Baked Cheesecake with Quick Strawberry Compote
July is strawberry season. Pick them straight from the garden and enjoy them sweet just as they are. Perhaps with a spoonful of cream sweetened with honey, or baked into cakes and desserts.
Briefly cooking strawberries intensifies their flavour, as in this baked cheesecake topped with a quick strawberry compote.
The cheesecake has no biscuit base, making it wonderfully light. Finished with a generous layer of
homemade strawberry compote, it's the perfect summer treat to enjoy with coffee, tea, or as a dessert.
This style of baked cheesecake has its roots in Germany, where quark is traditionally used instead of cream cheese. If you can't find quark where you live, you can substitute a mixture of 350 g ricotta and 150 g sour cream, or use 500 g strained full-fat Greek yoghurt instead.
Serves: 6–8
Preparation time: 25 minutes, plus approximately 60 minutes baking time
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Ingredients
For the cheesecake
• 500 g full-fat quark
• 50 g plain flour
• 125 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• Finely grated zest and juice of ½ organic lemon
For the strawberry compote
• 350 g strawberries, hulled and washed
• 100 g sugar
• 1 sachet of arrowroot powder
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Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the base and sides of a 20 cm springform cake tin with baking parchment.
Place the sugar in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined. Add the quark, lemon zest and lemon juice, and mix until smooth.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 1 hour. The cheesecake should be lightly golden, and a skewer or knife inserted into the centre should come out clean. If necessary, bake for a further 10 minutes. Once ready leave the cheesecake to cool slightly while you prepare the compote.
Place the strawberries in a saucepan with a small splash of water and bring gently to the boil. Stir in the sugar and simmer until the strawberries are soft but still hold their shape. Remove from the heat.
In a small saucepan, whisk the arrowroot powder with 100 ml cold water until smooth. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously, until the mixture thickens. Immediately stir it into the strawberries.
Spoon the strawberry compote over the cheesecake and leave to cool completely before serving.