CREAM CHEESE CAKE

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees hot in top and bottom mode. Place the rack one level below medium. Line a cake tin (23 cm in diameter) with baking paper.

For the base – add the butter to the biscuits and mix. Place the mixture in the cake tin, spread and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and cool for 10 minutes.

For the filling – place the Smiltene Piens’ cream cheese, lemon zest, salt and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer. Beat with a paddle attachment until creamy and no lumps. Add the sugar, starch and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes until the mixture is wobbly, occasionally scraping any cream cheese sticking to the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time while whisking, beating well after each one and scraping up any that sticks to the sides of the bowl to mix in. Add the Smiltene Piens’ heavy cream of and whisk well on low speed, but only until a homogeneous mass forms. No longer.

Put a pan of hot water (more is better than less) in the oven to create steam. Pour the filling on the base and bake in the oven for 10 min. Reduce the oven temperature to 130 degrees and bake for 1 hour. Do not open the door of the oven, while baking. Open after 1 hour, slowly (opening quickly may cause cracks). Shake the pan a little. The cake should move a little in the centre, but not much. If it seems to move a lot, bake for another 10 minutes. Turn off the oven, put a wooden spoon in the door crack to keep it slightly open and cool it for 1h. Afterwards, remove the cake from the oven and cool to room temperature. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. Before serving, spread with Smiltene Piens sour cream and decorate.