Is Cheesecake a Pie?

Whether or not cheesecake is considered a pie is up for debate within the cooking community, but it certainly seems to fit the definition of “pie”: It’s a crumb crust with a custard filling, much like a chocolate cream pie. In addition, despite its name, cheesecake doesn’t really fit the definition of “cake”: It’s not leavened or bread-like in any way and doesn’t have a soft crumb.

However, some chefs say that it can be defined as a cake because it has some of the same ingredients that a cake has, and it does fit the looser definition of “cake” as a solid mass of something, like a crab cake.

Of course, since cheesecake may only have a bottom crust and never has a top crust, you could also call it a tart. Then again, we tend to think of a tart as being much shorter than most cheesecakes.