From the ancient island of Samos: Reviving the original cheesecake
Just like a story, what a glorious afternoon I had yesterday! The house filled with the most nostalgic aroma of childhood! That golden, honey-kissed scent that takes you straight back to the marble temples and olive groves of the classical antiquity. I baked a pure, flourless cheesecake using only fresh goat cheese similar to ricotta we call Anthotiro in Greece, eggs, and raw Greek honey. Just as the spirit of ancient athletes preparing for the Olympic games would have approved. As you can see in the photo I snapped the moment it emerged from the oven (that beautiful golden dome, slightly puffed and trembling with promise!), it turned out even more magnificent than I hoped. Light, creamy, with just the right ancient simplicity… yet with a modern touch that makes it rise like a little cloud behind the mount Dyonisos that I am watching at the moment
This dessert was born on the island of Samos. Around 2000 BC, archaeologists unearthed cheese molds on Samos that prove ancient Greeks were already crafting the world’s first cheesecakes. Physical evidence of dairy production and those very molds tell the story: the ancient Samians perfected a creamy, honey-sweetened cheese delight long before anyone else. This wasn’t just any sweet treat. It powered Olympic athletes at the first Games in 776 BC. Can I call it the proto-postworkout meal, or protein supplement? Well, it was a source of pure energy and strength for the athletes.
Greek brides baked versions of it as wedding cakes to welcome guests with hospitality and abundance. The physician Aegimus even wrote a whole treatise on the art of plakountopoiia (cheesecake-making!), and later Athenaeus of Naucratis preserved recipes in his Deipnosophistae: pound fresh cheese smooth, blend with honey (and sometimes a touch of emmer flour), bake “in one mass,” cool, and serve. Simple, divine, eternal. However, eggs were widely used in the countriside, especially when the Romans took over!
My version stays fiercely faithful to that ancient purity but it follows the Low-Carb philosophy: no wheat, no crust, just goat cheese, eggs, and honey – but I’ve added a tiny dash of baking soda and apple cider vinegar to coax a beautiful rise. The result? A lighter, airier texture that still melts on the tongue like the original Samos masterpiece. I baked it in a simple round pan, and it came out perfect: creamy inside, delicately golden on top, with that unmistakable honey perfume that whispers summer. And in my language, this means RETREAT!
BEFORE YOU ACUSE ME OF NOT MAKING A KETO RECIPE 🙂
SKIP HONEY, USE 1 tbsp OF PURE MONKFRUIT POWDER OR OUR KETO HONEY SUBSTITUTE WHICH YOU CAN FIND IN THIS LINK
The original ancient Greek cheesecake
12
servings5
minutes20
minutes25
minutesIngredients
800 g 800 Anthotyro cheese (Ricotta can be used)
6 large 6 eggs (pasture raised, organic)
4 tbsp 4 raw chesnut honey (or any dark honey) + one for topping
1/2 tsp 1/2 baking soda (aluminium-free)
1 tbsp 1 apple cider vinegar
Directions
- I used my hands for at least 10 minutes and enjoyed creating the cheese-egg nased cake batter by knidding the cheese and adding the eggs one by one. However, you can use a wooden spoon or just pop all the ingredients into a self-standing mixer and let it mix it for you untill you get a smooth consistency. For even smnoother effect, you can use a blender.
- The honey is added at the very end, and you can do the same with the monk fruit, or our keto honey substitute.
- Line a round baking dish, (preferably made of clay) with some parchemnt paper or grease it with olive oil and preheat the oven to 170ºC or around 340ºF. If you are not using the parchment paper, preheat the pan in the oven.
- Pour in the batter and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Let it cool halfway before enjoying it warm, or let it completely cool and then keep it in the refrigerator for 4 hour before serving for a refreshing cold experience.
- Top it with an additional spoon of honey or Keto Honey Substitute
Equipment
Wooden spoon
Your hands 😀
Clay baking dish
Recipe Video
Notes
- We also have a savoury version of this cake that I baked in a bundt pan, the recipe is right HERE
- Add extra vinegar if your eggs have intensive eggy taste. Use cinnamon, ground clove or lemon zest to additionally fix this issue.
