Russian Easter Dessert (Pashka)

"Russian Orthodox Christians created this dessert in celebration of Easter. This dessert is similar to a fancy French dessert made in heart shaped draining forms for Valentines Day, and cheesecake without the crust. Absolutely delicious! You can, of course, add other ingredients instead of the candied fruit and almonds."
 
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photo by Liesma photo by Liesma
photo by Liesma
photo by aevil photo by aevil
Ready In:
12hrs 35mins
Ingredients:
10
Serves:
12-14
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ingredients

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directions

  • Mix egg yolks and whipping cream in heavy saucepan.
  • Stir in sugar and salt.
  • Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just coats a metal spoon, 12 to 15 minutes.
  • Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract.
  • Place saucepan in cold water until custard is cool.
  • If custard curdles, beat with hand beater until smooth.
  • Place 3 cups of the cottage cheese and 2 tablespoons of the butter in blender container.
  • Cover and blend on medium speed, stopping blender occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth.
  • Repeat with remaining cottage cheese and butter.
  • Stir custard into cheese mixture until smooth.
  • Stir in candied fruit and almonds.
  • Line a 2-quart non-clay flower pot (or any form dish WITH OPENINGS IN THE BOTTOM, like a flower pot has) with double layer dampened cheesecloth.
  • Pour cheese mixture into pot; fold ends of cheesecloth over top. Place pot on cake rack in shallow pan; place weights on top.
  • Refrigerate 12 to 24 hours, pouring off any liquid that accumulates in pan.
  • To serve, unmold onto serving plate; remove cheesecloth.
  • Garnish as desired with additional candied fruit and blanched almonds.
  • Refrigerate any remaining dessert.

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Reviews

  1. It's also known as pasha in Finland. Terrific when spread on a sweet yeast bread like kulitsa. Good recipe with the exception of the instructions for the custard. Instead of the above, mix the yolks with half the sugar and 2T of cornstarch together well in a small bowl. In a saucepan place the cream and other half of the sugar and bring it just to a boil while constantly stirring. Remove from heat and pour a third of the hot cream into the yolk mixture while whisking to temper the yolks. Pour yolk mixture into the saucepan with the cream and heat again over medium heat, while stirring, until it just begins to boil. Stir until you notice it thicken and remove from the heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Allow to cool.
     
  2. Thank you for this recipe. I have been trying to find it ever since I was a little girl. My Hungarian Gramma used to make it every Easter and this is the first time I have been able to find the recipe. This is the most wonderful dish I have ever had. Gramma used to make it and we would slice it, and eat just as is. It was sereved alongside of Poppyseed Cake, Walnut Cake, Kielbassa,and other Sausage type meats, and was our first course before we ate dinner. At dinner we had traditional Chicken soup, the meat and veggies from the soup would be taken from the soup and served seperate along with a bowl full of home made noodles in the soup. We scooped the noodles and poured the soup over them. Next course was Cabbage Rolls, Turkey, Boiled potatoes from Soup and the boiled chicken from the soup, along with Turkey, Chicken Paprikash and dessert consisted of many goodies such as Black Forest Cake, Almond Cakes, Almond Paste goodies, and then our chocolate Easter gifts. But I have never been able to find a recipe that I could make heads or tails of and I am going to try to make this one this year. Thank you kindly
     
  3. This was an unmitigated disaster. The custard didn’t reach the point where it coated a spoon, and the cottage cheese & butter was so thick the blender would only whir on half a cup at a time. The final “batter” was wayyyy more than would fit in a 2-qt flower pot & I had to improvise with a steamer basket. I left it to drain for 2 days, not just12 hours, and it came out of the molds a runny, unmolded mess. I’ve made pashka in the past and it was a firm, tall flower pot that I could easily festoon with sliced almonds & designs of candied fruit, and slice onto serving plates, but I had to pour this into a bowl & slurp it with a spoon. Cottage cheese soup.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>Click to feed animals I'm a retired teacher now living in&nbsp;the Jamaica Plain area of Boston. I have one daughter, 2 granddaughters, and 1 great-grandson(17 yo Dec '11)! I've travelled a bit throughout Europe and the U.S. as well as Honduras and Costa Rica. I think I may have some gypsy ancestors! I love to travel but am not able to anymore. So I do a LOT of reading instead. My current craft passion is knittng but I have dabbled in just about everything. I've done leaded glass work(stained glass), which I love; am working on counted cross stitch; and am willing to try any craft, at least once! I've also worked for a major insurance company as a case analyst. I have 2 cats, Teddy BB 11 .o. on the 19th of Feb, and CiCi who will be 5 years old on Mar 6th. src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/orn.jpg&gt;</p>
 
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