Rhubarb cheesecake with chocolate shortcrust pastry

This wonderful cheesecake is baked between layers of shortcrust pastry, inspired by the classic Polish sernik królewski, but with the addition of rhubarb. A delicious cheesecake filling, made without separately whipping the egg whites, is sandwiched between a cocoa shortcrust base and topping, with plenty of tangy rhubarb in between. It tastes fantastic and is wonderfully simple to make!

Ingredients for the chocolate shortcrust pastry:

• 250 g plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 125 g cold butter, cubed
• 1 large egg
• 80 g caster sugar
• a pinch of salt

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a bowl. Add the butter and quickly rub it in or cut it in with a knife until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg, sugar and salt and quickly knead to form a dough (you can also use a food processor). Shape the dough into a ball, then divide it into two equal portions. Wrap each portion in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling:

• 500 g full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, finely ground three times
• 250 g mascarpone
• 170 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 8 g vanilla sugar
• 1½ tbsp potato starch

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place all the cheesecake filling ingredients in the bowl of a mixer. Mix just until combined, or stir with a balloon whisk. Do not over-mix, as incorporating too much air will cause the cheesecake to rise significantly and then collapse. We want the cheesecake to remain level after baking.

Additionally:

• 400 g rhubarb
• 1 tbsp potato starch

Cut the rhubarb stalks into 2–3 cm pieces without peeling them. Toss with the potato starch.

Method:

Line the base of a 23 cm springform tin with baking paper.

Coarsely grate one portion of the chilled shortcrust pastry directly into the tin, spreading it evenly. Pre-bake at 180°C for about 15–18 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread the cheesecake filling over the pre-baked pastry. Smooth the surface. Arrange the rhubarb over the cheesecake filling. It may look like there is too much rhubarb, but that’s exactly how it should be. Coarsely grate the remaining portion of the chocolate pastry evenly over the top.

Bake the rhubarb cheesecake at 170°C, preferably without fan assistance, for about 50–55 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely. This cheesecake keeps very well at room temperature.

Enjoy!