Estonian cuisine

Kohuke

A curd bar in chocolate glaze, the Estonian dessert from the fridge.

Prep
40 min
Cook
10 min
Total
50 min
Difficulty
Medium
Servings
12
Units

Ingredients

  • Curd cheesedry600 g
  • Buttersoftened100 g
  • Icing sugar120 g
  • Vanilla1 tsp
  • Cream60 ml
  • Dark chocolate300 g
  • Coconut oil30 g
  • Raisinsoptional60 g
  • Salt1 pinch

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

  1. 1

    Push the curd through a fine sieve twice, until not a single grain remains.

    15 min

  2. 2

    Beat the softened butter with the icing sugar, vanilla and salt until fluffy.

    8 min

  3. 3

    Combine the curd with the butter mixture and work in the cream to the body of a firm cream.

    8 min

  4. 4

    Fold in the raisins and shape twelve finger-sized bars.

    15 min

  5. 5

    Lay the bars on parchment and freeze them two hours, until solid.

    15 min

  6. 6

    Melt the chocolate with the coconut oil over a water bath until smooth and cool it to lukewarm.

    12 min

  7. 7

    Dip the frozen bars on two forks, let them drain and set them on parchment to harden.

    15 min

About the dish

The curd is sieved twice and worked with butter until completely smooth. Grain in a kohuke is unacceptable: the texture should be that of a firm cream.

The bars are frozen solid before glazing. Warm curd melts the chocolate from within and the coating comes out uneven and thick.

The glaze goes onto frozen bars with two forks and sets within seconds. You have to work fast: fifteen bars are glazed in five minutes.

Worth knowing

  • The curd has to be dry. A wet one will not hold its shape and the bar slumps as it is dipped.
  • Cool the chocolate to lukewarm but not to thickening. Hot, it runs off too thin; cold, it sits in a lump.
  • Kohuke are kept in the fridge and eaten cold. At room temperature the curd softens and the bar loses its shape.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories
320 kcal
Protein
12 g
Fat
20 g
Carbs
24 g

More from Estonia

  • MulgipuderA mash of potato and pearl barley with pork crackling. An Estonian dish recognised as a national symbol.
  • KamaA dessert of roasted mixed-grain flour stirred into kefir. Estonian breakfast and summer pudding at once.
  • VerivorstBlood sausage with pearl barley and marjoram, baked and served with lingonberry jam.