Polish Sernik (Polish Cheesecake)

About This Recipe

Polish sernik is fundamentally different from New York or Italian cheesecake because it's made with twaróg — a dry, pressed fresh curd cheese that gives it a denser, grainier texture and a distinctive mild tang. Beaten smooth, combined with eggs, sugar, vanilla, and often raisins or orange peel, and baked in a sweet pastry crust, sernik is found at every Polish bakery and on every holiday table. It's a national treasure.

Ingredients

Serves 12

• 1 kgtwaróg (Polish farmer's cheese or dry-curd cottage cheese)
• 200 gbutter, softened
• 1 cupsugar
• 6 largeeggs, separated
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• 1 tbsporange zest
• 1/2 cupraisins (optional)
• 3 tbsppotato starch or cornstarch
• 200 gsweet shortcrust pastry (for the base)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the crust

   Press sweet shortcrust pastry into the bottom of a greased springform pan. Bake at 180°C for 10 minutes. Cool.

2. 2

   Process the cheese

   Push twaróg through a fine sieve twice until completely smooth, or beat vigorously. The smooth texture is essential.

3. 3

   Make the batter

   Beat butter with sugar until pale. Add egg yolks one at a time, then vanilla and orange zest. Fold in sieved twaróg and potato starch. Add raisins if using.

4. 4

   Fold in egg whites

   Beat egg whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold into the cheese mixture in three additions.

5. 5

   Bake

   Pour over the pre-baked crust. Bake at 170°C (340°F) for 55–65 minutes until set with a slight jiggle in the center. Turn oven off and leave the door ajar for 30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.

Variations

• •

  Top with a thin layer of sour cream mixed with sugar and vanilla

• •

  Make a chocolate marble version

• •

  Add crushed graham crackers to the crust instead of shortcrust

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 5 days. Texture improves on day 2.

Frequently Asked Questions