Name: Layered Cottage Cheese Cake
Yield: 16 Servings
Ingredients: Wheat Flour: 9 oz (255 g); Powdered Sugar: 7 oz (200 g); Egg Yolks: 5; Vanilla Sugar: ⅔ oz (20 g); Cottage Cheese: 14 oz (400 g); Vanilla Pudding: 3 oz (90 g); Sugar: 1 tbsp; Dark Chocolate: 7 oz (200 g); Butter: 10 oz (280 g); Eggs: 5; Baking Powder: 1 ½ tsp; Cocoa Powder: 1 tbsp; Sour Cream: 7 oz (200 g); Milk: 8 ½ fl oz (250 ml); Raspberry Jelly Crystals: 3 oz (90 g); Starch: 1 tbsp

Ingredients

Wheat Flour – 9 oz (255 g)

Powdered Sugar – 7 oz (200 g)

Egg Yolks – 5

Vanilla Sugar – ⅔ oz (20 g)

Cottage Cheese – 14 oz (400 g)

Vanilla Pudding – 3 oz (90 g)

Sugar – 1 tbsp

Dark Chocolate – 7 oz (200 g)

Butter – 10 oz (280 g)

Eggs – 5

Baking Powder – 1 ½ tsp

Cocoa Powder – 1 tbsp

Sour Cream – 7 oz (200 g)

Milk – 8 ½ fl oz (250 ml)

Raspberry Jelly Crystals – 3 oz (90 g)

Starch – 1 tbsp

Recipe

Placek or layered cottage cheese cake is a traditional Polish and Western Ukrainian festive pastry. It is a cross between a cake and a little pastry. Customarily, people prepare it on holidays in a large rectangular baking mold and then cut into portion-sized squares.

Cut into pieces, it looks rather impressive: beautiful, sophisticated, multi-colored, and multi-layered. Do not be afraid of the cooking process; although you will have to fiddle about with it for a while, the result will exceed all expectations. Follow the instructions from Cook It, and you will surely succeed.

Roughly, the process of making the layered cottage cheese cake can be divided into five steps: baking the base of the cake, baking the second sponge cake, preparing the cottage cheese layer, preparing raspberry cream, and finally, the assembly. For convenience, we recommend gathering all the necessary ingredients in advance: get the butter from the refrigerator, weigh the flour, sugar, and powdered sugar, separate the yolks from the whites. Also, make sure that all appliances and dishes are close at hand. You can purchase both vanilla pudding and raspberry jelly as a dry mix at any grocery store.

Steps

1 Done	Prepare Dough No. 1 To prepare dough No. 1, beat 2 ⅔ oz (75 g) of softened butter with 1 ¾ oz (50 g) of powdered sugar. Continuing to beat, add 1 egg yolk and 1 egg to the mass. Gradually add 5 ¼ oz (150 g) of flour, ⅓ oz (10 g) of vanilla sugar, and ½ teaspoon of baking powder, and stir well.
2 Done	Divide the dough into two parts. Distribute one evenly in a mold lined with parchment and put it in the oven for 15–20 minutes at 340 °F. Add cocoa powder to the second part of the dough, mix thoroughly, wrap it in a film and pop it in the freezer.
3 Done	Prepare Dough No. 2 Beat 3 ½ oz (100 g) of soft butter with 3 ½ oz (100 g) of powdered sugar. Continuing to beat, add 4 yolks, one at a time. Then gradually add 3 ½ oz (100 g) of flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ⅓ oz (10 g) of vanilla sugar. Line a baking mold with parchment, grease it with butter, and place the dough in it. Bake the sponge cake for 35 minutes at 360 °F. Remove from the oven and let cool.
4 Done	Prepare the Cottage Cheese Layer Separate the 4 remaining eggs into yolks and whites. Whisk the yolks with cottage cheese, sour cream, and 2 oz (60 g) of dry vanilla pudding. In a separate bowl, whisk the whites until stable peaks and gently combine them with the cottage cheese mass. Add 1 tablespoon of starch for thickness.
5 Done	Start Assembling the Cake Place the base of the cake in a deep parchment-lined mold the size of the cake. Spread the cottage cheese mass on top.
6 Done	Remove the chocolate dough from the freezer, knead it, roll into a sausage, and then cut into small pieces. Distribute the chocolate pieces on top of the cottage cheese layer. Pop the mold in the oven for 50 minutes at a temperature of 330–340 °F. Let cool.
7 Done	Prepare the Cream Combine the rest of the dry pudding mix with a third of cold milk. Mix the rest of the milk with sugar and bring to a boil. Pour hot milk into the pudding, mix, and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Transfer the prepared mass to another container, cover it with cling film, and let it cool to room temperature.
8 Done	Cover the dry raspberry jelly mix with 2 ½ fl oz (75 ml) of hot water, stir, and let cool to room temperature. Beat the remaining 3 ½ oz (100 g) of butter with a mixer. Gradually add the cooled pudding and raspberry jelly and beat until fluffy.
9 Done	Finish Assembling and Garnish the Cake Spread the resulting cream on the cooled cottage cheese layer. Cover with the sponge cake made from dough No. 2. Pop in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
10 Done	Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water. If the mass is too thick, add ⅔ oz (20 g) of butter. Pour the chocolate over the cake, garnish with crushed walnuts or coconut, if desired.

We recommend not skimping on the chocolate: when melted over a pan of simmering water, a poor-quality product can separate and distribute unevenly on the surface of the cake. If you don’t want to melt chocolate, prepare your go-to chocolate icing from cocoa. Say hello to your friends by sharing this recipe on social media! Have a delightful tea party!