Email me rachel@rachelphipps.com if you want to deep dive about this one - I spent MONTHS getting to know this recipe but it was a ghost writing project so can't post the final recipe with my notes publicly! x
I'm sure the recipe you made is absolutely delicious! But when I make it I will do you as suggested and add a bit of flour to the batter. I would also skip the cinnamon and a bit of lemon zest sounds like it might be perfect. Hope I can find some orange blossom honey.
“The writer Athenaeus is credited for writing the first Greek cheesecake recipe in 230 A.D. (By this time, the Greeks had been serving cheesecake for over 2,000 years but this is the oldest known surviving Greek recipe!) It was also pretty basic - pound the cheese until it is smooth and pasty - mix the pounded cheese in a brass pan with honey and spring wheat flour - heat the cheese cake “in one mass” - allow to cool then serve”. I remember a Greek friend’s mother making cheesecake with feta cheese. Farmer’s cheese, feta or ricotta salata would be worth a try. Enjoy the rest of your time in Paris.
Wow. This cheesecake looked intriguing in its simplicity. We loved it! I'm not a baker; I'm a cook. This was so easy that I adored making it. I even hand-mixed it. It was even better the 2nd day, as the honey had perked down into it and made it, as you said, reminiscent of flan. You opened the door to suggestions, so here are mine: 1) Change nothing. It's elegant in its simplicity, which makes it perfect for summer. Really - change nothing. 2) As I made it, I kept thinking it might be a good idea to run out and grab some thyme to sprinkle throughout the batter. Then I re-read the recipe which noted that thyme honey was often used. Bingo. But if I added thyme, I would have been tempted to add blueberries, and then I lose (see#1). 3) Vanilla would make it too sweet, in my opinion. 4) My husband suggested lavender as we discussed possible additions. I think we could come up with a lot of herbal additions, even making it more savory if desired. But: (see #1).
Greeting Dorie, non of the recipes I have looked at have any sugar added. They do have a small amount of cornstarch. I loved your recipe even though it was very sweet. Looking forward to trying with just the honey.
Pastry outside of the US tends to be less sweet. I like the idea of using just the honey. Not saying this is a certainty, but I am guessing that when this cake was first made, honey would have been the sweetener du jour.
It would be interesting to make your own ricotta, as it’s not a particularly difficult process. I agree that adding a small bit of flour might help the smoothness. I would experiment with adding sour cream, mascarpone or even well beaten cream cheese to the ricotta. Not sure about the yogurt as it would give it a tang that might or might not work.
As far as added flavoring, I would do lemon zest, brandy and vanilla. Probably not authentic ( more Italian),but just magical.
I can’t remember if your recipe has salt. If not, just a bit would really elevate the flavor.
Hi Dorie! Sounds like Rachel has you covered! Although I've never had Sifnian Cheesecake, I did a bit of recipe searching -- mainly from cookbooks in my shelf-busting collection -- and will DM you a link to what I found on IG (since it's always fun/helpful to compare/contrast similar recipes for a given dish).
Most of what I was able to find as melopita (not id'd as from Sifnos, alas) were filled tarts (with separate dough/crust), as opposed to cake with the cheese mixed into the batter. Examples of the tart kind included recipes by Vefa Alexiadou, Tess Mallos, Joyce Goldstein, and Aglaia Kremezi.
Recipes I found that were an actual cake were from Serious Eats, Peter Georgakopoulos (on his blog "Souvlaki For The Soul"), Tessa Kiros, delicious mag (Australia) & Carolina Doriti.
Finally, Aglaia Kremezi, in her excellent “Foods of the Greek Islands”, which alas does not contain a recipe for Sifnian Cheesecake ( but DOES have one for Kolokythopita tis Sifnou -- Sifnian Pumpkin and Almond Cake!) references a book by Eleni Troullou called “Delicacies from Sifnos” which might just be the ticket... unfortunately, I can find neither hide nor hair of it anywhere on the internet!
I've noted that nutmeg is sometimes added to the ricotta in some savory recipes, which got me wondering if a hint of nutmeg would be good in this cheesecake. Also, the idea of adding a little orange-blossom water came to me. The cinnamon dusting sounds good to me.
When I saw your posting, I called a Greek friend and asked if she had a recipe for melopita. She wasn't familiar with it, but found it in a very well used old cookbook. Just a bit different - slightly less of everything because it only used 1# of cheese and a WHOLE lot less sugar - 5 Tablespoons. I made it yesterday morning to enjoy after our gyro dinner. Boy, did we enjoy!
Regular oven and it didn't brown as much as yours did.
Did add the cinnamon inside and about 1 T of lemon zest.
Did top with a heavy sprinkle of cinnamon.
Mutual consensus was only to add some lemon juice (maybe a Tablespoon) to the batter.
I threw everything directly into the blender jar and then poured it into the 8x20 prepared pan.
I added two teaspoons of flour, half an orange of zest, and ended up doing 1/3 of the honey as agave syrup because I too ran out of a core ingredient. I tried it with and without cinnamon and loved the cinnamon, it reminds me of the French toast I make. Great recipe, thanks!
Thanks for the recipe in development; this made my Saturday so fun. I made as written but I added a 1/3 cup almond flour and some blueberries for my husband. I used sheeps milk ricotta - which I heartily recommend. The almond flour seemed harmless, but I would skip adding fruit. It reminds me a little of Mandy Lee's recipe, but that one focuses more on lava texture and it doesn't have ricotta: https://ladyandpups.com/2014/04/11/the-imploding-honey-custard-cake-eng/
I found the caramelized honey to be so haunting and it lingered in my mouth in the best way.
Aside: you've improved my baking so much over the years. Thank you!
Thank you for this post! I am intrigued to try it. I hope you will do more posts like this. I love how you shared your creative thought process as you delve into perfecting the melapita and how the community jumped in with such great resources and ideas.
Help me figure out this cheesecake from Sifnos
Email me rachel@rachelphipps.com if you want to deep dive about this one - I spent MONTHS getting to know this recipe but it was a ghost writing project so can't post the final recipe with my notes publicly! x
I'm sure the recipe you made is absolutely delicious! But when I make it I will do you as suggested and add a bit of flour to the batter. I would also skip the cinnamon and a bit of lemon zest sounds like it might be perfect. Hope I can find some orange blossom honey.
“The writer Athenaeus is credited for writing the first Greek cheesecake recipe in 230 A.D. (By this time, the Greeks had been serving cheesecake for over 2,000 years but this is the oldest known surviving Greek recipe!) It was also pretty basic - pound the cheese until it is smooth and pasty - mix the pounded cheese in a brass pan with honey and spring wheat flour - heat the cheese cake “in one mass” - allow to cool then serve”. I remember a Greek friend’s mother making cheesecake with feta cheese. Farmer’s cheese, feta or ricotta salata would be worth a try. Enjoy the rest of your time in Paris.
Wow. This cheesecake looked intriguing in its simplicity. We loved it! I'm not a baker; I'm a cook. This was so easy that I adored making it. I even hand-mixed it. It was even better the 2nd day, as the honey had perked down into it and made it, as you said, reminiscent of flan. You opened the door to suggestions, so here are mine: 1) Change nothing. It's elegant in its simplicity, which makes it perfect for summer. Really - change nothing. 2) As I made it, I kept thinking it might be a good idea to run out and grab some thyme to sprinkle throughout the batter. Then I re-read the recipe which noted that thyme honey was often used. Bingo. But if I added thyme, I would have been tempted to add blueberries, and then I lose (see#1). 3) Vanilla would make it too sweet, in my opinion. 4) My husband suggested lavender as we discussed possible additions. I think we could come up with a lot of herbal additions, even making it more savory if desired. But: (see #1).
Greeting Dorie, non of the recipes I have looked at have any sugar added. They do have a small amount of cornstarch. I loved your recipe even though it was very sweet. Looking forward to trying with just the honey.
I was thinking cutting back on the ricotta and adding some fresh basket /farmers cheese.
Always so would attempt to use a yogurt mix .
Less is always more and zi would cut back on the sugar.
A couple of thoughts:
Pastry outside of the US tends to be less sweet. I like the idea of using just the honey. Not saying this is a certainty, but I am guessing that when this cake was first made, honey would have been the sweetener du jour.
It would be interesting to make your own ricotta, as it’s not a particularly difficult process. I agree that adding a small bit of flour might help the smoothness. I would experiment with adding sour cream, mascarpone or even well beaten cream cheese to the ricotta. Not sure about the yogurt as it would give it a tang that might or might not work.
As far as added flavoring, I would do lemon zest, brandy and vanilla. Probably not authentic ( more Italian),but just magical.
I can’t remember if your recipe has salt. If not, just a bit would really elevate the flavor.
Keep us updated!!
Hi Dorie! Sounds like Rachel has you covered! Although I've never had Sifnian Cheesecake, I did a bit of recipe searching -- mainly from cookbooks in my shelf-busting collection -- and will DM you a link to what I found on IG (since it's always fun/helpful to compare/contrast similar recipes for a given dish).
Most of what I was able to find as melopita (not id'd as from Sifnos, alas) were filled tarts (with separate dough/crust), as opposed to cake with the cheese mixed into the batter. Examples of the tart kind included recipes by Vefa Alexiadou, Tess Mallos, Joyce Goldstein, and Aglaia Kremezi.
Recipes I found that were an actual cake were from Serious Eats, Peter Georgakopoulos (on his blog "Souvlaki For The Soul"), Tessa Kiros, delicious mag (Australia) & Carolina Doriti.
Finally, Aglaia Kremezi, in her excellent “Foods of the Greek Islands”, which alas does not contain a recipe for Sifnian Cheesecake ( but DOES have one for Kolokythopita tis Sifnou -- Sifnian Pumpkin and Almond Cake!) references a book by Eleni Troullou called “Delicacies from Sifnos” which might just be the ticket... unfortunately, I can find neither hide nor hair of it anywhere on the internet!
I wonder if a couple Tablespoons of cream, then some orange zest . I’m interested in trying!
I've noted that nutmeg is sometimes added to the ricotta in some savory recipes, which got me wondering if a hint of nutmeg would be good in this cheesecake. Also, the idea of adding a little orange-blossom water came to me. The cinnamon dusting sounds good to me.
When I saw your posting, I called a Greek friend and asked if she had a recipe for melopita. She wasn't familiar with it, but found it in a very well used old cookbook. Just a bit different - slightly less of everything because it only used 1# of cheese and a WHOLE lot less sugar - 5 Tablespoons. I made it yesterday morning to enjoy after our gyro dinner. Boy, did we enjoy!
Regular oven and it didn't brown as much as yours did.
Did add the cinnamon inside and about 1 T of lemon zest.
Did top with a heavy sprinkle of cinnamon.
Mutual consensus was only to add some lemon juice (maybe a Tablespoon) to the batter.
I threw everything directly into the blender jar and then poured it into the 8x20 prepared pan.
Thanks for the suggestions and the idea.
I added two teaspoons of flour, half an orange of zest, and ended up doing 1/3 of the honey as agave syrup because I too ran out of a core ingredient. I tried it with and without cinnamon and loved the cinnamon, it reminds me of the French toast I make. Great recipe, thanks!
Reminds me of a Polish cheesecake which uses twarog similar to farmers cheese. Also can have raisins in it.
I made a mistake in what I said about the sugar (because i was dividing it)
for the whole recipe i used 2/3 cups of sugar minus 2 tablespoons (instead of one cup)
Thanks for the recipe in development; this made my Saturday so fun. I made as written but I added a 1/3 cup almond flour and some blueberries for my husband. I used sheeps milk ricotta - which I heartily recommend. The almond flour seemed harmless, but I would skip adding fruit. It reminds me a little of Mandy Lee's recipe, but that one focuses more on lava texture and it doesn't have ricotta: https://ladyandpups.com/2014/04/11/the-imploding-honey-custard-cake-eng/
I found the caramelized honey to be so haunting and it lingered in my mouth in the best way.
Aside: you've improved my baking so much over the years. Thank you!
Thank you for this post! I am intrigued to try it. I hope you will do more posts like this. I love how you shared your creative thought process as you delve into perfecting the melapita and how the community jumped in with such great resources and ideas.