German Cheesecake Recipe
& Homemade Quark Recipe

➤ by Oma Gerhild Fulson

Yum

Learn how to make cheesecake, just like it's made in Germany. A traditional recipe that's really easy to make? YES! Tastes just like you've had in Germany ... with a few little changes to make it easier! This recipe uses Quark ... and if you can't buy it, then check out below and make it yourself at home. (I use my Dash Greek Yogurt maker to make Quark!) The changes?

Well, instead of making a "Knetteig" crust, I used crushed German Butterkekse (when available), 'cause it's easy and, I think, tastes great!

How to make Cheesecake, German-style

Ingredients:

CRUST

• 7 oz butter cookies (German Butter Cookies or Mr. Christie's Social Tea Biscuits)
• ⅓ cup butter, melted

FILLING

• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• 1⅛ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla sugar
• 3½ Tbsp Bird's Custard Powder or 1 package Dr. Oetker Puddingpulver
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups quark (see below)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup whipping cream

Instructions:

CRUST

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch springform pan.
• Process the cookies in a food processor to the crumb stage. 
• Stir in the melted butter, mixing well.
• Put buttered crumbs into springform pan, pressing down firmly, making a slightly raised edge.

FILLING 

• In a large mixing bowl, add the butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, custard powder or pudding powder, and eggs. Mix well. 
• Stir in the quark and sour cream.
• In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff.
• Fold the whipped cream into the quark mixture until well incorporated.
• Pour filling onto buttered crumb crust and smooth the top.
• Place the pan into the oven, placing a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any possible overflow.
• Bake 50 - 60 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown and the cake seems set.
• Turn off oven heat and prop door open just a bit (I use a wooden spoon) so that the cake can cool off slowly.
• After about an hour, remove cake from the oven and place on a cookie rack to finish cooling.
• The cake is best served (if you can wait) once it has been in the fridge for several hours. 

When I use my Dash Greek Yogurt Maker to make Quark for this cake, I need to start the day ahead to allow for the incubation period. So, with a bit of planning, the amount of work used for this cake, really isn't very much. Therefore, how to make a cheesecake really doesn't have to be difficult! There are so many different recipes, but I really like quick and simple. That's the recipe above!

Quick Tips for Making Cheesecake ...

• Don't have a food processor? Put the cookies into a Ziploc bag and roll over with a rolling pin until the cookies have become crumbs.

• Don't have German butter cookies? Use tea biscuits (I've used Mr. Christie Social Tea Biscuits.)
  
• Can't get the traditional Puddingpulver? I used Bird's Custard Powder, but if that's not available, just use corn starch and add twice the vanilla sugar.
• Can't buy vanilla sugar? Make your own easily here. 

That's it. Real. German. Cheesecake. Wunderbar!

How to make Quark

Check out my page on making your own Quark here, or follow these quick steps below.

Use a Yogurt Maker ...

Easy way to make Quark ... use a Greek yogurt maker and buttermilk. 12 hours 'incubation' and 6 hours draining in fridge (I did 10 hours accidentally ... and a bit thicker than normal) ... can do in oven ... but the yogurt maker leaves the oven available for other uses. (Quantity: 4 cups buttermilk = 1.75 cups quark) 

Use the Oven ...

Don't have a yogurt maker? Don't fret! You can still make Quark. Pour the buttermilk into large casserole with lid. Let sit in oven overnight (at least 8 hours) at the lowest temperature possible ... no more than 150°F.

Line a large sieve or colander with a clean cloth. Pour the "cultured" buttermilk into it and let it sit to drain in the fridge for 6 hours or so.

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