In Sweden we have a dish called ostkaka, which translates to "cheese cake". It should not be confused with the American cheese cake, A better name might be "curd cake".

This dessert was for a long time one of the things from Sweden I missed living in Texas. However, a few years ago I remembered that we made it in school (in Sweden home economics/cooking is a mandatory subject in Junior High School), and I found a recipe that worked for me. Over the last year I have been making this dish a number of times, and I have experimented a little to see what worked out.

Here is one variant of the recipe that I currently use.

Ingredients:

• 6-7 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or Splenda for a low carb/sugarfree version)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 lbs cottage cheese (small curd) – should be the regular version, not low fat
• Just over 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 oz finely chopped almonds
• 2 tsp almond essence

Topping:
Whipped cream
Jam (Cloudberry, Blueberry or Queens Berry, can be found at IKEA) or frozen (defrosted) fruit like strawberries, blackberries or blueberries.

Instructions:

• Beat eggs and sugar/Splenda with a mixer. Add almond essence and flour.
• Mix down half the cottage cheese. Add the chopped almonds and mix.
• Add the rest of the cottage cheese.
• Whip the cream, should be nice and solid. Fold it into the mix. Do not beat it or stir too vigorously.
• Pour in a buttered oven-safe dish.
• Bake in 350 degrees for about an hour (will not hurt to go over the time, I sometimes had to bake it for 75-85 minutes).

The consistency should be soft but solid all the way through.. The top surface should have a nice brown look, like in the picture below. Serve warm (but not hot) with berries/jam and additional whipped cream.