This is one of traditional German cakes that until now I was not able to make. The reason? The key ingredient is soft German cheese called Quark which until recently, was simply not available at this corner of the world. I know that substitutes can be made but lets just say; I don’t like substitutes. Then recently I spotted Quark on a specialty store shelf. Wow, was I ever excited! This Quark was not import so I was happy to learn that we actually started making it. That was a pleasant surprise, and without wasting much time I purchased couple of containers and ventured on making Käsekuchen.
I remember its taste from my childhood days as I use to spend part of my summer holidays in Germany where my family lived. It was first of all one of the first cheesecakes I ever tasted. In those days and I believe today as well, the cheesecakes were nowhere near as popular in Europe as they are in North America, and especially not at Balkans where I grew up. The cake has a very unique creamy and soft texture, it is light and airy, moderately sweet. It is hard not to take notice and remember it for these qualities.
My daughter on the other side is in love with cheesecakes. I suppose that makes sense with her being born Canadian and cheesecakes being so popular around here. Me personally, I find North American cheesecakes way too dense and heavy for my taste. However, I thought: this is the one cheesecake that might bring our preferences closer together.
This is the second time I am making it. The first time it turned out fantastic! Just the way I remember it tasted in Germany! I researched through many online recipes and at the end settled for a combination of my own that I liked the most. My recipe incorporates parts of various online recipes but with ingredient ratios and preparation methodology that I prefer. However, the taste is just the way it should be as I recall from my German days.
It is surprisingly quick and easy to make. It starts with shortcrust that gets chilled for few hours and filling is essentially whipping eggs and folding them together with Quark. Easypeasy.
| Prep Time | 45 minutes |
| Cook Time | 50-60 minutes |
| Passive Time | 1 hour |
| Servings |
servings
|
- 230 g all purpose non bleached flour sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 whole organic lemon zest
- 1 egg
- 55 g granulated sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter chilled
- 750 g Quark
- 60 g unsalted butter melted
- 125 g granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs separated
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 whole organic lemon zest
- 1 freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
|
|
- Sift together all purpose non bleached flour and baking powder into a medium size mixing bowl.
- Add and combine: salt, vanilla sugar, lemon zest and sugar.
- Add 100 g of refrigerated butter and cut into the mix using a pastry blender until it resembles a coarse meal.
- Add the egg to the mixture and toss around with wooden spoon until somewhat incorporated. Knead with your hands briefly until just held together. Work as fast as you can to prevent softening the dough. Add 1 tbsp of chilled water if necessary.
- Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Butter 230 mm (9") spring form pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- Take the dough out of refrigerator and let sit for 5 minutes to acclimatize.
- Roll the dough between two plastic wraps, into a circular shape with an approximate diameter of 355 mm (14").
- Transfer the dough to the spring form pan, plastic wrap on the top until dough is shaped to the pan.
- Peel off the plastic wrap and trim the dough sticking past the spring form side edges.
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate while making a filling.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF) with the rack in the middle.
- Separate egg yolks and egg whites into two separate medium size mixing bowls.
- Using a hand held mixer whip egg yolks at low speed gradually adding approximately 1/2 of the sugar. Increase the speed to high and mix until fluffy and tripled in volume, 5 minutes.
- Whisk in lemon juice, salt and lemon zest.
- Add Quark to the mixture and whisk until fully integrated and smooth.
- Mix approximately 1 cup of Quark mixture with the melted butter and then add it back in and incorporate to the rest of the Quark mixture.
- Add cream of tartar to egg whites and mix at high speed until soft peaks are formed.
- Gradually add the sugar and mix at high speed until stiff peaks.
- Mix in vanilla extract.
- Transfer approximately 1/4 of whipped egg whites to the Quark mixture and stir to lighten it up.
- Fold gently the rest of the egg whites using a rubber spatula. Fold just long enough until fairly uniform mixture is obtained.
- Pour the filling into a dough lined spring form, level the top using the rubber spatula.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is lightly browned.
- Turn the oven off and crack the oven door open. Let it cool for 2 hours.
- Remove cake from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Run the sharp knife around and release the spring form. Remove the bottom pan and parchment paper.
- Cover the cake with plastic film and refrigerate overnight.
- Serve chilled and dusted with confectioner's sugar. Keep refrigerated and covered.
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