I have recently been fortunate to come into a big store of fantastic German recipes, courtesy of my lovely friend Sandra, who is German, and knows how much I love to cook. This particular cheesecake recipe is her grandmother's, and is ridiculously easy to make. It is a plain baked cheesecake, bottomless (which means "no crust", rather than "endless", sadly), and the main ingredient is quark. I got some organic quark at the Slow Food Farmers' Market which I was very keen to use. Traditionally you're supposed to use low fat quark ("Magerquark"), but my ordinary full-fat variety seemed to work fine. We had it pure and plain, although you could definitely dress it up with berries if you wanted. However, it doesn't really need any extras - this cheesecake is fabulous, and really stands on its own. I made this in half-quantities, using a 20cm springform tin. I think it was just the right size to share with my family as a late-night dessert, straight from the oven, with the remainder refrigerated for essential snacking the next day. Wunderbar!
Awesome German Cheesecake
breadcrumbs to sprinkle
100gr. flour
250gr. sugar
200gr. soft butter
6 eggs
lemon juice to taste
vanilla powder
baking powder
1 kilo Magerquark
Line a large springform tin with greaseproof paper, (approx. 25cm, although the size isn't that important, as long as all the mixture fits), and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place all remaining ingredients in a bowl and beat until very smooth. Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake at 170C for about an hour, until the top is golden brown and the cheesecake is firm. Ideally you should let it cool in the oven, and then in the fridge until completely cold, but I understand that only someone with superhuman willpower would manage to resist eating a piece when it's still lovely and warm.
9 comments
I had no idea that cheesecakes were part of German cuisine! It does have the right stick-to-your-ribs comfort food look though. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! looks beautiful! A nice addition is also a few sultanas sprinkled through the mix... f
ReplyDeletelooks delicious, reminds me of the cheesecake my nanna used to make for us which we simply adored, sadly we were never able to get the recipe out of ther though!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the a recipe,,,could you let me know how much baking powder and vanila powder to use.
ReplyDeleteHow many will it feed? I am planning to try it out over the week end.
Yummm
Thanks
Binny
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI used 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp baking powder. If I had access to German Vanillezucker or Backpulver I'd use one sachet of each.
I'd say the full-sized 25cm cheesecake would make 12 generous slices.
xox Sarah
Excellent recipe, the "kasekuchen" was delicious. My partner says it was just the same as his mother used to make. She is is also from Germany and an excellent cook so I am thrilled. I used Quark in the recipe but as it is a little expensive I am going to substitute maybe ricotta or something similar next time. Will let you know. Trish Adelaide.
ReplyDeleteHi Trish,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! I'm so glad you had success with the recipe. Let me know how you go with the ricotta - you're right, quark is super-expensive here! :)
xox Sarah
Not the same with ricotta.Wrong texture. Yes Quake is expensive. I live in Ballarat and have to ask deli to order from Melbourne . Not as heavy as New York style.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Renate! I do enjoy a ricotta cheesecake but you're right, they're very different from the German quark cheesecakes!
Delete