Sweet cottage cheese toast with grapes

Tired of the same old toast? Try something different for a change, like this impressive and simple to make sweet cottage cheese toast with grapes! It’s crunchy, juicy and pleasantly light in flavor. 

Rok and I were talking about school the other day. We’ve both been out of Uni for a few years now and it’s amazing how life changes when you’re done with it. We went from having days filled mostly with school to not thinking about it at all. I don’t really miss it, I don’t miss the teachers (with one or two exceptions) or the work, but sometimes I do miss the simplicity of it.

Saying that is kind of an oxymoron, as the word simple and school don’t really go together and “simple” was never a part of my school vocabulary. Nothing seemed simple back then, but now when I look at it, it actually was in a lot of ways. School filled the majority of my life, of all our lives and very little time was left for anything else. And knowing what you have to do every day is simple. We had a job to do and while it seemed hard at the time, it really wasn’t.

Anyway, I don’t want to bore you with my nostalgia feelings, but we talked about school breakfasts. Breakfast at school was such a social event, we didn’t even care about the food all that much. But I do have a few food-related memories, one of which is this sweet cottage cheese toast with grapes.

Here are a few food memories, if you’re interested:

I hated the days when they gave us ham for our sandwiches, instead of the tuna spread. I didn’t mind eating ham at home, but the smell of ham served at school still haunts me to this day and I cringe just thinking about it. The tuna spread was really good though.

We always got a drink, my least favorite being milk. I still hate drinking milk on its own. To no surprise (if you’ve read any post of mine) I always preferred cocoa (duh) or at least tea, but juice was my favorite. And water, obviously.

One of the most popular breakfasts was this Slovenian version of Milk bread with butter and honey, which I actually didn’t like at that age, but I adore the combination now.

I did however love pizza. We didn’t get it that often, but when we did, I was very happy. As was everyone else in my class.

And then there was chocolate pudding, my absolute favorite! I’ve always been a choc pudding gal, haha.

And now let’s talk about the amazing sweet cottage cheese toast with grapes:

This is truly one of the best things ever. Imagine a crusty, toasted rustic bread, topped with the creamiest sweet cottage cheese, (seedless) juicy grapes, plenty of chopped almonds, some fresh orange zest for that citrusy vibe and honey. All of these ingredients are like the food version of Power Rangers. They just work!

You have a few options of you don’t like cottage cheese. First of all, what we Slovenians know as “cottage cheese” (named “skuta” here, if you’re ever in the area) is actually more widely known in Europe and the rest of the world as quark. If you can find it, do buy it, I beg you. It is the most amazing ingredient.

What is Quark?

Quark is a soft cheese, with a slight sour taste. It either comes curdled or smooth, depending on the type you buy. Even if you buy the unstrained chunky kind, you can still mix it into a smooth mass yourself. Quark almost a cross between American cottage cheese and a thick yogurt or even a cross between ricotta and mascarpone, if you look at the texture. It has a lot of body, it’s very rich-tasting, but mild in flavor. Kind of how ricotta and mascarpone don’t have overpowering tastes. All three are just very milky. You can eat quark straight out of the pot, with sugar or not, depending on your taste. It’s great with fruit. You can also use it as a filling in baked goods. When baked, quark becomes super creamy and light.

The other option for this toast is ricotta. So, whether you make this toast with ricotta, cottage cheese or quark, the end result should be delicious. All I do with it, is put some honey in and that’s pretty much it.

The toppings are pretty straightforward too. It all starts with the wonderful grapes. I adore eating grapes on their own and I know they’re a popular pairing for cheese, but they shine in a new light on this toast. First, I slice the grapes in half, then I sprinkle them with orange juice. Oranges are the perfect pairing for grapes, it’s like adding a touch of gloss over a killer lipstick. This is basically the winning combo, trust me.

Next we have some almonds, which is a very obvious choice for grapes, but they add some extra crunch. And then I add orange zest, to build on that citrus flavor. And because I like to build and build on food… I finish it all off with some more honey.

Seriously, if you want a different kind of breakfast or a refreshing brunch idea, just make this sweet cottage cheese toast with grapes. It is a revelation. Be ready to go to food heaven.