Monday, July 16, 2007

QUARKTORTE - SWISS QUARK CHEESE TART

Today, I'm going to share with you a Swiss recipe that I have loved since childhood: "Quarktorte" or "Quark Tart".

In Switzerland as well as in Germany or Austria (Käsekuchen), we like to eat a kind of lighter version of cheesecake called "Quarktorte". It is made with "quark cheese" (see infos), a kind of fresh cheese of central European origin that is also known as "curd cheese". This tart is sometimes prepared without any kind of pastry base. In some ways, it is a little similar to the Polish "Sernik", the "Brocciù Tart (Fiadone)" of the Corsicans or the Italian "Ricotta Tart"...

This "Quarktorte" is really delicious. I highly recommend it to all those who love cheesecakes and tarts. Although, it is extremely light and fluffy textured and doesn't contain as much fat as it's American cousin, this tart is a real stomach filler! But on the other hand, it is particularly enjoyable with it's tangy and fresh cheese taste, lemony aroma and it's honeyed little raisins. Delicate, sweet without exaggeration and ever so scrummy!

This tart will make you discover new horizons in the cheesecake world. A marvelous recipe that deserves attention!

~ Quarktorte Or Swiss Quark Cheese Tart ~
Recipe by
"MeinBackbuch.de" and freely adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums.

Recipe for a 26cm (10 inches) round pan.

Ingredients for the pastry:
One quantity "Shortcrust Patr
y" (see recipe)
Or
One quantity "Baking Powder Pastry" (see recipe)
Ingredients for the filling:

500g Swiss Magerquark cheese (0% fat, see infos)
3+1 Eggs (~53g), 3 eggs separated + 1 left entire

2/3 Tsp Baking powder
60g Cornstarch
130g (40g+90g) Castor sugar

1 1/2 Tsps Vanilla extract
2/3 Cup Milk
The rind of one lemon, finely grated
70g Raisins

Method for the pastry:
1. Make the pastry as directed in the recipes given above.

2. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and prick with a fork.
3. Refrigerate while you are preparing the filling.

Method for the filling:
4. Preheat the oven to 200° C (400°F).
5. With the help of a whisk, mix together the Mag
erquark, 3 egg yolks, 1 (entire) egg, baking powder, cornstarch, sugar (40g), vanilla extract, milk and lemon rind until well blended.
6. In another bowl, beat the 3 egg whites and slowly incorporate the leftover sugar (90g) until fluffy and stiff.
7. Gently fold the beaten egg white into the Magerquark mixture so that the filling is homogenous.
9. Sprinkle the raisins evenly over the base of the tart.

10. Pour the filling into the prepared pastry case.
11. Bake for 15 minutes at 200° C (400° F), then reduce the heat to 180° C (350° F) and continue baking for 30-45 minutes until the filling is set.
12. Cool in the oven with the door slightly cracked open.
13. After an hour remove from the oven and let cool completely before serving.

Remarks:
If you want a low-fat pastry that is a little bread-like, then you should use the "Baking Powder Pastry" recipe, but if you want a richer and crispier tart base, then choose the "Shortcrust Pastry" recipe.
Instead of "Magerquark" you can use 1/2 fat Quark, Bulgarian cheese, ricotta, low-fat cream cheese, Neufchâtel cheese or petit suisse cheese (or "fromage frais"/"fromage blanc"/"bibeleskaas") although the result will not exactly be the same. The cheese used should be low-fat (0.5%-4.5% fat)...

Serving suggestions:
Sprinkle the tart with some icing sugar.
Eat for teatime or for supper.

44 comments:

  1. Hi, that cheesecake looks absolutely gorgeous! May I ask is German quark same as or similar to French fromage frais? Or am i completely off the mark? I can't get quark where I'm at but can get the fromage frais. Can't wait to try this recipe. THanks!

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  2. MICHAELA: Thanks for the visit and kind comment!
    No, it is not the same. It is similar. You can replace the quark by fromage frais/blanc if you wish. But, it has to be low-fat cheese (0.5-5 %). If you want the tart to be a bit acidulated (as it should be when it's made with quark), you can add 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice.
    I hope that I was able to help you! Please, tell me how it turned out, thanks...
    Cheers!

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  3. J'adore ce type de gâteau au fromage blanc ! Il a l'air parfait, avec sa croûte joliment dorée...

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  4. Hello Rosa,

    You cheese tart reminds me of my beloved sernik(polish cheesecake).
    I love all dessert and cakes with cheese.Very tempting pictures...

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  5. miracle ! j'arrive a te laisser un message... vite !! Hum m'a l'ai bien bon ce cheesecake .. il t'en reste ??! :)

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  6. Quelle belle tarte au fromage ! S'il t'en reste je t'en prends... Et belles photos également!

    Bisous Flo

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  7. MINGOUMANGO: Merci! C'est vraiment délicieux...

    AWOZ: Thanks! As a matter of fact, it is quite similar. I also love that kind of dessert...

    ANONYMOUS: Merci! Malheureusement, cette tarte a été mangée il y a quelques jours de cela :-(((... Contente de savoir que tu peux maintenant me laisser des messages!

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  8. FLO: Merci beaucoup! A mon grand regret, il n'en reste plus, désolée ;-P... Bises.

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  9. Ta tarte est très belle et doit être délicieuse! J'aime beaucoup la couleur de sa croûte...

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  10. it looks nice and tasty..
    bonne idée mais trouvera t on les ingrédients partout?

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  11. il est splendide, dommage qu'il en reste plus !!! :(((((((((

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  12. yes, cheesecakes are my best friends ! and the fiadone too

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  13. CHRIS: Merci :-D! Effectivement, elle est divine...

    CUISINEPLURIELLE: Thanks very much for the kind comment! Non, le "quark" ne se trouve pas partout, mais il peut être remplacé par du fromage frais/blanc pas trop gras (0.5%-5% mat. grasses). Malheureusement, ça sera un peu différent...

    MINOUCHKAH: Merci! Oui, dommage hihi ;-P!!!

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  14. He bien j ai honte! Moi qui suis suisse je ne connais meme pas ce gateau! En tout cas il a l'air délicieux!

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  15. mmm, j'adore ton gâteau..je vais essayer de traduire la recette,...c'est bête que je ne connais pas l'anglais!
    biz

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  16. Magnifique ! Le "quark" y est pour beaucoup, je crois, mais impossible de trouver l'équivalent en France...

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  17. Thanks Rosa for reminding me of my childhood! This is THE dessert I love and my mother used to buy me a slice when we lived in Alsace. I can find quark here so I should try it again instead of fromage blanc which I was using before. Delicious!

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  18. It seems so good.... But can't find this cheese....Such a pity !

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  19. Deine Quarktorte sieht wundervoll aus und ist sehr schön fotografiert.

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  20. Une belle gourmandise.
    La 3ème photo est terrible..!!

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  21. Oh Rosaaaaaaaaaa.......I'll do anything for a piece of that pleaseeeeeee....... :)

    What a wonderful recipe and yes I heard about quark cheese :D

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  22. I am not really a cheese lover but this tart with its perfect crumb is tempting.

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  23. What's interesting is that you can do it without pastry. We find quark cheese here, as well as fromage blanc, cream cheese (in both the regular and reduced fat versions), neufchâtel cheese and some chèvres which taste very much like cream cheese. What's nice about all these choices is that you can try recipes out with various ingredients, according to your dietary requirements. I'm bookmarking this recipe :-D Thanks!

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  24. Chere Rosa, je retrouve avec grand plaisir tes billets toujours aussi passionnants et passionnes! Lolotte dit que l'on trouve ce fromage aux US... c'est une bonne nouvelle pour moi! Je ne connais pas encore cette specialite Suisse. Bises!

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  25. Very, very tempting... :-)
    Sab

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  26. I've never tried quark cheese - the tart really looks lovely!

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  27. ça a l'air vraiment très crémeux ... hum ! delicious!

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  28. Ca a l'air trop bon !!!

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  29. il m'a l'air drôlement bon

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  30. Dis, dis madame, tu m'en donnes un bout ?
    Encore un gâteau qui a l'air délicieux (et qui ne doit pas en avoir que l'air)...

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  31. SOPHIE: Merci pour ta visite et ton gentil commentaire! Et bien, maintenant tu sauras que ça se fait aussi en Suisse ;-P...

    LORY: Merci! Fais-moi signe si tu n'arrives pas à la traduire. Bises...

    ROSINE: Merci pour ton comentaire sympa et ta visite! Oui, le "quark" y est pour beaucoup! En France, je ne crois pas qu'on en trouve, mais on peut le remplacer (bien que le résultat sera différent)...

    IZOU: Thanks!!!

    LOLOTTE: Thanks! Yes, that was also something I loved as a child and that I still love now! I know that "Quark" cheese can be found in the US (and also in Canada). Have fun with this recipe, then!

    CATH: Thanks for passing by and for the kind comment! I don't think that you can find it in France, unfortunately :-(...

    LAMIACUCINA: Danke! Es freut mich das zu hören!!!

    MENUSPROPOS: Merci beaucoup!

    SHIONGE: Thanks ever so much! Then take the next aeroplane ;-P...

    CYNTHIA: Thanks! Well, it's not all that cheesy tasting...

    GATO AZUL: Yes, without pastry, it's delicious! I have seen that you can find all those cheeses in Canada (and the US). You are right, having such a wide choice of different fresh cheeses is great depending on what you want to do with them! Please tell me what you thought about this recipe!

    CONFITUREMAISON: Merci infiniment! Oui, bonne nouvelle, ce fromage se trouve aux USA!!! En fait, c'est une spécialité Suisse qui se fabrique aussi dans d'autres pays tels que l'Autriche, l'Allemagne, la Hongrie, etc... Bises!

    COOKY MONSTER: Thanks!

    WOKANDSPOON: Thanks! If you have the opportunity, then I recommend you to try it...

    COCO2: Merci pour ta visite et ton gentil commentaire!

    NOUCH74: Merci pour ton commentaire bien sympa et ta visite!

    SHINOBI: Merci! Et c'est effectivement le cas ;-P...

    CLAIRE: Je veux bien, mais cette tarte a disparu depuis belle lurette ;-P!!! Merci pour le compliment...

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  32. Your tart looks great! We have a similar one here in Alsace, the "tarte au fromage blanc". I will try your recipe. I might indeed find quark cheese in Germany!

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  33. Miam, ce cheesecake version allemande me met l'eau à la bouche, de bon matin... Je garde précieusement ta recette, et je vais me lancer à la recherche de Quark dans les environs... Bye bye !

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  34. Super j'adore les recette typiques et les gâteaux au fromage!

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  35. Encore un cheese cake que je note avec plaisir, j'en fais depuis un an seulement mais vraiment j'adore cette légèreté !

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  36. je suis fan absolue des gâteaux au fromage, alors c'est sûr, je retiens ta recette !!!

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  37. j'adore tout ce qui est style cheese cake et celui là me plait enormement

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  38. AURELIE: Thanks for your visit and kind comment! Yes, it's pretty much the same! I hope you'll like this recipe. Please tell me how it was...

    NATALIA: Merci beaucoup! J'espère que tu trouveras du Quark. Bye et donne-moi des nouvelles si tu essaies cette tarte!

    MOONY: Merci! Moi aussi...

    AGNES: Merci pour ta visite! J'espère qu'il te plaira...

    ESTELLE: Moi aussi, j'adore ça d'où que ça vienne! J'espère que cette recette sera à ton goût!

    SAB: Merci! Oui, c'est délicieux...

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  39. looks very nice, rosa :) quark, on its own isn't my fave cheese and we always had it in our home -- looks like it works perfectly here.

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  40. Hi! Is there a difference between a Swiss Quark and a German Quark? Thanks!

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  41. Hello. Thank you for your comment and interest in my blog. I don't think there is any... Cheers.

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