Cottage Cheese Mannik with Cherries (Semolina Cake, 48g Protein, 490 Cal)
Nutrition
Mannik is the semolina cake every Eastern European grandma bakes with kefir, sugar and butter. This one swaps most of that for fat-free farmer cheese, so the whole pan comes to 490 calories with 48g of protein. I eat it as one serving, straight from the foil pan.
The trick is the 20-minute rest. Semolina soaks up the moisture from the cheese, egg and yogurt, swells, and holds the cake together without a spoon of flour. Look for farmer cheese (tvorog) rather than regular cottage cheese: it is drier and carries more protein per gram. Same cheese, different shape: chocolate protein syrniki in the air fryer.
Two thirds of the protein comes from the farmer cheese, while the semolina is the biggest single source of calories (216 of 490). That makes it an easy way to get closer to the protein you need while losing weight. To see where 490 calories fits in your day, run the daily calorie calculator.
Ingredients
- 6.3 oz (180 g) fat-free farmer cheese (tvorog, 0%)
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup (60 g) semolina
- 1½ tbsp (22 g) plain low-fat yogurt (1.6%)
- About 1 tbsp stevia or any sweetener, to taste
- ½ tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- About 10 frozen pitted cherries (~2.5 oz / 70 g)
- Zero-calorie strawberry syrup, to drizzle
Instructions
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Step 1: Start with the egg and the dry mix
Crack the egg into a bowl and add the semolina, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
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Step 2: Add the farmer cheese
Put the whole block in; it breaks up as you mix.
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Step 3: Add the sweetener and yogurt
About a tablespoon of stevia, more or less to taste, plus the yogurt.
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Step 4: Mix and let it rest for 20 minutes
Stir until there are no dry pockets. The rest lets the semolina swell, which is what holds the cake together without flour.
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Step 5: Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes
Spread the batter in a small foil pan. I didn't grease it and it barely stuck. Bake on the regular setting, switching to convection for the last 5 minutes to brown the top.
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Step 6: Check that it is done
The top puffs up and turns golden at the edges.
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Step 7: Top with cherries and syrup
Scatter the frozen cherries over the top and drizzle with zero-calorie strawberry syrup.
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