Cheesecake with Twaróg (Polish Sernik)

Sernik is a cheesecake from Poland, stemming from old Christian and Jewish traditions. It is made with eggs, sugar, and twaróg - a type of curd cheese that has been used in desserts for hundreds of years. It is believed that sernik originated in the 17th century, when King Jan III Sobieski brought the recipe with him after his victory against the Turks at the Battle of Vienna. Today, there are many varieties of sernik, some baked, some unbaked, but it is usually made on a layer of crumbly cake. Often times raisins, chocolate sauce, or fruits are also added to sernik, and one of the most popular varieties of the dessert has a sponge cake as its base and is covered with jelly and fruit on top. This recipe is for a classic sernik without a crust layer at the bottom. Sprinkle the top with some icing sugar, or glaze it with melted chocolate.

twaróg cheese (1 kg)
butter, softened (250 g)
1⅓ cup confectioners' sugar
6 eggs, divided
1 pkg vanilla sugar
heavy cream 36% (150 mL)
4 Tbsp. potato flour
breadcrumbs or ground almonds, for dusting the baking tin

Preheat oven to 340°F (170°C/150°C fan, Gas Mark 3).

Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. Whip the egg whites and set them aside. Grind the twaróg cheese.

Set the electric mixer to the lowest speed and beat the butter. Add the egg yolks one by one, alternating them with icing sugar, while constantly mixing.

Increase the mixer speed to medium and add twaróg cheese, vanilla sugar, cream, and potato flour. Continue mixing until completely combined. Finally, gently fold in the egg white snow.

Grease a round, 26 cm baking tin with butter. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs or ground almonds on the bottom, or line the bottom with baking paper.

Pour sernik batter into the baking tin. Bake in a preheated oven for 60 minutes.

Allow sernik to cool, then sprinkle some icing sugar over the top.

Cook's Notes:

Crust: Some sernik recipes call for a layer of crust at the bottom, while some - primarily, the Krakow-style sernik - suggest covering the top of the cake with a grid-shaped crust. Typically, the crust is made with wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, butter, and eggs, while salt, milk, and cream may or may not be added. In most cases, the dough should rest in a refrigerator for up to 1 hour, after which it is rolled out into the shape of the baking tin. When rolling out the dough, make sure it is slightly larger than the baking tin, since the dough tends to shrink slightly during baking. Another Tip is to prick the dough with a fork before baking, which helps the hot air to circulate, making sure the crust gets baked properly.

Twaróg: This traditional Polish cheese is made with cow's milk, and is also known as bialy ser - white cheese. It can be compared to curd cheese, farmer's cheese, quark or Italian ricotta, which can all serve as replacements. To make real Polish sernik, always use non-skimmed (tłusty), or partially skimmed (półtłusty) twaróg. Since twaróg has a crumbly, lumpy structure, most recipes suggest running it through a meat grinder two or three times to make it smoother.

Eggs: When it comes to the filling, the eggs are usually separated into egg whites and egg yolks. The egg whites should be whipped into a firm snow or mixed with sugar into a meringue. Either way, they are added to the filling at the very end and should be gently folded instead of mixed in with an electric mixer. This way, sernik achieves its fluffy, light texture.

Binding Ingredients: In most cases, the sernik filling is bound with some potato flour. Wheat flour is added in some cases, while modern recipes suggest using instant pudding - cream - or vanilla flavoured one. On the other hand, the no-baking sernik recipes often use gelatin which helps the filling to harden during cooling.

Flavourings: The filling for sernik can be flavoured with vanilla sugar, pure vanilla extract, lemon or orange extract, or even with candied lemon or orange peel.

Fruit: Traditional sernik recipes mostly call for stirring raisins into the filling. Fruit sernik comes in two variants, with chopped or mashed fruit. You can use either fresh fruit such as raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, or canned fruit like peaches, pears, and apricots.

Baking: Sernik can be baked in a rectangular baking pan or a round cake tin with detachable sides. Whichever you choose, line the bottom with parchment and grease the sides with butter for easier cutting and serving. Usually, sernik is baked in an oven preheated to 170-180°C for 50-60 minutes.

Icing: In the simplest version, sernik is served with some powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Alternatively, you can glaze it with melted chocolate, or with a traditional white glazing made with lemon juice and sugar, which is typical of Krakow-style sernik.