Imperial Easter

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg farm cottage cheese
• 250 g farm butter
• 10 yolks
• 150 g powdered sugar
• 100 g roasted cashew nuts
• 100 g peeled roasted almonds
• 100 g candied orange peels
• 100 g dried pear
• 100 g "chocolate" dried apricots
• 60 g of dark and light small raisins
• 120–150 ml of rum
• 2 tbsp. l. vanilla sugar

Cooking

Step 1

Chop the nuts into pieces of different sizes. Cut candied fruits, dried pears and dried apricots into small identical cubes. Put these and all other dried fruits and all nuts in a plastic container, cover with rum and leave for at least 24 hours, maybe 72 hours.

Step 2

Squeeze the cottage cheese under a heavy press, putting it in a colander lined with a kitchen towel for at least 4 hours, then rub the cottage cheese through a fine sieve.

Step 3

Bring butter and egg yolks to room temperature. Beat butter with vanilla sugar with a mixer until fluffy. Separately, beat the yolks with powdered sugar until white.

Step 4

Combine cottage cheese with yolks, and then with whipped butter, continuing to beat with a mixer. The mass should be very airy. Add nuts and dried fruits to it (without liquid, if any) and mix with a spatula.

Step 5

Cover the form for Easter with cheesecloth soaked in cognac, lay out the curd mass in layers, cover the top with hanging edges of cheesecloth and refrigerate for 48 hours. Before serving, turn Easter on a dish, remove cheesecloth, decorate Easter as you wish.