Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Käsekuchen

aka. Clemens' favorite German Cheesecake

This cheesecake is different from other cheesecakes in America. It is less dense than New York Cheesecake, has more texture than those 'Instant' Cheesecakes (yuck). It is tall and lemony and very yummy.

Crust

250 g. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
135 g. butter, softened (1 stick plus a little)
75 g. sugar
lemon zest (zest a full lemon, use half for crust and half for filling)
1 beaten egg

Mix all ingredients and kneed by hand until smooth. Cover with foil/plastic wrap and chill for 30 min, until cool, but not hard.

Filling

8 oz. package cream cheese
24 oz. carton of cottage cheese
+ cream
50 g. butter, softened
175 g. sugar
3 eggs
lemon zest
60 g. corn starch
+1 tsp. baking powder
2 heaping tbs. sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a blender or processor, mix cream cheese, cottage cheese , a little cream and a little of the sugar in small batches. Make sure it is mixed, but not smooth. Set aside.
Take out crust dough and press into greased and floured springform pan. Covering the bottom and up 1" on all sides. Prick bottom with a fork and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 min.
Cream butter, and sugar. Add eggs (0ne at a time). Add sour cream, lemon zest, mix well.
Fold in corn starch/baking soda mixture. Try to get the corn starch smooth, but batter will be slightly lumpy.
Bake crust until there is a touch of golden color. Take out of oven and pour in filling (make sure you have 1/4" at top of form, it will rise). Bake again at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes, until set (don't stick a knife in it!). The top may develop brown spots around the middle. If the cake turns brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil for the rest of the baking time.
When taken out of the oven, let cool for 10-15 min. Then take a knife and go around the edges, loosening it from the pan so you don't lose any when you take the sprinform off.
Not to be eaten hot, or even warm- sorry. It needs at least 4 hours to set after baking. Preferably make the day before you need it.

2 comments:

Anna said...

Mmmmm... looks good!

Sara @ Our Best Bites said...

ooh, that's going on my to-try list right now!