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Classics, Layer Cakes

German Cheese Cream Cake (Käsesahnetorte)

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

German cheese cream cake with a light sponge top and bottom, a thick quark cream filling and a dusting of powdered sugar

4.7 (26)out of 5, 26 ratings

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Prep
5 min
Bake
30 min
Total
35 min
Makes
13

🍰 Classic German cheese cream cake: light sponge meets a creamy quark and cream filling

This classic cheese cream cake, known in Germany as Käsesahnetorte, is a true favorite from the pastry shop, and today it gets to move into your home kitchen too! 🏡✨With its light sponge cake and wonderfully creamy filling made from cream and quark, it is one of those timeless classic cakes that always go down well, whether for family coffee time, a birthday or simply because you are craving something really good 💛

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The best thing about this recipe? It is foolproof, needs only a few ingredients and tastes wonderfully light and fresh. The combination of the gentle tang of the quark and the whipped cream gives it a fluffy texture that melts in your mouth.

I make my cheese cream cake the traditional way, without fruit and without any fuss, but with lots of love and a pinch of nostalgia. 🧁

Notes:

Using an agar-based gelling powder: Boil your agar-based gelling powder (about 18 g; a plant-based gelling powder made with agar that has to be boiled briefly to set; in the US and UK use agar agar powder, with the amount on its package because strengths vary) with a splash of water or mandarin juice according to the package directions. Let it cool a little, then add the mixture at the same point where you would normally add the gelatin.

Ingredients

Makes 13

Sponge

  • 4large eggsat room temperature
  • ½ cup plus 2 tbsp120 ggranulated sugar
  • 1 pinchsalt
  • ½vanilla bean, seeds onlyor 2 packets vanilla sugar (1 packet = 2 tsp, 8 g). A vanilla bean is a whole vanilla pod; the seeds are scraped out and used. In the US use a vanilla bean, or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste per bean; in the UK, a vanilla pod, or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste per pod. Vanilla sugar is sugar flavored with vanillin (artificial vanilla), sold in small packets of about 8 g. In the US use 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar for each 8 g packet; in the UK, vanilla sugar sachets, or 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar per sachet.
  • ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp100 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.
  • 6 tbsp50 gcornstarchA fine starch, usually made from corn. In the US use cornstarch; in the UK, cornflour.
  • 1 ¼ tsp5 gbaking powderGerman baking powder is sold in 15 g packets, each meant for about 500 g (4 cups) of flour. Regular baking powder works in the US and UK.

Filling

  • 5egg yolks
  • 1 ¼ cups300 gmilk
  • 1 cup plus 1 tbsp220 ggranulated sugar
  • ½vanilla bean seedsseeds from ½ vanilla bean. Vanilla bean seeds are the tiny seeds scraped from a vanilla bean (US and UK: or ½ tsp vanilla bean paste).
  • 8 sheetsgelatinGerman recipes use gelatin sheets of about 1.7 g each. In the US use unflavored powdered gelatin, about ½ tsp (1.7 g) per sheet, bloomed in cold water; in the UK, leaf gelatine, weighed (about 1.7 g per German sheet), or powdered gelatine.
  • 2 cups500 gquarkQuark is a fresh, mild and slightly tangy cheese with a spoonable texture. In the US use full-fat Greek yogurt strained overnight, or farmer's cheese; in the UK, quark from the supermarket chiller (choose a full-fat one if you can find it).
  • 2 cups500 gheavy creamcold! German cream for whipping has about 30 to 32 percent fat. In the US use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream; in the UK, whipping cream (double cream also works but whips faster, so watch it).
  • juice of 1 lemonoptional
  • 1 small canmandarin orangesoptional

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) convection (fan). Line the bottom of your springform pan with parchment paper.

  2. Beat your eggs with the sugar, salt and vanilla for at least 10 minutes.

  3. Mix your flour, baking powder and cornstarch and sift the mixture over the whipped eggs. Fold everything in gently and with lots of love, then spread it in your springform pan. Put the pan into the hot oven right away and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden. After baking, let it cool completely in the pan.

  4. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Whisk the milk, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla bean seeds together thoroughly in a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. As soon as it has come to a boil, take it off the heat and add the soaked gelatin.

  5. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then add the quark. At this point you can also add the lemon juice if you like. Now let the mixture cool for a while until it no longer feels warm.

  6. Whip your cold cream until stiff, then fold it into the cooled quark mixture in several portions, with lots of love. Let the filling stand for a moment while you release your sponge from the springform pan and cut it in half horizontally. Put the springform ring back around the bottom layer of your sponge and spread the quark filling on top. If you want to use mandarin oranges, it works best to spread half of the filling over the sponge first, scatter the mandarins over it and then add the rest of the filling on top. You can also fold the mandarins into the filling and pour it all into the springform pan at once. Finally, place the top layer of sponge back on, press it down lightly and put your cake in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

  7. Decorate your cake with a little powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar; UK: icing sugar)!