Steffen's Dinners - Recipes and Photos

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This German cheesecake is a bit lighter than its American cousin. The filling is made with low-fat quark instead of cream cheese and egg foam is folded into the filling to give it a slightly fluffy consistency. Lemon and vanilla give the filling a fresh flavor.

The crust is essentially a sweetened pie crust (pâte sucrée).

Ingredients

Crust

• 9 oz / 250g all-purpose flour
• 4½ oz / 125g butter
• pinch of salt
• 1 oz / 30g sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2-3 tbsp water

Filling

• 1 lb 10oz / 750g quark (regular, not non-fat), see note for a substitution
• 2 oz / 60g melted unsalted butter
• 4½ oz / 125g sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• pinch of salt

Preparation

• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt, then cut in the cold butter.
• Add egg yolks and water. Then knead with your hands just until the dough is smooth.
• Wrap in plastic foil and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.
• Grease a 10 in / 25cm spring form with butter.
• Roll out the dough, then press it into the bottom and the sides of the spring form.
• In a mixing bowl (or large food processor) combine quark, sugar, egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. Beat until well blended then mix in the melted butter.
• Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
• Carefully fold the egg foam into the quark mixture.
• Pour mixture into the spring form.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes (or until done). The top should be lightly browned and the filling should be set.
• Turn off oven, open door and let cool for another 15-20 minutes.
• Remove form from oven, run a knife around the edge and open the spring form.
• Transfer cake to a plate or platter. Let cool well before serving.

Notes

• I am lucky enough to have quark available in one of our local little markets. A good substitution for the quark is low fat cottage cheese, just place it in a food processor, add a bit of milk and process until very smooth.
• During baking, the filling will rise quite a bit and fall when cooling down. This is normal an no reason to worry.
• Without the umlaut the spelling is "Kaesekuchen".

Yields 1 10 in / 25cm diameter cake

Preparation time: ca. 2 hours plus the time the cake needs to cool.