If you are a cheesecake fan, you definitely need my cheese Paskha recipe! It’s the prettiest and most fragrant no-bake cheesecake ever!
For another Easter cheesecake, take a look at our Lemon Curd Cheesecake or feel free to explore our Easter recipe collection.
I’ve been sharing so many sweets lately, which is not really me but when an occasion like a major holiday or a birthday call for it I have to oblige. Hence, a slew of cakes and other desserts have been appearing on Vikalinka.
This sweet cheese pugging Paskha, aka no bake cheesecake, I am sharing today is not known in this part of the world but very traditional for Russia and Ukraine during Easter holiday, which is happening this Sunday.
That’s right religious holidays are on a slightly different schedule in Orthodox church. I made this pudding a few weeks ago for Easter but I thought it would be fitting to share it now when it will be enjoyed by those celebrating according to the Orthodox calendar.
What is Paskha?
If I had to describe it in one word, I would say paskha or sometimes spelled as Pashka is a no bake cheesecake.
What is so cool about this dessert is the mold it’s made in, which gives it this unusual shape. The mold is traditionally made out of wood and not so easy to come by nowadays.
I’ve wanted to make and blog this recipe ever since I started Vikalinka but I didn’t know where to look for the mold. This year Brad did a search for me and found this plastic one, which he ordered from Ukraine.
It worked absolutely beautifully! It’s also more practical than a wooden one for rainy England where things tend to go moldy! (Pun intended)
How do you make Paska?
Traditionally this cheese pudding is made with a blend of farmer’s cheese, called Tvorog in Russian, fresh eggs, sugar and dried fruit and nuts. I however, modified the recipe by omitting the eggs for food safety reasons and ditching dried fruit and nuts for “we hate them” reasons.
Okay I don’t hate all dried fruit and I definitely don’t hate nuts but I don’t like them in baked goods. I also think the texture of this cheese pudding, which is like a cheesecake, clashes with fruit and nuts.
To compensate for those ingredients I added vanilla bean, creme fraiche and lemon zest and juice. We absolutely loved the result, served with blackcurrant preserves my Paskha still tasted very authentic and crazy delicious!
What is farmer’s cheese or tvorog?
If you are not familiar with farmer’s cheese you should definitely give it a go. It’s very similar to Italian Ricotta but has slightly bigger curds and a little bit of a tang.
In the UK it could be purchased in Sainsbury’s, Tesco and any Polish, Lithuanian or Russian shops.
It also very easy to make at home and you can find the recipe for Tvorog on this lovely blog Natasha’s Kitchen.
Enjoy!!
More Russian Easter recipes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs farmer's cheese Tvorog
- 175 ml/ ¾ cup creme fraiche
- 150 g/ ⅔ cup unsalted butter
- 300 g/ 1.5 cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean seeds scraped out
- 1 lemon zest and juice
Instructions
- Zest a lemon and juice it, split the vanilla bean and scrape out seeds.
- In a food processor combine farmer's cheese, creme fraiche, softened butter, sugar, vanilla bean seeds and zest and juice of one lemon. Process until silky smooth.
- Turn the Paskha mold upside down and set inside a bowl, line it with cheese cloth so the ends are long enough to cover the bottom of the mold. Transfer the cheese mixture into the mold, pack it tightly to avoid air bubbles.
- Cover the top with cheese cloth and set a plate on top of, which then should be weighed down with something heavy like a mason jar filled with water.
- Refrigerate for at least 10 hours. When the cheese pudding is ready to be unmolded you should see some liquid from farmer's cheese at the bottom of the bowl. This means the cheese pudding is sufficiently drained and will be able to hold its shape.
- Uncover the base of cheese pudding from the cheese cloth and place a plate directly on top of cheese, then invert the cheese pudding while still in the mold onto a serving plate, gently pull the mold off the cheese pudding and then remove the cheese cloth.
- Serve with any fruit preserves and whipping cream if desired.
FW says
My uncle used to make this for Easter (my grandmother and great-grandmother were born in St Petersburg and Riga, respectively). In the absence of a mold he would always use a clean terracotta flowerpot lined with muslin. His would have been beautifully decorated with candied fruit and almonds. I had a go last Easter. Lovely memories.
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
It’s so lovely for you to keep the tradition going! 🙂
Nancy Forest says
After 31 years in the Orthodox church, learning all about the various customs and foods, I finally found a paskha recipe that even my Russian friends would be proud to serve. Thank you! And I made my own tvorog too. I used a wooden paskha mold that my husband was given many years ago on a trip to the USSR by his generous host. It must be a hundred years old.
vikalinka says
Thank you for sharing that, Nancy. I am thrilled you loved this Paskha recipe.
KK says
This is such a beautiful paskha! I love that it’s no bake cheese pudding and that mold is absolutely beautiful.
Dina says
What a delicious Easter treat! I love how you left out the dried fruit. I also don’t like the texture of dried fruit in paskha.
Alli says
What would be the best thing to make this paskha in if you didn’t have one of the special moulds please?
vikalinka says
Hi Alli, great question! If you want to preserve the original shape you can make it on a new flower pot. The hole at the bottom is great for draining excess liquid. Otherwise, you can always make Paskha in a springform pan. Just make sure you drain the cheese first in order for it to set properly. Good luck!!
Mark says
Amazing
Teresa S says
We call it as a pasha in Finland. And its quite traditional treat during Easter. Your pasha looks wonderful! I love your fox plates.
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
Love this! Always love learning about different cultural foods 🙂