Old-Fashioned Cheesecake

You will need 2 x foil trays or 1 x foil-lined baking tin approx. 30 x 20 x 5cm / 13 x 9 x 2 inches.

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C Fan/325°F, and if you're using the disposable foil trays, put one inside the other — to help with any wibbly-wobbling as you transfer your uncooked cheesecake to the oven later — and put a baking tray in the oven for them to sit on.
2. For the base, put the flour and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor along with the 50g / ¼ cup caster sugar, 25g / 2 tablespoons soft butter and 1 egg. Process and then, with the motor running, add the milk and when the mixture begins to clump together, stop. Or, if doing this by hand, rub the butter into the flour in a bowl and then beat in the other ingredients with a wooden spoon.
3. Tip the mixture out into a foil tray or foil-lined baking tin. Using your hands or the back of a spoon, press this in to make as even a layer as possible. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Let it cool a little before pouring in the cheese mixture.
4. Put the curd cheese in a bowl and beat in the sugar followed by the egg yolks. Beat in the cornflour (or potato flour, which is the more old-fashioned and authentic choice, but there's nothing in it really, tastewise) followed by the lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt, and then fold in the softly whipped cream.
5. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and then add a ladleful to the cheese mixture and stir in vigorously. Fold the rest of the whites in more gently in 3-4 batches.
6. Pour and scrape the filling into the dough-lined foil tray or tin, then carefully transfer to the oven and leave to bake for 1 hour, by which time it will be set on top and, although it won't feel cooked completely underneath, the surface should be slightly scorched in places. I love that.
7. Remove to a wire rack to cool, still in its tin, and be prepared for the fact that it will probably crack a bit as it cools. Regard this as the stamp of authenticity. Chill the cheesecake, covered, overnight in the fridge, before serving.

You will need 2 x foil trays or 1 x foil-lined baking tin approx. 30 x 20 x 5cm / 13 x 9 x 2 inches.

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C Fan/325°F, and if you're using the disposable foil trays, put one inside the other — to help with any wibbly-wobbling as you transfer your uncooked cheesecake to the oven later — and put a baking tray in the oven for them to sit on.
2. For the base, put the flour and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor along with the 50g / ¼ cup superfine sugar, 25g / 2 tablespoons soft butter and 1 egg. Process and then, with the motor running, add the milk and when the mixture begins to clump together, stop. Or, if doing this by hand, rub the butter into the flour in a bowl and then beat in the other ingredients with a wooden spoon.
3. Tip the mixture out into a foil tray or foil-lined baking tin. Using your hands or the back of a spoon, press this in to make as even a layer as possible. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Let it cool a little before pouring in the cheese mixture.
4. Put the fresh farmer’s cheese or Neufchâtel in a bowl and beat in the sugar followed by the egg yolks. Beat in the cornstarch (or potato flour, which is the more old-fashioned and authentic choice, but there's nothing in it really, tastewise) followed by the lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt, and then fold in the softly whipped cream.
5. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form and then add a ladleful to the cheese mixture and stir in vigorously. Fold the rest of the whites in more gently in 3-4 batches.
6. Pour and scrape the filling into the dough-lined foil tray or tin, then carefully transfer to the oven and leave to bake for 1 hour, by which time it will be set on top and, although it won't feel cooked completely underneath, the surface should be slightly scorched in places. I love that.
7. Remove to a wire rack to cool, still in its tin, and be prepared for the fact that it will probably crack a bit as it cools. Regard this as the stamp of authenticity. Chill the cheesecake, covered, overnight in the fridge, before serving.