Recipe for making “Tears of an Angel” cake at home

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: step-by-step recipe

The dessert is based on thinly rolled shortbread dough. The middle layer consists of a delicate curd mass, and the top layer is made of protein soufflé, baked to a caramel crust.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: example of portion serving

Total number of products needed

• Vanilla sugar - 10 g
• Semolina – 25 g
• Butter - 80 g
• Wheat flour - 160 g
• Baking powder or baking powder - 5 g
• Granulated sugar or powdered sugar - 340 g
• Sour cream of any fat content - 100 g
• Cottage cheese of any fat content and consistency - 500 g
• Chicken egg - 4 pcs.

Step 1: preparing the sand base

Important: The classic ratio of flour, butter and sugar (powdered sugar) for making shortcrust pastry or, as it is commonly called among professionals, sablée dough: 2:1:1.

The recipe for the shortbread base for the “Tears of an Angel” cottage cheese pie retains the classic ratio:

• Premium wheat flour - 160 g. If desired, you can use whole grain flour, adding it in the following ratio: 80 g premium flour and 80 g whole grain flour.
• Chilled butter - 80 g. Do not use frozen butter under any circumstances, since low temperatures change the structure, and therefore the properties, of the product.
• Granulated sugar or powdered sugar - 80 g.
• Baking powder or baking powder - 5 g.
• Egg yolk - 1 pc.
• To bind the dough, you may need a little chilled sour cream (mayonnaise, yogurt, kefir) or ice water. The use of additional liquid is especially important when using whole grain flour.

How to cook:

1. In a convenient container, mix all dry ingredients: flour, sugar/powder, baking powder. If the ambient temperature is high enough, it is advisable to pre-cool the ingredients in the refrigerator.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: preparing shortcrust pastry for the base (step 1)

1. Place chopped chilled butter into the dry mixture and quickly grind all the ingredients into crumbs. Ideally, you should end up with butter peas in a flour coating. During the baking process, when heated, the oil will separate the flour, giving the dough a characteristic sandy texture.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: preparing shortcrust pastry for the base (step 2)

1. In a separate container, thoroughly mix the yolk and 1 tbsp. additional liquid. Add the resulting liquid mixture to the butter-flour crumbs. Knead the dough quickly. Add a little more cold liquid if necessary. Knead thoroughly and quickly. Be careful: do not knead the shortbread dough for too long. A quick kneading of the dough provides the baked shortbread base with a delicate structure.

Important: the finished shortbread dough should not stick to the work surface! If it sticks, it means it's overheated. As a result, the butter began to melt and be absorbed into the flour.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: ready-made shortcrust pastry

1. Many pastry chefs advise cooling the dough ball before starting to form the shortbread. However, cooling the dough at this stage makes the subsequent rolling process more difficult. That is why you should roll out the dough immediately after kneading. The most convenient way to do this is to place the dough between two layers of plastic wrap.

Tip: The film should be lifted periodically to avoid folds and wrinkles during the rolling process.

Curd pie “Angel's Tears”: shaping the shortbread crust

1. The diameter of the rolled out cake should be 3-4 cm larger than the diameter of the shape you have chosen. The thickness of the dough should not exceed 3 mm. This MK uses a springform baking pan with a diameter of 26 cm.

Tip: Before using, line the bottom of the pan with baking paper (parchment). This will make it much easier to remove the delicate dessert from the mold.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: checking the diameter of the mold and the diameter of the rolled out layer of dough

1. Remove the top layer of cling film and transfer the dough to the pan.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: transferring the dough into a mold

1. Carefully, trying not to tear the layer, place the dough in the mold, remove the remaining film and trim the sides. Place the form with the dough in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. This will allow you to bake the base of the pie without any weight.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: removing the second layer of film from the dough
While the dough is cooling, prepare the mixture for the curd layer of the pie.

Step 2: preparing the curd layer

Important: all products for preparing the curd layer must be at room temperature!

What to cook from:

• Cottage cheese – 500 g
• Sour cream – 100 g
• Chicken yolk - 3 pcs.
• Granulated sugar or powdered sugar - 200 g
• Vanilla sugar - 10 g
• Semolina – 25 g

How to cook:

1. If you are using cottage cheese

• pasty - just rub it lightly with a spoon;
• grainy - rub it through a sieve or mince it.

Tip: Don't use a blender. Blending saturates the curd mass with oxygen. During baking, the mixture may swell, crack, and collapse as it cools. That is why the curd mass for cheesecakes is prepared manually.

1. Add sour cream, yolks, vanilla and regular sugar to the cottage cheese and thoroughly grind into a homogeneous mass. Try to ensure that the granulated sugar is completely dissolved. Thicken the filling with semolina. Mix thoroughly again, cover to prevent airing and leave to rest. The mixture should stand for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. During this time, the semolina will swell, absorbing excess moisture.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: preparing the curd mass

Step 3: Baking the Sand Base

1. Preheat the oven to 180⁰C. Remove the well-frozen dough pan from the freezer and place in the oven.
2. Bake the base for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden on the edges.

In the photo: on the left - frozen dough before baking, on the right - ready-made sand base

Tip: if you notice any swelling in the dough during baking, carefully pierce the area of ​​the swelling with a toothpick.

Step 4: baking the curd mass

1. Reduce the oven temperature to 160⁰C.
2. Place the settled curd mass on the hot sand base and distribute it evenly.
3. Place the pan back into the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the curd layer has set.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: distribution of curd mass over a sand base
1-2 minutes before the curd layer is ready, start preparing the protein soufflé.

Step 5: preparing protein soufflé

What to cook from:

• egg white - 4 pcs.
• granulated sugar - 50-60 g

How to cook:

1. Beat the whites (without sugar) until soft peaks form. Increase the mixer speed gradually, starting from minimum speed.
2. Once you can form a soft peak on the surface of the protein mass, start adding sugar (in small portions).

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: egg whites, whipped to soft peaks

1. Beat the whites until the sugar is completely dissolved and stable peaks form.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: egg whites, whipped to stiff peaks

Important: the protein mass should not be too smooth and glossy!

Step 6: Baking the Protein Soufflé

1. Remove the pan from the oven. Check the degree of readiness of the curd mass: it should become quite dense.
2. Place the protein soufflé on the hot curd mixture. Spread the beaten egg whites evenly, forming nice ridges.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: distribution of protein mass over the surface of the dessert

1. Return the pie to the oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes at 160⁰C. A light caramel tan on the protein souffle will indicate the readiness of the pie.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: protein soufflé before baking

Important: the darker the “tan” of the protein soufflé, the darker the tears that appear later will be.

Curd pie “Tears of an Angel”: protein soufflé after baking

Step 7: achieving the appearance of “tears” on the surface of the soufflé

1. Remove the pie from the oven. Due to a sharp temperature change, the soufflé may fall a little, but this process is inevitable.
2. Turn off the oven heat and ventilate it a little.
3. Return the cake to the slightly cooled oven, close the door and leave the dessert until it cools completely. The first drops begin to appear on the surface of the pie after 1.5-2 hours from the moment of preparation.

Curd pie “Angel's Tears”

Cake “Tears of an Angel”: recipe

You can make the Tears of an Angel dessert using the basic recipe. Or you can use a slightly different recipe. The result will be no less tasty. Only the angel in this case will be dark due to the sand base with cocoa.

Cake “Tears of an Angel” with chocolate flavor

Total number of products needed

• Wheat flour - 200 g
• Butter - 100 g
• Granulated sugar or powdered sugar - 300 g
• Baking powder or baking powder - 10 g
• Chicken egg - 4 pcs.
• Cocoa powder - 50 g
• Cottage cheese of any fat content and consistency - 400 g
• Sour cream of any fat content - 200 g
• Vanilla sugar - 10 g
• Corn starch - 90 g

Step 1: Making the chocolate shortbread base

What to cook from:

• Premium wheat flour - 200 g
• Chilled butter - 100 g. Do not use frozen butter under any circumstances, since low temperatures change the structure, and therefore the properties, of the product.
• Granulated sugar or powdered sugar - 100 g.
• Baking powder or baking powder - 10 g.
• Cocoa powder - 50 g
• Whole egg - 1 pc.
• To bind the dough, you may need a little chilled sour cream (mayonnaise, yogurt, kefir) or ice water.

Tip: If you don't want to use cocoa powder, increase the amount of flour you use by 50g.

How to cook:

1. In a convenient container, mix all dry ingredients: flour, sugar/powder, baking powder, cocoa powder. If the ambient temperature is high enough, it is advisable to pre-cool the ingredients in the refrigerator.
2. Place chopped chilled butter into the dry mixture and quickly grind all the ingredients into crumbs.
3. Add an egg into the butter-flour crumbs. Knead the dough quickly. The dough should come together into a ball, but at the same time remain quite crumbly. Add a little cold liquid if necessary. Be careful: do not knead the shortbread dough for too long. A quick kneading of the dough provides the baked shortbread base with a delicate structure.
4. Line the bottom of a springform pan (diameter 26 cm) with parchment/baking paper. Using your hands, spread the dough evenly over the bottom and sides of the pan (the height of the sides is 4-5 cm).
5. Place the form with the dough in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

While the dough is cooling, prepare the mixture for the second curd layer of the cake.

Step 2: preparing the curd layer

Important: all products for preparing the curd layer must be at room temperature!

What to cook from:

• Cottage cheese - 400 g
• Sour cream – 200 g
• Chicken yolk - 3 pcs.
• Granulated sugar or powdered sugar - 150 g
• Vanilla sugar - 10 g
• Corn starch - 90 g

How to cook:

1. If you are using cottage cheese

• pasty - just rub it lightly with a spoon;
• grainy - rub it through a sieve or mince it.

1. Add sour cream, yolks, vanilla and regular sugar to the cottage cheese and thoroughly grind into a homogeneous mass. Try to ensure that the granulated sugar is completely dissolved. Thicken the filling with starch. Mix thoroughly again.

Step 3: Baking the Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 160⁰C. Remove the mold with the well-cooled dough from the refrigerator. Place the curd mixture on the sand base and distribute it evenly.
2. Bake the dessert for 50-60 minutes until the curd layer sets.

1-2 minutes before the curd layer is ready, start preparing the protein soufflé.

Step 4: preparing the protein soufflé

What to cook from:

• egg white - 3 pcs.
• granulated sugar - 50-60 g

How to cook:

1. Beat the whites (without sugar) until soft peaks form. Increase the mixer speed gradually, starting from minimum speed.
2. Once you can form a soft peak on the surface of the protein mass, start adding sugar (in small portions).
3. Beat the whites until the sugar is completely dissolved and stable peaks form.

Step 5: Baking the Protein Soufflé

1. Remove the pan from the oven. Check the degree of readiness of the curd mass: it should become quite dense.
2. Place the protein soufflé on the hot curd mixture. Spread the beaten egg whites evenly, forming nice ridges.
3. Return the pie to the oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes at 160⁰C. A light caramel tan on the protein souffle will indicate the readiness of the pie.

Step 6: achieving the appearance of “tears” on the surface of the soufflé

1. Remove the pie from the oven. Due to a sharp temperature change, the soufflé may fall a little, but this process is inevitable.
2. Turn off the oven heat and ventilate it a little.
3. Return the dessert to the slightly cooled oven, close the door and leave to cool completely. The first drops begin to appear on the surface of the pie after 1.5-2 hours from the moment of preparation.

How to beautifully decorate and serve a cake

The “Tears of an Angel” cake does not need any complex or additional decoration. Its decoration will be caramel droplets of condensation appearing on the surface of the soufflé. “Teardrops” have one peculiarity: they prefer to appear in depressions and depressions on the surface, which allows you to create interesting patterns from them on dessert.

For example, you can smooth out the egg foam perfectly and then use a bamboo skewer to draw a spiral on the surface. Then the droplets of “tears” will also be arranged in a spiral. Using a pastry tip, you can form roses on the surface, then the droplets on them will look like dew.

But even without special equipment, by scooping out the meringue with a spoon and using it to form chaotic waves on the surface, you can get a beautiful dessert. You can serve the cake whole, or pre-cut into portions.

How to cook the “Tears of an Angel” pie in a slow cooker?

Any of the recipes suggested above can be used in a slow cooker.

Pie “Tears of an Angel”, cooked in a slow cooker

The baking process consists of the following steps:

1. The multicooker bowl should be lined with baking paper, leaving high enough edges with which you can remove the dessert from the mold without violating its integrity. Please note: the photo below shows too little parchment stock!

Making the “Tears of an Angel” pie in a slow cooker: preparing the bowl

1. Place the dough on the bottom of the bowl. See above for the dough recipe. Place the bowl in the multicooker, close the lid. Set the “Baking” mode, cooking time 30 minutes. If, after finishing the mode, you doubt the readiness of the shortbread, set the “Baking” mode again, cooking time 5-10 minutes.
2. At the end of the baking mode, place the curd mass on the hot sand base. Immediately spread the protein soufflé on top. For the recipe for making curd mass and protein soufflé, see the text above.
3. Set the “Baking” mode, cooking time 60 minutes. At the end of the “Baking” mode, make sure that forced heating is turned off.

Important: protein soufflé prepared in a slow cooker. devoid of caramel tan!

1. Remove the bowl from the multicooker. Prepare an appropriate dish and transfer the pie, picking up the edges of the parchment.
2. Let the pie cool by covering it like a dome with a dish of appropriate volume (for example, a saucepan).

Calorie content of the presented recipes

Curd cake “Tears of an Angel,” like most cottage cheese-based desserts, is not an extremely high-calorie dish. The following is the calorie content of the above variants of this cake, designed for preparation using fatty cottage cheese.

If desired, these indicators can be reduced by choosing less fatty or completely low-fat cottage cheese

Surprisingly, such a complex-looking dessert turns out to be incredibly simple to execute. Try it and you can be sure that it will become one of your sweet favorites!