I have a question for all of you good cooks here

[AllieK]

I'm tryign to replicate my grandmother's cottage cheese pie. She's been gone since 1993. I've tried it a few times, but never carried through past a few pies. I made a new recipe the other day and it was way too sweet. Today I tried it again and cut 1/4 cup of sugar. I baked it, and waited for it to cool. I tasted it and it wasn't sweet enough and didn't have enough cinnamon, so I sprinkled some cinnamon on top and tried it again. It was almost too sweet again. Why does cinnamon bring out the sweet in things? Am I just crazy or what?

[Vera]

Sorry I can't help you. I have never heard of cottage cheese pie. Hope someone here can help you out.

[Sabine]

Like Vera, I have never heard of cottage cheese pie and since I don't bake I hardly ever use cinnamon. Maybe Muzette can help you , she does a lot of cooking ??

[Chayote]

Allie... you're not crazy, you just discovered something new. Cinnamon tastes sweet without adding sugar to it. Cinnamon is tree bark and it absorbs the sweetness of the sap occurring between the bark and the wood of the tree.

I can't help you with your Grandma's recipe but keep experimenting. Don't take the sugar out altogether because you will lose the texture you want, and don't use too much cinnamon or it will taste hot. Good luck.

[AllieK]

Cottage cheese pie is sort of like an egg custard pie, only the curds rise to the top of the pie and the custard is underneath. It basically has cottage cheese, egg, milk or half and half, cinnamon, sugar, a little salt, vanilla, and maybe a little bit of flour for thickening. It was my favorite pie that my grandmother made.

[CharleneG]

I wish I could help, but I just don’t bake other than cookies a couple times a year and the occasional dump cake. Good luck!

[muzette7]

I have never even heard of cottage cheese pie. I do not use sugar either, I always use xylitol.

[[email protected]]

Chayote, That’s really interesting about the bark absorbing sap and making cinnamon sweet, thanks for sharing that. I had no idea. I do know Different types of cinnamon have different levels of sweetness or heat. Take a quick look at the Penzeys website. They sell different varieties and describe the flavor of each kind. I like a Good Earth brand tea that is naturally sweet and I think it’s from the cinnamon in it.

As for the pie, are you working off of a recipe or just trying to create it from memory? Even following my grandma’s recipes nothing tastes as good as when she made it. What I make can be good but it’s never quite the same.

[Bean]

I’ve never heard of cottage cheese pie. Interesting.

[MommaBear]

I have never heard of a cottage cheese pie but I will admit to being curious about the recipe. I did look on pinterest and there are a number if recipes for just such a pie. Maybe you can find one that sounds like the pie you remember. I sure wish I had many of my Grandmothers recipes.

[AllieK]

I've tried about 5 different recipes so far. I've narrowed it down to 2. I still get a taste in the back of my throat that I don't remember, so it's probably just amounts of sugar, salt, cinnamon or vanilla that is just not totally right. I doubt if I will ever come up with the exact recipe, but these 2 recipes are good enough. At least they remind me of her.

[mellon]

Found this recipe for Ricotta Pie.
Maybe you can adjust for cottage cheese
1 lb Ricotta
1&1/2 tsp flour
1/2 c milk
3. eggs (or 2 large)
2 Tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla or almond flavoring
Mix ingredients for pie thoroughly and place into
9 inch pastry lined pan Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top
and bake at 350. Gave no time

I have another one that calls for lemon juice
let me know if you want it.

[livetobake]

Allie,

I have been wondering if it is the cottage available now versus what your grandmother was using? Everything has changed so much over the years and some items are just not made the way they were. We get a lot more processed food then back decades ago that change the flavor so much even if following an exact way that it was done by past generations.

Just a thought. Good luck on finding one that tastes like you remember.

[AllieK]

Found this recipe for Ricotta Pie.
Maybe you can adjust for cottage cheese
1 lb Ricotta
1&1/2 tsp flour
1/2 c milk
3. eggs (or 2 large)
2 Tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla or almond flavoring
Mix ingredients for pie thoroughly and place into
9 inch pastry lined pan Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top
and bake at 350. Gave no time

I have another one that calls for lemon juice
let me know if you want it.

No, no lemon juice, but that recipe is very similar to the ones I'm using, except there is no butter, but that might be what I'm missing in the recipe to make the flavors blend better