Protein kwarktaart
38 min · 15 g protein · 156 cals / serving
The Dutch quark cake that sets in the fridge instead of the oven, lightened with whipped egg whites and built on a crisp spiced-cookie base. Lemony, airy and just set, it slices cleanly from the fridge and carries a pile of fresh strawberries on top.
Ingredients
Base
- about 14 small speculoos biscuits, speculaas (or gingersnaps), finely crushed
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
Filling
- 2 1/2 envelopes (about 5 3/4 tsp) gelatin, or 10 sheets leaf gelatin
- 1/2 cup water, cold
- 1/2 cup liquid egg white, pasteurized, from a carton or pasteurized eggs
- 4 1/4 cups quark, low-fat, at room temperature
- 2 scoops whey protein, vanilla
- to taste stevia, or your usual sweetener; about as sweet as 1/2 cup sugar
- zest of 1 lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- a pinch salt
Topping
- about 4 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line the base of a 24 cm (9 1/2-inch) springform pan with parchment. Stir the crushed cookies with the melted butter until it looks like wet sand, press it firmly and evenly over the base with the bottom of a glass, and bake 8 minutes, until fragrant and a shade darker. Baking is what fuses the crumbs into a crisp layer that lifts out in clean slices. Let it cool completely while you make the filling.
- Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and leave it 5 minutes to swell. (For sheets, soak them in plenty of cold water for 5 minutes, squeeze them out, and melt them with 4 tbsp fresh water instead.)
- In a clean, grease-free bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks and set them aside. Do this before the gelatin goes in: once it is mixed in, the filling starts to set and will not wait for you.
- Whisk the quark, protein powder, lemon zest and juice, vanilla and salt until smooth. Taste before you sweeten: vanilla protein powders are often sweet already, so add the sweetener a little at a time until it tastes like dessert. Warm the gelatin gently, 15–20 seconds in the microwave or over low heat, until completely clear and liquid, without letting it boil. Whisk 3 big spoonfuls of the quark into it, pour that back into the bowl and whisk hard straight away, then immediately fold in the egg whites in two additions with a spatula, keeping as much air as you can.
- Pour the filling over the base, smooth the top, cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight, until set.
- Run a thin knife around the edge, release the ring, and pile the strawberries on top just before serving. Cut with a knife dipped in hot water.
Good to know
Is it safe to use raw egg whites?
Use pasteurized ones: carton egg whites or pasteurized eggs. Carton whites whip more slowly, so give them a few extra minutes, and check the label, because a few ultra-pasteurized brands will not whip at all. A pinch of cream of tartar helps them hold.
No quark where I live?
Plain skyr is the closest swap, sets the same way and gives about the same score. Strained nonfat Greek yogurt works too, but it is a little looser, so add an extra teaspoon of gelatin.
Why room-temperature quark?
Gelatin sets on contact with anything cold. Straight from the fridge, quark can turn the warm gelatin into rubbery strands before you can whisk it in.
Per
- Calories
- 95
- Protein
- (40%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (37%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 5 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 68 mg
More desserts
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1876 kcal goes into the pot and 1989 g of ingredients comes out as about 1985 g of food: 95 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.