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Hrudka, the Ukrainian Egg Cheese is the Eastern European Easter cheese made from eggs that we have made in my family for generations. This traditional Ukrainian Easter food is always part of our Slovak Easter menu.
Hrudka – Ukrainian Easter Cheese Recipe
If you are Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak, or other Eastern European descent and want to connect with your roots, or just like trying new and unique recipes from different regions of the world, give this Hrudka recipe a try. It’s easy, fun, and pretty awesome to say that you made your own cheese!
This cheese is one of the foods that we put in our Easter basket to be blessed at church on Holy Saturday. Each one has a significance. The homemade bread is a symbol of Jesus, the Bread of Life. Horseradish is usually mixed with beets and the color is a symbol of the blood he shed for us. Eggs are a symbol of new life and the rebirth of Christ. A candle is lit to symbolize the Light of the World.
Cheese is also symbolic of the moderation Christians should have in their lives. Combine that with the symbolism of the Easter egg, and it only makes sense to make cheese out of eggs for this holiday.
It is definitely something different, and, from what I can find, unique to Eastern Europe. A Google search for “egg cheese” turns up lots of cheese eggs, but really only Hrudka as actual cheese made from eggs.
What Does Hrudka Taste Like?
In our family, while my mom was helping my grandma make Paska, my aunt was making the Easter cheeses – the sweet Syrnyk, and this one. While it may be called “egg cheese” it does not taste like scrambled eggs or cheesy eggs. It’s smooth and slightly sweet, and not quite as salty as other cheeses. It is definitely more mild, not like a sharp cheddar, and perhaps more similar in texture to mozzarella. And it goes well along with an Easter ham.
What you’ll need
You only need four ingredients to make this recipe:
- Eggs
- Whole milk
- Sugar
- Salt
In addition, make sure you have a pot, a whisk, and some cheesecloth.
How to Make Hrudka
Preparations. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set aside.
Cook the mixture. Combine the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler and whisk until combined. Place bowl over a pot of water or assemble the double boiler and, over medium heat, bring the water to a simmer. Cook, stirring very frequently until the mixture begins to thicken and then the curds separate from the whey. This will take 20-30 minutes from when you start to see the curds begin to form, and it will look similar to scrambled eggs when it is done.
Strain the cheese. Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth to drain off the liquid (the whey), and allow to drain for several minutes. Then gather the cheesecloth, forming the cheese into a ball and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, allowing to cool until you can handle it, if necessary. Keeping the cheesecloth wrapped tightly around the cheese, drain for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
Bake the cheese. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the cheese in an oven save dish. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden. Cool completely in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.
Storing Homemade Cheese
The Hrudka should be kept covered in the refrigerator. It is best enjoyed within 2 to 3 days. I do not recommend freezing Hrudka.
More Ukrainian Easter Recipes
- Paska – Ukrainian Easter Bread
- Pot Cheese and Potato Cheese Pierogies
- Syrnyk – Sweet Ukrainian Easter Cheese
You can also try Haluski or Fried Cabbage and Noodles from A Family Feast. Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls from Noble Pig are always a classic. And though more popular around Christmas than Easter, you can’t go wrong with Nut Roll from Brown Eyed Baker.
Hrudka – Ukrainian Egg Cheese for Easter
Ingredients
- 1 dozen eggs
- 1 quart whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set aside.
- Combine the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler and whisk until combined.
- Place bowl over a pot of water or assemble the double boiler and, over medium heat, bring the water to a simmer. Cook, stirring very frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken and then the curds separate from the whey. This will take 20-30 minutes from when you start to see the curds begin to form, and it will look similar to scrambled eggs when it is done.
- Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth to drain off the liquid (the whey), and allow to drain for several minutes. Then gather the cheesecloth, forming the cheese into a ball and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, allowing to cool until you can handle it, if necessary.
- Keeping the cheesecloth wrapped tightly around the cheese, drain for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the cheese in an oven save dish. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden.
- Cool completely in the refrigerator before slicing.
- Serve with your Easter ham.
Did you make this?
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Enjoy!
I had lost recipe after dad passed and I was glad to find this on this website. Very good thank you very much turned out perfect God bless.
My mom and her brother was adopted in PA. by a wonderful man who was from Ukraine and was in our United States Navy. He built his house by hand along with my mom and her brother in Pennsylvania not far from the Orphanage. He would make this eggy cheese and all of the traditional sweet cheese and sweet raisin breads. With ham and all the sides. She always told me that when he made the eggy cheese that he would hang it in cheese cloth for a couple of days in the cool clean basement. It would come out perfect she said. He has passed away sadly but I’m so excited to have met him once before he passed away. His last name was Natishin. He gave my mom things that he held on for her all the years she was gone. Her stepmother was so horrible to my mom and her brother. The stepmother would put them in the pitch dark basement and beat them both with a thick razor strap belt. So when my mom and her brother graduated high school, they both joined the Navy as the stepmother kept things from them that a nice lady next door to them gave to them. She threatened my mom and her brother horribly to never tell their dad because her several kids she had from other guys came first and more. But my mom and her brother never told him to keep peace. My mom loved her dad so much and right after we visited him and he loved seeing us, he cried. Then not long after, my Grandpa passed away. This is a sad story. Sorry …. So now I’m teaching myself to learn my Grandpas traditions for the holidays and learning to make his beautiful Easter hallow painted Easter eggs with colorful melted crayon wax. He would prick a hole in the top and bottom and blow out the egg in a bowl to save for his eggy cheese. He was a sweet peaceful loving dad who worked hard. I wish he was here today. God Bless all in this world and all of Gods beautiful creations🙏🏼♥️
Use this recipe slightly modified every year and have for the past 5 at least. So glad it’s here for easy reference even though I should know it now.
We grew up on this also, never baked but had to serve with red beet horseradish on it
I am not sure why it was baked, but I’ve hear of others who make a version of Hrudka that is not baked. My family has always made it this way though.
Thanks for sharing! I believe this recipe is pretty much the one I know, minus the oven part. Is that just for color or does it change the texture any?
I’m not Eastern European, but my mother-in-law is and I’ve had the traditional Slovak Easter dinner every year since I started dating my husband 15 years ago. Now that my mother-in-law is older and no longer able to cook much, it’s up to me to keep the traditions going and pass them along to my daughters. When I first had egg cheese, I thought it was really odd. But it is really yummy especially on bread with ham and horseradish. I’m about to go try to make this now, only my second time ever making it, last year it turned out but I struggled with getting it shaped right haha. I am sure practice makes perfect though and will do my best to keep the traditions alive!
My Ukrainian husband LOVES egg cheese! I tried this recipe last year for Easter and he stated I should have made more. This year I made two! Very easy to make. Thank you so much!
I love that I’ve been able to share these traditional recipes and happy you enjoyed them!
My Mennonite neighbor brought me some egg cheese yesterday after she borrowed my cheese cloth to make this for her family for Easter. She suggested we serve it with maple syrup drizzled over top. Our kids licked their plates clean and asked for seconds. Yum!
Thank you for sharing your recipe and the history behind it.
I’m so happy to know that you enjoyed the Hrudka recipe! Thank you for your comment. 🙂
Oooh, I’m so curious to try with maple syrup. Thanks for sharing!
I grew up with this and have made it for 50 years myself. Our whole family got together to do Ukrainian eggs on Good Friday afternoon and on Holy Saturday our parish priest actually came to Bless the food and house. Love our memories and traditions
We used to make pysanki eggs, but it has been awhile. Hope you had a blessed Easter.
My mother’s family was Slovak. We made the Easter cheese every year, but we called it “Cirek .” Ours was not baked in the oven after draining it . We refrigerated it and ate it with our nut roll and poppyseed roll on Easter morning.
My mom used the liquid from draining the Easter cheese in yeast dough—some in the Paska, some in the nut and poppyseed roll dough, and if she had any left, she froze it and used it at some other time when she baked bread.
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Thank you for sharing your traditions! I actually think my great-grandmother used to do the same with the liquid from the cheese. But then they started dividing tasks amongst my family and my mom made the Paska while my aunt made the cheese so everything was done separately.
Can you do it in the microwave ? If so, how long ?
Hi Pam. Unfortunately, a microwave won’t work for this recipe. To make Hrudka, the eggs must be cooked very slowly and gently so that the curds can form.
I make my Hrudka in the microwave every year and it turns out great!!!!!
Interesting!
Does it actually taste cheesy? Or just like smooth, sweet eggs? The texture in the pictures and the description are making me think of tamagoyaki, Japanese omelet commonly used in sushi. Could you slice it for an egg sandwich?
You know, it’s hard to describe the flavor. It’s not super sweet and it does have a bit of a cheesy flavor. It’s not overly eggy. I have not heard of tamagoyaki. The Hrudka is typically sliced, but in my family we have not used it on sandwiches. I suppose you could.
My mom’s family has been making this forever, too! Our recipes are the same, also. We just wish there was a device to form & squeeze the egg ball, instead of scalding our hands & cutting fingers on the string as we tie it tight?
Wouldn’t that be a nice little miracle, Christina? 😉
I am Ukrainian and Polish and have never had this. Will have to give it a go. Would a “nut milk bag” work rather than cheese cloth?
I think it might, but I have not tried that. I don’t know exactly how porous the nut milk bags are.
My mom was Slovak, so I also grew up eating this at Easter. However, we didn’t bake it in the oven. Also, my mom added a little sugar and cinnamon. I made it for the first time yesterday. Does anyone know if it can be frozen? Thanks so much!!! I love seeing traditional recipes. Thanks for posting!
I have seen it with cinnamon and have heaerd of versions not baked. I guess everyone has their own family recipes 🙂 I have a feeling it wouldn’t freeze very well, though I don’t know that anyone in my family has ever tried.
I have never heard of this…so very interesting!.
It’s a classic dish at our house, Cathy. I think it’s fun to try new ethnic recipes once in a while!
My family has been making this for over 100 years!!! My great-grandmother was born in 1889, and her mother and grandmother made it! (If I calculate her grandmother being age 50 in 1889, that’s 178 years!!!!) I remember my great-grandmother making this, and the same for my grandmother, my mother and father, my sisters and I, and now my children!
Our recipe differs slightly . . .
Instead of a quart of milk, we use one cup of milk, and 1 1/2 pounds of ricotta cheese. Years ago, a similar cheese was used that cannot be found now, but I don’t remember the name of it.
Also, one egg yolk is retained and put aside. Before baking, the yolk is broken on top and rubbed around the outside.
It’s DELICIOUS, and easy to make!
After my father had a triple bypass, I made one for him with (don’t gag!) Egg Beaters and skim milk . . . I know . . . It’s sacrilegious in the making of our Hrudka! But, it turned out pretty good!
Your family’s recipe for Hrudka sounds delicious, Laura!
My Dad’s family made this cheese every Easter…they passed this on to their children but it wasn’t passed on to my generation. Thank you for giving me this blessing. I took it to my Grandson’s school for a presentation on Easter traditions (blessing of Easter baskets…they loved it.
I’m so happy to have given you a recipe that you can share with your family, Ella!
I’m Slovak and we’ve been making this since I was a child, however we refrigerate it overnight and just serve it the next day with our ham or kielbasa. What is the reasoning for putting it in the oven? It seems as if it would dry it out. We always serve it with beet horseradish, as an option too! Yum!!
Hi Patricia! I’m not exactly sure why we heat it, but that’s how my family has done it for generations. It’s very good that way, but I guess there are a few different ways to make it! 🙂
Just going over Easter cheese.
I also was surprised u reheated or baked in oven.
My Baba was Slovakian/ Rutherian
And she stirred ingredients of the savory style, and drained into a cheese clothe she hung over the sink w a wooden spoon and as it drained she would continue to twist the spoon in tightening the cheese cloth ball till it no longer drained whey. Then she hung the curd in tge cheese cloth over a bowl or sitting in a collard strainer over a bowl still hanging in the refrig.
On sat/ holy sat before light, she pred her basket for the miring blessing at the church.
We served this at Easter meal after mass.
Straight from the refrig with blessed butter or other items from the basket( red horseradish, pickled beet hard boiled eggs, Easter bread, ham or kielbasa , beets, lamb cake if we had, a white candle was in bread w a colored egg and other colored eggs blessed.
Basically I got confused that this Easter cheese would be reheated as we always served cold.
Thank u for ur site.
Ds
Thanks for sharing your traditions! We do not reheat it to serve ie. We serve it cold, but it is baked in the preparation.
My baba called it “chicken cheese” in English. I made it, oh, maybe 20 years ago for my husband. Glad you reminded me of it, seeing as right now I’m overstocked with eggs from my neighbor.
WOW! I learned so much!! Thank you so much for sharing! I think it’s wonderful you are digging into your roots through recipes. Can’t wait to come back and learn more!
I am half Ukrainian and know all too well about the traditions of Holy Saturday and all that goes with it, but I have to say, I have never had egg cheese! I’ll have to give it a try sometime!
I definitely need to try this!
Oh wow! What a neat recipe! I have never heard of this before.
Wow this egg cheese sounds amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
How interesting! I had never heard of this cheese before. Will definitely have to try it.
Brianne, NEVER have heard of this, but my mouth is watering right now. I really want to try this!
I never knew such a thing existed! Glad you recreated this traditional dish—and came to love it! I would, too!!!
I love this post Brianne! This is so unique and very interesting. After reading your recipe I am pretty sure I would eat this and I may have to give this one a hand at making too!
How very interesting, Brianne! I couldn’t wait to see this recipe and it does not disappoint! I love learning about food traditions around the world.