Winter holidays are almost here and I can’t wait to celebrate! Holiday preparation is already well underway and it can be stressful, but I love this hustle and bustle season: frenzied shopping, decorating homes and work places, buying delicacies and champagne, choosing and wrapping gifts for family and friends. I’m absolutely absorbed in the planning of New Year dinner. Shopping list is written, salads and starters are chosen, goose and turkey are waiting in the freezer. And certainly I couldn’t forget about desert. For me it’s an important and sweet part of the dinner. Any festive dinner should be finished with a perfect cake! Have you chose the one? What will be the sweet star on your table? Will it be traditional cake or pudding, that you make every year or a fancy cake, that you’ll order from a restaurant?
This year I’ll be making the vanilla cheesecake with cranberry or red currant compote. It sounds simple, but that’s exactly what we need this winter – delicious, smooth and tender cake. 🙂 But if you’re tired and bored from all traditional desserts, why don’t you try my festive cake recipe. It seems similar to cheesecake, but I used tvorog (cottage cheese) and sweet condensed milk, and its taste and structure became different. Bright cranberries on the top make this milky and sweet cake absolutely festive! Definitely all guests’ eyes will be on this cake!
If you noticed cranberries are small, because it’s Russian, they are smaller and juicier compare to American cranberries. Needless to say, you can use any cranberries you can find, or frozen cherries are also great here.
Cottage cheese and cranberry pie
A new take on the vanilla cheesecake, this cake will go down well on any occasion.
Ingredients
Crust
260g flour
160g butter
1 small egg
2-3 Tbsp caster sugar
1 egg yolk for brushing the pastry crust, optional
Filling
450g tvorog/cottage cheese
3Tbsp cream cheese, optional
3-4Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
2 large eggs or 3 small
2 tsp granulated sugar (or omit it and add more condensed milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp cognac or brandy, optional
3 Tbsp ground almonds
100-150g cranberries
almond flakes, for decoration
icing sugar, for decoration, optional
Preparation method
- Make the cake crust. Cover and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll out 3mm thick and cut a circle larger than 20cm (approx.26-28cm) baking pan. Bake blind in preheated 180C oven for 20 minutes. Then remove the weights, optionally brush with egg yolk, then return to the oven and bake for 5-6 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl beat eggs with condensed milk and sugar if using until the mixture is pale and sugar almost dissolved. Add vanilla, cognac, cream cheese and mix.
- If the cottage cheese is very crumble first mash it with a fork, then add to the filling mixture along with ground almonds, and stir to combine. Taste, add more condensed milk if it’s not enough sweet.
- Pour the filling into pastry crust. Arrange cranberries on top, and decorate with almond flakes.
- Reduce the heat to 170C and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the filling is set.
- Let it cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes, then carefully take out and put on a serving plate. Sprinkle with icing sugar, if desired.
- Enjoy!
milkandbun 
Yummmm! Looks delicious! 🙂
It is! Thanks for the comment and stopped by! 🙂
My pleasure 🙂
Oh wow it looks so divine! ❤
Thank you so much, Arielle! 🙂
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Ooooo I love the sound of this!
Thanks, girl! It is very tender and delicious cake! 🙂
Looks beautiful and so festive.
Thanks a lot! Red berries look dazzling on the milky pie top! 🙂
This looks dazzling, Mila. ❤ Thanks a lot for sharing this here at FF table. Happy FF. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. 🙂
Thanks so much, Jhuls! This delicious and pretty cake for all lovely bloggers at FF! 🙂
Have a great weekend, too!
This is stunning! And those cranberries are tiny, they look like the redcurrants we grow in the UK (although no doubt you have redcurrants which look different too!)
We always have traditional steamed Christmas pudding and Christmas fruit cake on the 25th, and people who don’t like dried fruit or brandy just have to put up with eating tangerines and chocolate instead! I should probably offer an alternative, and your dessert looks perfect for that 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Mandarine oranges and tangerines are associated with New Year/Xmas, so it’s really a good alternative to any dessert! 🙂
Christmas pudding is definitely a very popular dessert, I wish I could try steamed one. 🙂
Have a wonderful holidays, too, Trixpin! 🙂
Wow, so festive, so beautiful – it looks pretty healthy too with the cottage cheese and cranberries, will definitely have to try this 🙂
Thanks so much! The cake turned out really stunning, I love it too! 😀
Just gorgeous, so much better than a typical cheesecake, and perhaps a bit healthier too? A fantastic idea!! 🙂
Thank you, Bonnie! I’m not sure cakes can be healthy.. 😀 But, we can’t live without sweets, right? 🙂
What a gorgeous cheesecake. You really have such amazing presentation. I’m like you in that I like the hustle and bustle even though it’s overwhelming. There is something magical about this time of year. Enjoy!
And I can’t wait to get and unwrap presents! 😀
We still have to decorate, cook and bake for Christmas. This dessert looks so festive and delicious!
Oh yes, a grand cooking is coming! 🙂 Thank you for the comment, Helene!
A lovely festive cheesecake indeed! Lovely photos, have a wonderful Christmas holiday.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting! Have a great and joyful holiday too!
Reblogged this on Cappuccino and commented:
Berry time…
Thanks a lot for stopping by and re-blogging! 🙂
Your cheesecake style pie looks absolutely beautiful 😀
I love your photos and it would be perfect for the festive season!
Happy Holidays!
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you for the friendly comment, chocolate girl! 😀
Have a wonderful holidays, too!
This pie looks gorgeous!
Thank you so much, Sarah! If you are a cheesecake fan, you should try out this recipe, it tastes absolutely amazing!
Merry Christmas!
I am so I definitely will! 😀
Merry Christmas!
Never would have thought of cottage cheese as one of the ingredients. It sounds so delicious and looks so pretty! Perfect!
Thanks for the visiting and commenting! You can substitute cottage cheese with ricotta, but the last one is more smoother. 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Oh my goodness! I almost missed visiting you before and I am so glad I came back! Boy this looks absolutely a stunning dessert. I love desserts with any kinds of berries and here the cranberries with the cottage cheese sounds like a perfect combination! Yum! thanks for bringing this beautiful dessert to Fiesta Friday this week! 🙂
I’m always glad to see you here, Indu! 🙂 You are right about the cake – it tasted awesome! Hope you give it a try, let me know.. 🙂
Have a lovely holidays!
This cake looks delicious- on my list of things to eat after Christmas 🙂 Have lovely Holidays with your family and friends !
Thank you so much, Marta! I wish you and your family a very bright and happy Xmas and holidays too! ❤
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Yummmy this one looks mila! Looks like a cheesecake from cafe, as in doesn’t look like it is homemade. Well done. 🙂
Thank you so much for your warm and kind words, Sadia! I made a big effort to make it perfect. 🙂
Your photos are gorgeous. The pie looks just gorgeous as well – great work 🙂
Thanks a lot! I wish I could share a slice of this pie with you! 🙂
you have a lot of fantastic recipes and make really wonderful photos
Thank you, Taphian! I’m glad you found my blog and liked it! Don’t forget to subscribe to get new posts regularly! 😉
Mila
I’m such a sucker for dairy filled desserts! and this one has condensed milk too! It just threw me over the top 🙂 Love your pictures they lovely and so vibrant!
Just found that I didn’t reply you.. I’m really sorry! So, I’m wondering now: have you tried to prepare this cake/pie? Hope you liked it as much as I did! 😀
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