Easter from Elena Bon "According to the recipe of my grandmother"

Description

In Easter, which I suggest you cook, the tastes of creamy vanilla and chocolate curd masses with walnuts and raisins are harmoniously combined. My grandmother, Belova Zinaida Petrovna, always made it for the holiday, and this dessert for me is one of the pleasant childhood memories. PS I want to emphasize that since the ingredients of the dish are not cooked, it is extremely important to use only high-quality and very fresh products and carefully follow the rules of hygiene so that germs do not get into the finished Easter. Only then will it be well stored and will delight you and your loved ones.

Cooking

Step 1

Remove 150 g of butter from the refrigerator in advance (2-3 hours before cooking Easter) so that it becomes very soft, creamy, or soften it in the microwave immediately before cooking.

Step 2

Prepare clean gauze and a bean bag. Place the beaker in a deep plate or any other container so that, with its pegs resting on the edges of the latter, the base does not touch the bottom of the container. If you don’t succeed in doing this, just put the pastry bowl on a plate (in this case, the top of the finished Easter will be flat, not convex). In this recipe, I use a whole plastic jar from imported cottage cheese with a strainer inside, so I don’t install it anywhere else. Then lay the form with the previously prepared clean, slightly damp gauze or cloth, while trying to ensure that the hanging ends of the gauze / cloth do not come into contact with the table.

Step 3

Now proceed directly to the preparation of Easter. Ignite the walnut kernels in a frying pan for 3-5 minutes. in a preheated oven or over an open fire (in the second case, stirring often so as not to burn). Then, if possible, peel the nuts from a thin skin, chop coarsely and grind with your hands until oily (optional).

Step 4

Sort the raisins, if necessary, rinse with warm, then cold tap water, pour boiling water for a few minutes, then drain the latter through a sieve, and dry the raisins on a paper towel. Or (if you are making Easter for adults only), pour the washed raisins with cognac, close the container with a lid or foil and leave until consumed.

Step 5

If you are using a vanilla bean in the recipe, cut it in half with a sharp knife and scoop out the pulp. Add it to sugar. Pour boiling water over the Easter mixing bowl, spoons and sieve for hygiene reasons.

Step 6

If you use egg yolk in the recipe, wash the egg thoroughly with warm soapy water to remove dirt and germs from its surface. Separate the yolk from the white manually or with a separator. The latter is not needed in the recipe. With a spoon, rub the yolk with sugar and the pulp of the vanilla pod (or vanilla sugar), add the softened butter.

Step 7

If you do not use an egg in the recipe (as in my photo), then first carefully rub the butter with sugar and vanilla. Then add the cottage cheese, rubbing it into a bowl with a spoon (ideally a wooden one) in small portions through a fine sieve. Mix everything until smooth.

Step 8

Divide the resulting curd mass into two unequal parts: in a smaller one (weighing about 200 g and accounting for about ⅓ of the total mass), add cocoa, sifted through a sieve, and coarsely chopped nuts; put raisins in the other. Mix each part. Note: you can also divide the mass into equal parts, then the dark mass will have a slightly less pronounced chocolate flavor.

Step 9

Now start shaping Easter. In the form prepared in advance for it, lay out, alternating with each other, two types of curd mass. From above, close the future Easter with the free ends of gauze / fabric and, gently sealing it on top with your hands, cover with an additional two layers of plastic food wrap, then place a load on top (weighing at least 200 g, for example, a can of canned food, a package of dried fruits or something else ). Put the form in the refrigerator (ideally in a compartment with a temperature of about 0 ° C) along with a plate (so that the whey flows there, which must be drained as it accumulates) for about 48 hours. After 6-10 hours, it is advisable to increase the load to 400-800 g, or from time to time take Easter out of the refrigerator and, for a better outflow of whey, tamp it with your fingers without removing the plastic film.

Step 10

Put the finished Easter on a serving dish, to do this, remove the film, unfold the ends of the gauze / fabric, cover everything with a dish and turn Easter along with the form onto it. Remove the form and gauze / fabric. You can decorate the finished Easter according to your taste, for example, put the letters ХВ (Christ is Risen) on top with marmalade, raisins or candied fruits. Then close it with a washed plastic jar in which you made Easter, but without a strainer, or with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until consecration or use.

Step 11

Ready Easter is best cut into portions with a sharp knife, the blade of which must first be held in boiling water for some time, then wiped dry with a paper towel and immediately (still hot) used for its intended purpose.

Step 12

It is advisable to consume the finished Easter within 2-3 days after consecration, and store all this time only in the refrigerator (best at 0 ° C) in a closed container.