The Magical Bavarian Cheesecake

So, I must admit, my favorite thing I tried at Epcot last week was the Bavarian Cheesecake at the Biergarten Restaurant. It was absolutely delicious. I had never had it before, and it is quite different from a regular cheesecake. It has a layer of vanilla sponge cake on the top and the bottom with the cheese mixture as the filling. And you don't bake the cheese part!

This new found love is what made me search the web where I hit the mother load with All Ears Net.

I promised my mom that I would make one as a late birthday gift for her (her b-day was Friday and it was just too hectic for everyone). Finally I had the time yesterday and I gave it a try. The result was a magical confection.

My Grammy has been in the hospital for almost two weeks now from a bad cold that turned for the worse. She started having small heart attacks to boot, so we were all very worried. A few months ago she was in the hospital and I made her Challah, or as she calls it now "healing Jewish bread" and it miraculously made her better. SO what better way to improve your health than with another Megan made baked good?

I went down to the hospital today amidst the drama of what recuperative facility she would be accepted into. There is a really nice one in Merritt Island that we wanted her to go to and we were really worried about most of the other ones in the area (not the most well kept places). So, I showed up to give my Mommy her b-day cake and of course gave some to Grammy. Grammy ate two pieces, which was a big deal since one of the things that aggravated her condition was her loss of appetite. So, once she professed how good the cake was, she told us to take the nurse and the case worker in charge of admission into the nursing facility. The cake must have been really good because after professing the nursing home we wanted was completely full 5 minutes before, she came back after eating the cake to tell us she got in! So from now on, I must make her a baked good every time she gets sick :)

I've copied the recipe to the blog so you can read it here or go directly to the source here.

Bavarian Cheesecake
INGREDIENTS

6 ounces Cream Cheese
6 ounces Baker's Cheese
2 Egg Yolks
4 ounces Granulated Sugar
8 ounces Sour Cream
1 ounce Lemon Juice
12 ounces Heavy Cream
1/2 ounce Gelatin
2 ounces Water
Vanilla Sponge Cake -- recipe follows

VANILLA SPONGE CAKE

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup Sugar (granulated)
4 Egg yolks
1 teaspoon. Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup Flour (all-purpose)
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 Egg Whites

METHOD
1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a mixer, add the egg yolks and sugar beat until light and creamy. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Beat until smooth.

5. Whip the egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Gently fold this into the cake batter.

6. Place into two separate greased and lined 8-inch round cake pans. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.

ASSEMBLING CAKE

METHOD
1. Whip heavy cream until soft peaks. Set aside.

2. Mix together in a mixing bowl the cream cheese, baker's cheese, egg yolks, and granulated sugar until smooth. Then add the sour cream and mix until smooth.

3. Gently add the whipped mixture to the cheese mixture being careful not to over whip.

4. Dissolve the gelatin in the water over a double boiler until the mixture is clear. Be careful not to whip the gelatin so it does not get air bubbles in it.

5. Add the gelatin mixture into the cheese mixture and fold quickly. When adding the gelatin mixture to the cheese mixture set the mixer on medium speed, and add it from the edge of the bowl, being careful not to get the gelatin on the whip or the side of the bowl so as to prevent lumping.

6. Using a springform pan, place one of the vanilla sponge cakes smooth side down. Immediately pour the cheese mixture on the cake, and smooth out surface. Then place the other cake on top with the smooth side out. Let set overnight.

7. Remove the cake from the springform pan. Sprinkle the top of the cake with powdered sugar. This cake can be served with any of your favorite fresh fruit sauce(s).

Notes to the chef - the gelatin really does set up fast once it hits the cream mixture, so do like the recipe says and add it quickly.

Also, as we live in America, most of you (like myself) have probably never heard of Baker's cheese until you read this recipe. Also, once you search in every normal supermarket to find it and come back empty handed, do not fret. I used low fat Ricotta cheese and it substituted wonderfully. I tasted just as good as the cake I had in Epcot.

I'm sure now that I have this website at my disposal, I will be making more posts about exotic foods. I'm dying to try some Norwegian recipes :)