Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Lemony curd cake

Here is another faithful cake recipe of mine. It's a baked lemon cheesecake, but using the slightly crumbly milk curd as opposed to the much more commonly used cream cheese. As a result, it's a lot lighter in terms of calories, and has a nice creamy-grainy texture (yep, both at once:)

It's best made day before serving. And please feel free to increase the amount of lemons if you prefer. This version is definitely, though still subtly, lemony.

Lemony curd cake
(Sidruni-kohupiimakook)
Serves 6-8



The pastry case:
100 grams cold butter
2 Tbsp sugar
250 ml plain flour, sifted
2 Tbsp cold water

Milk curd filling:
3 eggs
150 ml sugar
250 grams plain curd cheese (or ricotta)
150 ml soured cream (or creme fraiche)
2 Tbsp plain flour
2 lemons - finely grated zest (only the yellow part!) and pressed juice

Make the pastry:
Mix the flour, sugar and butter in a bowl with a knife until crumbly. Add the cold water, and using your hands, bring the pastry quickly together. Put into the fridge for 10 minutes.
Dust the working surface slightly with flour, and roll the pastry into a circle to fit a 22 cm pie dish. Pierce the base with a fork couple of times and put into the freezer for 20 minutes.*
Bake in a pre-heated 200˚C for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

Prepare the filling:
Whisk the eggs with sugar until pale and frothy, then fold in other ingredients.
Pour the filling into the pre-baked pastry case.
Bake at 200˚C for about 30 minutes, until the cake is golden brown at the edges and the filling is set. Make sure not to overbake, as the cake will become dry instead of creamy then.
Let it cool properly. Dust with icing sugar and/or cinnamon before serving, if you wish.

* If you prefer, you can simply bake the pastry crust 'blind'. I find this a bit of an hassle, and by putting the pastry-lined pie dish into the freezer for a while you eliminate the need for this step. I just pre-bake the pastry for 15-20 minutes straight from the freezer, and it hardly ever shrinks.

10 comments:

Alanna Kellogg said...

Waiter! A big slice of the lemon tart, please ... quickly, please!

Anonymous said...

Yes! This is my kind of cheesecake, without Cream Cheese :-)

Anonymous said...

I love the scent of lemon, surely it tastes delicious and light as air. The pastry could be use as a base for other fillings too. Thanks for the recipe Pille. By the way, I finally found out which legume you can use for greek style fava. Its dried yellow split pea. If you can find this ingredient, i can gladly send you a recipe.

Thredahlia said...

Järjekordselt lihtne ja kindlasti väga maitsev. Sa ikka kohe oskad :D muidugi oskad :).

Teen ka palju kooke muretainapõhjaga, aga panen pool jahust täistera nisujahu ja vahel purustatud kaerahelbeid ka sisse, sidruniga see viimane variant küll hästi ei sobi.
Väga universaalne põhi on - kannatab ka soolast täidist :).

Antti said...

Looks a lot like rahkapiirakka. Gotta be good!

Pille said...

AK - here you go, ma'!

Dagmar - we call it "kohupiimakook" back home, or milk curd cake. But it's a cheesecake, first and foremost, isn't it?

Domestic Cat - yes, if you take it out of the oven at the right moment, you'll get a light and delicious creamy cake. Leave it too long, and it'll be dry and grainy:(
Thanks for the fava tip - I think I can get those here. Can I just use the fava recipe you have on your site?

Thredalia - lihtne ja maitsev tõesti. Kui tainast järele jääb, siis olen väikesed 10 cm vormid tainaga vooderdanud ja vormid sügavkülma pistnud. Teinekord nii hea võtta, midagi soolast/magusat peale panna ja ahju.
Purustatud kaerahelvestega pole proovinud, panen kõrva taha. Mu viimase aja suur lemmik on kartuli-muretainapõhi soolaste pirukate jaoks. Magusatele pirukatele olen jahvatatud pähklipuru lisanud.

Antti - you're very discerning:)

Anonymous said...

I am afraid not, cause it is the other, turkish style fava which uses broad beans. I could not see your email on the blog, maybe I missed it. If you can drop a note on evcilkedi@yahoo.com , I can send the recipe back.
Greetings
Tülin

Thredahlia said...

Leidsin isegi koostisained üles. Teen nii:
2.5 dl jahu, millest osa võib asendada täistera nisujahuga vahekorras 1:1.
1 dl kiirkaerahelbeid (või harilikke röstimata, purustatult)
2 sl suhkrut või soolase puhul vähem ja tsutike soola ka
125 g küpsetusmargariini või võid
2 sl külma vett

Kaerahelbevariant sobib mu meelest eriti hästi punasesõstra-beseekattele.
Praegu ajan endale magusaisu peale, polegi ammu juhtunud. Peaks homseks ikka kooki ka küpsetama :D.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting your recipe!! That looks sublime!

Pille said...

Tülin - thanks, I'll drop you an email! Maybe I can perfect my fava making skills before heading for Santorini in June?!

Thredalia - tänud retsepti eest. Küpsetusmargariini pole mu köögis juba aastaid leidunud, aga võiga varianti proovin kindlasti järgmisel korral. Punasesõstrakooki sööks küll juba varsti meelsasti!

Pamela - thank you for your kind words.