Baking with Marianne

My father hardly ever cooks; baking is not his forte as well. It is just not something that he is interested in and I highly doubt that this will ever change. It is a mystery to my father that I enjoy spending countless of hours in the kitchen making cakes. He will probably never understand my baking obsession and I will never understand his kitchen resistance. However, there is one thing my father and I agree on and this is my father's cheesecake that he makes every single year for the last three decades. Every May, for my parents' wedding anniversary, my father makes the cheesecake whose recipe he got from his aunt. As long as I can remember, my father spends the entire afternoon - the day before the wedding anniversary - preparing the cheesecake. I was never allowed to help because he knew exactly how this cheesecake has to be made. However, a few years ago I stole his handwritten recipe notes and I made the cake without telling him. My father was more than surprised when I presented him his cheesecake but he was more than content with the cake result.
My father makes his cheesecake always in springform pan, whereas I prefer making the cheesecake into small rectangular cakes. I also freeze the cakes before serving instead of letting the cake set in the fridge. I prefer my method because one does not have to eat the entire cake at once. As long as I can remember my family always had difficulties finishing the cake within two days since the cake contains raw eggs.
This recipe is very special to me and the rest of my life I will make my father's cheesecake once a year.



NOTES:

Quark

Quark is kind of a soft queese (it is a little bit similar to the French fromage blanc), low in fat and high in protein. It is very popular dairy product in Germany. It is often served similar to yogurt with fresh fruit for breakfast, some people spread quark on bread with jam (which I don't like at all) and quark is also used in German baking. There are different varieties of quark (full fat or low fat). For this recipe a low fat quark (Magerquark) is used.
If you cannot find any quark in your grocery store, you can replace the quark with cream queese or mascarpone cheese. I recommend using a mixture of cream queese and mascarpone cheese (1:1).

Eggs

This cake contains a raw egg, so please make sure that you use a very fresh egg. When the cakes are defrosted, eat the cake within two days.



Makes 8 rectangular cakes (7 cm / 2.75 inches length, 3,5 cm / 1.4 inches wide and 3,5 cm / 1.4 inches height)

SHORTCRUST BOTTOM

• 50 g / 1/2 cup pastry flour
• 1 pinch of baking powder
• 15 g / 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 35 g / 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Preheat the oven to 225 °C / 435 °F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place a baking frame onto the sheet. 
• Place all ingredients in a bowl and knead to a dough. 
• Roll the dough  - on a lightly floured surface - to a 30 cm / 12 inches x 15 cm / 6 inches rectangular. Place the rectangular into the baking frame. Prick the shortcrust with a fork.
• Bake the shortcrust bottom for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden in color. 
• Let the shortcrust cool completely. 
• Carefully cut the shortcrust bottom into 3,5 cm / 1.4 inches x 7 cm / 2.75 inches rectangular. I use a bread knife for cutting the shortcrust.

SPONGE CAKE 

CHEESECAKE CREAM

• 40 g / 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft
• 65 g / 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk (of a medium sized egg)
• 1 egg white (of a medium sized egg)
• 165 g quark (Magerquark), * see my note above
• 1/2 organic / untreated lemon, juice and zest finely grated
• 1 pinch of salt
• 100 g / 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 4,5 g / 3 sheets of gelatin, soaked
• In a medium sized bowl, add butter and half of the granulated sugar, whisk until creamy. Add the egg yolk and mix well. Then add the quark, lemon juice and finely grated lemon zest and stir until well combined. 
• Add egg white and pinch of salt into a small bowl and whisk until the egg white is almost stiff. Gradually add the other half of the granulated sugar and whisk until the mixture is completely stiff. 
• Whip the heavy cream until creamy. 
• Place the soaked gelatin sheets into a small saucepan and melt the gelatin on very low heat. Remove from the heat, add about 1/4 of the quark mixture to the melted gelatin and stir well. Add the gelatin mixture to the quark mixture and mix well. Fold in the stiff egg white, then fold the whipped cream to the quark mixture. 

ASSEMBLING

• Powdered sugar
• Lemon slices, for decoration
• Place a cake frame (30 cm / 12 inches x 15 cm / 6 inches) on a board lined with parchment paper. Pour the cheesecake filling into the cake frame and level the surface out. Gently place the sponge cake on top of the cheesecake filling. 
• Freeze the cake for at least 4 hours or overnight. 
• Remove the cake frame. I use a blowtorch in order to remove the cake frame. Let the cake defrost for 15 minutes at room temperature. Then slice the cake into 3,5 cm / 1.4 inches  x 7 cm  / 2.75 inches rectangles. Place a shortcrust rectangles onto each cake. Sprinkle the sponge cake surface with powdered sugar. 
• Let the cake defrost completely in the fridge. 
• Before serving, decorate each cake with a slice a lemon. 
• The cakes taste best on the day of defrosting because over time the shortcrust gets soft. Do not leave the cakes more than two days in the fridge because of the raw egg.