Food from the world: cheesecake from Poland

I haven’t talked about food for a long time. It is unquestionably a big part of traveling. When I plan for my trips, I always have a second list of all the dishes I should try. When I like them, I try to recreate them when I’m back home. I buy cooking books sometimes as souvenirs or join cooking classes. I’d like to introduce on the blog a series of dishes from different places in the world. Let me introduce you to a desert first: cheesecake, because who doesn’t like a good, traditional cheesecake? And this one come straight from the centre of Europe and my home country, Poland.

I’ll tell you a secret: Polish cheesecake is the best in the world. That’s my slightly subjective opinion, but test it for yourself and let me know what you think.

I’ll tell you another secret: I really don’t like baking and I’m really bad at it. This cheesecake and a couple of other (easy) cakes is all I can do. The only reason why I bake this cake ( only occasionally) is that it’s super easy, needs just a few ingredients and it’s baking-dummy-proof. True story. It’s probably impossible to ruin it. If it was, I would do it, believe me.

“I am not a great cook, I am not a great artist, but I love art, and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller.” Michael Palin

What you need

1 kg of curd cheese (12% of fat if possible)

4 eggs

150 gr of sugar

200 gr of white chocolate

3 table spoons of starch flour

Grated lemon zest

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How to make it

Preheat the oven for 200 C. Melt the chocolate (put it in a bowl and place it over hot water) and leave it aside to cool.
Put the cheese, sugar, eggs and starch flour into a bowl and mix using a mixer for around 4 minutes. I usually add less sugar than the recipe says, it’s up to you.
Add melted chocolate and lemon zest. Mix it well with a spatula and pour it into a small baking tray. I use baking paper for the tray, but my grandmother used to smear a tray with butter and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs to avoid cakes to stick.
Decrease the temperature in the oven to 160 C and bake it for 1 hour. When it’s ready, leave the cake to cool down in the oven with the oven door slightly open. This will make the cake moist.
I like to it eat plain, but you might enjoy it with ice cream on the side, fresh berries or berry coulis.