If you like pancakes you are going to love my sweet cheese fritters syrniki! Russian Syrniki are a pancake and cheesecake hybrid, that makes for a very delicious and special treat.
Take a look at my recipe for Russian Crepes Blini to explore more of that diverse and interesting cuisine.
As a child I always liked Saturday mornings. They meant special breakfast for us. I grew up with a mom who worked full time.
She had an important job as an engineer so every morning my brother and I had pretty simple breakfasts before heading to school.
She loved to spoil us on the weekends by making something special for breakfast like these Kefir Pancakes Oladi. I still remember waking up to the wonderful smells coming from the kitchen.
Syrniki
Syrniki (seer-nee-kee) were one of her Saturday treats and one of my precious childhood memories. I missed them terribly when I moved away from Russia.
Syrniki are made from a farmer’s cheese called Tvorog in Russian or Twarog in Polish. I couldn’t find a good substitute in the US or Canada for the longest time.
Tvorog is a creamy curd cheese very similar to ricotta and cottage cheese but is drier and has a tangy taste. Below is the photo of what tvorog is like in texture. I have used well-drained cottage cheese in the past but it really lacks the slightly sour kick of Tvorog.
Where to buy Twarog/Tvorog
I am getting reports that all major supermarkets in North America carry this item under the name of Farmer’s Cheese. You can always find it in any Russian or Eastern European store if there is one close by.
I bought mine from a local Eastern European shop in my neighbourhood in London. Major supermarket chains in the UK like Sainsbury’s and Tesco carry Twarog in their international or Polish section.
How to make sirniki
The method of preparing syrniki is pretty much the same as old plain pancakes. If you ever attempted to make pancakes you will manage this recipe with ease.
Combine cheese, eggs, sugar, oil, flour, baking powder and vanilla in a medium size bowl and mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer until you get a homogenous mass. No longer than 2-3 minutes. The mixture will be very sticky. Don’t panic, that’s what you are supposed to get!
Put your non-stick or cast iron frying pan on a stove on medium heat and add 3 tbsp of oil to it.
Dust a clean work surface with some flour. Take a regular soup spoon and start scooping the mixture from the bowl.
Put it directly on the floured surface and roll it in the flour, then flatten it with your palm to make it into a patty.
Continue the process with the rest of your cheese mixture until it’s all gone. You should get about 14 patties.
Before you start frying your syrniki make sure the oil in the frying pan is very hot by sprinkling a bit of flour into it. If it sizzles it’s hot enough.
Fry your syrniki the same way you would pancakes. When you turn them over they should puff up a bit. The flour coating will make the outside slightly crispy while the mostly cheese filling will taste light and delicious.
How to serve them
Dust syrniki with icing sugar as the final touch and serve them with your favourite jam or a fruit sauce. If you want a truly Russian experience enjoy them with a bit of “smetana” aka sour cream. I love mine with blackcurrant jam! Yum!
This one tasted just like my babushka used to make. If only my kids had the same appreciation for it. They rejected it and went for the maple syrup. However they LOVED the syrniki and I have one of the pickiest children in the world. I call it- Success!
This recipe was originally published in 11/2012. Updated and republished in 03/2020
Ingredients
- 1 lbs farmer's cheese could use well-drained ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs large
- 2 tbsp oil
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 80g/3/4 cup flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Combine cheese, eggs, sugar, oil, flour, baking powder and vanilla in a medium size bowl and mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer until you get a homogenous mass- no longer than 2-3 minutes. The mixture will be very sticky.
- Put the non-stick or cast iron frying pan on the stove on medium heat and add 3 tbsp of oil to it.
- Dust a clean work surface with some flour. Take a regular soup spoon and start scooping the mixture from the bowl. Put it directly on the floured surface and roll it in the flour, then flatten it with your palm to make it into a patty. Continue the process with the rest of your cheese mixture until it’s all gone. You should get about 14 patties.
- Before you start frying your syrniki make sure the oil in the frying pan is very hot by sprinkling a bit of flour into it. If it sizzles it’s hot enough. Fry the syrniki the same way you would pancakes. When you turn them over they should puff up a bit. The flour coating will make the outside slightly crispy while the mostly cheese filling will taste light and delicious.
- Dust syrniki with icing sugar as the final touch and serve them with your favourite jam or a fruit sauce. If you want a truly Russian experience enjoy them with a bit of “smetana”-creme fraiche
Notes
