German Pumpkin Cheesecake (Käsekuchen)
This German Pumpkin Cheesecake is to die for! Creamy pumpkin filling made with protein-rich quark, sits on top of an easy, spiced crust. This is a go-to pumpkin dessert that’s perfect for Thanksgiving and the holidays.
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 348kcal
Equipment
- 1 springform pan 10 inch diameter
- 1 Food Processor for making cookie crumbs and pureeing pumpkin
- 1 Mixer I love this cordless one!
- 1 Rubber Spatula this one is great!
- Leaf cutters to cut your marzipan decorations (optional)
Ingredients
Cookie Crust
- 200 grams Lotus Biscoff cookies This is a German spiced cookie you can find at Costco, World Market (or buy them via my Amazon link). Instead you can use 200 grams graham crackers plus ½ teaspoon of each ground ginger and ground cinnamon
- 90 grams butter
Filling
- 1 kilogram quark I use local quark bought at Hemme brothers from the Overland Park Farmers Market (you can also buy it online). You can also make your own quark if you can't find it locally.
- 500 grams pumpkin puree I made my own this time, but I often use canned pumpkin puree.
- 4 eggs
- 25 grams cornstarch
- 185 grams sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract I sometimes also use vanilla bean paste because I love the flavor. They have it at Trader Joe's as well.
Glaze
- 230 grams sour cream
- 2 tablespoon honey
Decorations
- marzipan optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven (conventional setting, NOT convection) to 350° Fahrenheit/ 180° Celsius. Prep a 10 inch (25 cm) springform pan by putting parchment paper on the bottom, then secure the ring around it. Cover the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil to avoid grease dripping and creating smoke in your oven. Bring all ingredients to room temperature.
- Process your cookies into crumbs. It's easiest to do this use a food processor, but you can also put the cookies into a freezer bag, and used the flat side of a meat tenderizer to make crumbs.200 grams Lotus Biscoff cookies
- Melt the butter and mix together with the cookie crumbs and spices. Press the cookie crumbs onto the bottom of the springform pan using your hands or the backside of a spoon, let sit in the fridge while you prepare the cheesecake filling.90 grams butter
- Using a handheld mixer, combine the quark and pumpkin puree. Add in eggs, cornstarch, vanilla and sugar and mix until combined.1 kilogram quark, 500 grams pumpkin puree, 4 eggs, 25 grams cornstarch, 185 grams sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour the mixture on top of your cookie crumb crust in the spring form.
- Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven (loosely lay some aluminum foil over the cake towards the last 30 minutes of baking). If your ingredients were cold when using, the cake can take up to 30 minutes longer to bake. Shake the cake gently. If only the middle 2 inches wiggle, you're ready to proceed to the next step.
- Mix together the sour cream and honey, spread over the cheesecake and bake for an additional 10 minutes.230 grams sour cream, 2 tablespoon honey
- To avoid the top from cracking, turn off your oven, crack open the oven door, and let your cheesecake cool down in the oven for one hour. Then transfer your cheesecake to the counter for a few hours before moving to the fridge overnight (or for at least 4 hours).
- Decorate with marzipan if desired. My cake did crack a little bit after all, so I disguised the crack with some marzipan leaves made from these fun leaf cutters.marzipan
Video
Notes
- Bring ingredients to room temperature. Otherwise your cheesecake will take forever to bake and you're less in control of how long that should be.
- Cover the bottom of the pan in foil. Your springform pan is likely going to drip some excess grease from the butter in the crust. Covering the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil will avoid the grease to drip to the bottom of your oven to create smoke. Believe me, I've had this happen and besides our house being filled with smoke, the cake also tasted like smoke (and probably wasn't healthy to eat either).
- Give it a little shake. If the middle of the center is barely wiggling, it's done, as it will finish setting up during the resting period.
- Cool down your cake in the oven. When the cake is finished baking, turn off rhe oven, do NOT remove your pumpkin cheesecake, and barely crack open the oven door. Let is stand there for one more hour before putting it on your kitchen counter to cool to room temperature. Finally it goes in the fridge overnight (or for 4 to 8 hours) for the final setup.
Nutrition
Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 149mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 6885IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg