Frankonian Cheesecake ("Käseplootz")

[lian]

This is a regional variety of German cheesecake, which is made with quark instead of cream cheese like its American counterpart. Frankonia is a beautiful, quirky, separatist, hilly region of northern Bavaria and is probably best known for its quality white wines.

There is a wide variety of German cheesecakes, often with additonal ingredients (poppyseed, apples, rhubarb...) but this is a traditional, very reduced and simple recipe, and the slices come in flat squares. This also means that while it's quite easy to make, it needs careful preparation and high quality ingredients, otherwise it may taste a bit bland.


(sorry for the lack of pictures, but since this is a rather rare variety, I could not find any despite my best efforts!)

edited on Nov. 7th 2010 to reflect my improved recipe

Tools

• rolling pin


• deep cookie/baking sheet -- any large sheet suitable for brownies will do


• couple of bowls


• oven

Dough

• 1 cube (~40g) fresh baker's yeast
  !note: you can half the yeast and double the raising time for a finer dough!


• 375g fine wheat flour


• ~100g white sugar


• 1 egg


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• ~1/8 l lukewarm milk


• ~80g soft butter

Crumble yeast and mix with the rest of the ingredients. (Note: ingredients need to be warm, but not hot, or it'll kill the yeast!) Knead thoroughly by hand or with your mixer's dough hooks until you have a smooth, non-sticky dough. (add a little bit of flour if it's still too sticky.) Cover dough with a cloth and leave to raise in a warm (not hot!) spot for about 30-40 min. /Alternatively, if you halved the yeast, you don't need to put it in a warm spot, but you'll need to at least doubole the raising time.

Filling

• 1 kg quark


• ~200g white sugar


• 20 g vanilla-flavoured sugar
  I'd recommend a tbsp ground bourbon vanilla instead. Expensive, but absolutely worth it.


• ~1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice


• 1 tablespoon flour


• ~150g sour cream


• 4 eggs


• (50 g raisins, if you like)


• 200g melted butter

Blend ingredients into the quark for a smooth mix.

Then take the dough, knead it a little until it's nicely pliable, then roll it thinly onto a thoroughly buttered, deep baking sheet.

• 30g melted butter

Cover dough with a thin film of melted butter, then pour quark mix onto it.

completely optional:

Topping

• 1 egg yolk


• 2 tablespoons fresh cream


• 1 tablespoon sugar


• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix egg yolk with cream and thinly coat the quark with it. Then evenly drizzle the sugar-cinnamon-blend on top.

Put it into the cool oven (no pre-heating necessary), switch it to ~175°C and, once it has reached this temperature, let it bake for about 30 to 40 minutes. (or, put more simply, it'll take around an hour overall.) Take care not to let it get too brown, this cake tastes better underdone than overdone.

Comments

[copracat]

That sounds brilliantly rich. I just need yeast and sour cream and I'm good to go. I'll let you know how it turns out.

When you say deep baking sheet, how deep do you mean? The biscuit tray I make brownies and slices in is an inch/2.5cm deep.

Does molten mean particularly hot or is it the same as melted butter: just warmed enough to make the butter liquid, not frothy?

I need a food icon!

[lian]

oh, hah, I just used the wrong word -- it's just melted butter (will edit!)

and it *is* rich -- very much a meal in itself, actually. But that kinda goes without saying for chessecake, I believe ;)

Depth -- I suppose any sheet that is suitable for brownies will do fine! (That's a good tip.)

Good luck, I'm v. curious to hear how it turns out! (food icon is a must, oh yeah)

*fixes*

[thistleingrey]

In a right world, "molten" would be the past participle of "melt." Silly English language.

This sounds really, really good! I remember having Quark-based cheesecake from a German deli (some miles outside Los Angeles) when I was little--no raisins, but one cherry in the cake's center.

Could one substitute dried currants (Johannisbeeren)? No idea where I'd find Quark around here, but now I want to find out. ;)

Re: *fixes*

[lian]

yeah, the cherry variant sounds like a regular German cheesecake, which is moister and more fluffy, but very, very yummy in its own right!

For the Käseplootz, substituting dried currants (esp. red ones) sounds taste very intriguing. As long as the raisin substitute is not too moist, it ought to work: dried cranberries or blueberries as well, maybe; though I really couldn't say if those would harmonize with the cake's flavour as well as the currants.)

I often just leave out the raisins anyway, since my flatmates don't like them :)

Picture!

[copracat]

It turned out like this:



The photo is a bit more golden than actuality because of the flash. I'm waiting for it to cool so I can eat some.

I need an om nom nom icon!

Re: Picture!

[lian]

aaaah this looks so good -- if rhubarb cake wasn't already on the menu today, I'd be really tempted to bake it now. I do hope it tastes as good as it looks! :D

(I am with icno-making fail this week, sadly, but one day I will acquired a food icon as well!)

Re: Picture!

[copracat]

OMG it's yummy. I had some warm earlier today and then I has some cold from the fridge after dinner. I'd ask how long it keeps but I don't expect to have it long enough for storage to matter.

Re: Picture!

[lian]

:D! Oh, I'm so glad to hear it! Trans-atlantic obscure recipe-sharing ftw! (and I'd say around 3 days refrigerated?)