Småländsk ostkaka (Swedish curd cake)
70 min · 16 g protein · 162 cals / serving
Småland's centuries-old curd cake, baked the way most Swedes make it now: cottage cheese, eggs, milk and chopped almonds with a hint of bitter almond, baked until golden on top and softly set, like a rustic, barely sweet baked custard. Eat it lukewarm with strawberry or cloudberry jam.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp stevia, pure stevia powder (not a bulked spoon-for-spoon blend), or sweetener equal to 1/2 dl sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (bleached)
- generous 3/4 cup skimmed milk, 0.5% fat, fortified
- 3 1/4 cups cottage cheese 1.5%, lätt (1–1.5 %), from three 250 g tubs
- 1/4 cup chopped almonds, blanched, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp almond extract, bittermandelarom, or a few drops
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 1.5–2-litre ovenproof dish, about 9½ inch across.
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and stevia together, then whisk in the flour until smooth and gradually add the milk.
- Stir in the cottage cheese, chopped almonds and bitter almond extract. Pour into the dish.
- Bake on the middle shelf 55–65 minutes, until golden brown on top and set at the edges with a slight wobble in the centre. A knife in the middle should come out wet but clean, not milky.
- Leave to settle for 15–20 minutes and serve lukewarm, spooned from the middle, with jam.
Good to know
Isn't ostkaka made with cream?
Many family recipes add 1–2 dl grädde. It makes the cake richer and lowers the score; the lättmjölk version here is softer and fresher, and the jam and almonds carry the flavour.
What do I serve it with?
Strawberry or cloudberry jam is traditional, often with a spoonful of lightly whipped cream. Vanilla kvarg or fresh berries are good too.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. It keeps 3 days in the fridge; warm a portion for 30 seconds in the microwave, because ostkaka is at its best lukewarm.
Per
- Calories
- 116
- Protein
- (40%)
- 12 g
- Fat
- (33%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (27%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 5 g
- Fiber
- <1 g
- Sodium
- 242 mg
More desserts
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1293 kcal goes into the pot and 1237 g of ingredients comes out as about 1115 g of food: 116 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.