Scarlett WBaked Cheesecake with Kisel
August 28th 2006 14:11
Baked Cheesecake with Kisel
About Cheesecake with Kisel
This creamy cheesecake contrasts well with the flavour of fresh or stewed fruit, so why not try it with kisel? Originally a German recipe, the red-berry compote became associated with Russia, where it was introduced by German governesses last century and is still a popular nursery food today.
About Kisel
Russian cooking contains a great variety of desserts. Some are very ancient and exotic, but lunch usually concludes with stewed fruit or kisel. Kisel has been a favourite dish for many centuries. It comes as no surprise that when the heroes of Russian fairy-tales find themselves in a land of marvels, they see rivers of milk with banks of kisel. Kisel is made from fresh or dried fruits or from berries, fruit juice, syrup, jam, milk and some other products such as potato flour, or arrowroot.
About Quark
Also called baker’s cheese, quark is a type of fresh cheese of Central European origin. Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese. It is unripened, soft cheese that resembles a very thick sour cream or cream cheese. Finnish quark is made by curdling pasteurized low-fat / nonfat milk with lactic acid bacteria.
The Russian quark is much firmer in consistency and contains about 15% milk fat. This is the “genuine” type of quark. The Finnish quark, on the other hand, is smoother and contains too much liquid to be used in original Russian dishes without letting it drain first.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 8-10
225 gm / 8oz / 2 cups plain flour
115 gm / ½ cup butter
15 gm / 1 tablespoon caster sugar
finely grated rind and juice of ½ lemon
1 egg, beaten
Sprigs of mint, to decorate
For the filling
675 gm / 3 cups quark
4 eggs, separated
150 gm / ¾ cup caster sugar
45 ml / 3 tablespoons cornflour
150 ml soured cream
finely grated rind and juice of ½ lemon
5 ml / 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
For the kisel
450 gm / 1 lb / 4 - 4½ cups prepared red fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries, red currants, cherries
50 gm / ¼ cup caster sugar
120 ml / ½ cup water
15 ml / 1 tablespoon arrowroot
1. Begin by making the pastry for the cheesecake. Sift the flour into a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the caster sugar and lemon rind, then add the beaten egg and mix to a dough. Wrap in clear film and chill for at least 15 minutes.
2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line the base and sides of a 25cm/10im loose-bottomed cake tin. Chill for 1 hour.
3. Put the quark for the filling in a fine sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain for 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Prick the chilled pastry case base with a fork, fill it with crumpled foil and bake for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius.
5. To make the filling, put the drained quark in a bowl with the egg yolks and caster sugar and mix together. Blend the cornflour in a cup with a little soured cream, then add to the bowl with the remaining soured cream, the lemon rind and juice and vanilla essence. Mix well.
6. Whisk the egg whites in a greaseproof bowl until stiff, then fold into the quark mixture, one-third at a time. Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for 1-1¼ hours, until golden and firm. Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar. Let the cheesecake cool, then chill for 2 hours.
7. To make the kisel, put the prepared fruit, caster sugar and water into a pan and cook over a low heat until the sugar dissolves and the juices run. Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon and set aside.
8. Blend the arrowroot in a cup with a little cold water, stir into the fruit juices in the pan and bring to the boil, stirring all the time. Return the fruit to the pan and allow to cool, before serving it with the well-chilled cheesecake, decorated with sprigs of mint.
Tips:
If preferred, drain the mixture for 1 hour in a muslin-lined sieve, before spooning into the lined pudding basin.
**From “The Practical Encyclopedia of East European Cooking”, “NORDIC Recipe Archive” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**
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