Is Cheesecake Pie or Cake?

As you can see, I’ve chosen a very serious and important topic for my first real article on Patheos.

Cheesecake: is it cake or is it pie? Discuss.

This was something I needed to know today. I wanted to celebrate Pi Day, but I was too lazy busy to mix up a pie crust or go to the store.

I did have all the ingredients on hand for my favorite Instant Pot Cheesecake, though. (I’ve written before about how much I love my Instant Pot.)

So, I did what any self-respecting Xenniel would do — I polled Facebook, and I Googled.

The majority of my friends who responded — including one who is an mathematician — opined that cheesecake does count as a pie.

Google seems to concur. Per Brian Geiger at FineCooking.com:

With a minor change in appearance, any pastry that is a crumb crust filled with custard and baked, in my mind, is a pie. The addition of cream cheese is no more a disqualifier than the addition of bourbon would be.

So, in short, a cheesecake is a pie. It can also be a cake, but it can’t not be a pie.

So I made my cheesecake, and it was delicious.

Happy Pi Day!