Pastry chef gave tips on choosing Easter cake and cottage cheese

The main Christian celebration, Easter, is approaching. This year, the holiday is celebrated on April 20th. Russians buy traditional Easter dishes in advance. Maria Preobrazhenskaya, pastry chef at Palmira Art, told Izvestia how to choose the right Easter cake and curd for the festive table.

According to the expert, when buying a cake, you need to pay attention to the appearance. It should be smooth, not crumpled, not deformed. The cake should not show any breaks or cracks, and it should not crumble. This is important because improper transportation and storage of the cake can lead to loss of presentation and quality of the product.

The packaging must not be crumpled or torn, and the cake must be hermetically sealed. The composition and date of manufacture must be visible on the packaging.

"Pay attention to the label. The composition should not contain any unnecessary stabilizers and preservatives. This may indicate that the cake was made a long time ago and so many additives prolong its shelf life, but affect the consistency and taste," said Preobrazhenskaya.

At the same time, the consistency of the cake should not be too dense, but also not loose. It should crease when pressed lightly, but return to its shape when released. The pastry chef emphasized that the smell is also important: a fresh, delicious cake smells of muffins, spices, and fruits.

"The cake is stored for three to four days at room temperature. It can stay in the refrigerator for up to six days. Be sure to check the date and time of manufacture," she added.

The expert also said that when choosing cottage cheese Easter, the main thing to remember is that it is a fermented milk product, which means that its shelf life is short.

"Easter must be fresh! The shelf life of this dessert should not exceed three days from the date of manufacture. If the shelf life is nearing its end, it is better not to take such a product, since you do not know anything about its storage conditions," explained Preobrazhenskaya.

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In addition, the shape of the finished Easter should be dense and uniform. The structure should not delaminate, and moisture should not escape. This may mean that the cooking technology was violated during the manufacture of the product, or the product was improperly stored, or the temperature regime was violated.

"It is important to evaluate the color and smell coming from the Easter curd. Fresh Easter smells of sour-milk cottage cheese, kefir. There are no strong fragrances. The color of cottage cheese varies from white to pale cream. It is uniform, without inclusions and spots, without bluish shades," said Preobrazhenskaya.

In addition, the packaging must be airtight, intact, and not deformed. The composition on the label is easy to read, there must be a date of manufacture with an indication of the time.

"The composition should include cottage cheese and its fat content. There should be no fat stabilizers and no curd product. It is best to choose Easter with cottage cheese with a fat content of 9%. It will be the most delicate in consistency and the most amino acid—rich Easter," concluded Preobrazhenskaya.

Earlier, on April 11, it was reported that the average spending rate for Easter in the country is 2.5 thousand rubles. This is stated in the results of a study of the Orange loyalty service. The main item of expenditure of Russians is the purchase of ingredients: eggs, cottage cheese, dried fruits, sour cream. At the same time, 32% plan to spend up to 1,000 rubles on jewelry, and 36% are completely focused on the amount in the region of 500 rubles.