Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake
Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake: slightly sweet, creamy and buttery with a little blueberry hint. This cake reminds me a lot of a cheesecake when you bite into a cold, refrigerated piece. We might as well call it Ukrainian Cheesecake!
Love farmer’s cheese? Check these recipes: cheese pancakes (sirniki), farmer’s cheese sweet rolls and homemade farmer’s cheese
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Farmers Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe:
It all starts with a buttery crust created from the flour-butter mixture, topped with homemade farmer’s cheese and finished with more buttery crust that creates slightly crispy finishing that we like to call topping.
Farmer’s cheese is very popular among Ukrainian people. There’s a good percentage of desserts we make include homemade farmer’s cheese. I myself am a huge fan of it. It’s easy to work with; it’s creamy, delicious and tastes nothing like store-bought cottage cheese. It is just simply better. You can find a recipe of Farmer’s Cheese at this link.
Farmer’s Cheese Cake Crust and Topping Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter – refrigerated
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
Crumb Cake Filling Ingredients:
- 4 cups farmer’s cheese (crumbled into a measuring cup)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup dried blueberries (or 1-3.5 oz bag)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
How to Make Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake:
1. In a medium bowl, sift, combine and whisk: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp table salt. Grate 6 oz cold butter onto a big hole into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix with a fork to resemble coarse meal. This would be your crust and topping. Cover with plastic food wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. With your hand, crumble 4 cups farmer’s cheese into a measuring cup and add to a separate medium bowl. Break cheese a bit using a fork. Add 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp salt to the bowl with cheese and stir everything together until combined, using a rubber spatula. Stir in 3/4 cup dried blueberries. Set aside. Butter a 9” square baking pan. Line the baking dish with parchment paper.
3. After an hour, preheat the oven to a 350°F and remove the crust from the refrigerator. Spread most of the crust mixture into the baking pan, leaving about 1/2 cup for the topping. Spread all of the cheese filling evenly over the crust mixture covering all the edges and corners. (*Drop bits with spatula here and there and then gently press to spread). Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over the cheese. Bake for 50 minutes.
The cake will be fluffy once finished baking and then will flatten once cooled and set (that’s the way farmer’s cheese works).
Cool, cut into squares and serve. This cake tastes like cheesecake once cooled in refrigerator. Good for 3-4 days in refrigerator.
More Farmers Cheese Recipes:
- Cheese Pancakes (sirniki) – childhood favorite breakfast
- Farmer’s Cheese Sweet Rolls (pirozhki) – so fluffy and disappear in minutes
- Homemade Farmer’s Cheese – easy homemade cheese in less than 1 hour
Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake
Ingredients
CRUST & TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 6 oz 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter – refrigerated
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
FILLING INGREDIENTS:
- 4 cups farmer’s cheese, crumbled into a measuring cup
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup dried blueberries, or 1-3.5 oz bag
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, sift, combine and whisk: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp table salt. Grate 6 oz cold butter onto a big hole into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix with a fork to resemble coarse meal. This would be your crust and topping. Cover with plastic food wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- With your hand, crumble 4 cups farmer’s cheese into a measuring cup and add to a separate medium bowl. Break cheese a bit using a fork. Add 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp salt to the bowl with cheese and stir everything together until combined, using a rubber spatula. Stir in 3/4 cup dried blueberries. Set aside. Butter a 9” square baking pan. Line the baking dish with parchment paper.
- After an hour, preheat the oven to a 350°F and remove the crust from the refrigerator. Spread most of the crust mixture into the baking sheet, leaving about 1/2 cup for the topping. Spread all of the cheese filling evenly over the crust mixture covering all the edges and corners. (Drop bits with spatula here and there and then gently press to spread). Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over the cheese. Bake for 50 minutes. The cake will be fluffy once finished baking and then will flatten once cooled and set (that’s the way farmer’s cheese works). Cool, cut into squares and serve. This cake tastes like cheesecake once cooled in refrigerator. Good for 3-4 days in refrigerator.
Melody says:
Can this be frozen? I’ll be making farmers cheese for the first time as a trail for Easter. Would like to make the cake as a dessert. I’m thinking of trying strawberries.
Love that this has a Ukrainian history. Why I’m making farmers cheese to be blessed at church. My family is from Ukraine 🇺🇦
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Melody! I have not tried freezing it yet, but it does keep well in the refrigerator. Please keep in mind if using fresh strawberries, the outcome might be different in texture. We did test this recipe with dried fruit only (blueberries, cranberries, cherries). Hope this helps 🙂
Michelle says:
This sounds wonderful! Do you think the recipe would work well with dried cranberries or cherries, or do you have experience using any other fruits in this?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I make it with dried cranberries often, tastes just as delicious 🙂
Joanna says:
This was the first time I tried something like this. This farmer’s cheese cake turned out so good. I used fresh blueberries and they did bleed a bit, but the taste was amazing. Definitely a keeper!!! xo
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you 🙂 fresh berries sound delicious in this recipe as well!
Liza says:
Made this cake today and it turned out so delicious. I liked it a lot better cold after it took a trip to the fridge lol..reminds me of cheesecake. Yummy!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you Liza, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
Olya says:
I grew up eating lots of farmer’s cheese and this crumb cake with the blueberry twist is simply delicious. Brings my childhood memories. Love how easy it is.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thanks, it’s definitely an easy one!
Erica Reinard says:
Has anyone made this using margarine, I normally never buy it or use it but I have some leftover from the one cookie recipe and I’d rather use it up then the rest go to waste
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Without testing it myself, I wouldn’t know how it would turn out. If you do decide to experiment, please share the results with the rest of us 🙂
Olesya K. says:
Hi Olga, I wanted to tell you that I love your recipes. Each recipe is better than the previous. I also love your new website design, it’s so easy to navigate and so organized. Keep up the good work! 🙂
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thanks Olesya for such a great feedback. I hope the new web design will be more user friendly!
Natalie says:
Hi I have a question… Do the blueberries have to be dried? Can they be fresh or frozen?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Natalie, I have always done it with dried, but I think fresh or frozen would work great as well, just don’t stir for long so the berries don’t juice out much.
Leslie says:
I love your website! Love your recipes. You are my favorite cook. I made this cake yesterday and it was fabulous. You can definitely taste the farmer’s cheese. It did remind me of cheesecake. So delicious!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Leslie, it’s nice to hear that someone else loves farmer’s cheese as much as I do 🙂 It does remind me of a cheesecake as well..all that delicious goodness!