Ukrainian cuisine is delicious, fatty, and hearty. Many of its dishes fit into a keto diet completely or just need minimal changes, as with this Lviv cheesecake recipe.
Lviv cheesecake is part of Ukrainian cuisine. You can find it in any city. But in Lviv, it is made everywhere: in every coffee house, in every restaurant. It’s like Key lime pie and Florida. Or brisket and Texas. They’re inseparable.
Its recipe first appeared in Daria Zwek’s recipe book, Sweet Baked Goods, in 1960. It included recipes from her childhood that she wrote down after her grandmother and mother.
Other recipes from our collection of 11 Ukrainian foods you must try.
The original recipe uses boiled potatoes. Other variations include flour or semolina. All of these ingredients help take away the extra water that farmer cheese gives off. On a keto diet, we don’t use any of these, but we have our own secret tips.
Cooking Tips
If the farmer cheese you’re using contains a lot of liquid, put it in a colander for a couple of hours before cooking to let it drain. The dough should have the consistency of thick, fatty yogurt. If it’s a little runny, you can add either 50 grams of almond flour or 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum (they will take up the extra moisture).
You can add dried or fresh berries and crushed nuts, while in the original recipe, raisins are usually used. But cheesecake is also good on its own, without any fillers!
To make the cheesecake soft and the crust on top tender, it is better to bake it in a water bath: take a glass mold, pour water (1.5-2 centimeters) into it, and put the mold with the cheese mass in it.
The original cheesecake is rectangular and covered with a chocolate glaze. But it’s also awesome without anything. If you want, you can serve it with caramel or grated berries, or with a keto jam.
Ingredients
Cheesecake:
- 500 g farmer cheese
- 4 eggs
- 100 g sweetener (or a little more)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 50 g dried berries
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 20 g butter
Glaze:
- 50 g chocolate (80% cocoa or more)
- 50 ml heavy cream
- 30 g sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. While it is heating up, whisk eggs and sugar into a thick foam.
- Add the farmer cheese and vanilla. Mix it thoroughly. If necessary, use an immersion blender – you should get a solid, glossy mass, like cream.
- Grate on a fine grater the zest of one lemon and one orange. Add it to the cheese mass. Also, send some berries there. Gently mix it.
- Grease a 9.5" by 5" cake pan with butter and pour the mass into it. Put the mold in a water bath and put it into the oven. After 40 minutes, start checking to see if it is ready. It usually takes an hour to bake.
- Turn off the oven. Do not take out the cheesecake – let it stand for another 20 minutes. Then take it out and leave it in its mold until it cools down completely. After that, take it out carefully, cover it with foil and put it in the fridge for 3-4 hours, or better yet, longer.
- After that, take out the cheesecake. Then melt 50 grams of chocolate in a saucepan, add 50 ml of heavy cream, stir thoroughly and do not bring it to a boil. Glaze the cold cheesecake.
Notes
Nutrition
More Desserts to Try
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- Simple cupcake recipe: mix everything together, bake it, and you’re done!
- How to cook absolutely sugar free toffee.
A bit unusual, but cool