ostkaka

From Swedish ostkaka.

ostkaka (countable and uncountable, plural ostkakas)

1. A Swedish dessert made from curdled milk.
   • 1897 October 29, “Marquette”, in A. Ringwald, editor, The Lindsborg Record, volume I, number 44, Lindsborg, Kan.: A. Ringwald, →OCLC, page [2], column 3:

     The ten cent supper, Friday Oct. 22, served at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Hamilton, for the benefit of the M. E. church, was a most elaborate affair. We shall try to give part of the menu. Fried chicken, sweet poatoes, roast pork, cabbage salad, pickles, jams, jellies, ostkaka, delicious,^[sic] cake and hot coffee.

   • 1968, Dale Brown, the Editors of Time-Life Books, “A Return to Native Cookery”, in The Cooking of Scandinavia (Foods of the World; 3), New York, N.Y.: Time-Life Books, →OCLC, pages 105–106:

     Making an ostkaka look as little touched as possible the first time around was important because the hole in the middle could be filled with fresh fruit the next day—and the cake be eaten as a “new” dessert.

   • 1995, “Smörgåsbord 4: The Sweet Things”, in Sarah Batschelet, Philip Jenkins, transl., edited by Joachim Römer and Michael Ditter, Culinaria: European Specialties, volume 1, Cologne: Könemann, →ISBN, Sweden section, page 128, column 1:

     Today it is certainly possible to buy an ostkaka in most shops in Småland, but for a Swedish housewife from this province it is a matter of honor to use her own recipe which has been handed down for generations as a well-kept secret. It is important that the ostkaka always looks unspoiled.

   • 1999, Thelma Barer-Stein, “Swedish”, in You Eat What You Are: People, Culture and Food Traditions, 2nd edition, Willowdale, Ont.: Firefly Books, →ISBN, page 404, column 1:

     Even at a party, the custom is for each person to taste a spoonful of the various ostkakas on display, but to take their taste from the center of the mold so that the cake may be fruit-filled the next day and served as a new dessert.

   • 2022 February 17, Tena Tankersley, “See you at the smorgasbord”, in Greg Jaklewicz, editor, Abilene Reporter-News, volume 142, number 210, Abilene, Tex.: USA Today, →ISSN, →OCLC, Letters to the Editor, page 6A, column 3:

     The theme of the Smorgasbord has been kept as authentic as possible with the decorations and menu being characteristically Swedish. A few of the menu items include Swedish meatballs, fish casserole, ostkaka, rye bread, coffee rings and a variety of cookies along with more traditional foods such^[sic] turkey, dressing and ham.

   • 2025 January 14, Paul Hammel, “Get ready for ‘state dessert’”, in Victoria Ayotte, editor, Kearney Hub, volume 137, number 14, Kearney, Neb.: Lee Enterprises, →OCLC, page A4, columns 3–4:

     Nelson’s Food Pride, which specializes in Swedish delicacies from its home in Oakland, the state’s Swedish Capital. Those delicacies include ostkaka, an eggy, custard-like, soft cheesecake fashioned out of raw milk, often served with a topping of lingonberries or raspberries. […] Kuchen is kind of a blander version of ostkaka, baked into a pie crust and, as we found out, fairly accesible across northern South Dakota.

• ostkaka on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Compound of ost (“cheese”) +‎ kaka (“cake”). False friend of English cheesecake. First attested in 1520.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ʊstˈkɑ̂ːka/

• Audio (Småland):

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ostkaka c

1. ostkaka

• → English: ostkaka

• cheesecake (“cheesecake”)
• kalvdans (dessert from colostrum milk)

• ostkaka in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)