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Sweets and desserts

Sernik

Polish baked cheesecake made from twaróg curd cheese, often with a lattice top or a crumbly pastry base.

Sernik is the Polish cheesecake, baked from twaróg, the fresh curd cheese, ground fine and mixed with eggs, sugar and butter. It is lighter and slightly drier than an American cheesecake made from cream cheese. Sernik is a centrepiece of Easter and Christmas tables and a weekday cake in Polish cafés.

What goes in

Twaróg: 38%38%Eggs: 19%19%Sugar: 14%14%Butter: 10%10%Shortcrust or sponge base: 14%14%Raisins and vanilla: 5%6parts
  • Twaróg838%, Minced or sieved smooth.
  • Eggs419%, Separated, whites whipped.
  • Sugar314%, Sweetens.
  • Butter210%, Richness.
  • Shortcrust or sponge base314%, Depends on style.
  • Raisins and vanilla15%, Optional.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Grate Pass the twaróg through a mincer or sieve until smooth.
  2. Step 2: Knead Beat butter and sugar, then add the yolks and cheese.
  3. Step 3: Knead Fold in stiffly whipped egg whites.
  4. Step 4: Layer Pour over the base and add a pastry lattice if making the Kraków style.
  5. Step 5: Bake Bake slowly at a moderate heat.
  6. Step 6: Rest Cool in the switched-off oven, then chill before slicing.
  7. Twaróg: 38%38%Eggs: 19%19%Sugar: 14%14%Butter: 10%10%Shortcrust or sponge base: 14%14%Raisins and vanilla: 5%
    Finished Sernik, by share.

Styles

There are many regional styles. Sernik krakowski, from Kraków, sits on shortcrust and has a lattice of pastry on top, sometimes with raisins and candied peel in the filling. Sernik wiedeński, Viennese style, has no base and is often glazed with chocolate. Other versions add a jelly layer, a crumble topping or a sponge base.

The cheese

The key is twaróg, preferably full-fat, which is passed through a mincer or sieve several times until smooth. In Polish shops a ready-ground cheese is sold specially for sernik. Because twaróg is drier and more acidic than cream cheese, sernik has a fresh, gentle tang. It is baked slowly and left to cool in the oven so it does not crack.

Where it is used

EasterChristmasCafé cake

The cheeses in it

TvorogTwaróg is the essential cheese.

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Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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