Cottage Cheese Bake Just Like in the USSR

A slice of cottage cheese bake for breakfast, drizzled with condensed milk, is one of the sweetest and brightest childhood memories. Tender, golden-brown, with a crisp crust, strictly one portion, and no seconds. Grab a whisk and make this school-canteen dish yourself — it takes very little time. Here is a classic recipe as close as possible to the Soviet GOST standard.

Ingredients

Cottage cheese (5–9% fat) — 500 grams (about 1.1 lb);

1 chicken egg;

Sour cream (15% fat) — 3 tablespoons;

Sugar — 4–5 tablespoons;

Semolina — 2 tablespoons;

Butter — 2 tablespoons (for the batter) plus a little for greasing the pan;

Raisins — 100 grams (3.5 oz; optional, can be replaced with candied fruit);

Vanilla sugar — 1 teaspoon (or a pinch of vanillin);

Salt — a pinch.

Preparation

If the cottage cheese is wet, squeeze it lightly through cheesecloth. Pour hot water over the raisins and leave for 20–30 minutes so they become soft and juicy. Take the eggs and butter out of the fridge in advance so they warm to room temperature.

In a deep bowl, mix the cottage cheese, egg, melted butter, sugar, salt and vanillin. Add the sour cream. Important: mash the mixture thoroughly into a creamy paste to break up all large lumps of cottage cheese. Ideally do this by hand or with a potato masher rather than a mixer, so the mixture is not over-saturated with air.

Add the semolina to the cottage cheese mixture and stir thoroughly. Then add the soaked and drained raisins, distributing them evenly through the batter.

Generously grease a heatproof baking pan (a rectangular one works best) with butter and dust the bottom and sides with a little semolina or breadcrumbs. This creates that thin crust and makes the bake easy to remove.

Spread the cottage cheese mixture into the pan and smooth the surface. Place in an oven preheated to 180°C (356°F) and bake for 40 minutes until an even golden color appears.

The hardest part is patience. The finished bake cannot be cut while hot, or it will fall apart. Leave it to cool right in the pan for at least 15–20 minutes. Only then cut it into neat rectangles.

Secrets of the ideal texture

The semolina needs to swell. If you have time, let the batter stand for 15–20 minutes after adding the semolina so the grains absorb moisture and the bake turns out fluffier.

In Soviet canteens, the cottage cheese for the bake was mashed by hand or put through a meat grinder to keep its characteristic grainy yet tender texture.

If the top starts to burn while the middle is still raw, cover the pan with foil and increase the baking time. Serve warm in portions, drizzled with sour cream, condensed milk or your favorite jam.

A few more nostalgic recipes

Just like at school: make those very sausages in pastry — a recipe for 20 (and not a single one will be left).

«Kartoshka» cake: a classic homemade recipe with that very taste from childhood.

Soviet-style meatballs in tomato-sour cream sauce: we found that very recipe from the past.