The last week brought with it some interesting changes for me. First, I was told it was time to stop listening to Christmas music (worst.day.ever.). Then, I left my beloved Colorado to start a new semester of school in dismal New Haven (also pretty lame). But before any of that nonsense, I did something really amazing. I recreated one of my all-time favorite Hungarian treats. It's called turo rudi. It's amazing. Those of you who don't already know/love turo rudi may not understand, but it's actually a deathly serious subject. For the realz. In the last three years, at least three people have been shot by people attempting to steal these babies. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm surprised it was only three....There's something seriously addicting about that sweet Hungarian turo (kind of like ricotta) dipped in chocolate. "Cheese dipped in chocolate? Yikes! That's not the most appealing prospect!" If you're thinking this, you're wrong. It is the *most* appealing prospect.
Unfortunately turo rudi can't be purchased stateside. Neither can turo. But I was having some serious cravings, and those details were not going to stop me. So I spent a couple of hours working to concoct something that would resemble my beloved treat. The result wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn good.
To get the desired consistency, I let the ricotta and cottage cheese steep in cheese cloth the night before my turo adventure began. The next morning, I mixed equal parts cottage, cream, and ricotta cheese in our blender. I added some powdered sugar (to taste), lemon zest, a tiny bit of lemon juice and a few drops of vanilla. The result was uber tasty, but too smooth for my purposes. I dumped everything out and added some more steeped ricotta and cottage cheese. It had to be solid enough to mold, so I added a little more powdered sugar, too. I still wasn't wholly satisfied with the consistency, so I threw in some goat cheese. The mixture was really tasty, but still a little too liquid-y to be dipped in chocolate. Instead of adding more sugar, I used an ice cream scoop to spoon the mixture onto a cookie sheet (covered with parchment paper) and froze my little globs. It took about an hour for the patties to solidify. After they froze the real magic started. I dipped each one in melted chocolate and waited for them to harden. And oh snap were they good!
I wish I had pictures, but they were all gobbled up before I had a chance to photograph them.... Kimber wasn't totally convinced that the goat cheese was a good call, but I'll leave that up to your discretion.
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Ingredients:
Ricotta
Cream cheese
Goat cheese
Cottage cheese
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
Vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips (or any good chocolate which hardens well)
To get the desired consistency, I let the ricotta and cottage cheese steep in cheese cloth the night before my turo adventure began. The next morning, I mixed equal parts cottage, cream, and ricotta cheese in our blender. I added some powdered sugar (to taste), lemon zest, a tiny bit of lemon juice and a few drops of vanilla. The result was uber tasty, but too smooth for my purposes. I dumped everything out and added some more steeped ricotta and cottage cheese. It had to be solid enough to mold, so I added a little more powdered sugar, too. I still wasn't wholly satisfied with the consistency, so I threw in some goat cheese. The mixture was really tasty, but still a little too liquid-y to be dipped in chocolate. Instead of adding more sugar, I used an ice cream scoop to spoon the mixture onto a cookie sheet (covered with parchment paper) and froze my little globs. It took about an hour for the patties to solidify. After they froze the real magic started. I dipped each one in melted chocolate and waited for them to harden. And oh snap were they good!
I wish I had pictures, but they were all gobbled up before I had a chance to photograph them.... Kimber wasn't totally convinced that the goat cheese was a good call, but I'll leave that up to your discretion.
