Baked New York-style cheesecake
Preparation info
Difficulty
Easy
Serves
8
or more
Appears in
Soho Cooking
Published 1999
Real cheesecake has virtually disappeared from Britain, although to be truthful it was only here as an exotic import in two guises: firstly as a Jewish speciality from middle Europe and, in sub Sara Lee quality, as an adjunct to the great hamburger invasion of the early 1970s. Some of Soho’s Jewish cafés and restaurants did serve a decent home-made cheesecake often as a once-a-week-only special. However, by the mid-1970s, these had all but gone, replaced by really nasty, mass-produced horrors.
Ingredients
300 g 200 g - juice of
3 250 ml 4 200 g 50 g 6 6
Method
Mix the ricotta, mascarpone, lemon juice, cream, eggs and sugar by hand until smooth. Leave for an hour and then stir. Preheat the
Melt the butter and lightly brush a
Place the prepared cake tin on the pulled-out oven shelf, and pour in the filling mixture. Bake for an hour, then turn the oven off. Leave the cake undisturbed and the oven unopened for an hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
The cake must not be unmoulded and served until it has firmed up; this happens as it cools, and you should allow at least 4 hours before attempting to cut a slice. I prefer this cake when it has never been in the fridge, but it is perfectly kosher to chill it. Indeed some authorities claim it tastes better if kept cool for a day or two before serving.
© 1999 Alastair Little. All rights reserved.