Cottage cheese Easter cake with candied fruits and nuts

Begin preparing the curd kulich with candied fruits and nuts by making the opara. Dissolve the yeast in warm milk, then add the flour, mix thoroughly, and let it rest for 30 minutes for the opara to rise.

In a deep bowl, place the full-fat cottage cheese, add the eggs, and blend everything with an immersion blender until smooth. Sift the flour into the cottage cheese mixture, pour in the risen sourdough starter, add one-third of the total sugar, and knead the dough until smooth.

Cut the cold butter into thin slices with a sharp knife to make it easier to incorporate into the dough.

Gradually, one spoonful at a time, incorporate the remaining sugar and thin slices of butter into the dough. Continue kneading the dough until it becomes completely smooth and elastic.

Stretch the dough on a work surface into a large rectangle. Evenly sprinkle it with candied fruits and nuts, then carefully roll it up so that all the filling is inside.

Transfer the dough to a bowl greased with vegetable oil and cover it with a towel to prevent drying. Let the dough rise for 2.5 hours, punching it down after 30 minutes and again after 1 hour.

Divide the risen dough into 3 equal portions, shaping each into a neat ball. Let them rest for another 15–20 minutes.

Reshape the dough into balls and place them into kulich molds 11–12 centimeters in diameter. Sprinkle nuts on top, cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rise for another 1.5 hours.