Syrniki (fried cheese cakes)

Syrniki are cottage cheese patties with a golden crust that have become a familiar part of home breakfast in Russia. Their name preserves the old meaning of the word «cheese,» which was formerly used to denote cottage cheese as well. Cottage cheese is mixed with egg and a small amount of flour, shaped, and fried; sometimes raisins are added, or the syrniki are brought to readiness in the oven. They are served with sour cream, jam, honey, or berries.

Syrniki are pan-fried cheese cakes made from fresh cottage cheese (tvorog or quark), flour, eggs and sugar. The word syrniki comes from the old Slavic «syr», which originally meant soft, sour-milk curd cheese rather than today’s hard cheese.

Here’s the recipe of syrniki meeting the USSR-times state standart called GOST. It’s a comprehensive system of technical standards originating from the Soviet era, still widely used in Russia and other CIS countries to ensure product quality, safety, and uniformity across industries like manufacturing, food, and construction.

cooking
time 30 min

difficulty
level Easy

key
ingredients 8

Ingredients

Cottage cheese 9%

600 g

Flour

80 g

Sugar

60 g

Egg

20 g

Butter

10 g

Neutral oil

10 g

Salt

0,25 g

Vanilla extract

to taste

Servings: 12 pcs, 4 portions

Recipe

Pass cottage cheese throug the sieve for ensuring higher smoothness. Add 20 g egg melange.

Add sugar salt, vanilla extract and ⅔ of flour - sifted.

Mix the dough well, cover the bowl with foil and refrigerate for a couple of hours, or better cook the dough in the evening and leave overnight to cook it for breakfast. The dough will harden from the cold and it will be easier to work with it. The flour will collect excess moisture, and gluten will develop in the dough.

For the cheesecakes, sprinkle the remaining flour over the work surface. Remove the thickened curd dough from the refrigerator and form a block with a diameter of 5-6 cm.

Cut this sausage into 12 round slices— three cheesecakes per serving. Roll the slices in flour and give each piece a neat round shape 1.5–2 cm high.

Heat a thick-bottomed frying pan over medium heat and melt the butter in it. Fry the cheesecakes in a frying pan until golden brown, about 2 minutes each side.

Preheat the oven to 180-200 °C. Place the cheesecakes in a baking dish or on a baking sheet and cook for 5-7 minutes. Serve the cheesecakes immediately.

Serving

It’s a typical breakfast dish or a dessert as it’s always accompanied by sweet condensed milk, honey or fruit jam or/and fresh berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

where
to try

Shalyapin

Moscow

A refined cocktail bar at the Metropol Hotel in Teatralny Proyezd. Beyond its intricate drink menu, you can often find guest shifts and alcohol sets by touring stars. The experience is enhanced by a cultural programme: occasionally, you can catch live performances on a Bechstein grand piano, vinyl DJ sets, or immersive theatrical productions.

DR. Zhivago

Moscow

Dr. Zhivago is a grand café on the ground floor of the historic Hotel National, with views toward the Kremlin and Manege Square, and a recommendation from the Michelin Guide. The main hall displays reproductions of major Soviet-era paintings — Malevich, Petrov-Vodkin, Deineka, Samokhvalov — while an inner room takes its black-lacquer, gold-ceilinged look from Palekh lacquer boxes. The menu reworks Russian classics such as pozharsky cutlets, sturgeon aspic, and caviar service, backed by a vodka bar of polugar, samogon, and infused spirits.

Voronezh

Moscow

Stop by the Voronezh restaurant at the corner of Prechistenka and Gogolevsky Boulevard, celebrating the meat of the Voronezh region. Look for all kinds of cutlets, stuffed cabbage rolls, and everything that was popular in the second half of the 20th century — the local chef works wonderfully with this gastronomic heritage.