Pascha - sometimes called Russian Ice Cream

[technogypsy]

Okay this is a plea for help based on what I'm reading in Modernist Cuisine. Each year for Easter (Pascha), we make this cream cheese thing that's also called a Pascha. The recipe follows. Each year it sets randomly and other people in our area have the same experience. Some old timers think something changed as processed cheese have replaced homemade. The year I made my own farmer's cheese and cream cheese it worked well but I'm not organized enough to do that every year? Couldn't we use one of the main thickeners discussed in Modernist Cuisine to get the silly thing to set up right? It should be like a stiff cream cheese or hard ice cream consistency when its at RT. Mine is a puddle...a tasy puddle but still a puddle. I'm just not sure where to start. The term "Information Overload" comes to mind.

Here's the recipe:

8-oz pks. Cream Cheese

1/2 pint cottage cheese or farmer's cheese

1/4 pound sweet butter

1/4 cup confectionery sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

cheesecloth

clean flower pot about 6" in diameter.

With a mixer or food processor, blend the cottage cheese until it is smooth. Add the cream cheese and butter and blend until smooth. Add the two types of sugar and blend smooth. Add raisins, sliver almonds, candied fruits as desires. Line the flowerpot with three layers of damp cheesecloth. Pour in mixture. Put a weight on top (10 pounds is good) and let sit in the refrigerator until no more drainage is seen (at least 2 days). Remove from mold and unwrap cloth. Make an XB on it in sugared almonds. Serve with Pascha bread.

Any advice?

Kevin

[David A. Goldfarb]

I've had pascha, and I used to know someone who made it reliably every year, and somehow all those Russian grandmas have been making it for ages without modernist thickeners.

I suspect the problem is "cottage cheese or farmer's cheese." There's just way more moisture in cottage cheese, and the two are not interchangeable, and then there seems to be some variation among things called "farmer's cheese." Sometimes when I've wanted to make something with farmer's cheese, I've gotten "hoop cheese," which is a very simple, unprocessed, fairly dry, white farmer's cheese, which should be closer to what was used traditionally. Recently I got some farmer's cheese (twaróg) imported from Poland that didn't have too much moisture, so you might see if you've got East European or Russian markets in your neighborhood, if they have something that looks like farmer's cheese, and there's a fair chance it's more suitable than the stuff in the white package from the supermarket.

[technogypsy]

Dave

I've wondered about that. Problem is Dallas isn't rich in Eastern Europe grocery stores: I may need to handle it like I do keilbasa (sp). Buy when I visit the NE and just hope TSA doesn't steal my luggage for lunch.

The chemist in me still wants to figure out a way to "Modernist" it.

Thanks

K

[Karri]

My polish aunt makes pasha out of natural double cream yoghurt, curdles it with lemon juice and leaves it to drip on the table for a few days in a colander and something that is called a "pasha cloth", comes out perfect texture and it's this delicious creamy hard-ish stuff that melts in your mouth.

[Kouign Aman]

Drain it longer.