Himbeer-Frischkäse-Torte (raspberry cream cheese torte)
A no-bake torte, a thin biscuit base under a cream cheese mousse folded through with raspberry purée rather than sitting as a separate layer, topped with a simple raspberry glaze. It sets with gelatine, not baking, and needs a real chill rather than a quick one.
Prep35 min
Rest240 min
Servings12
Christoph's raspberry cream cheese torte, written to fold the raspberry purée through the mousse itself rather than leaving it as a separate layer.
Ingredients
Written for a 24 cm round tin
Units
Temperature
Servings
Base
- 200 g digestive biscuits rounded
- 90 g butter, melted rounded
Mousse
- 350 g raspberries, fresh, or thawed if frozen rounded
- 60 g sugar rounded
- 15 g gelatine sheets, about 7 sheets, divided rounded
- 400 g full-fat cream cheese, room temperature rounded
- 80 g sugar rounded
- 300 ml cream, cold, whipped to soft peaks rounded
Glaze
- 150 g raspberries rounded
- 40 g sugar rounded
- 3 g gelatine sheets, about 1.5 sheets rounded
Method
- Crush the biscuits to fine crumbs and stir in the melted butter until it looks like wet sand. Press firmly into the base of a 24 cm springform and chill while you make the mousse.
- Purée the 350 g raspberries with the 60 g sugar and pass through a sieve to remove the seeds, if you like a smooth mousse.
- Soak all the gelatine, both amounts, in cold water for 5 minutes. Warm about a third of the raspberry purée gently in a small pan, take off the heat, squeeze the gelatine for the mousse dry and stir it in until fully dissolved. Stir this back into the rest of the purée.
- Beat the cream cheese and 80 g sugar together until smooth, then fold in the gelatine-set raspberry purée.
- Fold in the whipped cream in two additions, gently, keeping as much air as possible.
- Pour the mousse over the chilled base, smooth the top, and chill for at least 2 hours, until set enough that a glaze poured on top will not sink in.
- For the glaze, purée the remaining raspberries with the sugar and sieve if wanted. Soak and squeeze the remaining gelatine, warm a little of the purée to dissolve it, stir back in, and let cool to just above room temperature before pouring evenly over the set mousse.
- Chill at least 2 more hours, until the glaze is set, before releasing the ring and slicing with a knife run under hot water between cuts.
Notes
- Do not pour the glaze onto a soft mousse. If the base layer has not set enough to support it, the glaze sinks in and the two layers merge into one muddy colour instead of staying distinct.
- Squeeze soaked gelatine dry before it goes into anything warm. Extra water dilutes its setting power and the torte can end up softer than intended.
- A full chill matters more than any other step here. There is no baking to fall back on if the gelatine has not had enough time; a torte cut at 2 hours instead of 4 will not hold a slice.
- It keeps for 3 days in the fridge, covered, and slices most cleanly cold, straight from the fridge.
Ingredient substitutions
- Raspberries can be strawberries in both the mousse and the glaze, in the same weight, for a milder, sweeter torte.
- Digestive biscuits can be any plain biscuit; shortbread gives a slightly richer, more buttery base.
- A splash of framboise or another fruit liqueur, stirred into the mousse, is a good adults-only addition.
- For a lighter version, replace up to half the cream cheese with quark, though the mousse will be slightly less rich and hold a slightly softer slice.
From Christoph Mayer