Christmas Cheesecake Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 75 g butter
• 50 g sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 0.5 sachet vanilla sugar
• 0.5 tsp lemon zest
• 2 Eggs
• 150 g flour
• 0.5 tsp Baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• 750 g low-fat quark
• 1 sachet vanilla pudding powder
• 150 g sugar
• 100 g dark chocolate couverture
• 12 peeled whole almonds
• 3 sugar stars

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) with upper and lower heat. Cream the butter with the sugar, then gradually add the milk, vanilla sugar, lemon zest, and eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and fold into the butter mixture. Whisk the batter smooth and pour it into a springform pan lined with parchment paper. Blind bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. In the meantime, separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Drain the quark well and mix it with the yolks, pudding powder, and sugar.

2. 2.

   Fold the meringue into the mixture and spread it over the base. Bake in the hot oven for another 30–35 minutes, covering promptly with foil to prevent burning. Roughly chop the couverture and melt it over a hot, non‑boiling water bath. Remove the finished cake from the oven, remove the ring, and decorate the edge with the melted chocolate. Garnish with almonds and top the surface with sugar stars. Serve cooled.