Syrniki - Russian quark pancakes

- I'm hungry!

- ... (waiting)

- ... (sweet eyes)

- Do you want me to make you something for breakfast?

- Will you make me a toast? (sweet eyes)

- A toast? Sure! What do you want inside?

- Oh well, something not too difficult... Ham and mozarella?

- Hmmm, ok. (Pause) What if I make you syrniki?

- What?

- You'll see!

Syrniki. (plural from syrnik)... How do I explain this? Well it's something very Russian (I already hear a voice of G. saying "BACK to Russia!") and very breakfasty. They look like american pancakes but are made of "tvorog", which is the Russian word for quark, and very little flour. This combination makes them crunchy outside and soft and creamy inside. The taste is something between sweet, salty an sour. It might not sound very tasty, but you have to try in order to understand!

You could also make them with cottage cheese instead of quark. In this case you should first drain the liquid, then put the cheese in a blender and process until it is almost smooth.

INGREDIENTS:

500 gr fresh, thick quark or processed cottage cheese (it is important to use thick quark, otherwise your mix will be too liquid an it will require more flour)

1 egg

5 tbsp white flour

2 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

1 pinch salt

some extra flour for dusting

vegetable oil for frying

1. Place all the ingredients except for sugar in a bowl and mix well. You should have a very thick dough, that doesn't stick to your hands. If it is too liquid add some more flour, just no too much.

2. In a large, non-stick pan heat the oil. Once it starts "smoking" add the sugar and vanilla sugar to the dough an mix well.

3. Take once table spoon of dough, shape in a cake, dust with some flour and place on a pan. Continue with the next syrnik. Depending on the size of the pan, fry about 5-7 syrniki at a time.

4. Fry for a couple of minutes on both sides, turning carefully with a fork, until they are golden brown. Place on kitchen paper towel to absorb the extra oil.

Serve either plain or with jam, honey or caramel syrup! Amazing for breakfast or just a snack with your coffee or tea. You could also add some dried berries to the dough for a little twist and some extra taste! Wonderful!

On the other hand, if your dough is too liquid even with the extra four you could do the following trick. Instead of shaping the syrniki and dusting them with extra flour you could just take some dough with a wet table spoon and place it directly on the hot pan. They will be a bit more flat but still very very tasty! Plus you avoid the extra calories from the flour :P