This German gooseberry cheesecake with a great hint of lemon and vanilla made with Greek yogurt is creamy, delicious and easy to make.
I absolutely love this gooseberry cheesecake. It’s delicious, easy to follow and goes well with peaches or rhubarb as well.
Made up of a cake base that’s flavored with lemon zest, filled with fresh gooseberries and cheesecake filling that’s flavored with vanilla and finished off with meringue topping. A must have recipe for cheesecake lovers!!
What you’ll need to make German gooseberry cheesecake with meringue topping
What you’ll need to make the cheesecake crust:
- 200 g (7.1 oz/ 1 2/3 cups) plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 65 g (2.3 oz/ ¼ cup) butter, soft
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 75 g (¼ cup+ 2 tablespoons) sugar
- 1 medium egg, room temperature
- 1 lemon, organic
What you’ll need to mae cheesecake filling with Greek yogurt
- 450 g (1 lbs ) Greek yogurt, room temperature
- 400 g (0.88 lbs) sour cream, room temperature
- 40 g (1.4 oz/ 1/3 cup) corn flour (cornstarch)
- Vanilla seeds from 1 vanilla bean
- 3 egg yolks room temperature
- 130 g (4 ½ oz/ 2/3 cup) sugar
- 150 g (5.3 oz/ ½ cup + 2 tablespoons) melted butter
- 160 ml (5.6 fl.oz/ 2/3 cup) whipping cream, room temperature
- 400 g (0.88 oz) gooseberries
Vanilla: This recipe calls for vanilla seeds from vanilla bean, but feel free to use about 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or about 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar. Just reduce the amount of sugar if you’re using vanilla sugar.
For the meringue topping:
- 3 egg whites
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- a pinch of salt
How to make gooseberry cake
Make cheesecake crust
Start off by lining a 26 cm (10 inch) spring-form (or cake tin with removable base) with a parchment paper at the bottom and grease the sides with margarine. Then zest the lemon.
In a bowl combine sugar, butter, eggs, lemon zest, flour and baking powder. Using your hands mix all the ingredients together to form a firm dough.
Crumble the dough into the prepared cake tin. Using your hands, press the cake base until the bottom of the cake tin is covered.
Make the dough a bit high on the sides as well and set aside. Then preheat the oven to 175 ° C (347 °F), with both top and bottom heat.
Make Cheesecake filling with Greek yogurt and whipping cream
Using the tip of the knife split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the vanilla seeds and mix the scraped out seeds with sugar.
Next, separate the eggs into two separate bowls. Put the bowl with egg whites in the fridge.
Add sugar, Greek yogurt, sour cream, corn flour (cornstarch), whipping cream to the bowl with egg yolks. Whisk to a smooth cream. Add cooled melted butter and combine well.
Assemble fruit cheesecake and bake
Scatter the gooseberries over the cake base and pour cheesecake filling evenly over the top.
Bake for 60 minutes. After remove the cake from the oven and let it be outside for about 5 minutes, while making the meringue topping. This prevents the cheesecake from cracking, since it’s expanding massively while baking.
Simply take the egg whites out of the fridge; add a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of icing sugar and whip until light and fluffy.
Spread the meringue topping over the cake.
Put the cheesecake back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until the me meringue is pale golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, preferably overnight. Enjoy!
Love this gooseberry cheesecake? Try my blueberry cheesecake and pear cheesecakerecipe, too.
German gooseberry cheesecake with meringue topping
Equipment
- 26 cm(10 inch) spring-form (or cake tin with removable base)
Ingredients
for the cake base
- 200 g (7.1 oz/ 1 2/3 cups) plain flour/ all purpose flour
- 65 g (2.3 oz/ ¼ cup) butter soft
- 75 g (¼ cup+ 2 tablespoons) sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 medium egg room temperature
- 1 lemon, organic
for the cheesecake filling with Greek yogurt
- 450 g (1 lbs ) Greek yogurt room temperature
- 400 g (0.88 lbs) sour cream room temperature
- 40 g (1.4 oz/ 1/3 cup) cornstarch (corn flour)
- Vanilla seeds from 1 vanilla bean 1 teaspoon vanilla extract /2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
- 3 medium egg yolks room temperature
- 130 g (4 ½ oz/ 2/3 cup) sugar
- 150 g (5.3 oz/ ½ cup + 2 tablespoons) melted butter
- 160 ml (5.6 fl.oz/2/3 cup) whipping cream room temperature
- 400 g (0.88 oz) gooseberries
for the meringue topping
- 3 egg whites
- 3 tablespoon icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
- Make the cheesecake crust: Start off by lining a 26 cm (10 inch) spring-form (or cake tin with removable base) with a parchment paper at the bottom and grease the sides with margarine. Then zest the lemon. In a bowl combine sugar, butter, eggs, lemon zest, flour and baking powder. Using your hands mix all the ingredients together to form a firm dough.
- Crumble the dough into the prepared cake tin. Using your hands, press the cake base until the bottom of the cake tin is covered. Make the dough a bit high on the sides as well and set aside. Then preheat the oven to 175 ° C (347 °F), with both top and bottom heat.
- Make Cheesecake filling with Greek yogurt and whipping cream: Using the tip of the knife split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the vanilla seeds and mix the scraped out seeds with sugar. Then separate the eggs into two separate bowls. Put the bowl with egg whites in the fridge for later. Add sugar, Greek yogurt, sour cream, corn flour (cornstarch), whipping cream to the bowl with egg yolks. Whisk to a smooth cream. Add cooled melted butter and combine well.
- Assemble the cheesecake and bake: Scatter the gooseberries over the cake base and pour cheesecake filling evenly over the top. Bake for 60 minutes.
- After take the cheesecake out of the oven and let it be outside for about 5 minutes, while making the meringue topping. This prevents the cheesecake from cracking, since it's expanding massively while baking. Simply take the egg whites out of the fridge; add a pinch of salt and icing sugar and whip until light and fluffy. Spread the meringue topping over the cake, then put the cheesecake back in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until the me meringue is pale golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Preferably overnight.
Notes
- German cheesecakes are normally made with quark (a low fat and low calorie firm and creamy dairy product, of the same texture as Greek yogurt), but since not everyone has access to it, this recipe uses Greek yogurt instead.
- This cheesecake calls for vanilla seeds from one vanilla bean, but feel free to use about 1 teaspoon vanilla extract/ paste or 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar instead.
- You don't have gooseberries? Replace them with peaches or rhubarb or Just leave them out.
Did you make this gooseberry cheesecake? I’d love to hear from you! Simply write a review and add rating to it.