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Cottage Cheese Cake Recipe (Latvian Biezpienmaize)
The classic Latvian cottage cheese cake with a buttery crumb base and topping and a light, creamy filling lifted by whipped egg whites. Less sweet than cheesecake, distinctly tangy, and genuinely better the next day. Makes 18 squares in a 9 x 13 in pan.
Equipment
- Fine mesh sieve For draining the cottage cheese
- large bowl For the crumb and filling
- medium bowl For the egg whites
- Blender Or food processor, or immersion blender (for smoothing the cottage cheese) or a sieve and spoon to push it through
- Hand mixer Or stand mixer (for whipping the egg whites — a balloon whisk works too but takes longer)
- Spatula For folding the egg whites
- 9 x 13 in (23 x 33 cm) baking dish Pyrex glass or metal
- Clean tea towel or foil For covering while cooling
Ingredients
Crumb base and topping
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 250 grams
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter 130 g unsalted butter, softened but cool
- ⅓ cup white sugar 85g
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
Filling
- 1.5 lb full-fat cottage cheese 700 grams
- 3 large eggs separated
- ⅓ cup sugar 75 grams
- 2½ tbsp cornstarch 20 grams (or potato starch)
- 2½ tbsp sour cream 38 grams
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1¼ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
- ⅓ cup raisins, soaked and drained, optional 30-65 grams
Instructions
Drain the Cottage Cheese
- Put your cottage cheese in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and leave it to drain for at least an hour, ideally a few hours. The filling will not set properly if the cheese is too wet. After draining, push it through the sieve with a spoon or blend it smooth using a blender, food processor, immersion blender.
Make the Crumb for the Base and Topping
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add butter and rub in with your fingertips until fine, even crumbs form with no large lumps (or pulse in a food processor until the mixture looks like damp sand). The crumbs should hold together when pressed between your fingers.
- I use a 9 x 13 in (23 x 33 cm) baking dish. No need to grease it or line it if it's glass. If it's metal, then I line it with baking paper. Press two-thirds of the crumb mixture firmly into the base. And keep the rest in a bowl to use for the topping.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Make the filling
- Mix the smooth cottage cheese with egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla.
- If using raisins, soak in hot water for 10 minutes, drain and then pat dry. Toss in flour and set aside.
- In a clean, grease-free bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. They should hold a gentle curl but not be stiff.
- Fold egg whites into the cottage cheese mixture in three additions, using a large spatula with gentle sweeping strokes. Stop as soon as no white streaks remain.
Assemble the cottage cheese cake:
- Heat oven to 350°F (180°C / gas 4).
- Pour filling over and spread evenly. Scatter flour-covered raisins over the top and push them in with a fork. Take the remaining crumb mixture straight from the fridge and scatter on top.
- Bake 35-45 minutes until the top is golden and the center has just a slight wobble. Start checking at 35 minutes.
- Pull it out while the center still wobbles a very tiny bit.
- Remove from oven and cover loosely with a clean tea towel or foil. Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours, overnight is better.
- Slice with a clean knife, wiping between cuts.
Notes
Draining the cottage cheese: Drained weight varies by brand and batch (anywhere from 550–650 g from 700 g starting weight is normal). The filling will not set properly if the cheese is too wet. Drain for at least 1 hour, ideally longer.
Eggs: Use 3 eggs if your drained cottage cheese is around 550 g. Use 4 if it's still above 600 g after a long drain.
Raisins: Soak in hot water for 10 minutes, drain, and dry really well with a paper towel. Toss in a little flour before folding in. This keeps them from sinking to the bottom.
Cold crumbs: Keep the crumb mixture topping in the fridge until the moment you scatter it on top. Warm crumbs may dissolve into the filling.
Don't overbake: Start checking at 35 minutes. Pull it out while the center still has a faint wobble. It firms up overnight in the fridge. Overbaking is the main cause of cracking.
For the larger batch (30 x 40 cm / 12 x 16 in pan, makes 12–15 squares): Crumb: 2½ cups / 300 g flour, ¾ cup / 150 g butter, ½–⅔ cup / 100–120 g sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt.
Filling: 2.2 lb / 1 kg cottage cheese before draining, 5–6 eggs separated, ½ cup + 1 tbsp / 120 g sugar, 4 tbsp / 32 g cornstarch, 4 tbsp / 60 g sour cream, zest of 1 large lemon, 2 tsp vanilla, ⅓–⅔ cup / 50–100 g raisins optional. Baking time is the same.
Make ahead: genuinely better the next day. Bake the day before, refrigerate overnight.
Storage: keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Yeast dough version: some Latvian grandmothers make biezpienmaize with a soft yeast dough base rather than crumbs. The result is softer and more bread-like. Use a simple sweet enriched dough, press into the pan, add filling, rest 15 minutes, then bake.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 188kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 7gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 337mgPotassium: 92mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 261IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 61mgIron: 1mg
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