Curd cheese flat cake with forest fruit and pine nuts (egg-free)

As a Polish kid, I used to eat a lot of curd cheese. Sweet or savoury, everything tasted great with a little bit of this white, fluffy thing. I can tell it is quite hard to get a good curd cheese outside of Poland, so you can easily use ricotta as a substitute.  

With delicate, cheese bottom and tangy, moist fruits on top, this cake is a tribute to my childhood.

Ingredients for 25x30cm (9x12inch) pan:

CAKE

- 75g (1/3 cup) butter, melted and cooled
- 80g (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) xylitol or caster sugar
- 150g (5oz) curd cheese or ricotta
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt

FRUIT TOPPING

- 3 tbsp naturally sweetened peach jam
- 400g (13oz) fresh raspberries
- handful of fresh blackberries
- 3 tbsp pine nuts, slightly roasted


1. Preheat the oven to 170C/338F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, xylitol, curd cheese, cream and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until smooth and dense batter forms.

3. Line the pan with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly on the bottom of the pan and brush it with jam. Arrange the fruit on top and sprinkle everything with nuts.

4. Bake for 40 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Leave to cool completely before serving. The cake is not overly sweet so feel free to dust some powdered sugar on top.

BON APPÉTIT !