Rákóczi Curd Cheese Cake

Rákóczi curd cheese cake is an iconic bake of Hungarian confectionery: shortcrust pastry, a creamy curd cheese filling and a latticed meringue.

The shortcrust pastry

1. From the flour, the cold butter, the icing sugar and the egg yolk quickly knead a shortcrust dough.

2. Wrap it in film, and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

3. Roll the rested dough out to the size of a baking tray, lay it into the tray, and pre-bake it for a few minutes.

The curd cheese filling

4. Mix the curd cheese creamy with the sugar, the egg yolks, the vanilla sugar, the lemon zest and the raisins.

5. Smooth the filling onto the pre-baked pastry, and at 180 °C bake it done, until the filling sets.

The meringue

6. Whisk the egg whites with the sugar into a glossy, stiff meringue.

7. Brush the cooled cake with apricot jam, pipe the meringue in a lattice pattern onto the top, dry it briefly in the oven, then cut it into squares to serve.

Tip: The lattice-patterned meringue is the trademark of the Rákóczi curd cheese cake – it is nicest with a piping bag.