Syrna Paska (сирна паска, no-bake curd Easter dessert)

The most beautiful thing about syrna paska is the weight. You pack soft sweet curd into a cloth-lined mould, set a plate and something heavy on top, and by morning the dessert has given up its whey and learned to stand on its own. Cold, pale, cut with orange peel and raisins, it lands on the Easter table like a small white church tower you can eat.

This is not the baked paska bread, though it shares the Easter basket with it. Syrna means made from curd cheese, and the whole dish depends on that curd being dry enough, rich enough, and not sour in a mean way. Aunt Nadia once wrote only, "press until it behaves," which was no help at all until I understood: the pressing is not decoration. It concentrates the dairy, firms the slice, and lets the butter and cream become one soft body instead of a sweet cheese salad.

Use good tvorog or farmer's cheese if you can find it. If yours is wet, drain it first and don't make a tragedy of it. The mould can be a proper wooden paskivnyk, a plastic one, a flowerpot lined with muslin, or a sieve set over a bowl. The table will still know what you meant.