Make cheesecake as a savory appetizer, leaving out any sweeteners and substituting all kinds of interesting soft cheeses. There are recipes for savory cheesecakes with goat cheese and muscat wine as well as ones employing mayonnaise and cooked rice.

Sweet cheesecakes can be made to taste like coffee ice cream, peach Melba, or malted milk by adding flavor enhancers, fruit, or candy to the batter.

Cheesecake may also be made into mini cupcakes for tea or for kids' lunch boxes.

You can dress up any plain cheesecake just by placing canned fruit with it's thick syrupy juices on top, or layering fresh fruit with a clear sweet glaze after baking.

Cheesecake is primarily comprised of cheese, eggs, and cream — either sweet or sour. Cream lightens the cake, depending on how long it is beaten. Cheesecakes are either Creamy or New York style — the latter tending to be more spongy than creamy.

Yogurt is often used in cheesecakes to make them lighter in calories and fuller in flavor. Other milk products you will see in cheesecake recipes include buttermilk and sweetened condensed milk.

As for sugars in cheesecakes, granulated is the sugar of choice. Although honey may be substituted, it makes the already dense cake denser and heavier.

Usually the only butter used in cheesecakes is found in the crust if at all. Sweet butter is a good alternative to salted butter with a crust of cookie crumbs, which already contains sugar and salt.

When adding nuts to a cheesecake, lightly toast them to bring out their flavor. Spread the nuts on a baking sheet coated with DuPunt SilverStone® non-stick and cook, turning once to brown evenly, in a 350° oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Check nuts at the 6-minute mark as they burn easily.