This is a French cheesecake, which means it is lighter than the American kind and it is baked almost as low as an oven will go. The crust is toasted gingerbread crushed and bound with Bordier semi-salted butter, and the filling is fromage blanc rather than cream cheese, lifted with lemon. Ninety minutes at 90°C sets it without a single crack. About 15 minutes of work, and it feeds eight.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 8
- Active time: 15 minutes
- Cook: 102 minutes total, 12 minutes at 160°C (320°F) for the crust and 90 minutes at 90°C (195°F) for the filling
- Key ingredient: 60 g (2.1 oz) Bordier Semi-Salted Butter
Why this works
Two decisions separate this from the cheesecake most American cooks know. The first is the dairy. Fromage blanc is a fresh, drained curd cheese with far less fat and much more acidity than cream cheese, so the filling sets into something closer to a baked custard than a dense brick. That is why it needs the flour and the whole eggs: they do the structural work that cream cheese would otherwise do on its own.
The second is the temperature. Ninety minutes at 90°C (195°F) is barely an oven at all. Egg proteins set somewhere around 80°C, and holding the cake just above that means the curd tightens gently and evenly instead of contracting at the edges and splitting down the middle. No water bath required. Underneath, the crust is where the butter earns its place. Bordier's semi-salted butter is churned by hand in Brittany on a traditional wooden malaxeur and carries 2.8% fine salt, with caramel and hazelnut notes in the summer batches, all of which lands squarely on top of the spice in the gingerbread. Salted butter against ginger and clove is the whole idea of the crust.
Ingredients
For one 24 cm (9.5 inch) springform pan, eight servings.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Bordier fromage blanc (white cheese) | 400 g | 14 oz (about 1 3/4 cups) |
| Eggs | 3 | 3 large |
| Sugar | 120 g | 4.2 oz (about 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp) |
| Lemon, zest and juice | 1/2 | 1/2 lemon |
| Wheat flour | 45 g | 1.6 oz (about 6 tbsp) |
| Gingerbread, toasted and crushed | 125 g | 4.4 oz |
| Bordier Semi-Salted Butter | 60 g | 2.1 oz (about 4 tbsp) |
Equipment: one 24 cm (9.5 inch) springform pan.
Method
Step 1: Bake the gingerbread crust
Melt the butter and stir in the crushed gingerbread. Press the mixture across the base of a 24 cm (9.5 inch) mold. Bake for 12 minutes at 160°C (320°F), then leave it to cool completely.
Step 2: Mix the filling
In a bowl, combine the fromage blanc, eggs, sugar, lemon and flour. Pour the mixture into the mold over the cooled crust.
Step 3: Bake low and cool
Bake at 90°C (195°F) for 90 minutes. Let the cake cool, then unmold onto a serving dish. Serve it with whipped cream, some seasonal fruit and a few broken pieces of gingerbread.
Tips from our kitchen
- Let the crust cool all the way down. Warm crust plus liquid filling means the butter softens and the base floats up into the custard in patches. Give it 20 to 30 minutes, or chill it while you mix the filling.
- Crush the gingerbread, do not blitz it to powder. You want a texture like coarse breadcrumbs. Powder-fine crumbs absorb the butter completely and bake into a hard sheet you have to saw through.
- Check your oven at 90°C. Many home ovens are inaccurate at the bottom of their range, and this recipe lives or dies there. An oven thermometer is worth it. Too hot and you get a cracked, rubbery cake, too cool and it will still be liquid at 90 minutes.
- Know what done looks like. The cake should have a slight, even wobble across the whole surface when you nudge the pan, with no liquid ripple in the center. It firms considerably as it cools, so pull it while it still looks slightly underset.
- Mix the filling gently. Whisking air into it puffs the cake in the oven and then collapses it into a dip as it cools. Stir just until the flour and eggs disappear.
- Chill before you slice. Cool to room temperature, then several hours in the fridge. A fromage blanc filling is softer than a cream cheese one, and warm slices will slump on the plate.
How to serve it
Maison Bordier finishes it with whipped cream, seasonal fruit and broken gingerbread scattered over the top, which is both a garnish and a reminder of the crust underneath. Because the filling is lean and lemony, it takes a spoonful of something sharp and fruity better than most cheesecakes: a good preserve works, and our guide to Alain Milliat jams covers the ones we would reach for alongside a plain, pale dessert like this.
Where to buy Bordier butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany. This recipe is built around Bordier's own fromage blanc, which we do not carry, so treat it as a template and source a good local fresh curd cheese for the filling.
The crust, though, is straightforward. It traditionally uses Bordier's semi-salted butter, and the butter we stock that matches it is:
- Churned Salted Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): the demi-sel, semi-salted at 2.8% fine salt, with caramel and hazelnut notes that sit well against gingerbread spice.
If you would rather keep the crust neutral and let the spice lead, the unsalted butter works too. Browse the Maison Bordier collection to see the full range.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier butter do I need for this recipe?
The crust takes 60 g. A Bordier block is 125 g, or 4.4 oz, so one block makes this cheesecake with about 65 g left over, enough for a second crust or for the breakfast toast that follows.
What can I use instead of fromage blanc?
Whole-milk fromage blanc from a US producer is the closest match and is increasingly easy to find. Failing that, drained whole-milk quark works, or full-fat plain yogurt strained overnight in cheesecloth until it is thick. Do not swap in cream cheese one for one: it is much fatter and much less acidic, and the cake will come out heavy.
Can I substitute a different Bordier butter?
Yes. The unsalted butter gives a cleaner, less savory crust. If you want to push the spice further, the buckwheat butter brings roasted, nutty notes that suit gingerbread, though it will read as a more Breton dessert than a classic one.
How should I store the cheesecake and the butter?
Keep the cheesecake covered in the refrigerator and eat it within three days. Store the butter wrapped and refrigerated, and use it within the date on the pack. Bordier butter also freezes well: wrap the block tightly, freeze it whole, and thaw it overnight in the fridge.
Does Bordier butter need to be refrigerated?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Unpack it and refrigerate it right away, then take out only what the recipe calls for.
What kind of gingerbread should I use?
French pain d'epices, a dense honey and spice loaf, is what the recipe intends. Toast the slices until dry and crisp before crushing them, or the crumbs will stay soft and the crust will never firm up.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
- Isigny Sainte-Mère: Normandy's AOP Butter & Crème Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.