disagree. Strawberry cake is the best!

Strawberry Cheesecake.

[Sanghyeok]

But that is an opinionated issue, right?
Consider that one person may say "this looks like a cake to me", and another says "this does not"
If one person, during their childhood is presented with cheesecake next to cake, they may associate them as the same type of dessert, while another may not.

So are you saying it’s instead a pudding?

Or a separately unique category on its own?

I would say cheesecake is closer to....maybe like a pudding, or a tart like dessert.

[Sanghyeok]

Strongly disagree. Strawberry cake is the best!

Strawberry Cheesecake.

Not fair >.<