The end of 2020 is in sight and after the last few weeks, I am breathing a sigh of relief and eagerly anticipating the possibilities that 2021 holds. There is a long road ahead, to be sure, but for now I am refreshed and hopeful.
This weekend we were feeling a bit celebratory and indulgent and I decided it was time to try making a dish that has been on my recipe wish list for quite a long time – syrniki, or farmer’s cheese pancakes – a Russian/Eastern European dish served for breakfast or dessert with fruit sauce and sour cream. Many recipes also mix dried fruit into the batter for extra sweetness. Unlike pancakes, the batter is mostly cheese, with just a small amount of flour and/or farina (aka Cream of Wheat) to bind, which has led some to aptly describe them as “cheesecake pancakes” – could there possibly be any more indulgent way to start a weekend morning??
I first discovered a recipe for syrniki when I purchased a copy of Anya von Bremzen’s epic opus on the food of Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union, “Please to the Table”. Having had very little exposure to this cuisine, I was equal parts fascinated and frustrated, as the dishes I wanted to make most called for ingredients I couldn’t find. There was an abundance of recipes calling for farmer’s cheese, which Anya describes as similar to American-style cottage cheese. An internet image search made me skeptical of this comparison, as farmer’s cheese didn’t seem to have any of the liquid inherent to cottage cheese and had smaller, creamy curds, like milky goat cheese. I sighed and set aside the cookbook and my syrniki aspirations.
BUT – recently we made a somewhat serendipitous discovery in our neighborhood. While waiting for takeout from a new-to-us restaurant, we decided to kill time by checking out the other shops in an adjacent strip mall and stumbled into….a Russian grocery store! And along the back wall I found an entire refrigerator stocked with all manner of Russian and Eastern European dairy, including farmer’s cheese in multiple brands, sizes, and varieties. I gawked for about five minutes, then selected what seemed to be the most ubiquitous brand, went home, pulled “Please to the Table” off the shelf and set out to make some syrniki.
I made a few tweaks to Anya’s recipe – though she says to fry the syrniki in butter, I used avocado oil as butter’s low smoke point resulted in a burned first batch. I also thought that serving with sour cream, as she suggests, would take an already indulgent dish over the top, so I recommend serving with some tangy Greek yogurt instead. And because we are still in the middle of autumn apple season, I made a caramel apple sauce to replace the more traditional cherry or berry.
If you are lucky enough to find farmer’s cheese in your local grocery, I suggest you indulge yourself and make these as soon as possible. If you have any suggestions for farmers cheese substitutions, please share them in the comments!
Syrniki with caramel apple sauce
Adapted from Anya von Bremzen’s “Please to the Table”.
Note that you do need to chill the batter overnight, so be sure to start these the night before you plan to make them.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup brandy (sub apple juice if desired)
- 48g (1/3 cup) raisins
- 1 pound farmer’s cheese*
- 2 large egg yolks, beaten
- 30g (2 tbsp) full-fat sour cream
- 22g (2 tbsp) uncooked cream of wheat or farina
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 56g (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour, plus more for dredging
- neutral oil for frying
- 1 large tart apple, such as granny smith, peeled and chopped
- 28g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 64g (1/4 cup) brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- low-fat or fat-free greek yogurt to serve
Directions
- Heat the brandy or apple juice in a small saucepan; add raisins and steep 30 minutes. Drain and dry on paper towel.
- Mix the farmer’s cheese, sour cream, egg yolks, sugar, salt farina, and vanilla with a spatula until smooth.
- Sift flour over the cheese mixture and add raisins. Gently fold in flour and raisins until just incorporated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- To make the caramel apple sauce, melt butter in a small pan over low-medium heat, add brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom and stir until dissolved. Add apples and stir to coat, raise heat to medium and cook about 10 minutes until apples are soft but not falling apart. Cover and keep warm.
- Remove cheese mixture from the fridge. Add about 1/4 cup flour to a shallow plate. Form cheese into small patties about 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Put back into fridge while you prepare the pan.
- Heat about 2 tbsp of a neutral-flavored oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, dredge 3-4 sirniki in flour and add to frying pan. Fry until golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.
- Serve with caramel apple sauce and thick yogurt.
*Farmer’s cheese can be found at specialty and European markets. I’ve been told it is also sometimes carried in well-stocked grocery stores near the cottage cheese, though I’ve never seen it. Send me pictures if you find it in the Seattle area!
