Finnish · dessert

Mustikkapiirakka (Bilberry and Quark Tart)

Mustikkapiirakka (Bilberry and Quark Tart) reads sweetness 7.5, fruity 5.9 and richness 5.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Finnish dessert, about 1 hr 27 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 3.6 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 9.3 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 2.1 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 0.5 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.6 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 3.0 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.5 · Fruity 5.9 · Richness 5.4 · Umami 3.3 · Floral 2.9 · Salinity 2.8 · Sourness 2.1 · Warm Spice 1.3 · Nutty 0.6 · Earthy 0.5

What's in it (12)

• butter — 150 g
• caster sugar — 150 g
• egg — 100 g
• all-purpose flour — 250 g
• baking powder — 5 g
• ground cardamom — 5 g
• blueberries — 500 g
• twarog — 250 g
• egg — 100 g
• caster sugar — 80 g
• vanilla sugar — 4 g
• salt — 1 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 27 min (57 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 220.1 kcal, 3.6 g protein, 9.3 g fat, 31.5 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Heat the oven to 200°C and butter a 24 x 30 cm tray or a 26 cm springform tin.
2. Cream the softened butter with the sugar for 4 minutes, until pale and light, then beat in the egg.
3. Sift the flour with the baking powder and cardamom and work it in to make a soft, sticky dough. Freshly ground cardamom is worth the trouble here — it is the background note of almost all Finnish baking and pre-ground cardamom loses it within weeks.
4. Press the dough into the tin with floured fingers, taking it 2 cm up the sides to make a rim. Do not try to roll it; it is too soft, and pressing gives the slightly uneven base the tart should have.
5. Scatter the bilberries over the base in a single dense layer. Wild bilberries stain the batter purple and taste sharp; cultivated blueberries are watery by comparison and will make a paler, sweeter, duller tart. Use them frozen and unthawed if that is what you can get.
6. Whisk the quark with the egg, the second measure of sugar, the vanilla sugar and the salt until smooth, and pour it over the berries so it settles into the gaps. Rahka is the Finnish fresh curd cheese; a thick strained Greek yoghurt is the nearest thing but is looser, so drain it in a cloth for an hour first.
7. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is golden at the rim and the quark filling is set with only the faintest tremor at the centre.
8. Cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before cutting — the filling firms as it cools, and a hot slice collapses. Serve warm rather than hot, with coffee.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Plantain Tarts — Jamaican
• Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam — British
• Bread and Butter Pudding — British
• Clafoutis — French
• Banana Pudding — Southern

Keep reading: what sweetness, fruity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.