It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake.

[7] A more modern version called a sambocade, made with elderflower and rose water, is found in Forme of Cury, an English cookbook from 1390.

[12] The early 19th-century cheesecake recipes in A New System of Domestic Cookery by Maria Rundell are made with cheese curd and fresh butter.

One version is thickened with blanched almonds, eggs and cream, and the cakes may have included currants, brandy, raisin wine, nutmeg and orange flower water.

He discovered a way of making an "unripened cheese" that is heavier and creamier; other dairymen came up with similar creations independently.

[14][15] Some people classify it as a torte due to the usage of many eggs, which are the sole source of leavening, as a key factor.

[16][17] Others find compelling evidence that it is a custard pie,[15][18] based on the overall structure, with the separate crust, the soft filling, and the absence of flour.

It is made with a base of crushed graham crackers and an upper layer of cream cheese and ube halaya (mashed purple yam with milk, sugar, and butter).

[32][33] It achieved popularity online in the 2010s, helped by a recipe published by the British food writer Nigella Lawson.

[33] The Spanish chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho serves hers with a liquorice sauce, which Lawson included in her recipe.

[citation needed] Swiss Chäschüechli (ramequin in French-speaking parts of the country) are small cheesecake tartlets, savory rather than sweet.

[36][37] Sernik, with ser meaning "cheese", is baked Polish cheesecake dating back to the 17th century.

[44] Chicago-style cheesecake is a baked cream cheese version that is firm on the outside with a soft and creamy texture on the inside.