I love cheesecakes.

The creamy texture, the simplicity, it's light-yellow color, the crust, the ones without a crust, lemon, lime, sweet-yet fresh, sweet and sour, etc.
German-style cheesecakes are often made using quark. Cheesecakes made of sour cream, buttermilk and cream cheese are also very common and many cafes have a few different ones to offer, which always makes my decision-making a very difficult process. Also different areas in Germany have got their own cheesecake specialitys.

Today I didn't make a Badischer Käsekuchen (cheesecake of Baden-Württenberg) for a few reasons: a) most of the recipies that have come across, use vanilla pudding powder (for example Dr. Oetker) and since I'm not sure if you can buy this product in Finland or other countries, I had to mark out those recipies. b) I wanted to make a cheesecake in a jar and because of this c) I took a bottomless (it means without a crust, not endless!) cheesecake recipe.

The ingredients of this cheesecake have been patiently waiting in my fridge for some time now. I was asked to make a cheesecake in a jar, but had to wait for my jars to be freed of my earlier bakings. Apparently I am not as patient as my ingredients as today I just couldn't wait any longer to bake, and had to buy a whole new jar. In theory this should last in your fridge unopened for a two weeks. In reality, it's not going to happen. It's just so delicious.
This one is dedicated to Rossana of Bella Vanilla.



Käsekuchen ohne Boden - Crustless Cheesecake

This recipe is for two 1/2 liter jars. It can also be baked in a 20 cm springform.


75 grams soft butter
100 grams sugar
2 eggs
250 grams quark (preferably low-fat)
200 grams cream cheese (frischkäse/tuorejuusto)
50 grams semolina (mannasuurimo)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemonjuice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 175 °c and griess the jar or springform.
Beat soft butter and sugar together until frothy. Add one egg at a time.
Mix in the quark, cream cheese, semolina, lemonjuice and zest.
Pour the mixture into the jar or springform and put in the oven for 35-40 minutes. The cake is ready when it has settled from the centre but it should not get any colour. (You can cover it with some aluminum foil and set the oven temperature a bit lower, if it needs more time.)
Put on the lid right away when taken out of the oven, let it cool and store in the fridge. If served right away, let it cool down for 10 minutes before cutting.

P.s. It can be eaten straight from the jar or it can be taken out before serving, depending on the form of the jar you are using.
You could also bake it in several small jars and serve them individually as a dessert.