Cheesecake Review

Introduction to Cheesecake

Although cheesecake lovers might disagree, there is such a thing as bad cheesecake. Dense, grainy or bland fillings and sodden or greasy crusts can all mar cheesecake's reputation as a crowd-pleasing dessert. Fortunately, a number of cheesecakes with just the right balance of richness and tang are available by mail. Some bakeries have even successfully blended cheesecake with flan, pumpkin pie spices or rich chocolate mousse.

To even out the playing field, most publications that review cheesecakes limit themselves to plain, New York-style cheesecake, which contains cream cheese and sour cream. Food blogger Ed Levine forks into 48 cheesecakes in his New York City-wide quest for the best (only two of his top picks are available by mail). Cook's Illustrated and The Wall Street Journal are also excellent sources of cheesecake reviews. The Journal helpfully describes each company's shipping time, customer service and return policy.