Dresdner Eierschecke

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •30x40cm rimmed baking tin
• •Rolling pin
• •Fine sieve for draining quark
• •Electric hand mixer
• •Offset spatula

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the base

   Rub the cold butter into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs, then mix in the sugar, egg, and a pinch of salt. Stop as soon as the dough holds together, because overworked shortcrust bakes tough instead of sandy. Flatten it, wrap it, and chill it for 30 minutes.

2. 2

   Cook the pudding

   Whisk the pudding powder or cornflour with a little of the milk until smooth. Bring the rest of the milk to a simmer with 70g of the sugar and the vanilla, then whisk in the slurry and cook for one minute until thick. Scrape it into a bowl, cover the surface, and cool it to room temperature; hot pudding melts the butter later and knocks the air out of the egg top.

3. 3

   Prepare the tin

   Butter a 30x40cm rimmed baking tin and heat the oven to 175C. Roll the chilled dough thinly to fit the tin, patching the corners with your fingers. Keep it thin, because the base is there to hold the layers, not to become the cake.

4. 4

   Mix the quark

   Beat the quark with 100g sugar, 1 egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. If the quark is wet, drain it first in a sieve, because loose whey leaks into the base and makes a damp stripe nobody asked for.

5. 5

   Build two layers

   Spread the quark mixture evenly over the dough, right into the corners. Level it with a spatula, because the custard top follows every hill underneath it. A flat middle gives you the clean yellow layer Dresden expects.

6. 6

   Finish the top

   Beat the softened butter with the cooled pudding and the egg yolks until smooth. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt, then add the remaining 50g sugar and beat to soft peaks. Fold the whites through the pudding mixture gently, because this air is what makes the Schecke thick and tender instead of dense.

7. 7

   Bake gently

   Spread the egg top over the quark layer and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until the top is pale gold with a few darker spots and the centre still trembles slightly when the tin is nudged. Runter mit der Temperatur if it browns too fast. The custard sets as it cools, so a fully firm centre in the oven means a dry slice later.

8. 8

   Cool and cut

   Cool the cake completely in the tin, at least 90 minutes, before cutting. Warm Eierschecke tears and slumps because the quark and custard have not settled yet. Dust lightly with icing sugar if you like, then cut into squares with a clean knife. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Use real quark if you can get it. If not, drain thick full-fat Greek yogurt overnight and mix it with a spoon of sour cream; it won't be Saxon quark, but it behaves honestly in the cake.
• •Do not pour a hot pudding into the top layer. It melts the butter, deflates the eggs, and gives you a greasy custard. Cool it first. Das braucht seine Zeit.
• •The cake cuts best after a few hours, and better still after a night in the refrigerator. Let slices stand 20 minutes before serving so the butter softens and the flavour opens.

Advance Preparation

• •The shortcrust can be made a day ahead and kept wrapped in the refrigerator.
• •Drain wet quark overnight in the refrigerator, especially if using a tub-style quark.
• •Bake the Eierschecke one day ahead for the cleanest slices; keep it covered in the refrigerator and bring it close to room temperature before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 160g)