Polish royal cheesecake

Today I'd like to share a true royalty among cakes! We'll prepare a Polish royal cheesecake - a delicious, creamy cheesecake between layers of cocoa shortcrust pastry.

 

Sweet, lightly vanilla cheesecake is delicate and it simply melts in your mouth. Shortcrust pastry has a deep, chocolatey flavour, and its texture contrasts nicely with the cheesecake. Together they form a perfect, festive composition that will be great at your Christmas table and on all of your special occasions.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (18 x 28 cm tin)

Shortcrust pastry

• 300 g (~2 cups) cake flour
• 100 g (~0.5 cup) sugar
• 45 g (3 tbsp) dark cocoa
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 200 g unsalted butter
• 1 egg

Cheesecake

• 150 g unsalted butter
• 200 g icing sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 kg full fat low salt creamy cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 instant vanilla custard
• 4 egg whites
• Pinch of salt
  

Method

1. Put 300 g cake flour, 100 g white caster sugar, 45 g dark cocoa, 1/2 tsp baking powder and a small pinch of salt into a large bowl. Mix through the dry ingredients with a whisk until everything is evenly distributed in flour.
2. Add 200 g cold cubed butter to flour. Rub butter into the flour with a confectionery knife, a regular knife or your fingertips, until they start to resemble wet sand.
3. Once you get desired texture, add one large egg to the dough. Stir the contents of the bowl with a wooden spoon first, until flour absorbs all moisture. Start kneading the dough by hand then. Do it in the bowl at first, until you're able to form large crumbly lumps out of the dough. Turn it out onto a clean work surface then and knead until smooth, uniformly coloured dough forms. Shape the dough into a log and divide it into two roughly equal parts. Cover both parts tightly with plastic wrap and put them into a freezer for 30 minutes, to set.
4. Take one half of the dough out of the freezer after this time and grate it on a coarse grater. Do it directly into a greased baking tin lined with baking paper, 18 x 28 cm. Spread grated dough across the whole surface and press it down to form a uniform cake base. Prick the base densely with a fork  across the whole surface and put it into a fridge for 15 minutes to cool slightly. 
5. Prebake the base in an oven preheated to 180 deg C (no fan) for 15 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven then and set it aside in the tin to cool slightly.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the cheesecake layer. Put 150 g soft butter into a bowl and cream it with an electric mixer until it becomes light and fluffy. Once the texture is right scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula and start adding 200 g icing sugar to the butter. Do it slowly, a spoonful at a time, mixing sugar in carefully with an electric mixer at low speed before adding the next spoonful.
7. Add 4 large egg yolks to the batter next. Do it in the same way: slowly, an egg yolk at a time, mixing it in carefully each time before adding the next batch.
8. Add 1 kg of low salt creamy white cheese to the mixture next. Choose your favourite! Continue doing what you're doing: add cheese a spoonful at a time, mixing it in at low speed. 
9. Once all of cheese is in the batter,  add 1 generous tsp of vanilla paste. Stir the batter until vanilla is distributed, and add 1 packet no sugar instant vanilla custard. Stir everything shortly, until custard powder is combined with the batter. Set the bowl aside.
10. Pour 4 large egg whites into a separate clean bowl and add a pinch of salt. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer to stiff peaks. Combine whipped egg whites carefully with cheesecake batter. Add them in three batches, mixing each batch gently in with a silicone spatula. Try not to remove too much air from egg whites.
11. Pour cheesecake batter onto a prebaked cocoa base and spread it in an even layer across the whole surface. Set the tin aside and return to the second part of cocoa shortcrust pastry. Grate it onto a plate on a coarse grater. Once all of pastry is grated, transfer it carefully onto the cheesecake.
12. Bake the cheesecake in an oven preheated to 180 deg C (no fan) for around 60 minutes. If the top of the cake bakes too quickly, feel free to cover it with aluminium foil. After 60 minutes turn off the oven. Wedge the oven door ajar with a wooden spoon and keep the cheesecake in the oven until it cools down. After about an hour take the cheesecake out of the oven and put it into a fridge overnight, to set.
13. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

• 354 kcal
• Carbs: 28 g 
• Fat: 24 g
• Protein: 10 g
• Fibre: 1 g

1 slice (recipe makes 20 slices)

• 377 kcal
• Carbs: 30 g 
• Fat: 25 g
• Protein: 11 g
• Fibre: 1 g