Käsekuchen (German Cheesecake)

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Photo of  	Käsekuchen (German Cheesecake)

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.

Comments

Quark

Hallo Steffen,

Ich versuche auf Deutsch zu scheiben, aber Sie mussen mir enschuldigen weil mein Gramatik ist ja nicht ganz gut.

Ich habe dein Kochrezept für Apfelkuchen probiert und der Kuchen war ausgezeichnet! Ich habe auch der Kartoffelsalat gemacht und meine Mama hat gesagt dass das schmeckt wie ihre Kartoffelsalat.

Es freut mich sehr dass ich deine website gefunden habe.

P.S. I came across this website that has a recipe for quark. I have not tried it yet but hopefully soon.
http://whatsforlunchhoney.blogspot.com/2008/10/quark-recipe.html

Danke
Tima

fnejeidi@gmail.com
fnejeidi@shermanhoward.com

Steffan, You have a great

Steffan,
You have a great site. My mom and daughter and I just went to a Bavarian store and found Vanilla Sauce which we promptly bought thinking ahead to the Dampfnudeln my Oma used to make. I look forward to trying your Oma's recipe. My Oma also make the cheesecake with qwark so I am going to try your recipe too. My three year old is being enticed to speak German through the food! Thanks.

weisswurst

Hello Steffan. As a chef of a big restaurants\beer breweries net in Russia i used the weisswurst recipe. Very good. The site is very interesting and
i enjoy very much "visiting" from time to time. Thanks

recipes

:) I run and own a german and polish deli and need some new ideas on what to sell :) This week I am trying this recipe. I have the recipe somewhere here at home but could not find it. We are from Berlin Germany now living in the USA :) could use the help for some new ideas :):) Hope all is well!!

Kaesekuchen

Ich danke Ihnen fuer das wunderbare Rezept fuer Kaesekuchen.
Der Deutsche Kuchen mit Quark schmeckt viel besser als mit Cream cheese, weil der Kuchen dann viel leichter ist.
Danke, Danke ----------- Swantje

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