Irish Curd Cake

Irish curd cake is the old-country cousin of the cheesecake you know. Instead of cream cheese, this recipe uses cottage cheese pressed through a sieve, which gives you a lighter, tangier, almost souffle-like dessert sitting on a buttery shortbread base. This is the kind of cake you find in Irish farmhouse kitchens and traditional tea shops, and it bakes in half the time of a New York-style cheesecake.

Sieving the cottage cheese is where most shortcut-hunting bakers go wrong. Dumping cottage cheese straight into the batter gives you a lumpy, pebbly cake. Push it through a sieve with the back of a spoon to break up the curds into a smooth, fine puree. This takes five minutes and makes the difference between a rustic farmhouse cake and a sloppy one.

Separated eggs are the other key. Yolks beat into the cheese base for richness. Whites whipped to stiff peaks and folded in last give the cake its lift, since there is no baking powder or soda. The painted egg wash on the crust seals it against the wet filling and is the classic British-Irish baker’s trick for preventing soggy bottoms.

Pro Tips

• Use full-fat cottage cheese (4% milk fat). Low-fat cottage cheese has too much water and the cake ends up watery.
• Fold the egg whites in gently with a rubber spatula in three additions. Deflating them turns the cake dense and flat.
• Do not overbake. The top should be golden and the center should have just barely stopped jiggling. Overbaked curd cake cracks and dries out.
• Cool completely at room temperature, not in the fridge. Cold-shocking a warm curd cake can cause the top to crack.

Variations

• Swap the lemon zest for orange zest and use fresh orange juice for a citrus-forward version.
• Fold in a handful of plump raisins or currants soaked briefly in hot water for a more traditional Irish tea-time flavor.
• Top with a spoonful of Irish whiskey-laced whipped cream or a drizzle of honey for a celebratory finish.