Cottage Cheese and Almond Cake with Chocolate Glaze

As much as I love cheese cakes, most of the traditional ones are way too heavy for my taste, and I always try to find some tasty alternatives for them.
This time, I chose cottage cheese instead of cream cheese, and was looking for some inspiration over the net. I’ve discovered a Swedish cottage cheese cake, named Ostakaka, that uses rice flour and almond extract in the batter, along with heavy cream. As I didn’t have rice flour, nor heavy cream, at hand, I’ve decided to simply create my own recipe, with the cottage cheese and almond combination in mind – and ended up with the following gluten-free cake.
In order to enhance the almond flavor and aroma, I’ve decided on adding a larger amount of almond flour to the batter, along with cornstarch, instead of rice flour. This gave the cake wonderful texture and flavor. Instead of heavy cream, I used sour cream, which added a nice subtle acidity to the cake. I also added some golden raisins to the batter, simply because I love raisins in cheese cakes.
Another addition I’ve decided on was, to top the cake with chocolate glaze. This somewhat bitter chocolate glaze gave the cake the right balance, both in flavor and color.
Despite all of these additions, the cake is still substantially less heavy, and less sweet, than traditional cheese cakes, yet, at the same time, it is just as rich and flavorful. Try it and enjoy.

Makes: 12-14
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 1 hour
Chilling time: overnight
Cooking time for the chocolate glaze: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
For the raisins:
½ cup golden raisins
2 Tbs cornstarch
For the batter;
1 cup almond flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
24oz (680 grams) small curd cottage cheese 4% fat
¾ cup sour cream
2 L eggs
1 tsp vanilla
A few drops pure almond extract
For the glaze:
4 Tbs milk
4 Tbs sugar
4 Tbs dark cocoa powder
4 Tbs (2 oz, 60 grams) butter, at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 320F (160C). Line a 10.2” (26cm) baking pan with baking paper.
2. In a small bowl, mix the raisins with the cornstarch, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the almond flour, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Using a hand blander, blend all to a fine powder.
4. Add the cottage cheese, sour cream, eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Blend with a hand blender, to a fairly smooth, but still a bit lumpy, mixture.
5. Switching to a spatula, mix in the raisins, and pour the batter into the lined pan.
6. Bake for 1 hour, until the cake is set and the edges are golden. Turn off the oven, but leave the cake in it for 1 hour. Take out and let cool to room temperature.
7. Place the cake in the fridge and let cool completely. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge overnight.
8. The glaze: mix the milk, sugar and cocoa powder in a small pot. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the butter and cook for 1-2 minutes, mixing constantly, until an even glaze is formed. Let cool a bit, mix well and pour over the cake. Place in the fridge until the glaze is set.
9. Using the baking paper, carefully lift the cake from the pan onto a cutting board. With a large sharp knife, cut into sections, and serve at room temperature.

Mango, Pistachio and Cardamom Galette

 

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Blueberry Cobbler

 

Cobbler is the perfect dessert for anyone who loves stewed fruit, topped with a cake-like batter. While it is British in origin, cobbler is also one of the most popular American desserts as well.
Different types of fruit, or a combination of some, can be used for the fruit layer. The topping can also vary, from thin batter (as the one I have here), to heavier ones. All these versions are similar in how quick and easy they can be prepared.

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Whenever I want to bake a quick tasty cake, a heavy cream based one would be one of my first choices, as it requires only a few basic ingredients, and it can be mixed in a short time, in one bowl. Another important reason for choosing this type of cake is that it has a wonderful rich texture and flavor, that can be easily altered with just a few spices or ingredients.

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This time, I matched this wonderful dough with an equally wonderful poppy seed filling, and the result was just as pleasing.

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Cookie Time

 

As I was working on quite a few batches of assorted cookies lately, I thought it could be a good idea, to compile some of the cookie recipes from the earlier days of the blog, which I believe are worth another visit.  Try them and enjoy.