Receta Baking |Kumquat Quark Cheesecake with a Date Almond Kumquat Base … gluten free, healthy and delicious
“The only way cheese is dessert is when it’s followed by the word cake.”
Michele Gorman
Kumquat Quark Cheesecake with a Date Almond Kumquat Base... a cheesecake that happened because I had a good batch of homemade quark even though I had Quark Mousse with Balsamic Roasted Strawberries in mind. Also because I still had the large bag of sweet moist dates that I had brought back from a recent trip to Mumbai. They needed to go somewhere, preferably someplace exciting.
Did I need any more reasons? Well no, but inspiration leaps out of the most colourful places! So the not so heavily laden anymore kumquat shrub had a last few kumquats that were turning a brilliant orange and had got Coco’s glad eye! How could I not play spoil sport?
The base of the cheesecake is inspired from one of my favourite hang outs, The Kitchn, that had shared a beautiful and ever so simple kumquat tart a while ago. Interestingly the base was made up of almonds, dates and oats.
I’ve been on a whole grain oaty sort of a drive of late, so the idea held instant appeal. The base is super simple as promised … so I had to veer off course! That is inherently me! I decided to flavour the base with some part kumquat and threw in 2 deseeded whole orange babies!
Then ‘the panic of the kids‘ kicked in, them who might reject any overpowering taste of dates in the cheesecake base. It was some good quality cocoa powder, a precious stash of delightful Russian cocoa that a good friend once brought, that would add taste!
Not one to leave good enough alone, my obsession worked. I loved the way the base came together in seconds. Cheesecake filling is always fun. Now always quark, full fat home made quark, and never cream cheese. I love the way it works in cheesecake.
You need to plan in advance if you want to bake the cheesecake {and a few days more if you want to make quark}. Let the cake chill in the fridge overnight, slowly and happily! The flavours mature, the texture becomes smooth and beautiful. Of course you are rewarded with a dessert the minute you open the fridge.
This in turns leaves enough time and inspiration for topping it in a fun and colourful way. I opted for a candied kumquat vanilla with a bitter orange thai red chili marmalade. You can always skip the marmalade and use a berry conserve. Alternatively, make a plain vanilla cheesecake and top it with a berry glaze or compote.
Endless possibilities. Strawberries and pistachios. Salted butter caramel. Honeyed figs should be fun too! Maybe a Nutella topping with a smattering of hazelnuts? Or flavour the cheesecake with coffee and a coffee liqueur and drizzle a bittersweet runny ganache over it. Even better, an Irish cream sauce! Think out of the box and inside your pantry; amaze yourself!
See I told you, endless possibilities! I did a few sans the base in little jam jars too. Topped them with Nutella, bitter kumquat marmalade and fresh quartered strawberries. They were polished clean within minutes amidst great praise. The daughter added strawberries to her cheesecake slice later as well!
The base isn’t your everyday light as air buttery biscuit base. This one is dense, flavourful and slightly chewy. The good thing is that it keeps the dessert gluten free. You could always use your favourite base instead!
Recipe: Bitter Orange Quark Cheesecake with a Date Almond Orange Base
Summary: Kumquat Quark Cheesecake with a Date Almond Kumquat Base … quite a mouthful, and quite indulgent. A lighter, gluten free cheesecake with a fat free nut base!
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes plus chilling time
Ingredients:
- Date, almond & kumquat base
- 60g whole almonds
- 25g oats
- 2 kumquats, halved, deseeded
- 120g dates
- 15g good quality cocoa
- Filling
- 420g quark cheese (homemade full fat quark recipe}
- 3 small eggs, separated
- 20g oats ground
- 130g (40g+90g) raw sugar {bura} or Castor sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped
- 200ml low fat cream, room temperature
- 50g bitter kumquat marmalade {recipe here}
- 15 ml Cointreau {optional}
- Topping
- 7-8 kumquats, sliced, seeds removed
- 50g sugar
- 10ml water
- Vanilla bean skins from above
- 15ml bitter orange marmalade
- Juice of 1/2 lime
Method:
Date, almond & kumquat base
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the base of a 7″ loose bottomed baking tin with parchment.
Place the almonds and oats in food processor and grind to fine meal. Add the cocoa, kumquats and dates and process again.
Turn into the base of the prepared tin, and push into place to form a base.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until firm to touch. Leave to cool on rack.
Quark filling
Separate the egg yolks and whites.
Beat the whites with 40g raw sugar to stiff peaks. Reserve.
Place the quark, egg yolks, ground oats, remaining sugar, scraped vanilla bean, cream, marmalade and Cointreau {if using} into a large bowl. Blend with an electric beater or balloon whisk until smooth.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour over the baked biscuit base.
Bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes / until the centre is set when tested with the tip of a knife. Turn off the oven and leave to cool completely.
Cover with foil or cling wrap and chill overnight.
Gently transfer to serving platter and spread the kumquat topping uniformly.
Note: Use a sharp heavy knife to slice as the base is a little dense and sticky due to the dates.
Topping
Place all ingredients in a heavy bottom sauce pan and simmer gently until the kumquat turns translucent. Take off heat and stir in juice of 1/2 lime. Cool completely and discard vanilla bean skin before use.
{Note: Do make sure your oats are labelled gluten free if you are making this for someone with gluten allergies}
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
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