I always thought, and I guess a lot of other people did too, that cheesecake was something foreign and delicious that arrived over here via America from Europe. As far as I can remember I first had it in Manchester in the 1970’s from a Jewish delicatessen. However, in Recipes From an Old Country Farmhouse, the delightful little book by Alison Uttley, best known for her Little grey Rabbit children’s books, there is a recipe for Cheese Cakes.
These cakes… were made with ordinary rich creamy milk. To a pint of milk, warm from the cow, or slightly heated on the fire, a teaspoonful of rennet was added. The curds left were strained off in a muslin. To this was added a quarter of a pound of butter, two eggs beaten up with brandy and a little sugar, and the juice and grated rind of a lemon. Some patty pans were lined with a good pastry, and the mixture poured in, with a few currants added, and baked. In some places these cakes were called ‘Maids of Honour’ but with us they were simply ‘Cheese cakes’, although they had nothing to do with cheeses, except that curds are akin to cheese. Nutmeg was grated on the surface.
Cheese cakes were eaten for dinner or tea, they were present at every well-filled table, a delicacy which was digestible, popular, creamy and faintly sweet.
With the addition of currants and the zest of lemon, they do sound very similar to the Jewish cheesecake i used to love. It had a pastry or almost cakey casing, unlike cheesecakes these days which seem to have a biscuit crumb base. However, baked in a pastry in patty tins and with nutmeg on top, they sound more like custard tarts… perhaps I should try baking some?
Lois Elsden 