Creamy Cheesecake – “Käse-Sahne Torte”

Cheesecakes are popular in Germany. Unlike the German cheesecake I posted a few months ago, the filling in this creamy cheesecake is not baked but set in the fridge. However, it is also made of quark (a type of curd cheese) and not of cream cheese so it is fairly light (if this can be said of a cake containing a pint of whipping cream...). This cake tastes great chilled and it is therefore particularly good in summer. Fruit (especially all kinds of berries, but also cubed fresh apricots) can be added to the cream if you like. The filling is set with gelatine, so this is not suitable for vegetarians. This recipe is enough for a 26 cm springform tin. It is a bit fiddly, but it is pretty foolprool and has never gone wrong (knock on wood).

For the sponge base:

4 eggs

100 g sugar

Some vanilla seeds or vanilla extract

100 g plain flour

50 g corn flour

1 tsp baking powder

For the cheese filling:

250 ml milk

200 g sugar

4 egg yolks

Zest and juice of half a lemon

8 leaves of gelatine

500 ml whipping cream

500 g quark (low fat or fat free)

For the sponge cake: whisk the eggs and the sugar for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Sieve the flour, corn flour and baking powder on top and carefully fold into the eggs. Pour the mixture into a greased tin and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes at 190 degrees. Leave to cool, remove from the tin and cut in half horizontally.

For the cheese filling: soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. Mix the milk, egg yolks, sugar and the lemon zest in a pot and bring to the boil. Squeeze the water from the soaked gelatine and dissolve it in the hot milk and egg mixture. Stir well and make sure there aren’t any lumps. Now leave the mixture to cool.

When the mixture is starting to set whip the cream. First stir the quark and lemon juice into the egg mixture and then carefully fold in the whipped cream.

If you own an adjustable cake ring fix the bottom layer of the sponge cake in the ring. If not, return the bottom layer of the sponge cake to the springform tin. Slightly oil the tin’s sides or line it with baking paper. Now smooth the creamy cheese mixture on top of the cake. Add the top layer of the sponge cake and press down very slightly. Leave to set in the fridge for at least three hours.

When the cake has set, remove the ring and dust the cake with icing sugar. This keeps in the fridge for a few days, but it can also be frozen.