Sernik
Polish cheesecake made with twarog rather than cream cheese, which gives it a drier, lighter crumb than the American kind. Press the cheese through a sieve twice and it turns silky.
Ingredients
- twarog, full fat — 1 kg
- sugar — 200 g
- eggs — 5 pcs
- butter, softened — 120 g
- potato starch — 3 tbsp
- vanilla extract — 1 tsp
- lemon zest — 1 tsp
- digestive biscuits — 200 g
- butter for the base — 80 g
Instructions
- Crush the biscuits, mix with the melted base butter and press firmly into a lined 24 cm tin. Chill while you make the filling.
- Press the twarog through a fine sieve twice — this is the whole difference between grainy and silky.
- Beat the softened butter with the sugar until pale, then add the egg yolks one at a time.
- Fold in the twarog, potato starch, vanilla and lemon zest.
- Whisk the whites to soft peaks and fold them through in two additions.
- Bake at 160°C (325°F) for about 70 minutes until barely set at the centre, then turn the oven off and leave the door ajar — cooling it slowly is what stops the top cracking.