RECIPE

RUSTIC PRESSED COTTAGE CHEESE CHEESECAKE

written by @juliarecipes

Have you heard of pressed dry cottage cheese? If not, no worry I will explain, that cottage cheese can also come in dry and pressed form and it’s called pressed dry cottage cheese.

What is Pressed Dry Cottage Cheese?

Pressed dry cottage cheese (aka dry-curd cottage cheese) is a soft, crumbly unripened cheese with white, dry curds. It is made from skim milk that is curdled with an acid or rennet. Other cottage cheese has milk added to it after the curd has been formed; dry curd doesn’t, so its moisture content will be a maximum of 80%.

It is sold in plastic bags or tubs and it can be very hard to find. But not anymore, because when I saw it in our Costco store, my eyes sparkled and I was singing my way to the refrigerated boxes and took my 2 x 500 g of pressed dry cottage cheese of MC DAIRY brand. Lately I found out that here in Canada even well known dairy company LIBERTE is selling the same pressed dry cottage cheese under name WESTERN.

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What is used Pressed Dry Cottage Cheese for?

Pressed Dry Cottage Cheese is mostly used in cooking, especially baking, particularly in -European recipes. It is also used in low-fat recipes, which requires Ricotta. And yes how does it taste? Much less bitter and tart then usual cottage cheese, ricotta might be one to be compared to pressed cottage cheese, but it ain’t this creamy and heavy.

This Rustic Pressed Cottage Cheesecake recipe is done in two steps. First we will have to prepare the crust. The base (crust) of this cheesecake is similar in taste of sugar dough with little adds-on, such as flavorful rum…yum:-)  And second step is creamy filling, made out of  mixed pressed dry cottage cheese with vanilla pudding, some egg yolks and just few spoons of sugar. So the texture will be creamy and we will fluff it up with stiff peaks of egg whites:-)

What Vanilla Pudding to use?

If you can’t find in your store cooking version of vanilla pudding (Dr. Oetker), you can substitute vanilla pudding for corn starch and vanilla extract  and/or vanilla sugar. I used Dr. Oetker brand, which is sold in my grocery store and it is a cooked version of pudding. I have prepared this pressed cottage cheesecake in 9″ round spring pan (opening baking pan), to highlight the rustic version of this recipe.

The Crust (base of the cake):

We will start first with the base of this cheesecake.  Get ready 9″ spring form and butter the bottom and sides and run fine sugar over the pan (You can also used parchment paper on the bottom of the spring form) . Preheat oven on 160 C / 320 F. Now separate 3 eggs; egg yolks in a medium bowl of standing mixer (with the standard attachment), together with sugar and egg whites in a medium bowl to be reserved. Mix the egg yolks with sugar on high speed until fluffy and white. Then we slowly add soft butter, milk in room temperature and rum. Once all these wet ingredients are combined, we can slowly add spoon by spoon a mixture of dry ingredients; flour and baking powder.

Remove the ball of dough and knead gently 2-3 times on well floured surface, until it it’s smooth and the dough holds well together. If the dough feels too wet, sprinkle it with few teaspoons of flour and if it is very dry and falls apart, add melted butter spoon by spoon. Take a 9″ spring pan lined with butter and fine sugar and press the ball of dough inside it and with a help of your hands, press the dough on the bottom and sides of the pan. Try to push it all the way to the top of the side of the pan. Set in refrigerator.

The creamy filling

In a large bowl of standing mixer combine pressed dry cheese with sugar, egg yolks (save the egg whites for later), 1 vanilla pudding and soft butter. Mix until smooths. If you prefer smoother texture, you can blend all these ingredients. Pressed cheese has curds, so the texture is crumbly. Once this mixture is ready, set it aside and take your 5 egg whites reserved earlier and whisk with whisk attachment until stiff peaks. Fold in gently the egg whites into pressed dry cheese mixture.

Take out from the refrigerator the sugar dough and pour the pressed dry cheese mixture inside the sugar dough spring pan. With the spatula move the cheese mixture towards the edges, so you don’t have a bump in the middle. Bake on 160 C/ 320 F for 40 minutes or until the sides of dough will start to golden. Take it out of the oven and  let stand for 1 hour and then refrigerate for 2-3 hours.  Slice 2″ large slices and serve it fresh as is or with fresh fruit, fruit coolies or salty caramel sauce….possibilities are endless. Enjoy it.

RECIPE

RUSTIC PRESSED COTTAGE CHEESE CHEESECAKE

Preparation time: 30 minutes ⭐cooking time: 40 minutes⭐ servings: 10- 12 portions 

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

• 2 1/4 cup (450 g) flour
• 1 1/2 cup (300 g) soft butter (room temperature)
• 3 Tbsp fine sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbsp milk (room temperature)
• 2 Tbsp rum

Pressed cottage cheese filling

• 2 cups (500 g) pressed cottage cheese
• 5 Tbsp fine sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup (30 g) vanilla pudding Dr. Oetker or corn starch
• 3 1/2 Tbsp (50 g) soft butter (room temperature)
• 5 egg whites

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 320 F / 160 C. For the crust, mix together flour and baking powder and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl of standing mixer, start mixing egg yolks with sugar, until well combined on medium speed. Reduce the speed on low and add egg yolks one by one and continue mixing until well combined.
3. Then slowly add liquid ingredients: room temperature milk and rum.
4. Once the wet ingredients are well combined add spoon by spoon mixed dried ingredients ( flour+baking powder) until it creates a ball of dough. Remove the ball of dough and knead gently 2-3 times on well floured surface.
5. Place the dough inside the 9″ spring pan layered with parchment paper and with your hands spread the dough on the bottom of the pan and on the sides. Use your fingers to press on the dough to create even surface on the bottom and on the sides of the spring pan. Set in refrigerator.
6. For the filling: In the medium bowl of standing mixer, mix pressed cottage cheese with sugar and egg yolks until well combined. Add vanilla pudding or corn starch (if you are using corn starch, add either 1 tsp of vanilla extract or 2 tsp of vanilla sugar) and soft butter and mix until well combined.
7. In another medium bowl whisk 5 egg whites until stiff peaks. With spatula fold gently the egg whites in the filling mixture. Pour the filling into the spring pan and tap twice with the spring pan on the counter to even the filling and release possible bubbles inside the filling.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes 320 F / 160 C or until golden on the surface of the cottage cheese filling.
9. Let cool the cake for 1 hour on the counter, then 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
10. Slice 2″ large slices and serve it fresh as is or with fresh fruit, fruit coolies or salty caramel sauce….possibilities are endless. Enjoy it.

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