Cracow Style Cheesecake – Sernik Krakowski – Recipe #82

Ingredients:

For the Pie Crust: 

• 2 cups white all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (cold) 
• 2 large eggs 
• 4 tbs heavy cream 
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp salt 

For the Cheese Filling:

• 500 gm ricotta cheese or home made pot cheese
• 100 g sugar
• 100g butter
• 2 eggs
• 25 g flour
•  125 g raisins
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl mix together your flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Add cold butter and blend it together with a pastry cutter or in a food processor
3. Add sugar, eggs, cream and vanilla extract and work the dough until all ingredients are well blended together and form a ball.
4. Cut the ball of dough in half, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate
5. Line your 8 by 8 baking pan with parchment paper
6. After the dough has chilled sufficiently, remove one portion of the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry into rectangle more or less the size of your baking pan
7. Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to the baking pan and pressing with your fingers if you need to fill the bottom of the pan
8. Prick the dough with a fork all over the surface and bake the crust for about 15 min in 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown. Let it cool a bit
9. Add the cheese into the food processor and process for around 60 seconds.
10. Transfer the butter (room temperature) in to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat it until light and fluffy. Add the cheese and mix it together. Add sugar and mix it for another 30 seconds.
11. Add eggs one at the time, mixing well after each addition and then add vanilla extract and mix 30 seconds more.
12. Add raisins and flour and fold them in with a spatula.
13. Transfer your cheese mixture on top of your baked and cooled crust.
14. Remove the second part of pastry from the fridge and roll it into a thin rectangle.
15. Using a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut the pastry into about 1 cm strips. Place the strips of pastry on the cheese layer creating a crisscross pattern.
16. Bake for about an hour at 150 degrees Celsius (300 F) until top is golden brown. You may have to cover the cake with a aluminium foil after around 30 minutes to prevent browning too much.

Enjoy!