October is the busiest birthday month in our family because we have no less than 5 birthdays with 3 of them on 2 consecutive days; so we get to eat a lot of cake in a short period of time. This year was no different and chocolate cake & cheesecake led the pack – unfortunately a very disturbing trend reared it’s head and it caused me some discomfort; of course I didn’t mention it for 2 reasons, firstly it would have been rude and secondly, my mouth was full – but only because I had to be sure of my facts; in fact, I tasted both twice, just to be sure.

Milk is the first staple food we meet and it’s also one with which we have a relationship for the rest of our lives. Well, most of us do. There are a few amongst us who are genuinely lactose intolerant and then there are those who contract veganism and banish milk and milk products from their lives for a period of time. I could not imagine a worse fate because cheese, butter, ice cream and cheesecake all begin with milk. Come to think of it, milk curd was one of the earliest solid foods our ancient ancestors made all by themselves and it is still used today, albeit rarely. Herewith a list of milk products not often eaten today.

• Curd cheese: was the first cheese the ancients made but it isn’t made much today because milk is mostly pasteurized; in the countryside & some parts of the world unpasteurized milk products are still sold; one of my favourite cheeses is made from unpasteurized milk; all commercially sold milk comes from tuberculin-tested cows unless you’re in the back of beyond – if you’re there & the cow looks a bit dodgy, drink whisky. Curd cheese can’t be made with pasteurized milk because the bacteria that cause the milk to sour naturally are destroyed by pasteurization.
• Naturally soured milk: is healthy and thousands of people drink it whenever they have the opportunity; when you drink milk, your gastric juices sour that milk immediately so that your body can absorb it & with soured milk, your body get’s a rest from all that souring.
• Buttermilk: is naturally soured milk, loved by millions of people worldwide; in Scandinavian countries real gelled buttermilk is even served as an hors d’oeuvre.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CURD CHEESE

• Keep milk at a warm temperature for 12 – 24 hours (depending on the weather) and then pour into small bowls just as it begins to ‘turn’ (taste it to make sure); it will become gel-like within 12 hours (you could use a starter* because the quicker it sets the better).
• The quicker milk sours the less likely it is that the curd (or cheese) will be bitter or have that horrible sour taste.
• Curd is made when you plop the jelled milk into a piece of cheesecloth and hang it over the zinc to drain for about 12 hours.
• Curd cheese is only made when you have loads of unpasteurized milk since you’ll get around 120 ml of curd cheese from a litre of milk.
• Nowadays we use the stuff we buy in the stores but if you’d like to make it the way your gran probably did, I’ll include a recipe for that too.

HOW TO MAKE CURD CHEESE

• Make sure the room is warm because it will sour more quickly and we’ve been through all that above.
• Turn the ‘jelly’ into a piece of cheesecloth (or muslin) and tie it up to form a bag, allow it to drip over a bowl or a bag for around 12 hours & if the curd is a little too soft, let it hang for another 6 – 8 hours: you’re looking for firm curd that’s not too dry or crumbly.
• Untie the cloth and remove the curd, scraping off any that sticks to the cloth & keep it in a covered bowl until you’re ready to use it; then you can put it through a sieve, beat it or do whatever you feel like to remove the lumps (I like to remove them all, get out some olive oil, salt and pepper, some fresh bread and have breakfast).

STUFF TO DO WITH THE CURD

• Mix it with salt, freshly ground black pepper, a wee drop of sour cream to make the Scottish crowdie.
• Combine with sugar and about ½ as much double cream to make the French cremets that can be eaten with stewed or simmered fruit.
• Mix carefully with a generous amount of whisked fresh double cream (mix in with the curd) and put this into muslin cloth and into a hard shaped little wicker basket, allow to drain for 12 hours and turn it out to make a little coeur a la crème

I’m going to feature my gran’s recipes today because they work & because you can use them as a basis for any cheesecake plus they’ve never flopped.

SIMPLE CRUSTLESS BAKED CHEESECAKE

Ingredients

• 300 g homemade curd cheese
• 75 g butter
• 150 g caster sugar
• 2 extra large eggs, separated
• 60 g ground almonds
• 60 g walnuts (roughly broken) or raisins or whatever you feel like putting in
• 2 tbsp semonlina
• 1 large lemon, grated zest and juice

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180 C.
• Line the cake tin with greased greaseproof or parchment paper (yes, even grease the parchment paper just to be sure).
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and then add the curd cheese gradually, creaming very well before adding the egg yolks, a little at a time until the mixture is very creamy.
• Now stir in the almonds, the nuts (or raisins or whatever you choose to use), the semolina, the lemon juice & zest and finally the stiffly whisked egg whites.
• Pour this mixture into a greased cake tin and bake for about 45 – 60 minutes until it’s ready.
• Remove from the oven, allow to cool a little and then slip onto a plate.
• It’s a simple as that.

SIMPLE BAKED CHEESECAKE WITH CRUST

Ingredients

Crust

• 180 g flour
• 120 g butter
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 – 3 tbsp cold water

Filling

• 250 g curd cheese
• 55 g butter
• 55 g sugar
• 30 flour
• 2 tbsp thick double cream
• Flavouring of your choice (vanilla extract with a handful of strawberries, a handful of nuts, berries of your choice) or nothing at all
• 3 eggs, separated

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 C
• Make the crust by combining all the ingredients with a little water to make things easy (I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you how to do this).
• Sieve the curd cheese.
• Cream the butter with the sugar and beat until pale and light before adding the flour, the cream, flavouring of your choice, the curd cheese and the egg yolks.
• As soon as everything is well mixed, fold in the whisked egg whites and turn into the pastry case to bake for 40 – 45 minutes.
• Remove the ring and allow to cool.

*a starter could be a few tbsp of natural yoghurt or even unpasteurized naturally soured milk