Grated chocolate-tvaroh cake
The chocolate-tvaroh slice is an indulgent combination
of rich cocoa and creamy filling that will keep you coming back again and again.
Strúhaný kakaovo-tvarohový rez
The chocolate-tvaroh slice is a combination of rich cocoa sponge and creamy tvaroh filling that can be introduced as the American brownie’s Slovak cousin. The chocolate sponge is recognizable, but what is tvaroh? In English, it's quark or Farmer’s cheese, and can usually be found at American grocery stores like Whole Foods. If you’re not able to track it down, a tvaroh substitute can be made using the ingredients listed below.
Storing & saving
Once baked, the cake is best eaten within 2-3 days.
Yields
One 9”x9” pan
Baking note
Most of us will not have access to ‘tvaroh’ (Slovak)'/’twarog’ (Polish) cheese, but farmer’s cheese or quark is available at Whole Foods or occasionally by request at your local grocery store.
Ingredients
My Slovak recipe provides ingredients in grams. I have converted them here, but sometimes theses conversions are not exact. If you do have access to a food scale, give it a try here using the gram measurements!
Dough
Sponge Cesto
2 1/2 c/300 g all-purpose flour 300 g hladkej múky
1 c/125 g powdered sugar 125 g práškového cukru
2 3/4 tsp/12 g/1 packet baking powder 1 prášok do pečiva
2 Tbsp/25 g cocoa (e.g. Hershey’s Cocoa powder) 25 g kakaa
pinch of salt štipka soli
1 stick + 1 Tbsp/190 g softened butter 190 g zmäknutého masla
1 egg yolk 1 žĺtok
Filling Plnka
2 egg yolks 2 žĺtky
3/4 c/150 g caster sugar 150 g kryštálového cukru
2 1/4 c/560 g Tvaroh (Farmer’s cheese/Quark) 560 g tvarohu
3 egg whites 3 bielky
pinch of salt štipka soli
You’ll need:
An 8”x8” or 9”x9” glass or metal baking dish
A mixer (especially for the egg whites)
To begin the dough, whisk dry ingredients together.
In a mixer, add the dry ingredients, softened butter and egg yolk and blend.
Put the finished dough into plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Babka says: The filling will take about 30 minutes
For the filling, combine the egg yolks and sugar with a mixer or stand mixer.
Add the tvaroh/farmer’s cheese/quark and blend.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form stiff, white peaks.
Very carefully combine the egg whites into the bowl of egg yolks, sugar and tvaroh.
Babka says: A metal spoon is best for this, as it will not cut out as much air from the whipped egg whites as a plastic or wooden instrument.
Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C then remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and divide into two parts.
The first part of the dough you will place on the bottom of the baking dish. If making a “crumble” cake, it doesn’t need to be a perfect layer!
Next, layer the tvaroh filling on top of the dough base.
Finally, for a crumble finish, grate the second portion of dough in a cheese grater to make a layer on the top. You can also place in one flat piece for a more even appearance as I did above.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Leave to cool completely before slicing and removing from the dish.
A word of caution
When combining dry, light ingredients like powdered sugar with butter or egg yolks, be sure not to make the same mistake that I did! Don’t turn the mixer directly on to medium or high speed; low and slow is the way to go…
