National varieties of Europe
United Kingdom and Ireland In the United Kingdom and Ireland, cheesecake is typically made with a base of crushed, buttered biscuits and often topped with a fruit compote. The most common commercial varieties are black cherry, blackcurrant, strawberry, passionfruit, raspberry, and lemon curd. The usual filling is a mixture of cream cheese, sugar and cream and it is not baked, but refrigerated. Gelatine (sometimes in the form of fruit-flavored dessert jelly) may also be mixed in with the cheese/cream mixture to keep the filling firm. Cheesecake is a popular menu item in coffee shops and pubs, and there has been a proliferation of more esoteric varieties, such as banoffee flavor, coffee, tea, chocolate, Irish cream, white chocolate and even marshmallow. Savoury smoked salmon cheesecake is made in Scotland. Germany German-style cheesecake (Kasekuchen, Quarkkuchen, Matzkuchen; Topfenkuchen in Austria) uses quark. The Kasesahnetorte (cheese cream tart) adds cream and is not baked. This recipe is sometimes translated into English using rennet-based cottage cheese, but a true Quarkkuchen uses quark cheese made from sour milk. Quark is used for the famous German or Bavarian Baked Cheesecake. Bulgaria Bulgarian-style cheesecake uses cream cheese in a New Yorkâstyle filling and smetana for a top layer. Often, ground nuts are added to the crust mixture. Italy Ancient Roman-style cheesecake uses honey and a ricotta-like cheese along with flour and is traditionally shaped into loaves. Some recipes call for bay leaves, which may have been used as a preservative.[citation needed] Italian-style cheesecake uses ricotta or mascarpone cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and sometimes barley flakes. This type of cheesecake is typically
drier than American styles. Often, small bits of candied fruit are added.[citation needed] France French-style cheesecakes are very light, feature gelatin as a binding ingredient, and are typically only 3 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) high. This variety gets its light texture and flavor from Neufchatel cheese. Sweden Swedish-style cheesecake differs greatly from other cheese cakes. A Swedish cheesecake is not layered and is traditionally produced by adding rennet to milk and letting the casein coagulate. It is then baked in an oven and served warm. Since the process of curdling milk is somewhat complicated, alternative recipes intended for home cooking instead use cottage cheese as a base to simulate the texture of the dessert. Swedish-style cheesecake is traditionally served with jam and whipped cream or ice cream. There are two different types of Swedish cheesecake, from different regions in Sweden. To avoid confusion with other cheesecakes, Swedish cheesecake is usually called ostkaka, its Swedish name. The Netherlands and Belgium Dutch/Belgian-style cheesecakes are typically flavored with fruit or melted bittersweet chocolate, and are generally made with quark and are not baked. Belgian cheesecake also includes a speculaas crust (speculaas is a traditional Dutch-Belgian biscuit). Poland Polish sernik (cheesecake), one of the most popular desserts in Poland, is made primarily using twarog, a type of fresh cheese. Greece In Greece the cheese cake is made since ancient roman times and is traditionally made of mizithra. There are many regional variants of the mizithropita. This traditional context is often not known, and media influece make many Greeks think that it is an American delicacy and call it cheezz cake.