Whilst delicately leafing through the sepia sheets of Mrs Beeton’s Every-day Cookery, I happened upon a recipe for Folkestone Cheesecake.
Intrigued, I read on. Hmm, no cheese to be seen. ‘Tis rather curious that a dish would be called ‘cheesecake when there’s not so much a swirl of cream cheese in it. Who am I to argue with Mrs Beeton, and what’s in a name? There are no toads in a toad in the hole, nor bubbles in bubble & squeak. That’s not the same thing at all.
It seems that Folkestone Cheesecake possibly sated hungry souls under the aliases of Kent Lent Pie/Tart or Kent Pudding Pie.
Typically eaten during lent when meat pies were off the menu, this Kentish version of a pudding pie was particularly popular in the Folkestone area.
” “Going-a-pudding-pieing” was a Kentish custom which prevailed late into the present century. The young people went about in groups and ate this delicacy in public houses and drank cherry-beer with it. The “Pudding-Pie” was flat like our modern cheese-cake, made with a raised crust, filled with custard and sprinkled with currants.”
Good Housekeeping ~ 1888 via Foods of England
Think of it as a mashup of a rice pudding and a custard tart. If you like either of those, then you’ll love Folkestone Cheesecake.
The custardy rice pudding filling is baked until set in a slightly sweet short pastry case.
In this version, I’ve used orange juice to crisp up the pastry, and orange zest and nutmeg to continue the flavour thread. It’s personal preference, but I think the nutmeg works better with orange. I’ve then added in sultanas for a sweeter, juicier dried fruit option – I’m not a fan of currants.
Rub the butter through the flour until it resembles a breadcrumb texture.
Add a tablespoon of regular caster sugar. Then bring the mixture together by adding fresh orange juice a little at a time until it forms a firm dough.
Wrap. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take the pastry out of the fridge 15 minutes before you're ready to roll it out to make the tart case, so it comes back to room temperature and is easier to roll.
To blind bake, line pie tin with the rolled out pastry. Then cover with non-stick baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes at 180C.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the paper and baking beans. Leave to cool.
Heat up the milk and ground rice over medium heat, stirring continuously until it thickens.
Stir in the sugar and butter, before incorporating the eggs. You'll want to whisk those first with a pinch of salt and mix them in quickly - so you don't end up with any bits of scrambled egg.
Add the zest of half an orange and half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg into the thick mixture.
Give it a good stir, then pour the mixture carefully into the tart case.
Top with a few sultanas and dust with the remaining nutmeg.
Bake for around 40 minutes on a low heat, approx 160C. You're aiming for cooked pastry and set filling.
Allow to cool fully before serving.
Ingredients
Directions
Rub the butter through the flour until it resembles a breadcrumb texture.
Add a tablespoon of regular caster sugar. Then bring the mixture together by adding fresh orange juice a little at a time until it forms a firm dough.
Wrap. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take the pastry out of the fridge 15 minutes before you're ready to roll it out to make the tart case, so it comes back to room temperature and is easier to roll.
To blind bake, line pie tin with the rolled out pastry. Then cover with non-stick baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes at 180C.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the paper and baking beans. Leave to cool.
Heat up the milk and ground rice over medium heat, stirring continuously until it thickens.
Stir in the sugar and butter, before incorporating the eggs. You'll want to whisk those first with a pinch of salt and mix them in quickly - so you don't end up with any bits of scrambled egg.
Add the zest of half an orange and half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg into the thick mixture.
Give it a good stir, then pour the mixture carefully into the tart case.
Top with a few sultanas and dust with the remaining nutmeg.
Bake for around 40 minutes on a low heat, approx 160C. You're aiming for cooked pastry and set filling.
Allow to cool fully before serving.
A few pointers from my failings…
- Use a shallow tart case, so you can allow for an overhang of pastry. Once it’s blind baked, it can be trimmed up to neaten up the edges – unlike mine!
- Wait until it’s really cold before turning it out onto a plate, so that it slices neatly. Don’t do this before it’s cold, the pastry will crumble. It’s nice to eat while it’s still warm, but it tastes even better cold.
- Don’t let the filling get too hot in the oven. This will lead to a rise (and fall) causing cracks and shrinkage. A little cracking just looks homemade, right?
If you like this, you’ll love Gypsy Tart? You know, that actually famous Kentish Tart.