Cheeses for desserts and sweets

Fresh cheese is the base of some of the world's best-loved sweets. India's rasgulla, sandesh, rasmalai and chhena poda are made from chhena; Italy's cannoli and cassata from ricotta; New York cheesecake from cream cheese; Russian paskha and syrniki from tvorog; and the Levantine kunafa from akkawi or nabulsi under syrup. A board of aged cheese with fruit and honey is another kind of dessert.

Chhena sweets of Bengal and Odisha

Chhena is curdled with lemon juice or sour whey, drained, and kneaded smooth before it becomes a sweet. Rasgulla rolls it into balls cooked in light syrup; both West Bengal and Odisha claim it, and each received a geographical indication, Banglar Rasogolla in 2017 and Odisha Rasagola in 2019. Sandesh is cooked with sugar in a pan and pressed into moulds. Rasmalai soaks flattened balls of chhena in thickened, sweetened milk with saffron and cardamom.

Cheesecakes of the world

Cheesecake has a long history in Europe, and every country bakes its own. New York cheesecake is dense with cream cheese. German Käsekuchen and Polish sernik use quark and twaróg, and Italian cheesecake uses ricotta. The Basque burnt cheesecake, from San Sebastián, is baked very hot until its top is dark and its centre still soft. Japanese cotton cheesecake is light and airy, closer to a soufflé.

Syrup, pastry and fruit

Kunafa layers shredded or semolina pastry over desalted cheese, then soaks it in syrup, and the city of Nablus is especially known for it. Sicilian cannoli fill fried pastry tubes with sweetened ricotta, and cassata layers ricotta with sponge and candied fruit. In Russia and Ukraine, syrniki are fried tvorog patties served with sour cream or jam. In Brazil, a slice of Minas cheese with guava paste is called Romeu e Julieta, Romeo and Juliet.

Worth knowing

Rasgulla: Chhena balls in light syrup
Sandesh: Pressed sweet of chhena and sugar
Ras malai: Chhena in sweet, saffron milk
Cheesecake: Baked in every style from New York to San Sebastián
Knafeh: Cheese pastry in syrup, famous in Nablus
Cannoli: Sicilian pastry tubes of sweet ricotta
Syrniki: Fried tvorog patties
Paskha: Moulded tvorog dessert of Orthodox Easter

Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Desserts and sweets on EveryCheese

The cheeses written up so far, best known first.