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slice of german cheesecake with meringue topping
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5 from 1 vote

German Cheesecake

German cheesecake or Käsekuchen recipe: light, creamy quark cheesecake topped with pearled meringue.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time1 hour 40 minutes
Course: Pies and Cheesecakes
Cuisine: German
Servings: 12 -14
Calories: 439kcal
Author: Adina

Ingredients

  • Pastry:
  • 200 g all-purpose flour 7 oz/ 1 ⅔ cups
  • 100 g granulated sugar 3.5 oz/ ½ cup
  • 70 g unsalted butter 2.5 oz/ ¼ cup
  • 1 egg medium Germany, large US
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Filling:
  • 500 g low-fat quark 1.1 lbs/ 2 ½ cups
  • 150 g granulated sugar 5.3 oz/ ¾ cups
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 packet Dr. Oetker vanilla pudding powder See note
  • 1 egg medium Germany, large US
  • 2 egg yolks – keep the egg whites for the meringue
  • 230 ml heavy cream 7.7 fl.oz/ 1 cup
  • 230 ml milk 7.7 fl.oz/ 1 cup
  • 150 ml vegetable oil 5 fl.oz/ scant ⅔ cup
  • Meringue:
  • 2 egg whites
  • 6 tablespoons icing/ powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of a springform (26 cm/10-inch diameter) with parchment paper and butter the ring.
  • Pastry: Place all the pastry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you obtain crumbs. Turn the crumbs onto the working surface and knead very quickly to form a ball of dough. Roll the pastry on the lightly floured surface and place it in the prepared springform taking care to cover the walls of the form as well.
  • Filling: Place the quark in a large bowl and whisk it shortly until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients - sugar, vanilla, vanilla pudding powder, eggs, egg yolks, heavy cream, milk, vegetable oil - mix well and pour the mixture into the pastry-lined springform. The mixture is pretty liquid, don't worry about it.
  • Bake the cake for about 70 minutes. After about 60 minutes, start preparing the meringue.
  • Meringue: Place the egg whites and the icing sugar in a spotless bowl and start beating them using very clean whisks. After the 70 minutes are up, take the cake out of the oven and top it with the meringue. Then, place back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes (only 10 minutes, or you will not have the tears or sugar pearls anymore).
  • Let the cake cool down a little bit, then go around the edges with a knife to release the cake from the ring. Leave to cool completely on the bottom of the springform. The tears will form while the cake is cooling down.

Notes

  1. Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it ensures the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
  2. I use the Dr. Oetker vanilla pudding powder, which needs to be cooked with 500 ml/ 2 cups milk. However, you will not cook it in this case; add the powder to the quark mixture. The vanilla pudding powder can be replaced with the same amount of cornstarch. In this case, add some more vanilla extract to the filling to intensify the vanilla flavor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 439kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 109mg | Sugar: 29g