Description
This easy Strawberry Pretzel Cottage Cheese Pie is everything you want in your favorite potluck dessert: An irresistibly crunchy and slightly salty crust topped with a creamy and slightly tangy vanilla custard with a nod to the classic French Tart aux fraises, topped by sweet in-season strawberries. Yet, all of that with a fraction of the calories and a good hit of protein. Frankly, it’s so nutritious, you might even find yourself enjoying a slice of this guilt free dessert for breakfast! Ready to try a healthier take on a beloved classic?
Ingredients
Pretzel Crust
3 cups crushed salted pretzels 250g
½ cup+ 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
3 tbsp xylitol or maple syrup or xylitol
Vanilla Cottage Cheese Protein Custard
½ vanilla bean
3 tbsp xylitol (or sugar)
1.5 cups cottage cheese
1/3 cup milk or plant milk (I’m using unsweetened almond milk as that’s what I have at home)
4 egg yolks
3 tbsp cornstarch
¾ cup protein powder (Vanilla flavor works best. I use whey concentrate)
Strawberry Topping
1 pint (500g) fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
2 tbsp apricot or strawberry jam, optional for glazing
Instructions
– Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C
– Grease either a large loose bottom tart tin or 6? Smaller tart tins. This works best using melted butter and a pastry brush.
– Crush the pretzels in a food processor or in a bag using a rolling pin. If using a bag, be sure to press out the air first, so it doesn’t explode, dusting your kitchen with pretzel pieces.
– Process or smash until they are mostly ground with a few larger pieces for crunch
– Add melted butter and sugar. Mix thoroughly.
– Press the crust mix into the tart tin, pushing it up the sides
– Bake for about 10 minutes.
– Remove and let cool while you make the cottage cheese pastry cream
– Blend the cottage cheese until creamy and no curds are left
– Mix 1/3 of the blended cottage cheese with the 3 tbsp cornstarch until smooth
– Separate the eggs, keeping the egg whites for another recipe.
– Add to the mixing bowl of your stand mixer or a bowl using a hand mixer and whisk to light and fluffy ribbon stage.
– Slice the vanilla bean open lengthwise
– Pressing one half of the bean flat onto your chopping board, scrape out the seeds with your knife.
– Add them to the sugar and mix well, either with your fingertips or a tiny whisk
– Transfer sugar and milk into a medium saucepan. Heat gently while stirring to dissolve the sugar, bringing it gently to a boil.
– Lower the heat to medium
– Add the remaining 2/3 of the blended cottage cheese to the milk and keep whisking vigorously, while scraping the bottom, making sure nothing sticks, until you see the first signs of a boil
– Switch off the heat for a moment
– Pour your cold cottage cheese- cornstarch mix into the whipped egg yolks and mix well.
– Once incorporated, start adding the hot mixture in a very slow stream while whisking, until it’s fully incorporated.
– Transfer back to the saucepan on low and bring to the boil while whisking for about 2 minutes to thicken it
– Continue until it’s visibly thicker and the cornstarch taste is gone.
– Take off the heat and whisk in the protein powder until no lumps remain
– If you had any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan or couldn’t get the protein powder perfectly smooth, you can either blend it once more in a large blender like the Vitamix (don’t use a Nutribullet with hot liquid as it can explode) or push it through a fine mesh strainer.
– Pour your creamy and custardy cottage cheese-protein mix into the pretzel base and let it set in the fridge for at least an hour. 2-3 is better.
– Slice your strawberries in half if you have very large ones or leave small ones whole
– Arrange them all over the tart, either in a wild tumble or neatly in circles, whichever you prefer
– Combine 2 tbsp of the jam of your choice with 2 tbsp of water in a small microwave safe bowl
– Microwave for 10 second or until the jam is melted and smooth.
– If yours has fruit pieces, you can quickly push it through a fine mesh strainer to get it totally smooth.
– Using a pastry brush, spread the jam over the top of your strawberries to give them a lovely shine
– Chill until ready to serve
Notes
Tips and Tricks
Lining a round tart tin with baking parchment
Have you ever struggled to line a round tart tin with baking parchment to get the perfect homemade pie crust?
Yup, me too! Until I found this video, showing a really great trick of folding the parchment before neatly fitting it into the pan.
Don’t be tempted to add the protein powder too early
I’ve learned this one the hard way: When making a protein custard, the protein powder will coagulate and stick to the bottom of the saucepan while you wait for the cottage cheese-milk mix to boil, leading to lumps and burning.
So only ever whisk it in once you are done cooking and the saucepan is off the heat.
How To Store
This pie is best eaten on the day it’s made due to the fresh strawberries. The crust gets a little softer on day 2, but we still had the leftovers happily.
Store it covered in the fridge, to keep the custard firm and the strawberries fresh.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cooling time: 2h
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake/Cook
- Cuisine: American/French
