Guest Author - Marianne Gibson

This rich and decorative cheesecake dish is integral to the ritual and symbolism of Russian Orthodox Easter: in fact, many are taken to church to be blessed before they are presented at home. It is basically a mass of ‘cheesecake’ mix, set in a mold, and then decorated with flowers, cross shapes and other symbols. The mix itself can either be very plain, contain nuts and raisins, or even, as I have eaten in Ukraine, come with a colourful assortment of glace fruits through it.

Outside Eastern Europe, this dish presents some problems in the making: where to find the distinctive wooden mold, like an elongated pyramid; what kind of cheese to use in place of tvorog – similar to but not identical to our cottage or farmer cheese. Still, the recipe below should allow you to make an impressive and reasonably authentic paskha.

You will need:
1kg tvorog (cottage cheese, farmer cheese)
500g butter, softened
5 egg yolks
315g caster sugar
200ml smetana (sour cream)
A few drops of vanilla essence

This will obviously make a large paskha, so if the quantities alarm you, just reduce them in proportion, and use a smaller mold.
Optional add-ins
Raisins soaked in rum
Juice and rind of half a lemon
Chopped glace cherries
Flaked or ground almonds

Choose from the above list and add as you wish

First of all, you need to press the liquid out of the cheese. For this, put the tvorog in a muslin bag or fold it in a clean tea towel. Take two chopping boards, and place one on a surface at a slight angle (put something underneath one end to raise it up. Put the cheese on, place the other board on top, and finish off with something heavy to provide weight. You could use tins for this, for example. You now need to leave the cheese like this for several hours to allow the liquid to run off. Most books recommend 10-12 hours, but if pressed, you can get away with 5 or 6.

Place the pressed cheese in a large saucepan and mix in all the base ingredients bar the vanilla essence. Over a gentle heat, bring the mix to a low boil, stirring constantly. As soon as it begins to bubble, take it from the heat.

At this point, add the vanilla essence and any of the optional ingredients you are using. Leave to rest and cool a little, as you prepare the mold. For this, you need another piece of muslin or tea towel, and some kind of dish large enough to contain the paskha mix. This could be any deep dish, or even a clean flower pot (ideal for allowing any remaining liquid to seep out). Line the dish with the cloth, pour in the mix, and again, place something weighty on top. The paskha now needs to sit overnight to set, somewhere cool (I use my back porch, at this time of year it’s cool enough). The fridge is not recommended, as it will affect the texture.

The next day, remove the weight, put a plate on the mold and quickly invert it. Carefully remove the mold and then the cloth. Use nuts, raisins, crystallized or fresh edible flowers to decorate the paskha however you wish. It’s ready to serve!

Paskha is delicious, but very rich, so do serve it in small portions.

Priyatnogo appetita!