Rūpjmaizes Kārtojums (Layered Latvian Rye Bread Dessert)
By: Alina Petropavlovska
Published: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - 4:36am

Ingredients




10 slices coarse rye bread (about 350g  total), slightly dried and crust removed
250 grams mascarpone cheese
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugar
6 tablespoons mashed cranberries (with sugar)
3 tablespoons cream

Preparation

1 Grate slices of bread on a hand grater. 2 In a non-stick pan, mix breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar, and cinnamon, and toast the mix on a medium heat for 20 minutes. Keep stirring and breaking any lumps with a spatula. 3 Leave to cool. 4 Combine mascarpone cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar, cream, and vanilla sugar. Stir well. 5 Divide the toasted breadcrumbs in 3 parts, two of which are equal and one is slightly smaller in size (we’ll use it for topping). 6 Divide the mascarpone mix in two parts. 7 Put one part of the breadcrumbs on the bottom of your container. 8 With a spatula or spoon, gently spread the mascarpone mix over them. 9 Spread 3 tablespoons of mashed cranberries over the mascarpone mix. 10 Repeat with bread, mascarpone, and cranberries. 11 Cover the container and set it in the fridge. 12 Chill the dessert for 5 to 10 hours. 13 Top the dessert with a thinner layer of remaining breadcrumbs.

About


Latvians have some incredibly delicious desserts. A lot of them are made with rye bread, which is an essential part of traditional Latvian cuisine. You can even find rye breadcrumb ice-cream over here and yogurt with rye breadcrumbs. Not to mention cream of bread, bread soup, etc. Even nowadays, as bread is losing its popularity (a lot of people are on a diet and think it’s too fattening), public opinion polls say an average Latvian eats up to 50 kg bread per year. And coarse rye bread is the sort which remains favourite throughout the years.
This dessert is originally called Rūpjmaizes kārtojums, which means layers of bread. The most common method is to layer rye breadcrumbs, whipped cream, and cranberry or cowberry jam. Sometimes cream of cottage cheese is used instead. The dessert can be made in small individual ice-cream bowls or in a larger bowl and then cut in portions. We make it in a larger container for four and use mascarpone instead of whipped cream.
Imagine rye breadcrumbs toasted with sugar and cinnamon, layered with tangy mashed cranberries, and topped with soft, vanilla-flavoured mascarpone; repeat once and top with those crunchy breadcrumbs. Sounds good, uh?
Fresh cranberries can be replaced with sour cranberry jam, if you prefer.