Sambocade (Medieval Cheesecake)

From The Forme of Cury, an extensive cookbook first published around 1390 CE.

Original recipe:

Take and make a crust in a trape and take a cruddes and wryng out the wheyze and drawe hem thurgh a stynor. And put in the stynor crustes. Do thereto sugar, the thridde part and somdel whyte of ayren and shake thereinne blomes of elren, and bake it up with curose and messe it forth.

Even if I were to provide the modern English translation for this, it still wouldn’t be very useful - directions like “make a crust” and “do thereto sugar” are not exactly the most helpful. Here’s a version in modern English, with measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter
• 160g powdered sugar
• 6 eggs
• 450g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 4 tbsp heavy cream
• 150g sugar
• 2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp dried elderflower (or 6 tbsp fresh)
• 450g cheese (fresh, farmer’s, or ricotta)
• Optional: Fresh berries, enough to cover your sambocade
• Optional: 1tbsp lemon zest

Method (Crust)

• Separate eggs into yolks and whites, saving both.
• Sift icing sugar into stand mixer with cubed butter. Beat until smooth.
• Add egg yolks and beat until incorporated. Add lemon zest here if you want.
• Add salt and flour and beat on low until just combined into a loose, crumbly dough.
• Divide dough into two parts and roll each out between two pieces of parchment until 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick.
• Chill for 20 minutes

Method (Filling)

• Blind bake pie pastry at 425F for 10 minutes with pie weights. Let cool.
• Soak elderflowers in heavy cream for 10 minutes.
• Push cheese through a strainer with the back of a spoon.
• Combine cheese, breadcrumbs and elderflower-cream mixture. Add sugar and beat until smooth.
• In a stand mixer, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and CAREFULLY fold into cheese mixture.
• Gently pour mixture into cooled pastry crust.
• Bake at 375F for 50 minutes or until just set in the middle. Turn off heat and allow to cool in oven with door open for 15 minutes.
• Once COMPLETELY COOLED, cover with berries, dust with powdered sugar.
• Serve it forth to your feudal lord.