Balkan cheesecake

This striking cherry-topped dessert, with a cream cheese and white chocolate filling, can be made up to 3 days before serving. This recipe comes from Ecaterina Paraschiv.

Balkan cheesecake. Credit: Smith Street Books / Émilie Franzo

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  55 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Crust

• 200 g (7 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 45 g (1½ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar
• 125 g (½ cup) butter, chilled
• 150 g (5½ oz) crepes dentelles or crispy wafers, crushed
• seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 egg, plus 1 yolk
• 3 tsp creme fraiche
• pinch of fine salt

Filling

• 400 g (14 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 200 g (7 oz) granulated sugar
• 360 g (12½ oz) creme fraiche
• 100 g (3½ oz) Greek-style yoghurt
• 4 egg yolks, at room temperature, beaten
• juice of ½ lemon
• 40 g (⅓ cup) cornflour (corn starch)
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) double (heavy) cream
• 100 g (⅔ cup) white chocolate, chopped
• seeds from 2 vanilla beans

Cherry coulis

• 200 g (1 cup) cherries, pitted and halved
• 1½ tbsp granulated sugar

Resting time: 1 hour. Chilling time: 4 hours.

Instructions

1. To make the crust, sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Cut the butter into 1 cm (½ in) cubes, then use a fork to cut the butter into the flour mixture until almost incorporated. Add the crepes dentelles to the bowl with the remaining crust ingredients and mix until you have a smooth dough. Form into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then let the dough rest for 1 hour in the fridge.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).
3. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1 cm (½ in) using a rolling pin. Place the dough in the bottom of a 20 cm (8 in) springform cake tin and trim any excess dough with a knife; if using a non-springform tin, line it with parchment paper first. Using a fork, prick the dough all over, so it doesn’t bubble or shrink during baking.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven, but keep the oven on.
5. While the crust is baking, make the filling. Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl isn’t sitting in the water. Add the cream cheese and sugar and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.
6. In another bowl, mix the creme fraiche and yoghurt with a spatula until combined. Using a whisk, fold in the beaten egg yolks in three batches. Once smooth, add the lemon juice and cornflour.
7. In a saucepan, warm the cream over medium heat until steam is rising but no bubbles have formed. Add the white chocolate and vanilla seeds, turn off the heat and stir until the chocolate has melted.
8. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the saucepan and mix well with a whisk. Finally, pour in the yoghurt mixture and mix with a spatula to maintain a light, airy texture.
9. Pour the cream mixture into the cooled crust. Fill a roasting tin with water to a depth of 3 cm (1¼ in) of water, then place the cake tin in the water bath. Transfer to the oven and bake at 200°C (180°C fan-forced) for 30–35 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
10. Remove the dish from the oven, then remove the cake tin from the water bath. Leave to cool, then loosely cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, until set.
11. To make the coulis, place the cherries and sugar in a saucepan, add 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (45 ml) of water and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the cherries are soft. Let cool slightly, then pour the mixture into a food processor and blend for about 2 minutes; if desired, reserve a small portion of the softened cherries for decoration. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to obtain a smooth liquid.
12. Serve the cake drizzled with the coulis and topped with the reserved cherries, if using.
13. The cake will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Recipe and image from Ibrik: The Balkan Table by Ecaterina Paraschiv (Smith Street Books). Photographry by Émilie Franzo.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.