Baked quark cheesecake with chocolate-cookie crust

Ingredients

• Shortbread cookies — 14 oz
• Unsweetened cocoa powder — 2 tbsp
• Unsalted butter, melted — 5.25 oz
• Quark (soured-milk cheese) — 17.5 oz
• Granulated sugar — 3.5 oz
• Heavy cream (33% fat) — 5 fl_oz
• Eggs — 2 pcs
• Chocolate pieces for sprinkling

Steps

1. Make the crust: pulse the shortbread cookies in a blender until fine crumbs form, then stir in the cocoa powder and the melted butter until the mixture holds together.
2. Press the crumb mixture evenly into the base and up the sides of a 20–22 cm springform pan to form the crust, then chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
3. Preheat the oven to 320°F.
4. Prepare the filling: in a bowl whisk the quark, granulated sugar, heavy cream and eggs by hand until smooth and homogeneous (do not use a mixer).
5. Pour the filling into the chilled crust and bake in the preheated oven at 320°F for 40–50 minutes (the center should be set but may still have a slight jiggle).
6. Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake cool inside the oven, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill overnight.
7. When ready to finish, remove the cheesecake from the springform pan, pour the cooled caramel sauce over the top, sprinkle with chocolate pieces, then return to the refrigerator until the caramel has set.

Caramel sauce

• Granulated sugar — 4 oz
• Unsalted butter, room temperature — 1.75 oz
• Salt
• Hot heavy cream (33% fat) — 2.75 fl_oz

1. Place the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and melt it, stirring gently until it becomes a deep amber caramel.
2. Remove from direct heat, add the room-temperature butter and a pinch of salt, stirring until the butter is incorporated.
3. Carefully pour in the hot heavy cream, stir until smooth, then remove from the heat and let the caramel cool before pouring it over the cheesecake.