Sweet Cheese and Raisin Cake – (Vargabéles)

Sweet Cheese and Raisin Cake  -  (Vargabéles)
Ingredients (for 12 slices)
150 g vermicelli, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 4 eggs, 6 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3/4 cup sour cream, 1000 g hungarian curd cheese, 3 1/2 oz raisins, 1 heaping tablespoon semolina, rind of 1 lemon or orange, 1 package strudel leaves (6 pieces)
to bake:
3-4 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
to top:
confectioner’s sugar

Cook the vermicelli in lightly salted water. Strain and rinse with cold water. Beat the egg yolks with 4 tablespoons of sugar and the vanilla extract until thick but runny
(1 minutes with an electric whisk). Push the cottage cheese through a sieve, add to the eggs together with the raisings and semolina. Spice with the lemon rind and add the strained vermicelli. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, adding the sugar by spoonfuls towards the end. Carefully fold it into the cottage cheese and pasta mixture. Oil the inside of a large (8”x12”) baking dish. Line it with three layers of strudel leaves, sprinkling a bit of oil and breadcrumbs in between. Evenly spread the cheese mixture on top of it. Cover with the remaining strudel leaves, sprinkling oil and breadcrumbs on each of them. Bake in a pre-heated oven over a bit higher than medium heat (375 °F, 350 °F in air-convector ovens) for about 50 minutes. Let it rest for 20 minutes before cutting it into squares. Sift confectioner’s sugar on top before serving.

Preparation time: 1 hour 20 minutes
One slice: 1489 kJ/356 kcal