As a Finnish ex-pat there are quite a few things I miss from my home country. I've listed some of them here before, but dairy products and cheeses are still amongst the most missed items on the list. Finnish buttermilk cheese is something I am, however, able to somewhat replicate here in Australia and I've wanted to experiment with it for a while now.
I adore cheese and that is probably why I got so obsessed with making this buttermilk variety at home. The texture resembles that of ricotta and on its own its very mild and quite tasteless. There are many versions of this cheese and it is surprisingly versatile, but it is ever so simple to make with just a few ingredients you most likely already have at home.
I used the same batch of cheese to make both sweet and savoury cheese (which I'll share with you another time) and I was very happy with the way it turned out! The sweetened cheese pairs beautifully with some oven roasted fruits and dried cherries. All you need is a bit of raw honey for sweetness and you have a lovely little dessert waiting to be relished.
Oven baked fruit with Finnish buttermilk cheese*
(recipe for the cheese adapted from Kotiruoka)
1 litre buttermilk
2 large free-range eggs
1,5 litres milk (low fat or full fat)
100g skim milk powder
(lemon juice)
1 tbsp raw honey
1 apple
1 pear
1 tbsp raw honey
dried cherries
Lightly beat the eggs and the buttermilk until well combined. In a large saucepan, heat the milk until warm (42C). Whisk in the milk powder and continue to heat until almost boiling. Take the saucepan off the heat and whisk in the buttermilk mixture. Cover the saucepan with a lid and leave in a warm place for about an hour. Add lemon juice (a few tablespoons) if there is no curd forming on top of the mixture. You will need to keep the mixture quite warm for this to happen. Once the mixture has curdled, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the curd and place it into a sieve lined with a cheese cloth and placed on top of a bowl. Cover the curd with the cheese cloth, place some weight on top and refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours or overnight. After this, sweeten the cheese with a tablespoon of raw honey.
Preheat oven to 170C. Cut the fruit into wedges and place in an oven dish. Drizzle the fruit with some raw honey and bake until tender. Serve the fruit with the buttermilk cheese and sprinkle with dried cherries.
*Note to the recipe. I made a whole batch of cheese and then divided it into two. For this sweet variety you will only need half of this amount.
PS. I have some exciting news to share with you! My first recipe for the brand new website called Honest Cooking has just been posted!! Go and have a look, I hope you like it!!
That is a great dessert¨Very healthy and delicious.
ReplyDeletecheers,
Rosa
Ihanat kuvat,ja tästä postauksesta muistinkin,miten hyvää piimäjuusto onkaan,ja miten pitkään aikaan en ole sitä tehnyt...
ReplyDeleteThis dessert sounds like perfection Maria. I will bookmark to try.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to go check out your recipe. I just found out about Honest Cooking yesterday!
Great news Maria, congrats :)
ReplyDeleteLove your photos too, are beautiful.I love this sort of desserts with roasted fruits.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful - congratulations! Looks like a great resource - and the the berry tart looks so yummy. As does this lovely fruit and cheese bowl, such a treat :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures, as always.
ReplyDeleteWe made a very similar dessert for a March themed dinner party - our pears were roasted with lavender sugar (yum), but we topped it all with plain ricotta (yours looks better). I think a hybrid recipe may be in order! :)
Sarah @ Two-Tarts
I would love desserts like this...light, but flavoursome!
ReplyDeleteMaria, thanks for stopping by. I am really enjoying your blog and recipes. I love the natural wood table, and your photos are stunning. This cheese sounds so interesting, and I wish I could jump right in and try some now. I am such a cheese fanatic! I think I'm going to like it here.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm off to check out your new space.
Wow, this looks wonderful. I lived in Finland for a couple of years and now that I'm back in the US, I miss the dairy products so much (almost as much as the candy!). I don't think I ever tried this cheese in particular, but I'm excited to make it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHow clever, making your own cheese, it sounds really interesting and i am sure its delicious.
ReplyDeleteLooks great - and congratulations on the published article!
ReplyDeleteThat's great news Maria! Looks like you're a full time cook now!
ReplyDeleteOh Maria, you are a woman after my own heart- I can never say no to cheese!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new gig, I look forward to catching you over there as well:)
xoxo
bianca
What a beautiful dessert Maria...love love baked fruits any which way.Congratulations on the publish.Love the last picture of honey!
ReplyDeleteIsn't everything just a little bit better with silky smooth and sweet local honey? This sounds like a lovely dessert. But, your Walnut And Coconut Crusted Berry Ricotta Tart published at Honest Cooking is irresistible. I can't wait to try it. Congratulations on such a nice publish at Honest Cooking!
ReplyDeleteThat looks so healthy and delicious!
ReplyDeletePanu misses his cheese as well! But I'm too lazy to make any hehehe... congrats on Honest Cooking!!
ReplyDeleteoh my god when are you making a cookbook?! Fantastic
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the feature! Your recipes are lovely and look so delicious so it's no wonder.
ReplyDeleteI love cheese, and this Finnish buttermilk cheese looks so good! Your photography is incredibly inspiring Maria!
Natasha xo
So great to see you on Honest Cooking, i will be contributing soon too. Awesome recipe. Love the cheese, is it made with filmjölk? I think you guys must have fil in finland.
ReplyDeleteThe cheese looks divine and such wonderful combinations of flavours there too! Congratulations on the article in Honest Cooking!
ReplyDeleteI love cheese! Congratulations, what a delicious recipe in the Honest Cooking magazine! Just great Maria!
ReplyDeleteOh, Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteYour pics are always so beautiful...
Hooray, well done on the Honest Cooking gig!!
ReplyDeleteLove these photos too. THere's just something strangely comforting about those honey thingies..
Beautiful as always...off to see your new site, how exciting!!!
ReplyDeleteCupcake
Congratulations! I saw the website, looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteSimple and healthy dessert or snack! Makes me feel guilty about my squares of chocolate I sneak in throughout the day =D
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!! And I think this would be amazing with the last of my raw leatherwood honey from Tasmania :)
ReplyDeleteI keep finding recipes I want to make here! This is one I will definitely try as I love to make homemade cheese.
ReplyDeleteMaria, I love how you always introduce us to Finnish dishes. This is yet another beautiful dish:) I have read your fist post on Honest Cooking, and I think you did a fabulous job. You go, girl!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Maria! That's wonderful news. Oven baked fruit with cheese is savored in my house. I need to make this soon!
ReplyDeleteI have been obsessed with Scandinavian design for months now, and just realized how your food styling has the influence. I really love this shots. And great recipe too! Congrats on the article!
ReplyDeleteHello fellow Honest cooking contributor :)
ReplyDeleteLovely blog, recipes, photos...looking forward to following your great work :)
Fabulous dessert and fabulous shots!
ReplyDeletePaljon onnea tuon hienon reseptin julkaisemisesta tuolla sivustolla :-)
ReplyDeleteThis really does look delicious. Your photos are really terrific today as well. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary
ReplyDeleteoh DELICIOUS! What a wonderful combination of flavors!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! Your feature on Honest Cooking is beautiful! This oven-baked fruit is gorgeous too!
ReplyDeletebig big grats to you for your feature in Honest Cooking!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a milestone! Congratulations ;) I love how to set and style all your photos, even for something so simple, it really pops! Really wonderful and very inspiring :)
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU so much for all your comments! I'm over the moon! :-) Maria x
ReplyDeleteHomemade cheese. How wonderful is that! Looks good enough for company brunch or to spice up a regular Sunday to make it extra special.
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