Streuselkuchen mit Quarkfüllung (yeasted streusel cake with quark filling)
The tray-bake version of German streusel cake, a yeasted dough rather than a shortcrust, topped with a plain quark custard and a thick layer of streusel. It is coffee-break cake more than dessert, meant to be cut into squares and eaten standing at the counter.
Prep30 min
Cook35 min
Rest90 min
Oven180°C
Servings15
Christoph's tray-bake streusel cake, a yeasted base rather than shortcrust, written for the coffee table rather than the dessert plate.
Ingredients
Written for a 30 × 20 cm baking sheet
Units
Temperature
Servings
Yeast dough
- 350 g flour rounded
- 40 g sugar rounded
- 2 g fine salt rounded
- 7 g instant yeast rounded
- 180 ml milk, lukewarm rounded
- 50 g butter, melted and cooled rounded
- 1 egg rounded
Quark filling
- 500 g quark, well drained rounded
- 90 g sugar rounded
- 2 eggs rounded
- 20 g cornstarch rounded
- 60 ml cream rounded
- 5 ml vanilla extract rounded
Streusel
- 200 g flour rounded
- 120 g sugar rounded
- 3 g vanilla sugar (optional) rounded
- 110 g cold butter, cubed rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Whisk the flour, sugar, salt and yeast together, then add the lukewarm milk, melted butter and egg. Knead by hand or with a dough hook for 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic; it will feel soft and slightly sticky, which is correct.
- Cover and prove in a warm spot for 60 minutes, until roughly doubled.
- Make the streusel while the dough proves: rub the cold butter into the flour, sugar and vanilla sugar with your fingertips until it forms coarse crumbs. Chill until needed.
- Beat the quark, sugar, eggs, cornstarch, cream and vanilla together until smooth.
- Press the risen dough out onto a lined baking sheet, about 30 by 20 cm, going right to the edges. Prick it a few times with a fork and let it rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Spread the quark filling evenly over the dough, leaving a thin border, then scatter the streusel over the top in an even, generous layer.
- Bake at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes, until the streusel is evenly golden and the base sounds hollow when tapped at a corner. Cool in the tray before cutting into squares.
Notes
- A soft, slightly sticky dough is correct here. Adding extra flour to make it easier to handle gives a denser, drier cake than the tray-bake tradition calls for.
- Chilled streusel bakes into distinct crumbs; warm streusel melts into a sheet. Make it early and keep it in the fridge until the moment it goes onto the tray.
- Do not skip the second, shorter rest after shaping. The dough needs those 15 minutes to relax before the weight of the filling goes on, or it shrinks back at the edges during baking.
- It keeps for 3 days at room temperature, covered, and is genuinely better on day two, once the quark layer has settled into the dough slightly.
Ingredient substitutions
- Quark can be replaced with well-drained ricotta or a mix of quark and cream cheese for a slightly richer filling.
- Instant yeast can be swapped for fresh yeast at roughly three times the weight, crumbled into the lukewarm milk with a pinch of the sugar and left for 10 minutes until foamy before mixing in.
- Vanilla sugar in the streusel is a small, traditional touch; plain sugar works identically if it is not to hand.
- For a fruit version, scatter 300 g of sliced plums or apples over the quark layer before the streusel goes on.
From Christoph Mayer