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    Mutter Welker’s käsekuchen

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    Mutter Welker’s käsekuchen

    By Diana Henry

    • Preparation time: 20 minutes + chilling
    • Cooking time: 120 minutes + chilling
    • Total time: 140 minutes + chilling

    Serves: 10

    Ingredients

    250g plain flour
    1 tsp baking powder
    150g butter, chilled and cubed, plus extra for greasing
    65g icing sugar
    1 British Blacktail Egg (any size), lightly beaten
    1-2 tbsp very cold water (optional)

    For the filling
    40g cornflour
    250ml whole milk
    2 x 250g tubs Essential Fat Free Quark Soft Cheese
    200g caster sugar
    2 British Blacktail Eggs (any size), lightly beaten
    250g butter, melted and cooled (to give 250ml)
    1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest
    1 tsp vanilla extract

    Method

    1. Put all the pastry ingredients into a bowl with a pinch of salt and rub together with your fingertips. You should end up with something that looks like rubble. At this stage you should be able to pull it all together into a dough. If it’s too dry, add a little very cold water – probably no more than 1 tbsp. Shape the pastry into a disc, wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

    2. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Butter a 24cm springform cake tin. Press a circle of greaseproof paper into the base. Line the tin with the pastry, pressing it with your hands – it should go at least 4cm up the sides as well as covering the base. Put crumpled greaseproof paper and baking beans in it and bake the case for 12 minutes, or until the pastry is dry and pale. Remove the paper and beans, put the case back in the oven and bake for another 8 minutes, or until golden. Leave to cool. Turn the oven down to 160°C, gas mark 3.

    3. For the filling, mix the cornflour with a little milk and stir to make a smooth paste. If the quark is very ‘wet’, drain the liquid off first, then put it into a large bowl. Mash with a fork, then add the cornflour and milk mixture, whisking to incorporate, gradually adding the sugar, eggs, butter, the rest of the milk, lemon zest, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Whisk continuously to keep the mixture smooth. The batter will be very thin.

    4. Pour into the cooled pastry case. It doesn’t matter if it goes above the level of the pastry. Set on a metal baking sheet. Put into the oven and bake for 1 hour 40 minutes, or until only slightly jiggly in the centre. The surface should remain quite light in colour. Remove and leave to cool at room temperature.

    5. Leave to rest for at least 12 hours before serving. The best place is a cool room. You can, instead, leave the cheesecake until it’s cool, then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes, but don’t serve it straight from the fridge. It will be fine for 3 days, stored in the fridge, but, again, don’t serve it straight from the fridge. This is delicious on its own, but it’s also good with fruit, such as baked plums and rhubarb or, in the summer, berries.

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