It is widely believed that syrniki is the dish that the Russian immigrants crave most. There is a problem though — the main ingredient is the “trovog” (the Eastern European quark), which is hard to find in stores. Eventually I found stores that sold Lithuanian quark, from which I was able to make syrniki that actually tasted good. After a while, still not completely satisfied with the taste, I thought that I could try to make the quark myself. The process was surprisingly simple and the resulting syrniki turned out to the best I ever cooked and even better than my babushka’s.
Ingredients
Quark
- 2L good quality milk (I prefer whole milk but you can also use reduced fat)
- 2L plain kefir
Syrniki
- 420g homemade quark. Alternatively you can use Eastern European style 9-15% fat. quark, for example the “Svalya” brand
- 50g sugar
- 2 eggs
- Pinch of salt
- Vanilla 1-2 tbs (extract or paste)
- 60-65g all purpose flour
- ~3tbs Canola/vegetable/coconut oil for pan frying
Instructions
To make “tvorog” (Eastern Slavic quark):
(12 hours before cooking Syrniki)
Bring milk to a boil. Add kefir, stir, turn off the heat, cover and let stand until it cools down to room temperature and curdles separate from liquid completely.
Line a colander with a cheesecloth, set it on an empty bowl and strain the curdles and the whey through it. Once the liquid strains through, wrap the fresh quark in the cheesecloth and set it under a weight in the refrigerator preferably overnight to strain the whey as much as possible. (Eastern European quark is delicious by itself, so if you ever decide to try it, it’s most tender right after it’s strained from whey, however for Syrniki it should be drier hence it needs to be left under a weight in the fridge.)
Preserve the whey and use it for making bread, crepes, cold “Okroshka” soup or even add it to your beauty regimen.
To make Syrniki
Make sure that quark and eggs are cold as it helps with shaping and allows to add less flour.
In a medium bowl mix together the quark, vanilla, sugar, eggs and salt using a fork making sure there’s no large curdles left.
Start with adding 55g of flour and stop when the mass looks firm for shaping. Do not add more than 70g.
Optionally mix in raisins, poppy seeds or dried fruits.
Wet your hands with water and shape 8-10 balls. Gently roll them in a small amount of flour.
Using a large non stick pan heat the oil and fry Syrniki covered on low until they are golden color on both sides. Let them cool for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
In Russia we traditionally serve them with sour cream, jam or sweetened condensed milk. In my picture I used vanilla bean Crème fraîche, rhubarb filled raspberries, homemade kiwi/gooseberry coulis, pureed, strained, heated with sugar and thickened with a bit of gelatin, and matcha/freeze dried strawberries white chocolate “honeycombs” (melt the chocolate, add matcha powder, temper it and dust with freeze dried strawberries and then freeze)
