Polish Style Cheesecake of My Childhood
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, partially drained (just not dry)
- CHEESECAKE FILLING
- 750 g about 30 oz farmer cheese (I used a brand called Friendship found with the cream cheese packages)
- 150 g about 2/3 cup sugar (or SPLENDA)
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 50 g about 2 tbsp potato starch or potato flour (or cornstarch)
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup heavy cream, whipped
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Pan sizes: 9x13 or 11x17-inches, depending on how high you want the cake. (I use 2 disposable foil pans, one inside the other. To remove from the pan after baking, I loosen the sides then cut the pan and peel it away).
- OR you can line the foil pans with foil ;), and lift it out to cut.
- COOKIE DOUGH:
- Mix flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and margarine.
- Work as for pie dough.
- Then add beaten eggs and milk.
- Pat in pan which has been greased on bottom and sides.
- Cover dough with pineapple.
- CHEESECAKE FILLING:.
- Cream the cheese with the sugar until very smooth.
- Add lemon juice, salt and potato starch.
- Add eggs yolks and beat slightly.
- Beat heavy cream until soft peaks form.
- Fold into the cheese mixture.
- Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and fold into cheese mixture.
- Pour cheese over pineapple.
- TO BAKE:.
- Bake for about one hour.
- Test with knife in center to see if done
RECIPE BACKSTORY
I am of Polish ancestry (both parents were Polish) and this is the recipe I came across recently that seems to be like the cheesecake we had at Easter when I was a child. This uses farmer's cheese or cottage cheese and Splenda. You can use regular sugar as well. The following note is what drew me to this recipe, because the cheesecake I had as a child was very dense and heavy: "NOTE: I found this filling to be heavy and dry, which surprised me as I assumed all the whipped ingredients would lighten it. I was wrong."