Cheesecake

I have finally gotten around to make another cheesecake with the help of little chef aka Bennet, much to the delight of Papa G. Now he thinks this cheesecake is the best I have made so far and asked me to blog about it, so he can come back and follow the recipe. Now the thing is that whenever I gear up to make a cheesecake I follow a different recipe I find on google and sometimes I improvise a little. I have to say that I haven't come accross *my* favourite version of cheesecake as of yet, as I am a perfectionist, but that day will come and I will post about it. The thing Im struggling with is that the cake can get a little too brown on the top and tends to tear open as it rises a lot, it's not really that bad as it will fall again and doesn't effect taste, but I would like to have that immaculate-looking, magnificent-tasting cheesecake one day. :)

Anyway, I try to recap what I've been doing today:

I have worked with the following webpage http://www.ahano.de/essen-trinken/omas-kochbuch/rezepte/109-Omas-Kaesekuchen.html

However I didn't follow the recipe for the cake base. I made the base really simple so Bennet can have some fun, too...

Base:
1. put about 200g of Digestive Biscuits mixed with some ginger snaps in a large freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin (choose your moment as it can be fantastic therapy!)

2. melt approx. 75g butter in a pan and add the crumb mixture, mix well then press into the base of a round cake tin. Use a potato masher to press it down evenly and place in the fridge for 30 min.

Filling:
3. Seperate 5 eggs, chill the egg white, put egg yolks into a large mixing bowl along with 1kg Quark (I only had 600g Quark so I improvised and put some Mascarpone Cheese in), 250g sugar, grated lemon zest (use an unwaxed lemon) a packet of Vanellin sugar (those sachets seem to be available in Germany only, but I think all it is is sugar with Vanilla flavour, so add some vanilla flavour or real vanilla instead) and a sachet of custard powder, mix well!

4. Take the egg white from the fridge add a tiny amount of salt and beat with a hand mixer until fluffy and foamy (takes a couple of minutes)

5. carefully spoon the eggwhite under the mixture and add to the cake tin

6. Pre-heat fan assisted oven to about 150 Degrees and bake the cake for about 75 min.

According to the recipe I linked to you should cover your cake with tinfoil after about 35 Minutes to stop the top from burning. I did that and the foil got stuck to the cake. Somebody commented to take the cake out after 35 min and let it cool for 10 min and return to the oven so it doesn't tear...I've never tried it though. Every cheesecake I've made has risen a lot, so don't get a fright when it happens. It will shrink considerably and look normal soon enough :)

Any questions ask...Im not a pro, but I have baked a couple of cheesecakes in my life :)

Milena