Hello everyone!

Long time no see! I have enjoyed quite a long break since my last recipe and today I am back with another delicious dessert recipe. As you can see, this is a cheesecake recipe that is very popular in Alsace, in North-Eastern France. Unlike cheesecakes in North America, this one is not made with cream cheese, but another type of fresh cheese that we call fromage blanc.

Fromage blanc is a bit of a mix of cream cheese and Greek yogurt. It’s not quite as rich as cream cheese, but not as acidic as Greek yogurt. Unfortunately, I have never been able to find it in Toronto, but one day I came across a type of fresh cheese called quark cheese. I made some research to know what it was and it turns out that is the German cousin of fromage blanc. It’s not quite the same but this is the closest I have been able to find so far.

What I love about the gâteau au fromage blanc is that it is a very light dessert compared to a classic cheesecake. The addition of the beaten egg white makes it very fluffy and airy and it is also less sweet than its North American counterpart. This is probably one of my favourite Alsacian desserts! If you live in Canada, you will be able to find quark cheese in some grocery stores as the brand “Libertè” makes it. If you are unable to find it, your best bet is to mix cream cheese with either greek yogurt or skyr equally.

Let’s start baking!

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust store-bought or homemade
• 500g quark cheese ( or 250g each of cream cheese and greek yogurt or skyr)
• 100 ml of heavy cream
• 4 eggs
• 150g sugar
• 1 lemon zest
• 40g corn starch

Preparation:

1- Preheat the oven at 200 C/390 F. Mix the quark cheese (or cream cheese and greek yogurt/skyr if you can’t find quark cheese) with the heavy cream. Add in the egg yolks and the corn starch and mix well until homogeneous.

2- Whip the egg whites until firm and fold it into the cheese mixture.

3- Place the pie crust into a deep cake pan. Pour in the mixture and bake in the preheated oven for 40 min. The cheese mixture should raise in the oven and get a nice golden brown colour. Let it cool down and enjoy!

If you are a cheesecake lover, I am sure that you will fall in love with this Alsacian cheesecake. It’s light and fluffy texture makes it irresistible and you won’t resist getting a second slice!

I hope you will enjoy this recipe! Let me know in the comment section what you think about this recipe and if you liked it.

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