• 1 1/4 lb (550 g) curd cheese (room temperature)
  • 6 oz (175 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 4 hard-boiled yolks of egg
  • 1 whole raw egg
  • 3 tablespoons soured cream
  • 3 oz (75 g) crystallised pineapple (chopped)
  • 1 oz (2 5 g) finely chopped blanched almonds
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
  • 1 1/2 oz (40 g) caster sugar

This is a traditional Russian Easter delicacy – it can be eaten as a dessert, cut into thick slices and served with crisp biscuits, or spread on a cake or sponge biscuits.

You will also need a 5 1/2 inch (14 cm) diameter (top measure­ment) earthenware flower pot, scrubbed and sterilised in boiling water, and some muslin.

First place the curd cheese, unsalted butter, hard-boiled egg yolks and the whole raw egg together with 3 tablespoons of soured cream into a food processor. Blend it until it becomes silky smooth, then transfer it to a mixing bowl.

Now add the crystallised pineapple and blanched almonds to the blended cheese with the essence and sugar to taste.

Prepare the flower pot by lining it with damp muslin. Put in the muslin so it drapes over the edge of the pot and a little way down the sides. Now pour in the cheese mixture, fold the spare muslin in over the top and then weight it down with a saucer and a 1 lb (450 g) weight. Then put it on a soup plate and leave in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours to drain and compress. To serve, turn it out on to a serving plate, a stemmed one would be nice.