Spekulatius Käsekuchen: German Speculoos Cheesecake

Method8 steps

1. 1

   Step 1: Bring refrigerated baking ingredients to room temperature for mixing. Preheat to 160°C /325°F convection. Line the base of a suitable springform tin with parchment and lightly grease its sides with the separate extra butter.

   Uses Extra butter as needed to grease springform sides

2. 2

   Step 2: For the cookie dough, beat 250 g brown sugar, the 2 cookie-dough eggs and 250 g cookie-dough butter until creamy. Mix in ½ tsp cookie-dough salt, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon and ½ tsp ground cardamom.

   Uses 250 g brown sugar · 250 g butter · 1/2 tsp salt · 2 eggs · 1 tsp ground cloves · 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon · 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

3. 3

   Step 3: Sift the 500 g cookie-dough flour with ½ tsp baking powder. Mix into the prepared spiced mixture and knead just until combined.

   Uses creamed spiced cookie-dough mixture · 500 g all-purpose flour · 1/2 tsp baking powder

4. 4

   Step 4: Weigh out exactly 400 g of the prepared cookie dough and press it over the base and sides of the prepared springform tin for the cake crust. Keep all remaining cookie dough separately covered and refrigerated for the optional extra cookies in step 8.

   Uses complete prepared speculoos cookie dough

5. 5

   Step 5: For the filling, whisk the separate 240 g filling butter, 250 g filling sugar, ¼ tsp filling salt and 2 tsp vanilla until smooth without overworking. Gradually whisk in the 6 filling eggs.

   Uses 240 g butter · 250 g sugar · 1/4 tsp salt · 2 tsp pure vanilla extract · 6 eggs (10.5 oz)

6. 6

   Step 6: Sift together the 40 g cornstarch and separate 40 g filling all-purpose flour. Whisk into the prepared filling mixture until smooth, then gently whisk in 840 g quark.

   Uses butter-sugar-egg filling mixture · 40 g cornstarch · 40 g all-purpose flour · 840 g quark

7. 7

   Step 7: Pour the filling into the 400 g cookie-dough crust. Bake at 160°C /325°F convection for about 85 minutes until set, tenting with foil about halfway through to prevent excessive browning. Turn the oven off for gradual cooling, then refrigerate the cake overnight before serving; refrigerate within 2 hours rather than leaving it warm for longer.

   Bake cheesecake · 85 minUses 400 g prepared cookie-dough cake crust · finished quark cheesecake filling

8. 8

   Step 8: If using the extra cookie dough, roll it on a surface lightly dusted with the separate extra flour, cut cookies and bake separately at 175°C /350°F convection for about 10 minutes until baked. Cool the cookies and serve them with slices of the refrigerated cheesecake. The cookies are separate from the 400 g cake crust.

   Bake optional separate speculoos cookies · 10 minUses overnight-refrigerated baked quark cheesecake · separately reserved remaining cookie dough · Extra flour as needed to roll remaining cookie dough