There are some dishes that just don´t taste right when using a different recipes or ordering them in a restaurant. For me, that is true for my mom’s lasagna, my dad´s pasta and this cheesecake. They are just such typical family recipes. I´ve tried different recipes but with what I knew from home in mind, I always ended up being disappointed. Therefore, when it comes to making any of these recipes, I just trust in the ones I have. They are foolproof. At least for me.

Which brings me to this cheesecake. Apparently this recipe has been in the family for years. I don´t know where exactly my grandma got it from, but she gave it to her daughters and that´s how I ended up with it. This cheesecake is basically all my childhood combined in on recipe. I´ve made (and ate) it so many times, I know it by heart.
The recipe itself is not very difficult to make. All you need is a shortpastry and the filling. Which brings us to the tricky part. The not-so-secret-ingredient which makes the whole thing so tasty is the filling, which is made with Quark. Quark is a mixture between yoghurt and cream cheese, kind of like greek yoghurt, you can get it everywhere here in Germany. It is not so common in other countries though. I remember searching everywhere for it in the US, I did find it in Spain, but only in a couple of supermarkets. My dictionary offers curd as a translation, is that something known in the English speaking countries? I would love to get some feedback.
Anyway, if you´ve never heard of Quark and can´t get it anywhere, I suggest using half yoghurt, half cream cheese. Or you could try cottage cheese, just make sure to get a smooth filling in the end. Let me know how it turns out.
You can also spice things up by adding some lemon zest or vanilla bean to the filling. I like this cake best after it has spent a night in the fridge. Feel free to add any topping you like, some berries go great with it.

For the shortpastry:
250 g flour
125 g sugar
150 g butter
1 egg
1 tbsp. Baking powder
For the filling:
500 g Quark, yoghurt and cream cheese or cottage cheese.
125 g sugar
40 g flour
50 g butter
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1) Mix flour, sugar, melted butter, egg and baking powder in a bowl and knead well. Place in a greased spring form.
2) For the filling, mix Quark, sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract until you have a smooth cream. Place on top of the shortpastry. Bake the cake for about 45 minutes at 175°C.