🍰 Sernik (Polish cheesecake)
Sernik is Polish baked cheesecake made from twaróg, a fresh curd cheese similar to quark, mixed with eggs, sugar and vanilla and often studded with raisins. It sits on a thin shortcrust base and bakes into a dense yet creamy, mildly tangy cake. It is served in squares at room temperature, with coffee or tea, and is a fixture of Easter and Christmas tables.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg quark (or twaróg), drained
- 4 eggs
- 180 g sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 80 g raisins
- 300 g ready shortcrust pastry
- 1 tbsp potato starch
Method
- Line a 24 cm springform tin with the rolled pastry and blind-bake at 180 °C for 15 minutes.
- Press the quark through a sieve or blend until smooth.
- Beat in the sugar, eggs one by one, vanilla and starch, then fold in the raisins.
- Pour over the base and bake at 160 °C for about 60 minutes until just set in the centre.
- Cool in the switched-off oven with the door ajar, then chill before slicing.
How to make it lighter
- Use low-fat quark; it bakes just as well.
- Cut 12 slices from a 24 cm cake instead of 8.
- Cut the sugar by a quarter and let the raisins add sweetness.
History
Curd-cheese cakes have a long history in Polish baking, and sernik is one of the country's best-known cakes. Regional styles exist, such as the Kraków version with a lattice top and the Viennese-style sernik without a base.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →