Authentic German Apple Cake Recipe with Quark

This is a delicious German apple cake recipe with quark especially great for the holidays. Quark or “curd cheese” is easy to make (find the recipe for quark making in this recipe). Alternatively you can use a mix out of sour cream and cream cheese instead of quark. But this substitute has not been tested for this cake recipe. If you have tested it, please let us know.
Find a lot of info in the Article:  How to make Quark – The only quark available in the USA is the Vermont quark. Happy Baking!

Ingredients German Apple Cake Recipe

Short Crust Dough (Mürbeteig)
200g flour
1 dash salt
1/2 tsp baking powder Dr Oetker, not baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
125 g cold butter

Filling
2 tbsp raisins, 2 tbsp dark rum or alternatively apple juice
700 g slightly sour apples
1 package Vanilla Sugar, 0.5oz– How to make Vanilla Sugar –
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
350 g quark (preferably low fat) or substitute – All about Quark –
1 package vanilla pudding Dr. Oetker – or 1.5 oz cornstarch and natural vanilla extract
125 g creme fraiche or heavy cream
butter to grease the form, powdered sugar

Baking Instructions

– Mix flour with salt, baking powder, egg yolk, sugar and butter (cut into small pieces) until you get a smooth dough. Knead it very well. Form to a ball, wrap in plastic foil, and let sit for 30-60 min in the fridge.
– Place raisins in a bowl and combine them with rum.
– Peel apples, remove core, cut in half and with a sharp knife cut them length-wise but not to the bottom.
– Mix lemon juice with cinnamon and drip evenly over the apples (avoids browning).

– Separate eggs, beat egg white until very firm (add a dash of salt for better firmness).
– Mix yolks with sugar, quark, pudding powder and creme fraiche; then fold in carefully firm egg white.
– Heat oven on 350 F (200 C).

– Grease a spring form of 10 inches  and dust with flour.
– Roll the dough and press it gently into the form.
– Bake for 12 minutes.
– Pour filling on the baked cake,
– Place raisins on kitchen paper and let them dry; add on top of apple halves.
– Bake for about 45-60 minutes ( do the tooth pick test which is poking into the dough with a tooth pick; if no dough sticks the cake is done).
– Let cool off on a baking rack and dust with powdered sugar before serving.