Authentic German Cheesecake (Käsekuchen) Step-by-Step

Quarkkuchen or Käsekuchen (German Käse – cheese and kuchen – cake) are German cheesecakes that have a quark (cottage cheese) as the main ingredient.
This cheesecake, or rather a cottage cheese pie, is usually decorated with raisins or fruits, sometimes covered with crumbs from cookies or dough.
In other German-speaking countries, namely Switzerland, the Käsekuchen is called Quarkkuchen or quark cake “Quarktorte”, and in Austria, it is called Topfenkuchen.

Cheesecake is a delicate pie – baked from pudding made of cottage cheese, as a rule, has two layers: the lower one is made of dough, and the upper one is made of souffle. The main thing in the proper preparation of cheesecake is smooth and prolonged heating. To do this, cottage cheese cheesecake or any other cheesecake is baked for a long time, then slowly cooled or even baked in a water bath.

When cheesecake is ready it must cool down. So the filling will definitely harden and the dessert will not crumble when sliced. For the preparation of classic cheesecake, cream cheese is used, for example, the Philadelphia cream cheese, or it can be replaced with a similar cream cheese: that allows the cheesecake to acquire a creamy consistency.

To prepare a German cheesecake you need to take a cottage cheese or quark as a basis. In this case, the cheesecake will simply turn out to be denser. All ingredients should be at room temperature. Lumps may appear due to the temperature difference of the products.

German Cheesecake vs New York Cheesecake

Firstly, the ingredients used in these cheesecakes differ. The German cheesecake uses quark, while the New York cheesecake uses cream cheese that is mixed with ricotta or cream. Because of this, New York cheesecake has a denser structure.

Secondly, for the preparation of crust in German cheesecake, shortcrust or yeast dough is used, and New York cheesecake is usually made from sponge dough or graham crackers.

Thirdly, in order to make a German cheesecake, it must be placed in the oven, and to make an American cheesecake, it must be put in a water bath.

Instructions

To make a perfect German cheesecake you should follow these easy steps.

The Dough

• Prepare the ingredients.
• First of all, prepare the dough for the sandy paste base, prepare the ingredients.
• Mix the egg with sugar
• Add the butter cut into pieces.
• Remove the zest from the lemon, squeeze out the juice and add to the dough.
• Sift flour with baking powder and vanilla sugar into the dough.
• Mix all the ingredients without trying too hard, just so that all the ingredients come together.
• Prepare a detachable mold with a diameter of 25 cm. Cover the bottom of the mold with parchment.
• With your hands, spread the dough into shape, forming sides about 3-4 cm high. To make it easier to work with the dough, you can grease your hands with vegetable oil.

The Filling

• Prepare the ingredients for the filling.
• To get a more delicate filling structure, grind the cottage cheese through a sieve or mix with an immersion blender together with sugar and vanilla sugar.
• Add cream cheese (or creme fraiche) to the cottage cheese.
• Pour in the melted butter, which should not be hot.
• Beat in 3 eggs, mix with a mixer until smooth.
• Last, of all, sift the starch into the dough. Mix until smooth.

The Assembly

• Put the filling in the prepared form with a sandy paste base.
• By this time, the oven should be preheated to 350 F degrees.
• Bake Käsekuchen at a temperature of 350 F degrees for 1 hour.
• Do not be alarmed that the middle of the pie trembles slightly when touched. Leave the cake right in the mold until it cools completely.
• If you have enough patience, it would be good to keep it in the refrigerator for one night. Using a knife carefully pass along the sides of the mold and remove the Käsekuchen from the mold.
• Before serving, it can be decorated with fresh berries and sugar powder. However, it is extremely delicious without berries!
• It is best to cut Käsekuchen with a hot dry knife (dipping it in hot water before that) and wiping it with a napkin each time.

German Cheesecake Storage Tips

Homemade german cheesecake can safely be kept in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. In the freezer, it can be kept for about a month, although after freezing it will no longer be so tasty.

As for the purchased german cheesecakes, it all depends on the filling and the shelf life is usually it is written on the packaging. But as a rule, you can keep it about three days from the moment of the package opening, and about a month in the freezer.