Made primarily with a special farmer’s cheese called twaróg, Sernik is a delicious journey into Polish culinary tradition, easy to prepare, and offers the wholesome goodness of dairy.

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DELIGHTFUL POLISH GINGERBREAD (PIERNICZKI)

History of Cheesecakes in Poland and the Most Popular Cheesecake Combinations

The love for cheesecakes in Poland has historical roots, with one legend suggesting that a Polish king first tasted this cheesecake in 1683 and brought the recipe back to Poland from Vienna​​.

Over the centuries, various regions in Poland have embraced and adopted this dessert, leading to a plethora of combinations. The traditional Sernik has a sweet pastry crust filled with twaróg cheese and baked to perfection.

Modern variations include adding fruits, raisins, or chocolate to the filling, or using a crumbly cake as the base​​.

Authentic Polish Cheesecake (Sernik) Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Recipe by Jan Vasil Course: All Recipes, Sweet Recipes

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

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Ingredients

Metric US

• 2 lbs 2 (900g) of twaróg cheese (or a similar curd cheese)

• 1 cup 1 (200g) of granulated sugar

• 4 large 4 eggs

• 1 teaspoon 1 vanilla extract

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 1/4 cup 1/4 (60ml) of heavy cream

• 1/4 cup 1/4 (30g) of all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon 1/4 baking powder

• Optional: 1/2 cup of raisins or chopped fruits

Directions

• Prepare the Cheese:
• If the cheese is not already smooth, place it in a food processor and process until smooth.
• Mix the Ingredients:
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Mix well.
• Add the smoothed cheese and heavy cream to the mixture, continuing to mix until all ingredients are well combined.
• Lastly, fold in the flour, baking powder, and optional fruits or raisins.
• Bake the Cheesecake:
• Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Pour the mixture into a greased 9-inch springform pan.
• Bake for about 60 minutes, or until the cheesecake is set and the top is lightly golden.
• Allow the cheesecake to cool completely in the oven with the door ajar, to prevent cracking.
• Chill and Serve:
• Once cooled, refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours, or overnight, before serving.
• Enjoy your homemade Polish Cheesecake with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a dollop of sour cream on top!

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FAQ

So the spring is over and the summer has officially started. The era of fresh spring onions, radishes and beets are over. Nevertheless, I am still trying to eat the best seasonal foods, which are available in the markets. Like my new favorite veggie, broad beans. (here is the recipe for broad beans salad with bacon and spring onion pesto).

This time I have prepared a super easy, but very delicious toast. You can make it home in 10 minutes and you will need only a few ingredients. Just make sure you have the best broad beans which you can buy.

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Perfect garlic toast with broad beans and goat cheese.

Perfect garlic toast with broad beans and goat cheese.

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by Jan Vasil Course: Lunches, Recipe book, Small bitesCuisine: PolishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Easy lunch for spring and summer – garlic toast with broad beans.

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Ingredients

Metric US

• 2 slices of rye bread

• 100g of broad beans, cooked and peeled

• 50g of goat cheese, I used a very tender and slightly aromatic one.

• 1 clove of garlic

• salt

• black pepper

• zest from 1/2 of a lemon + 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley

• olive oil

Directions

• Heat up a grill pan on high heat. Smear the bread slices with the olive oil and place on a hot pan. Grill until the bread gets brown and crispy, then turn and grill the second side as well.
• Meanwhile, mix the cooked and peeled broad beans with chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Once your bread is grilled, rub one side with the garlic and add the crushed goat cheese on top. Add the broad beans, sprinkle with some lemon juice and serve.
• Enjoy

Notes

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Fried Cheese (easy recipe for Slovak classic)

On the other hand, since I live in Poland it is not easy to find good fried cheese. Some pseudo-Czech restaurants here are serving it but the taste is far away from the original one. Mostly, because there is a difference between the Slovak (or Czech) and Polish way of making the batter. What also varies is the cheese which is used. My mum used to make it from a harder Edam cheese and some people also use Gouda or Emmentaler. This time I was experimenting a bit and used two other types of cheeses. A medium strong Irish Cheddar and a Swiss Gruyere. Both kinds of cheese turned out very well and I would recommend both of them. So in case, you would like to make the perfect fried cheese and taste my most favorite dish check out the recipe below. Serve the cheese with fries or cooked potatoes and mayonnaise or tartare sauce on the side. Have fun cooking and enjoy

PS: Please do not count any calories here. The dish is fatty like hell but you will not get a heart attack from it At least I hope not

Fried Cheese (easy recipe for Slovak classic)

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by Jan Vasil Course: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: SlovakDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 200g of hard cheese (Cheddar, Gruyere, Gouda, Eidam)

• 2 eggs

• 50g of all-purpose flour

• 100-150g of a good quality breadcrumbs

• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions

• To get a perfect result of your cheese you should slice the cheese into 1cm thick pieces. In case it will be slimmer it might get fried wrongly.
• Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and whisk them gently. You should get a fluffy texture without any bigger egg yolk pieces.
• Pour the flour and the breadcrumbs into 2 separate plates.
• Place the cheese firstly into the flour so it gets covered from all the sides. Then transfer the cheese to the eggs and turn, then place into the breadcrumbs. Cover from all the sides pushing the cheese gently into the breadcrumbs. Thanks to this you will get a batter which will be super thick and crispy from outside. Also, the cheese inside will melt nicely
• Heat up the vegetable oil in a pan (or deep fryer) over high heat and deep fry the cheese until golden. This should take a maximum of 1 minute from both sides. If you fry it for longer the cheese might melt too much and it will run out to the oil.
• Serve immediately and enjoy
• *Special tip: In case you will fry the cheese in a pan and you are not sure how to check if the oil has a right temperature, just place in a couple of breadcrumbs and wait a few seconds. If they will start to fry immediately your oil is ready. If they burn too quickly, your oil is overheated and you should lower the heat. And in case nothing happens, you should wait a bit more and repeat this step a bit later

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But don’t worry, it will be definitely worth. Also, you will have some time to buy a good Czech beer which will be perfectly matching this dish. And if you are not a big fan of beer, try to drink a Pinot Noir with it.

How to make the marinated Camembert?

Marinated Camembert recipe.

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by Jan Vasil Course: Small biteCuisine: CzechDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Recommended drink parings: Czech beer or Pinot Noir

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Ingredients

• 2 pieces of Camembert cheese

• 3-4 pieces of bay leaves

• 6-8 pieces of whole allspice

• Whole black pepper

• 6 garlic cloves

• 3 red chilies

• 2 pieces of red onion

• 500 ml of sunflower oil

• 100 ml of a extra virgin olive oil

• 50g of red paprika powder

Directions

• Slice the camembert into a half and set aside. Deseed and cut the red chilies into half and slice the red onions.
• In a bowl mix the ground red paprika and pressed garlic.
• Smear the mixture on the camembert. On top of two pieces place a small amount of sliced red onion and the chilies and cover with the other half of the cheese. Press well.
• On the bottom of your jar place the bay leaves, black pepper, and allspice. On top of the spices place a good amount of red onion and chilies. Then place in the first camembert and repeat the whole setup with the second one as well.
• Once the cheese is in the jar cover it with the leftover red onion and chilies.
• Now you can pour in both of the oils. Please note that the cheese has to be fully covered with the oil.
• Close the jar and place it in the fridge for at least 7 days. (make sure that before serving you cool down your beer as well)

Notes

• You can keep the cheese in the fridge for 3 weeks.
• To get the most flavors out of the cheese, do not open the container for the first 7 days
• Eat with fresh bread or a French baguette
• Serve with a good Czech beer or a Pinot Noir

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Tag @tasteisyours on Instagram and hashtag it with #polishfood

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Marinated Camembert recipe – Authentic Czech marinated Camembert recipe

Do you want to get more recipes from Eastern Europe? Here is one of the most popular one from Slovakia.

And here you can learn more about the Czech cheeses.