In 2015 we had a chance to spend the whole Christmas season in a Swedish restaurant in a specific part of the country called Småland, and of course, I've tried all the traditional dishes from the festive smörgåsbord: the julbord. One of my favourites was the dessert, called Ostkaka which literally means cheesecake. The recipe is very typical in a Swedish region called Småland.
Our host told me that it's not too easy to prepare this dessert because it requires a bit more time. You know I'm not afraid to jump into more time-consuming projects, and anyways... I wanted to eat this treat right here right now!
So I've ordered some cheese rennet, cheese clothes then successfully created some fresh cheese -which was more like a creamy curd- for this treat. The whole preparation is so easy including the cheesemaking, so no worries about how long it takes to make it, let's do it and enjoy the heavenly result which compensates for every single minute you invest in this project.
Ingredients
Ostkaka
- 2500 ml whole milk
- 4 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp cheese rennet
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 200 ml whipping cream
- 60 g almonds peeled, chopped
- 2 tsp almond extract
For serving
- Whipped cream
- Fruit
- Berry jam
Instructions
Fresh cheese
- Stir the flour in 200 ml milk.
- Heat up the rest of the milk till 37°C.
- Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the flour-milk mixture.
- Add the cheese rennet.
- Let the mixture rest for half an hour.
- Pour the mixture into a cheesecloth and keep it hung up overnight to let the whey drip out.
Ostkaka
- The next day, let's use a hand mixer to mix together eggs, sugar, cream, and almonds.
- Incorporate the fresh cheese.
- Pour the batter into an oven dish and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 175°C for an hour.
- Let it cool down a little bit then serve this lovely moist cake with fresh whipped cream, fruits and jam.
Ostkaka - The Swedish Cheesecake - Photo by © Reka Csulak
