Do you want to make a traditional German cheesecake recipe but struggle because quark is not available where you are? Do not despair! My Käsekuchen recipe can be baked with or without quark-and I promise you it still has the light and airy texture and slightly tangy flavor with a hint of lemon, just like the cheesecakes in Germany.
The secret? A tested German cheese cake recipe with cream cheese and Greek yogurt that creates the same fluffy texture without the specialty ingredient hunt.
This classic German cheesecake has been a favorite at family gatherings for generations and I am excited to share it with you.
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What is German cheesecake?
German cheesecake (Käsekuchen, pronounced "KAY-zeh-KOO-khen") is a traditional dessert made with quark cheese, eggs, and sugar baked in a shortcrust pastry base. The name literally translates to "cheese cake" - Käse (cheese) + Kuchen (cake).
Traditional German bakeries also make versions with yeast dough bases, and regional variations include toppings like fresh fruit, raisins, or streusel crumbs.
Quark is a dairy product made from soured milk that is very popular in Germany. It has a consistency that lies somewhere in the middle between cream cheese and yogurt. Quark is used in dips such as quark dip, and spundekäs, and desserts doughs for plum or apricot dumplings.
At the supermarkets you will find Quark in the dairy aisle. It is easy to find in the UK but trickier in the USA and Canada.
United States: Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Aldi, Wegmans | Online: Brookford Farm, Pleasant Farm Lane
United Kingdom: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda, Morrisons
Canada: Mama Earth, Real Canadian Superstore, Farm House Cheeses
Can't find it? Use equal parts Greek yogurt and cream cheese instead!
You can substitute quark by mixing Greek yogurt and cream cheese. I have successfully used it in many doughs, including German cheesecake recipe with quark recipes. The result is a similar texture as quark is firmer than Greek yogurt yet softer than cream cheese.
German Cheesecake vs American Cheesecake
German Käsekuchen and American cheesecake may share a name, but they're completely different desserts. Wondering about the German cheesecake difference? Here's how they compare: Here's how they compare:
| German (Käsekuchen) | American | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheese | Quark | Cream cheese |
| Texture | Light & fluffy | Dense & creamy |
| Crust | Shortcrust pastry | Graham crackers |
| Baking | Direct in oven | Water bath |
| Taste | Tangy, subtle | Sweet, rich |
How to Make Käsekuchen
This authentic Käsekuchen recipe is easier than you think! I'll walk you through each step-from making the shortcrust pastry base to creating that melt-on-your-tongue creamy filling. Before you know it, you'll have a slice (or two!) disappearing fast!
Ingredients:
For the detailed instructions and exact measurements, please jump to the printable recipe card
For the cake base
- flour (Germany type 405, UK plain four, USA all-purpose flour)
- butter (unsalted, at room temperature)
- sugar
- egg (medium size, at room temperature)
- baking powder (affiliate link)
For the cake filling
- Quark (Margerquark) - you can substitute quark with a cream cheese, greek yoghurt mixture.
- sugar
- whipping cream (chilled, and at least 30% fat. You can use heavy cream as well)
- eggs (medium size, at room temperature)
- cornflour/cornstarch (this will stabilize the cheesecake filling)
- vanilla sugar (see how to make homemade vanilla sugar or use 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (affiliate link))
- lemon zest (from untreated lemons)
Käsekuchen Recipe Steps
Step 1: Make the Shortcrust Base
Preheat your oven to 180°C/356°F. Mix butter and sugar until creamy, then add the egg, flour, and baking powder (affiliate link). Divide the dough in half. Roll one half into a rope and press it around the edges of a greased 26cm (10-inch) springform pan to create a 5cm high crust. Press the remaining dough into the bottom of the pan.
Step 2: Prepare the Filling
Whip the cream until stiff peaks form and set aside. Beat the quark (or cream cheese and Greek yogurt), eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest until smooth and creamy. Gently fold in the whipped cream to keep the filling light and fluffy.
Step 3: Bake with the Secret Cut
Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and make a circular incision 1cm from the edge with a sharp knife-this prevents cracking. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes (1 hour total).
Step 4: Cool Slowly
Check doneness with a skewer (it should come out clean). Turn off the oven, crack the door open, and let the cake cool inside for at least 1 hour. This prevents the top from cracking and ensures the filling sets properly.
Delicious Variations
This is a basic recipe, but German-style cheesecakes is wonderfully versatile! Here are popular variations:
Fruit Variations:
- Raisins or sultanas - Fold into the filling before baking
- Fresh seasonal fruit - Apples, cherries, apricots, or blueberries work beautifully
- Mandarin oranges - A classic topping in German bakeries
Special Variations:
- Russischer Zupfkuchen - Marble the cheesecake with chocolate cake batter for a striking appearance
- Tränchenkuchen - Top with a cloud-like meringue (Baiser) instead of plain
- With pudding powder - Replace cornstarch with vanilla pudding powder for extra stability
How to stop my cheesecake top from cracking
There is nothing worse than removing your finished baked German cheesecake from the oven only to realise that the top has cracked. Here are some tips to prevent this from happening.
- Use a stabilizer - for this reason, German recipes use vanilla pudding or cornflour to stabilize this cake.
- Pre-empt the cracking by making an incision halfway through the baking time. In theory, you are causing your cake top to crack. But this stops it from cracking rising in the middle. If you make an incision around the edges the cake will drop more evenly and the crack will be hardly noticeable (see pictures).
- Give it enough time to cool down. A large cheesecake can take up 3 hours to cool down. That is why it is important to give your cake enough time. Leave it to cool in the oven with the door open for at least an hour before moving it. This will allow the cake time to adjust to room temperature. Do not cool the cake in the fridge.
Serving Suggestions
In Germany, this cake is served at birthday parties, special occasions, or simply for "Kaffee und Kuchen" time. (Coffee and Cake). I like to decorate my cake in the summer by adding some fresh berries to the top.
The best way to slice the cake is to use a sharp cake knife. Clean the knife after every slice with lukewarm water for a clean cut.
Storage & Shelf Life
Don't worry you can store this baked German cheesecake, once cooled, without any problems for 3-4 days in the fridge. Store the cake in an airtight container.
Can You Freeze Käsekuchen?
Of course, this is my favorite way to store it. You can store it in portions in airtight containers and your slices should stay good for up to three months. Defrost it at room temperature. Cheesecake made with fresh fruit does not freeze well.
More German Cake Recipes:
Have you made this recipe?
I'd love to hear how it turned out! Leave a rating and comment below.
You'll help fellow readers enjoy it too and help me spread the word about German cuisine. - Marita x
Recipe
Authentic German Cheesecake (Käsekuchen) | Quark Optional
Equipment
- hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
For the base
- ½ cup (115 g) butter room temperature
- ½ cups (100 g) sugar
- 2 cups (250 g) flour Germany type 405, UK plain four, USA all-purpose
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg medium size, at room temperature
For the filling
- 2 lb (1,000 g) Quark OR 500 g / 2 cups cream cheese and 500 g / 2 cups Greek yoghurt (10% fat)
- 1 cups (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cups (180 ml) whipping cream
- 5 medium eggs room temperature
- ¼ cups (4 tablespoon) corn starch alternatively, you can use shop-bought or homemade vanilla pudding powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Instructions
To make the base
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F (top and bottom heat). Line a 26cm (10-inch) round springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the sides with butter and dust with flour-this makes removing the cake much easier later.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg, flour, and baking powder (affiliate link), and mix until completely combined.
- Transfer the dough to a floured work surface or silicone mat. The shortcrust pastry should come together easily without being overly sticky. Divide the dough in half. Using floured hands, roll one half into a long rope and lay it around the edge of the pan (see step-by-step photos above).
- With your fingers, press the dough up the sides of the pan to create a 5cm (2-inch) high crust around the edges (see photos).
- Roll out the remaining dough and press it into the bottom of the pan, sealing it to the edges to prevent leaks.
To make the filling
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside.¾ cups whipping cream
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the quark (or cream cheese and Greek yogurt), eggs, vanilla sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until perfectly smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.2 lb Quark, 1 cups granulated sugar, 5 medium eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (affiliate link), 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, ¼ cups corn starch
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the quark mixture until fully combined. Be careful not to deflate the cream-this keeps the filling light and fluffy.
- Pour the filling into the prepared crust and smooth the top with a spatula.
To bake
- Place the cake in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the cake from the oven. Using a sharp knife, make a circular incision about 1cm from the edge, cutting about 1cm deep. This prevents the center from cracking (see photos above).
- Return the cake to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes (1 hour total baking time).
- Baking time varies by oven. After 1 hour, insert a skewer into the center-if it comes out clean, the cake is done. If not, bake for another 5 minutes and check again.Note: The cake will puff up around the incision. Don't worry-it will deflate as it cools and the cut will become less visible.
- To prevent cracking, turn off the oven and carefully pull the oven rack out slightly, leaving the door open. Let the cake cool in the oven for at least 1 hour before removing.
Camilla says
Hi Marita my daughter and I made this German cheesecake recipe today, and it turned out pretty good. The only thing was, I thought that two cups of flour to the egg and 1/2 cup butter made the dough very dry and crumbly . I couldn't roll it into a rope at all. Instead I had to just press the crumble in and work it up the sides, and then fill in the bottom layer. It turned out well in the end but just wondering if I could maybe reduce the flour amount next time so I can work with the dough better. After 4-5 hours we had a slice and it was good but I know it will be better tomorrow! This is how both my German Oma and mother made theirs. Raisins next time for sure !!
Marita Sinden says
Hi Camilla, thanks for trying my recipe and I am glad you like it. The base it suppose to be a kind of short-crust pastry so quite dry. Actually the same kind that you would use for crumble and streusel. However, feel free to reduce the flour amount. Sometimes slightly warming the butter helps as well. Best Wishes Marita
Karina says
My Opa used to make this when I was a child, I added sultanas and extra lemon and it’s is just like he used to make. What wonderful memories this brought back of my Oma, Opa and my mum. Xx
Marita Sinden says
Thank you for your Feedback Karina! I am gladyou liked it and it brought back some beloved family members to you 🙂
Kerstin says
I live in Florida, use this recipe and veganise it. Have used cream cheese and yoghurt for my cheese cakes many times before , but now I use your recipe. Thank you
Marita Sinden says
Thank you, I will add a note that it also works with vegan cream cheese and yoghurt.
Tina Lauth says
I have not made the cheesecake but I have done Russischer Zupfkuchen. For the filling I have been using half ricotta cheese and half sour cream. What do you think of this idea?
Marita Sinden says
Hi Tina, that works well as well. I have not used this method before but I believe it would result in a similar texture as Quark.
Best Wishes
Mairta
Gene Kraus says
Just put my cake in the oven. My concern is that the filling never got completely creamy. It seems to have some very small lumps in it. I used the cream cheese/Greek yogurt method but otherwise followed the recipe completely. I hope this turns out okay. Will follow up once cool and tasted.
Marita Sinden says
Oh No Gene, I am not sure what this could be. Maybe your cream cheese was still a little to cold? Hopefully that will even out in the cooking process. Let me know how it goes.
Margit Potter says
I love German cheesecake it’s so light and so tasty. I made the cheesecake today and it turned out great and is absolutely delicious
Thank you for sharing the recipe
Marita Sinden says
Thank yoi Margit for the feedback! I am glad you enjoyed it 😀
Corina says
I made my cheesecake last night. It looks delicious, can’t wait to try it this afternoon. I only had a 9 inch spring form pan so I baked a little filling in a separate dish, love it. I love the idea of cutting along the edge to prevent the cracks in the center. The corn flour/corn starch was difficult measuring, I used about 1/4 cup of corn starch. Thank you all for your posts, it helped when I baked my cake.
Marita Sinden says
Hi Corina thanks for your comment. You could also bake it in a 9 inch pan but it takes about 15 Min longer to bake. Let me know if you liked it. Best Wishes Marita
Louise Woods says
Check your email to confirm your subscription.
Can you use Cream Cheese instead of quark? I am German Cherokee and Irish. I love German food and was so excited when I came across your link.
Marita Sinden says
It's not a one to one substitute. Just cream cheese would be too thick, but combined with 10% fat greek yoghurt it has a similar texture and makes a nice and airy cheesecake
Laura says
Really yummy cheesecake- my husband and friends love it. The texture is light, yet creamy, and far healthier than a slab of chocolate cake, yet still a real treat! I love to serve this with stewed berries or a coulis of some sort.
Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Marita Sinden says
Hi Laura,
thanks so much for your feedback. I am glad you enjoyed it!. Marita
Sharon says
Can you use shop bought shortcrust pastry
Marita says
I do not see why not but I never tried it. Let us know if you try it and how it worked out.
Dawn says
Hi, do you blind bake the pastry case before adding the filling please?
Marita says
No you don't you can just directly add the filling.
Liloo says
Used Dr. Oetker vanilla pudding. Made it in a 9*13 pan as I was trying to get a thinner cheese layer. It cracked, but who cares?? It is soo delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe!
Marita says
Hi Liloo, thanks for your message. I am glad you enjoyed the recipe! Do not worry about the cracking it is just the look not the taste x
Patrick says
Lovely recepy, thanks for sharing. My only issue, was the cracking of the top layer... I didn't find the pictures concerning the curved incisions, maybe I did something wrong...
Marita Sinden says
Hi Patrick, thanks for your comment. That is the picture 9 where you can see where I made an incision just around the edges. In picture 11 you can see where it has risen where the cut was. THis will later deflate, and so it will not crack in the middle. Hope this helps.
Sue Atkinson says
Hi my mum used curd cheese in her german cheesecake x
Marita says
Hi Sue,
I never tried it with cured cheese before but I am sure it was delicious.
Gisela Derstine says
I love this recipe, the best I ever made. Instead of quark, I use FAGE yoghurt it is the closest to quark at my taste. Used Dr Oetker vanilla pudding and vanilla bean in it.
I did cut around the cake and no crack
Thank you so much for sharing
Absolutely love it!!❤
Marita says
Hi Gisela,
thanks so much for your feedback! I am glad you enjoy this cake and I hope your family will like it.
Best Wishes
marita
Rita says
To prevent the cake from cracking do you do an incision all the way around the cake or just one incision
Rita
Marita says
Hi Rita,
yes, the cake should be cut around the rim, 1 cm from the edge. The Cake will still break, but instead of breaking in the middle, it will rise evenly on the edges so that the crack will not be visible on the surface. let me know how you get on.
RUTH E LEFEBVRE says
I'm half German (half French) and my mother always made a German Käsekuchen at Christmas every year. Hers was wonderful and a special treat. However, she used cottage cheese instead of quark for the filling. She always beat it until it was creamy and smooth in the blender. One thing she never did was to use lemon zest. But, I always make mine with zest and it turns out DELICIOUS!! Just FYI!
Marita says
Hi Ruth, thanks for sharing this with me. I never tried it with cottage cheese before but it sounds delicious. Recipes never taste the same unless your mother made them. I like lemon zest as well and I have tried lime zest for chance as well.
Mia says
Thank you all for such an outstanding recipe! Instead of quark, I added 400g of cottage cheese (blended) and 600 of Philadelphia. It was just the perfect cheesecake I and my family have ever tried!
Marita says
Thank you Mia, I am glad you enjoyed it!
Sylvia Greier says
Hi Ruth.
I know it's 3 yrs later but I just ran across your comment re cottage cheese instead of quark. I'm wanting to make this but am wondering if I can use cottage cheese straight across. No more, no less than suggested in the recipe?
Hoping you get this. Thanks.
Sylvia
Nancy Heaton says
I was excited to read through your recipe for German Cheesecake!! I have a recipe written by my Gernam landlord that I got in 1982 when I helped her make one. It is hard to get sahne and packets of vanilla zucker but I ordered some a few yrs ago and am excited to make a cheesecake this year (end of Sept) for my birthday!!
My new daughter-in-law wants to make a yummy cheesecake and so I will give her this one to try! So THANK YOU for the ingredient list that is easier to find at the store.
Marita says
Hi Nancy,
I am please that you are excited about the recipe. I hope this cake will live up to expectations for your birthday cake. You will have to send me a picture once its done.
Best Wishes
Marita
Kerstin says
What is cornflour in Germany?
Kerstin
Marita says
Hi Kerstin, das ist Speisestärke. 😁
Andra says
I love cheesecake and this one looks divine 😀 Can't wait to try it
Wilbyn Fonseca says
Looking forward to make this German Cheese cake. Remembering my German Mama in Freiburg baked a number of cakes when I visited her in 1989.
I can never forget the time there
Marita says
Thank you for sharing your memories. I hope you will enjoy this cheesecake.
Marita