Nan’s Baked Cheesecake with Coconut
Every family has their own take on the classic baked cheesecake whether is just plain, with fruits, chocolate bottom or even top. All of them are good and everyone has their all-time favourite.
This cheesecake I grew up eating is obviously the one in my heart. And to be honest, I haven’t seen many with coconut flakes on top which made it extremely special for me as a child and proud that ours is just different. Thank you, nana.
I like my cheesecake plain, but my mum adds sometimes raisins or nuts which is nice too. There are also two ways with the egg whites, you can either mix them with the cheese or put it on top and then cover with coconut. On this occasion, I made it the second way with the beaten egg whites on top.
This bake is quite easy but we need to get our cheese consistency just right so it stays nice and fluffy but still moist. This recipe calls for a polish mix for budyń, it’s a silky-smooth creamy pudding. We use it a lot in desserts or eat it on its own with fruit syrups. It comes in a sachet and made in different flavours but here we will need just a plain vanilla one. You can easily find it in the local polish deli as well as the cheese for cheesecake.
Nans Baked Cheesecake with Coconut
Ingredients
Base
- 2 cups Plain Flour
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 120 g Butter
- 7.5 tbsp Powder Sugar
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
For Cheesecake Filling
- 1 kg Cheese for Cakes
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1 cup 3 tbsp Sugar
- 2 Sachets Vanilla Budyń
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- Desiccated Coconut for the top
Instructions
- To make the base, combine all the ingredients together with your hands. Once the pastry is smooth place it in a freezer for 15-20 min.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cake filling. Combine all the ingredients using a mixer. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 180C. Grease your baking pan and set aside. Take out the pastry from the freezer and start rolling it down with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Cover the bottom of the baking pan with the pastry. You can create a rim around as well, it will help to prevent the cheese from burning.
- Pour the cheesecake filling into the baking pan. In a separate bowl beat 5 egg whites with 3 tbsp of sugar until stiff. Add sugar gradually.
- Spread the egg whites on top of the cheese and sprinkle the coconut on top. With the palm of your hand pat in the flakes so they stick better to the egg whites.
- Place in the oven and bake for 40 to 50 min. If the coconut is nicely golden brown but you still need to bake the cheesecake cower the top with foil.