Fluffy Curd Cake From Lithuania

Lithuanian Dessert

FLUFFY CURD CAKE

INGREDIENTS

½ cup milk
6 tablespoons semolina
3 eggs
3 tablespoons melted butter
5 tablespoons sugar
1 pound curds
¼ cup hard bread crumbs

SPECIAL UTENSILS

electric beater
8″ * 8″ casserole dish or casserole dish

PREPARATION

Serves 9. Takes 1 hour.

Add milk to medium mixing bowl. Add semolina. Set aside to let semolina swell. Separate eggs. Add butter and sugar to large mixing bowl. Mix with whisk or fork until sugar dissolves. Add egg yolks. Mix with whisk or fork until well blended. Crumble curds, if necessary. Add curds. Mix with whisk or fork until well blended.

Preheat oven to 370 degrees. Add milk/semolina to curd mix in large mixing bowl. Mix with whisk or fork until well blended. Add egg whites to small bowl. Use electric beater set on high. Whip egg whites until they form stiff beaks.

Spread bread crumbs into baking dish. Carefully pour semolina/curd mix into baking dish. Gently shake baking dish, or smooth with spatula, until mix is level. Carefully spoon egg whites onto semolina/curd mix. Bake for 30 minutes or until mix rises, hardens, and turn golden brown, or stick a toothpick in the center of the curd mix. If nothing sticks, it is ready. Serve warm.

TIDBITS

1) The game of dominoes remains the world’s most relaxing game. Sure, a nap loosens you up like nothing else can. But suppose you want it all? Let’s say you want to stay awake AND chill out. This is why we play dominoes. Modern dominoes uses black, solid tiles with white dots on them.

2) But back in 1919, the Lithuanian chef, Andrius Balkus, noticed that a square of his Fluffy Curd Cake looked like a gaming tile. Also, the tops of some of the squares seemed similar to each other while different to the rest. His Fluffy Curd CakesTM used the same rules as modern dominoes, But problems arose right away. People argued constantly about what the tops of the squares looked like. Also, game after game ended when hungry players ate the curd squares. We now play dominoes.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.