Lemon cheesecake and poppy seed tartlets
Instructions:
- Simply delicious. Makes eight.
- 200g cream cheese
- 60g caster sugar
- 2 small eggs
- 90g soured cream
- Grated zest and juice of 2 small lemons (50ml juice, 1 tbsp zest)
- Melted butter, for brushing the tins
- Icing sugar, to finish (optional)
- For the pastry
- 170g plain flour
- 50g icing sugar
- 90g cold butter, diced
- Grated zest of ¼ lemon
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- â…› tsp salt
- 1 egg yolk
- Roughly 1 tbsp cold water
- Start with the pastry. Put the flour, sugar, butter, zest, poppy seeds and salt in the bowl of a food processor and work to uniform crumbs. Add the egg yolk and just enough water to bring everything together, collect the pastry into a flat block, wrap in cling-film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 160C/335F/gas mark 2½. Brush eight small muffin tins (or shallow tart tins, as before) with butter. Roll out the pastry 2-3mm thick and cut out eight circles to fit the tins.
- Line the tins with the pastry, rest in the fridge for 20 minutes, then line each pastry case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden. Remove, take out the beans and leave to cool down.
- Lower the heat to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Whisk the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and uniform, whisk in the eggs, then the soured cream, lemon zest and juice. Fill the cases to the top and bake for 15 minutes, until just set.
- Leave to cool, then chill for at least an hour before taking out of the moulds. Dust with icing sugar, if you like.