Receip To Make Lemon Cheese Cakes

This lemon cheese cake recipe hails from an English household manuscript dating to the 1660s–1680s—a time of great culinary flux in England, when imported citrus fruits like lemons were becoming fashionable and sugar use was rising amongst the well-to-do. The recipe would have delighted 17th-century palates looking for bright, tangy flavors layered over buttery pastry, often at the end of a formal meal. Recipes like this one also show the early evolution towards custard-based tarts, which foreshadow lemon curd tarts of later centuries.

The kitchen of the late 17th century was equipped with simple but effective tools: a grater for the lemon zest, an earthenware or pewter bowl, and a wooden spoon for beating eggs and stirring the mixture. The warming and thickening would have been done over an open hearth or on a small chafing stove, with constant hand-stirring to avoid scrambling. Metal tart pans, known as tartlet pans, would be lined with hand-rolled puff paste and set into the gentle heat of a brick oven, its temperature judged by touch and experience.