Diana's Desserts - www.dianasdesserts.com

Käsekuchen - German Cheesecake

in Diana's Recipe Book

Average Rating: 
(total ratings: 29)
[Read reviews] [Post a review]
Servings: 12
 
Comments:
This wonderful and creamy German Cheesecake is very light and each bite melts in your mouth. It is not too sweet. This is a dessert that always gets many wonderful compliments.

Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla-sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 stick (7 tbsp/3 1/2 oz/100g) butter

For the Filling:
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla-sugar
3/4 stick (7 tbsp/3 1/2 oz/100g) butter, very soft and at room temperature
6 oz. heavy cream
17 oz. (500g) Quark - A light yogurt type cream cheese* (see note below for Quark substitutions, if needed)
1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
3 egg whites
Pinch of salt

Instructions:
For the Crust:
Sift the flour, stir in the baking powder, salt, vanilla-sugar, lemon peel and sugar, then rub in the butter and knead to a smooth consistency with the egg. Place dough in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 C). You will need a 9 or 9 1/2-inch springform pan.

Roll out the dough on a well-floured work surface, then form it into a ball again and roll it out a second time. (This dough is the worst behaved of any I have ever had to deal with, but the double rolling helps tame it, and the end result IS worth the hassle). Place dough in bottom of a 9 or 9 1/2-inch springform pan, pressing it up the sides almost to the top. Set aside.

For the Filling:
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla-sugar until pale and foamy. Add the softened butter and beat well, then add the heavy cream and beat again. Add the quark and stir until the mixture is smooth and throughly combined.

Whisk the egg whites with the salt until very stiff, then very gently fold in the quark mixture, also adding the sifted cornstarch a little at a time. Pour the filling into the crust shell and gently wobble the pan back and forth until the surface is smooth. Trim the dough, leaving about 1 inch (2 1/2 cm). Bake in preheated 300 degrees F (150 C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes (longer if necessary) until well risen and golden - it resembles a souffle at this point (It will sink in the middle quite dramatically - don't worry, it's supposed to do this). Turn the oven off, and let the cheesecake rest in the oven for 15 minutes; then remove it from the oven, cool for an hour or so at room temperature, and refrigerate for several hours before releasing sides of pan and serving. (I make mine the day before I need it). This cheesecake is very nice served with sliced strawberries, or a raspberry sauce. Keep cheesecake stored in the refrigerator, covered.

*Note:
There are 3 substitutions that can be used for the Quark in this recipe if Quark is not available. One is to use farmer’s cheese, another is to purée cottage cheese in a blender or food processor, and the third is to purée eight parts of ricotta cheese with 1 part of sour cream in a food processor.

Makes 12 servings.

Date: June 28, 2004

Reviews

Reviewer: Amber
Rating: 
Review:
After reading the reviews, I chose to make my half-german boyfriend this recipe last summer. I am no baker, but this cake came out absolutely perfect. I was a bit short on dough, however, but we managed to stretch it. I also had to bake it 15 minutes longer than the recipe suggested.

 
Reviewer: Elvira
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Very very good..the way we made it at home ..when i grew up ..

 
Reviewer: Simona
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It was truly delicious! Here in Lithuania, we do not have cream cheese, so I could not treat my family with a yummy cheese cake..But happily, in this recipe cream cheese can be replaced with cottage cheese! It was enjoyed very much and disappeared very fast! Even my mom, who does not really have a sweet tooth, ate almost half of it all by herself. Thank you so much, Diana!!

 
Reviewer: lizzy
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Wow, i'm doing this for a german project and boy im sure their gonna love it!

 
Reviewer: Anita
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My boss requested this cake for his birthday. It turned out GREAT... much lighter than regular cheesecake and the crust was very easy to roll out and tasted moist. Watch carefully at the end.... I probably browned a little too much. Thanks for sharing this recipe on your site.

 
Reviewer: Claire McCarragher
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This is the best cheesecake ever, seriously. I made it for my school project.

 
Reviewer: Julia
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excellent Recipe, this is what i really wanted!! thank you

 
Reviewer: Andrea
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My Dad's side is German, so this cake really was a welcome change from the New York Cheese Cake you get in America. For America, this cake is excellent, for many of the ingredients that make German Cheese Cake so incredible are not easily purchased in America. Great recipe, but it could be just a bit lighter in the filling.

 
Reviewer: John
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WOW, thats good cheesecake, never had anything like it before in my life!

 
Reviewer: Selma Cengic
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Absolutely delicious! One of the best cheesecakes I have ever eaten.

 
Reviewer: Julia
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German people sure know how to do cheesecke!

 
Reviewer: Heidi
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This is almost exactly like I learned how to make it from my Mom in Germany, but the raisins are missing!

 
Reviewer: Rachel Adelman
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After searching for 4 years for recipes and making at least 1 dozen different cheesecakes, I found at last the genuine German cheesecake. Bless you.

 
Reviewer: Emery
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I compared this with my mother's and Oma's recipe and it is a match, which I recently backed. I don't have the original recipe from mom, but I remember making this with her and recently found Quark at our local grocer.

 
Reviewer: R.W
Rating: 
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This cheesecake is awesome!!! I grew up in Germany, so when I moved to the States I quite missed German Cheesecake. I couldn't find Quark so I thought that I would never be able to make this kind of cheesecake, but I used the cottage cheese and it worked just fine. Thank you so much!!!

 
Reviewer: Joyce R.
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This is exactly like the cheesecakes we had when we were stationed in Germany. Delicious! It took longer to make than I expected, but it was well worth the effort!

 
Reviewer: DJ
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truly amazing- I used the cottage cheese (low fat) option, and it still came out perfect!!!

 
Reviewer: Mehri
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As I was in Germany, my German friends baked Kaesekuchen for me several times. All of my family enjoyed eating it. I tried to make it in Iran and after looking several different recipes in internet and books, I found yours the best one and I tried it. It was really excellent.

 
Reviewer: erik
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Very good recipe. I work with many Germans and they all agreed that the cheesecake was delicious and authentic!

 
Reviewer: Kalik
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Its OK, but nothing beats a NY cheesecake from Juniors!

 
Reviewer: Cin
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Wow - so good!!!!

 
Reviewer: Ismaeel
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WOW, This is the best cheesecake I have ever tasted. I made it four times; one of them for my friend's birthday.

 
Reviewer: Matthew
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The recipe was surprisingly easy to make, and came out very nicely. I was worried about it cracking, so I put a small pan of water in the oven with it, baked it on a cooking stone, and let it cool slowly in the oven for an hour instead of just 15 minutes. It did take considerably longer longer to become golden on the top than the recipe indicated, although this may have been because of the water, so I wound up baking it for closer to 90 minutes, instead of 60. It did come out beautifully, though, and didn't sink in the center nearly as much as I anticipated. Also, I used 1 pound of cottage cheese pureèd together with 1 ounce of sour cream in place of the Quark, which I did not have available to me. In any case, a great recipe. Thank you so much.

 
Reviewer: Nick
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Thank you so much. I found an AUTHENTIC German cheesecake for my school project. U ROCK!

 
Reviewer: Ryan
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Its great! I love the crust especially, and would suggest the cottage cheese... I am using it for a German class project, and am sure my class, and my Austrian teacher, will love it! Thanks!

 
Reviewer: John
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I have been searching for years and have finally found it. My Oma passed on before she could tell me her recipe. It was the last one I was waiting on and know that this one comes very close. Thank's for helping me relive wonderful childhood memories.

 
Reviewer: Emi
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I'm going to make this for my German class mini-Fest. I think they are going to love it.

 
Reviewer: Angela Bailey
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I made this for my husband after searching for a traditional recipe. He remembered the cheesecakes he used to get from the Polish deli near his university and this one was such a near match that I baked it for him - he thought it was brilliant. I used all cottage cheese and it came out fine. Great website too! Many thanks

 
Reviewer: Christine Thronicker
Rating: 
Review:
My husband is German and was looking forward to me baking this cheesecake so he could compare it too the one his mother made when he was a child. I am pleased to say he was not disapointed. I am making another one this weekend and just hope it turns out as good as if not better than the first one. Well worth the effort. His colleagues at work all thought it was delicious too.

 

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