Today I want to share a 'Cracow-style' cheesecake: a delicious cheesecake on a shortcrust base, decorated with a shortcrust lattice. It's a well-known and loved classic.
Cheesecake layer is pleasantly smooth, light, but still solid. There are subtle vanilla undertones in its flavour, shortcrust pastry melts in your mouth, while citrus icing adds notes that are sweet, but refreshing at the same time. It's a perfect cake for any circumstances.
You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.
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List of ingredients
Shortcrust pastry
- 300 g (2 cups) wheat flour
- 100 g (~1/2 cup) sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
Cheesecake
- 100 g sultanas
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 150 g (~1 cup) icing sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 kg full fat low salt creamy cheese, such as ground curd cheese or drained ricotta
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 1 instant vanilla custard packet
- 4 egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 50 g (~1/4 cup) sugar
Icing
- 150 g (~1 cup) icing sugar
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp candied citrus peel
Method
- Prepare shortcrust pastry. Sift 300 g wheat flour and 100 g fine white sugar into a large bowl. Add 1 tsp baking powder and a small pinch of salt. Stir through the dry ingredients with a whisk shortly, only until uniform.
- Add 200 g cold cubed butter into the flour. Rub butter into the dry ingredients until you obtain wet sand texture. You can also mix them together with a knife, confectionery knife or a kitchen robot. If you choose to use your hands, act quickly to prevent butter from warming up too much.
- Once you get the right texture, add one large egg and a generous tsp of vanilla paste. Mix the contents of the bowl shortly with a wooden spoon, only until the dough absorbs moisture. Start kneading the dough by hand then: in the bowl at first, until large lumps of dough starts to form, and then on a worktop until uniform dough forms. Shape the dough into a small log and divide it into two equal parts. Take one part then and form it into a small disc that will be easier to roll later on. Cover two parts of dough tightly with a piece of plastic wrap and put them into a fridge for at least 60 minutes.
- Prepare sultanas towards the end of this time. Place 100 g sultanas into a small bowl and cover them with freshly boiled water. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly to separate sultanas that stuck together and set it aside under cover for 30-60 minutes.
- Once the hour has passed, take log-shaped part of the dough out of the fridge and grate it on a coarse grater. I'm doing it directly into the greased baking tin lined with baking paper, 18 x 28 cm. Spread the dough flakes in an even layer across the surface of the baking tin and press them down to form a dense shortcrust base. Prick the base across the whole surface. Put the base into a fridge for 15 minutes.
- Put the base into an oven preheated to 180 deg C (no fan) for around 10 minutes, until lightly golden. Take the base out of the oven after 10 minutes and set it aside as you work on cheesecake layer.
- Put 150 g soft butter into a large bowl. Cream butter for a few minutes with an electric mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula and start adding 150 g icing sugar to butter. Do it slowly, a tablespoon at a time, and combine the contents of the bowl thoroughly before adding the next batch.
- Add 4 large egg yolks to butter. Again, do it slowly, one at a time, and combine the contents of the bowl thoroughly with an electric mixer before adding the next part.
- Add 1 kg low salt creamy cheese to the batter. Same as with sugar and egg yolks, do it one tablespoon at a time, creaming the cheese thouroughly each time with an electric mixer.
- Add one generous teaspoon of vanilla paste next. Stir it in shortly, just until distributed, and mix in one packet instant vanilla custard.
- Drain sultanas on a fine sieve, add them to cheese batter and spread them in the batter with a silicone spatula. Do it carefully not to damage sultanas. Set cheesecake batter aside for a moment.
- Pour 4 large egg whites into a separate large bowl and add a small pinch of salt. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they become fluffy, and mixer beaters start leaving visible marks in the egg whites. Add 50 g fine white sugar then. Do it in batches, a teaspoon at a time, and beat egg whites until sugar dissolves completely before adding the next batch. Once all the sugar is in, egg whites should be stiff and shiny.
- Add beaten egg whites to the cheese batter. Do it in three batches, folding each part slowly into the batter before adding the next batch. Pour cheese batter onto the prebaked shortcrust base and spread it in an even layer across the surface.
- Take the second part of shortcrust pastry dough out of the fridge and put it onto a worksurface dusted with flour. Sprinkle some flour onto the dough disc as well as a rolling pin. Roll the dough to 3-4 mm thickness and cut it into strips, 1 cm wide. Arrange dough strips on top of the cheesecake in a lattice pattern. Cut off excess dough hanging over the baking tin sides carefully with a sharp knife.
- Put the cheesecake into an oven preheated to 180 deg C (no fan) for 60 minutes. If the top of the cake browns too quickly, you can cover it with a piece of aluminum foil. After 60 minutes turn off the oven and wedge the oven door ajar. Leave the cake in the oven for one hour to cool slightly. Take it out of the oven then, cool it completely and put it into a fridge overnight.
- On the next day, decorate the cheesecake with a simple icing. Add 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice to 150 g icing sugar. Stir them together until a thick, smooth icing forms. I recommend adding lemon juice in batches, a tablespoon at a time, stirring the contents of the bowl thoroughly after each batch. Decorate the cheesecake with the icing and scatter candied citrus peel on top. Set cheesecake aside for 15 minutes for icing to thicken up before serving.
- Enjoy!
Approximate nutritional value
100 g
- 358 kcal
- Carbs: 38 g
- Fat: 21 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Fibre: 1 g
1 slice (recipe makes 20 slices)
- 399 kcal
- Carbs: 42 g
- Fat: 23 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Fibre: 1 g
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