Syrniki

Ingredients

• 500 g tvorog, farmer's cheese or dry curd cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 90 g plain flour, plus 60 g for dredging
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 60 g raisins
• 40 g butter, for frying
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, for frying
• 150 g soured cream, to serve
• 4 tbsp sour cherry or apricot jam, to serve

Before you cook

• If the curd cheese is wet, wrap it in muslin and squeeze gently, or press it in a sieve for 15 minutes, because loose syrniki will not hold their shape.
• Push the cheese through a sieve into a bowl so the curds break down into a smooth paste.
• Cover the raisins with hot water for 10 minutes, then drain them and pat them dry.
• Spread the dredging flour on a small plate.

Steps

1. Beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt into the sieved cheese until you have a thick, even mixture.
2. Fold in the 90 g of flour and the drained raisins, stopping as soon as no dry flour remains.
3. Scoop a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and roll it between damp palms into a ball.
4. Press the ball into the dredging flour, turn it over, then flatten it into a puck about 2 cm thick and 6 cm across.
5. Shape the rest of the mixture the same way, setting each one on a floured plate.
6. Heat half the butter with half the oil in a large frying pan over medium-low heat.
7. Lay in as many syrniki as fit without touching and fry them for 4 minutes, until the underside is deep golden and a firm crust has formed.
8. Turn them with a palette knife and fry the second side for 4 minutes.
9. Move them to a warm plate and wipe the pan out with kitchen paper.
10. Fry the remaining syrniki in the rest of the butter and oil the same way.
11. Serve them hot, with a spoonful of soured cream and a spoonful of jam on each plate.