Dessert

Russian apple cheesecake

A baked cheesecake made from ricotta or quark is always more to my taste than a heavy, dense cream-cheese confection. These sorts of light cheesecakes are made all over Europe and Russia, often with homemade cottage or farmhouse cheese and they are served after dinner or with morning coffee. The layer of apples under the cheesecake replaces a crumb or pastry crust, and the filling is flavoured with lemon, cinnamon and vanilla, studded with raisins and topped with flaked almonds. Serve the cheesecake at room temperature. It will keep for a couple of days.
10
3H

Ingredients

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 200°C and grease a 20cm, round baking dish.
2.Peel and core the apples, cut them into eighths and lay them neatly on the base of the buttered dish.
3.In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Use a fork to whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract and salt then pour this gradually into the creamed butter and sugar, mixing all the time. The mixture will curdle a little but it doesn’t matter.
4.Tip in the quark or ricotta and lemon zest and mix until well combined. Add the semolina, raisins and cinnamon and mix in. Pour this mixture over the apples, smooth the top and sprinkle with the flaked almonds. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top and firm to the touch.
5.Remove from the oven, cool on a rack and serve at room temperature, well dusted with icing sugar. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

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