First of all I have to apologize for the long absence from my blog. I was moving back to Germany, which took a lot of time and organizing. So not so much time for baking, photographing and blogging.
I was happy to see that there was a lot of rhubarb ready to be picked in the garden. Rhubarb is one of my favourite ingredient for fruity desserts. I added some strawberries to the topping, as those two are always a great combo.
The cheesecake filling is made made from a mix of quark (which is a German type of fresh cheese, usually used in German cheesecakes) and cream cheese. You can easily make quark yourself, when not available where you are. Meeta posted a great recipe a while back, and I used it many times when I lived in Canada.
Poppy Seed Cheesecake with Rhubarb Topping
Crust
80 g butter
150 g butter cookie crumbs
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbsp. dark rum
Filling
500 g quark, homemade or store bought
200 g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
30 g flour
20 g vanilla sugar
3 eggs
250 g "Mohnback" (ready-to-bake poppy seeds mix, available in German import stores)
3 Tbsp. dark rum
Topping
3 stalks of rhubarb
2-3 Tbsp. sugar
5-8 strawberries, cut in quarters
1 Tbsp. corn starch
For the crust first melt the butter, then mix with the cookie crumbs, lemon zest and rum. Press the mixture into a 24 cm (9-inch) spring-form lined with parchment paper, and let cool for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 160° Celsius (320°F).
For the filling mix the quark, cream cheese, lemon zest and juice, flour and vanilla sugar with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for about 5 minutes, until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time while still mixing. Then add the poppy seed mixture and the rum. Fill the mixture on the crust into the prepared spring-form.
Bake the cake for about 45 minutes. Let cool for at least 4 hours, or better overnight.
To make the topping cut the rhubarb in pieces and put together with the sugar in a saucepan. Cook the rhubarb over medium heat until soft, add the strawberries and eventually add more sugar to taste. Then add the corn starch (dissolved in a little water) to thicken the compote. Let cool for a bit just before set, then put it on top of the cheesecake. Put in the fridge until serving.
Enjoy and Guten Appetit!
