Enjoy this traditional Chilean recipe for German-style Cheese Kuchen.
October, November, and December are holiday seasons in the USA. In October, we have Halloween, and we love it, but another very important holiday for us is Día de los Muertos. In Chile, families usually go to the cemetery to visit the dead. My family did. We went with my grandparents to visit the graves of my great-grandparents and my Uncle Ricardo. The graveyard that day was a small city full of ice cream carts, juices, candy aplenty, and many flowers.
Today, living in the USA is a day of nostalgia. I have no cemetery to visit, but I try to make it a day to talk to my daughters about my gone grandmother. Speaking of nostalgia, Chileans who live away yearn for quesillo, an immature cheese made only with fresh milk, rennet, and salt. It’s like eating a milk flan. Quesillo is eaten with toast, in salads, as a filling for tomatoes, or just on crackers.
Other very traditional Chilean kuchens recipes are:
German style Cheese Kuchen
A fantastic variation on cheesecake.
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 12
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 100 grams cold unsalted butter
- 5 eggs, separated
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2–3 tablespoons ice water
- 1 Panela cheese 280 grams or Farmers Cheese or Cottage cheese well-drained (in Chile Quesillo)
- 1 cup table cream Mexicana or Heavy Whipping Cream (Chile cream or ricotta)
- 1 cup of sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F or 180C.
- Place the raisins and lemon zest in a small bowl, cover with boiling water, and let them soak for 10 minutes.
- Place flour, powdered sugar, diced butter, 1 egg yolk, and a pinch of salt in a food processor—process until like sand. While processing, add the ice water to a tablespoon until a dough forms.
- Butter a 9″ springform. Cover the bottom of the springform with the dough. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
- In the same food processor bowl (no need to wash), place crumbled Panela cheese, cream, sugar, 4 egg yolks, and cornstarch. Process until smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Beat the 5 egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.
- Mix the cheese batter with the egg whites with soft movements.
- Drain the raisins and place them well distributed on top of the dough.
- Pour the filling and bake for 75-80 minutes, until golden and a stick buried in the center will come out clean. It is still going to jiggle a little in the middle. If it’s browning too fast, cover with foil and continue baking.
Notes
This recipe was part of a compensated campaign in collaboration with Cacique and Latina Bloggers Connect.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Cheesecake
- Method: Oven-baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Hola voy ha probar tu receta quería saber si has probado hacer empanadas gluten free? Y si la puedes compartir Gracias que tengas un lindo día.
No, no tengo experiencia con harinas de reemplazo, lo siento.
Just made this for our breakfast- fanatically easy, and perfectly balanced. Thank you for a well laid out recipe and for sharing your memories.
Thanks, Rob. I will never serve this for breakfast, but now I’m thinking why not? Thanks for coming back to comment.