Sernik calculator
Baked Polish cheesecake counted from the cheese: a kilo of twaróg, eggs, butter, sugar and a little potato starch, no base.
A Polish sernik is written from the cheese: a kilo of ground twaróg, and everything else against it. This one is AniaGotuje’s simplest baked version, no base, made with the smooth tub cheese sold for cheesecakes, mixed in ten minutes and baked slowly.
How it works
The batter
On 1 kg of ground twaróg: four medium eggs, about 240 g out of the shell, 200 g of melted butter, 150 g of sugar and a 40 g sachet of vanilla pudding powder, or 40 g of potato starch with vanilla instead. AniaGotuje’s quick way puts everything in one bowl and mixes it briefly on low speed; her more careful way separates the eggs and folds in the beaten whites last. Mix only until it comes together, to the consistency of a thick custard.
Baking
A 24 cm springform lined on the bottom only, 190 °C top-and-bottom heat, 175 to 180 °C with a fan, for about an hour and twenty minutes. Cool it slowly: the traditional recipes at Kwestia Smaku and Moje Wypieki bake an hour at 170 °C and leave the cake in the oven with the door ajar, so it settles without cracking.
The traditional way
The older recipes cream the butter with the sugar and add the yolks one by one before the cheese, then the starch, and fold in the stiffly beaten whites at the end. Moje Wypieki: 200 g of butter, 250 g of sugar, four large eggs, two spoons of potato starch on a kilo. Kwestia Smaku: 250 g of butter, six eggs, 150 ml of cream and four spoons of starch.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- AniaGotuje — Sernik (prosty, bez spodu, z sera z wiaderka) — The anchor, the one sernik that weighs everything: a kilo of ground twaróg, four medium eggs (“około 240 g po rozbiciu”), 200 g of butter, 150 g of sugar, a 40 g sachet of pudding powder or 40 g of potato starch; 24 cm, 190 °C.
- Moje Wypieki — Sernik tradycyjny — The traditional method: 200 g of butter creamed with 250 g of sugar “or less”, four large eggs, two spoons of starch on a kilo; an hour at 170 °C, cooled in the oven. With a very fatty tub cheese the butter can drop to 100 g.
- Kwestia Smaku — Sernik tradycyjny — The buttery end: 250 g of butter, six eggs, 150 ml of cream 36% and four spoons of potato starch on a kilo, 26 cm, an hour at 170 °C.
- AniaGotuje — Sernik tradycyjny — The lean end: 100 g of butter and six large eggs on a kilo, 170 g of sugar, five spoons of starch and one of flour, baked without a base at a slightly higher heat.
FAQ
Which cheese?
A full- or half-fat twaróg, ground three times, or a good thick tub cheese made for sernik; AniaGotuje names Piątnica and Mlekovita. Moje Wypieki notes that with a very fatty tub cheese, over 18% fat, the butter can drop to 100 g.
How much butter?
100 g on a kilo in AniaGotuje’s traditional recipe, 200 g here and at Moje Wypieki, 250 g at Kwestia Smaku. More butter is a denser, richer, more Viennese cake.
Why the starch?
It binds the moisture of the cheese so the cake sets without weeping. Every recipe has some: a sachet of pudding powder or 40 g of starch here, two to five spoons elsewhere. Gluten-free pudding powders exist; many contain wheat flour.
Why did it crack or sink?
Too much air in the batter and a fast cool-down. Mix briefly, do not overbeat, and open the oven door a little at the end instead of taking the cake straight out.
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