Frieda's Lemon Quark Torte

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BEST MADE A DAY (OR EVEN TWO) AHEAD

Ingredients for the crust:

bullet 200 grams flour
bullet Frank replaces 50 grams of the flour with 50 gram ground almonds, ground hazelnuts or (better yet) "pralin": course-ground candied hazelnuts; and sometimes tosses in a handful of finely grated coconut)
bullet 150 grams butter, cut into pieces; at room temperature
bullet 50 grams brown sugar
bullet pinch of salt 

Ingredients for the filling:
bullet 200 grams sugar
bullet 3 egg yolks + 2 egg whites
bullet 500 gram quark (in France, faisselle of 6% MG works very well; if you live in a country where supermarkets don't carry quark and want to make your own? Follow this link)
bullet 13 grams gelatin (= 7 sheets of a standard 9-sheet/17 gram package)
bullet 6 tablespoons of water
bullet ¼ liter heavy whipping cream (do not use light cream)
bullet juice of 3 large lemons (150 ml; ¾ cup)
 
bullet To make a lemon-lime version of this recipe:
bullet add juice of 1 lime
bullet increase gelatin by ½ sheet
 
bullet If you want to make a raspberry or red fruit version of this recipe, change the filling as follows:
bullet add coulis of 500 gr raspberries or red fruit (takes 2 seconds with a food processor)
bullet reduce lemon juice to 1 lemon
bullet increase gelatin to 22 gr (11 sheets of a standard 9-sheet/17 gram package)
 
bullet Makes enough dough & filling for 1 spring-form pan of ±24 cm diameter, or 1 of 18 cm plus 2 of 10 cm diam.

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Instructions for the crust
:  

bullet mix the flour, sugar, salt, and the butter
bullet knead into a dough (or put in kitchen machine at high speed until smooth or one big lump)
bullet let rest for 15 - 30 minutes
bullet preheat oven to 175 °C (350 °F)
bullet cover bottom of spring pan evenly with the dough (do NOT make the bottom too thick; ±5 mm (¼ inch) is plenty)
bullet prick dough with fork 
bullet bake crust for 40 minutes in center of oven; note:  in a mechanical convection oven (i.e., with fan), use lower temperature setting (e.g., 150 °C)
bullet leave crust in the pan

Instructions for the filling:

bullet mix sugar, egg yolks, one egg white, quark, and lemon juice
bullet soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for about 10 minutes
bullet bring the 6 tablespoons of water to a boil
bullet take water of the heat, squeeze the cold water out of gelatin, and dissolve the gelatin in the hot water while stirring
bullet let the gelatin cool for a while, until no longer hot
bullet blend the gelatin in with the quark mix , and beat at high speed for at least 5 minutes (splashes!)
bullet whip the cream and whip the egg white
bullet fold both fold carefully but thoroughly under the quark mix
bullet put the filling on top of the crust in the spring pan
bullet put in fridge for a couple of hours
bullet the filling will probably stick to the wall of the pan; before opening and removing the wall of the pan, run a paring knife flat against the inside of the wall, and go all the way around.
 
bullet keep refrigerated!

 
Dough in spring form pan before baking                                                    Going fast!                                       

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