Lviv Syrnyk Recipe: Traditional Ukrainian Baked Cheesecake by Iryna

Lviv Syrnyk is a traditional Ukrainian baked cheesecake — the taste of home, warmth, and a cozy kitchen. I’m happy to share every step, detail, and tip for making this homemade dessert.

Ingredients

• Farmer’s cheese 9% fat — 1 kg (35 oz)
• Eggs L — 8 (or M — 10)
• Sugar — 250 g (9 oz)
• Unsalted butter 82% fat — 150 g (5.3 oz)
• Semolina — 4 tbsp
• Raisins — 150 g (5.3 oz)
• 1 Madagascar vanilla bean (or 10 g vanilla sugar)
• Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange

Equipment

Baking dish 28×20 cm (11×8 inches), parchment paper, 3 mixing bowls, immersion blender or meat grinder, hand mixer, fine grater.

Method

The Night Before

The night before, I soak the orange and lemon in drinking water overnight — this draws out any bitterness from the peel. On baking day, the eggs, cheese, and butter should come to room temperature (19–21°C / 66–70°F) before starting.

Getting Ready

Before starting, I always preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) on static heat — no fan — and let it heat through evenly. The raisins go into a glass and get covered with boiling water. The baking dish is lined with parchment and lightly buttered.

The Cheese Base

The farmer’s cheese is blended with an immersion blender until completely smooth and silky — or passed twice through a meat grinder for the same result.

Yolks, Sugar, and Butter

The yolks are separated from the whites. The yolks go into a bowl with the sugar, softened butter, and vanilla seeds, and are whisked together until pale and creamy.

Citrus

The lemon and orange zest is finely grated and stirred into the yolk mixture, then the whole thing is folded into the cheese until uniform.

Bringing It Together

The raisins are dried well and added to the cheese mixture along with the semolina. Everything is stirred to combine.

Baking

The egg whites are whisked to stiff peaks and gently folded into the batter with a spatula — this is what gives the syrnyk its lift. The batter goes into the prepared dish and bakes for 50–60 minutes, until set and lightly golden. My tip: if the surface browns too quickly, after 40 minutes I cover it loosely with a sheet of dampened parchment and let it finish baking. It cools completely before slicing. A chocolate glaze on top is optional, but welcome.

Storage and a Note on Vanilla

The syrnyk keeps in the fridge for 3–4 days. The spent vanilla pod doesn’t go to waste — ground with 1 kg of sugar and left in a sealed jar for a month, it becomes a fragrant natural vanilla sugar, good for future baking or as a small gift.

Yours, Iryna