Click on the image, above to submit to Pinterest.

A second sort of lemon cheesecakes

A second sort of lemon cheesecakes is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic method of making a lemon-flavoured pie of a butter, sugar, egg and lemon custard baked in a rich shortcrust shell. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: A second sort of lemon cheesecakes.

prep time

30 minutes

cook time

45 minutes

Total Time:

75 minutes

Serves:

8

Rating:

Tags : Baking RecipesBritish Recipes

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Hannah Glasse's 1747 volume The Aft of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the classic Georgian cookbook.

Original Recipe

A ſecond ſort of lemon cheeſecakes.


TAKE two large lemons, grate off the peel of both, and ſqueeze out the juice of one, and add to it half a pound of double-refined ſugar, twelve yolks of eggs, eight whites well beaten, then melt half a pound of butter, in four or five ſpoonfuls of cream, then ſtir it all together, and ſet over the fire, ſtirring it till it begins to be pretty thick ; then take it off, and when it is cold, fill your patty-pans little more than half full. Put a paſte very thin at the bottom of your patty-pans. Half an hour, with a quick oven, will bake them.

Modern Redaction

Rather than being a true cheesecake in the modern sense, this is more a lemon-flavoured egg, sugar and butter custard that's cooked to thicken and which is baked in a thin, rich, shortcrust shell.

Ingredients:

finely-grated zest of 2 large lemons
juice of 1 lemon
225g brown caster sugar
12 egg yolks
6 egg whites
225g butter
6 tbsp cream
a good crust for custards

Method:

Prepare the pastry according to the recipe, roll out thinly and use to line your patty-pan or pie dish.

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar in a bowl. Beat to combine then add the beaten egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until frothy then work this into the lemon and sugar mix.

Combine the butter and cream in a saucepan and heat until the butter has melted then whisk into the lemon and egg mixture. Beat to combine then turn this mixture into the saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Take off the heat, turn into your pastry base then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 190°C and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling has set. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Find more Hannah Glasse Recipes Hereand more Traditional Georgian Recipes Here.