Chef Klaus
Bienenstich
Bienenstich works when the almond top caramelises without burning and the yeast cake cools before the cream goes in. Rush either one and the bee has stung you.
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Russischer Zupfkuchen
Created by
A German quark cheesecake in a dark cocoa coat, with the top dough torn by hand so the pale filling shows through like it should.
Desserts
German
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
Birthday
35 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•2 hr 35 min total
Yield12 slices
Russischer Zupfkuchen is not Russian. It belongs to the German cake table, strongest in the east, where a quark cake for a birthday, a Sunday coffee, or a weeknight tray after supper needs no theatre. Dark cocoa shortcrust on the bottom, pale quark filling in the middle, and the rest of the dough plucked over the top. That word matters: zupfen means to pluck.
The argument is mostly about the filling. In the east, quark is the point, sharp and dairy-clean; elsewhere cooks soften it with cream cheese or pudding powder until it tastes like a packet. Nicht aus dem Glas, and not from the packet either. Use quark, drain it if it's wet, and give the custard enough egg and melted butter to set cleanly without turning rubbery.
The technique that decides it is temperature. The cocoa dough must be cold when it goes into the tin, because warm shortcrust smears under your fingers and bakes greasy instead of sandy. The filling goes in smooth but not beaten full of air, because trapped air rises, cracks, and drops the middle as it cools. Chill the dough, mix the quark calmly, pluck the top by hand. Das braucht seine Zeit, but not a whole Sunday.
Russischer Zupfkuchen is a German cake, not a Russian one; the name is usually explained by the dark plucked dough pieces on the pale quark filling, which some cooks compared to the silhouettes of Russian church domes. Recipes circulated widely in East German home baking in the late twentieth century, then spread across reunified Germany through magazines, school bake sales, and commercial baking mixes in the 1990s. The regional split remains visible: eastern versions lean on quark and cocoa shortcrust, while many western supermarket versions soften the filling with prepared pudding powder.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
plain flour
Quantity
300g
unsweetened cocoa powder
Quantity
40g
baking powder
Quantity
2 teaspoons
sugar for the dough
Quantity
150g
salt
Quantity
1 pinch
egg for the dough
Quantity
1
cold butter
Quantity
180g
diced
quark
Quantity
750g
20% fat if possible
sugar for the filling
Quantity
150g
eggs for the filling
Quantity
3
butter for the filling
Quantity
120g
melted and cooled
vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
cornflour
Quantity
30g
butter for the tin
Quantity
as needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| plain flour | 300g |
| unsweetened cocoa powder | 40g |
| baking powder | 2 teaspoons |
| sugar for the dough | 150g |
| salt | 1 pinch |
| egg for the dough | 1 |
| cold butterdiced | 180g |
| quark20% fat if possible | 750g |
| sugar for the filling | 150g |
| eggs for the filling | 3 |
| butter for the fillingmelted and cooled | 120g |
| vanilla sugar or vanilla extract | 1 teaspoon |
| lemon juice | 1 tablespoon |
| cornflour | 30g |
| butter for the tin | as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •26cm springform tin
- •Baking paper
- •Mixing bowls
- •Hand whisk or wooden spoon
- •Cooling rack
Instructions
- 1
Make cocoa dough
Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, sugar, and salt, then rub in the cold butter until the bowl looks like dark crumbs. Add the egg and work it only until the dough comes together. Stop there. Shortcrust turns tough when you knead it like bread, and this cake wants a sandy bite against the soft quark.
- 2
Chill the dough
Press the dough into a flat block, wrap it, and chill it for at least 45 minutes. Cold dough rolls and presses cleanly; warm dough smears, drinks flour, and bakes heavy. Weggeworfen wird nichts: keep every trimming, because the scraps become the plucked top.
If your kitchen is warm, chill the tin after pressing in the base. The butter firms again, and the edge holds its shape in the oven. - 3
Line the tin
Grease a 26cm springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Press about two thirds of the cold cocoa dough over the base and 3cm up the sides, keeping the thickness even so the filling has a wall to lean on. Put the tin back in the refrigerator while you mix the filling.
- 4
Mix quark filling
Stir the quark, sugar, eggs, cooled melted butter, vanilla, lemon juice, and cornflour until smooth. Stir, don't whip. Beating in air gives you a proud cake in the oven and a sunken one on the table; a calm filling sets level and cuts clean.
- 5
Fill and pluck
Pour the quark filling into the chilled shell and level it with a spoon. Tear the remaining cocoa dough into rough pieces and scatter them over the top, leaving pale filling visible between them. Don't grate it, don't make it neat. The torn pieces are the name of the cake.
- 6
Bake gently
Bake at 175C conventional, or 160C fan, for 55 to 65 minutes, until the edge is set and the centre still has a small wobble when you nudge the tin. Runter mit der Temperatur if the top darkens too fast. Quark keeps setting as it cools, so a fully firm centre in the oven means a dry slice later.
- 7
Cool before cutting
Turn the oven off, crack the door, and leave the cake inside for 20 minutes, then cool it fully at room temperature before chilling for at least one hour. Sudden cooling pulls the custard tight and cracks it; slow cooling lets the eggs finish their work without drama. Cut with a warm clean knife.
Chef Tips
- •Use quark if you can get it. If it looks wet, drain it in a sieve for 30 minutes, because excess whey thins the filling and makes the base damp.
- •Use proper unsweetened cocoa, not drinking chocolate. Drinking chocolate brings sugar and milk powder, and then the dark dough tastes flat.
- •Don't skip the cooling. Quark cake cuts properly only after the filling has settled; rush it and the slice slumps on the plate. Schön ist, was schmeckt, but it should still stand up.
- •A 26cm springform tin is the right tool. A deep pie dish traps the cake and a shallow tin overfills, and then you're cleaning the oven instead of eating cake.
Advance Preparation
- •Bake it the day before if you like. Russischer Zupfkuchen holds well overnight in the refrigerator, and the quark filling cuts cleaner the next day.
- •The cocoa dough can be made up to two days ahead and kept wrapped in the refrigerator. Let it stand 10 minutes before pressing if it is too hard to handle.
- •Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to four days. Serve cool, not ice-cold, so the quark tastes clean and the cocoa base softens just enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 145g)
Calories
480 calories
Total Fat
26 g
Saturated Fat
16 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
51 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
28 g
Protein
12 g
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