This is a really special post because it’s my 100th recipe on Living on Cookies! That’s 100 recipes in English and in German, 200 posts altogether! I created Living on Cookies in 2014 hoping to combine my passion for baking with earning some money. I have yet to make a cent from Living on Cookies and just blog for fun.
Nothing makes me happier than hearing that people are using my recipes and that the results turn out great! At the heart of Living on Cookies is my Conversions & Substitutions page, where I am happy to share the many things I have learned about measurements and ingredients in the U.S. and Europe. There have been well over 100,000 visitors to that page alone!
In case you’re curious, my number one most successful recipe is an Austrian one, and one that uses my favorite Austrian ingredient: Topfen. My most popular recipe is for Topfen Apple Squares.
I thought Blueberry Topfen Torte would be fitting as my 100th post because every celebration calls for cake and because my very first post on Living on Cookies was my recipe for Topfentorte. I explained all about Austrian Topfen (aka quark or farmer’s cheese) in that post. Blueberry Topfen Torte is like a blueberry swirled no bake cheesecake. I recently made this torte for a family gathering and it doesn’t just look super pretty but everyone loves how light and fruity it tastes.
Agar-agar is used to set the cream filling of the torte instead of gelatin. Agar-agar, which is a plant-based (vegetarian) gelling agent that is very simple to use. Just follow the directions on the package.
Blueberry Topfen Torte
Ingredients
Blueberry Swirl*
- 3 cups (14 ounces or 400 g) blueberries fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Scant ¾ cup (133 g) jam sugar 3:1
Cake Layer
- 4 whole eggs
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (120 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ pkg. vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (120 g) all-purpose flour
Topfen Filling
- 1 cup (8 ounces or 250 ml) whipping cream
- 18 ounces (500 g) Topfen 20% fat quark or farmer’s cheese
- Grated zest of one organic lemon
- Juice of half a lemon
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 ½ pkg. vanilla sugar
- 1 ⅓ pkg. agar-agar gelling powder i.e. Spar Bio Vegan
- ½ cup (120 ml) cold water
Instructions
- For the Blueberry Swirl*: combine blueberries with the lemon juice and jam sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil for three minutes, stirring carefully so as not to break up the blueberries. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F (170°C). Line the bottom of a 10 inch (26 cm) round spring form pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt until very thick and light (8 minutes on high speed). Sift flour over the egg mixture in two batches and carefully fold it in. Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until cake is golden brown and slightly firm to the touch. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
- For the Topfen Filling: Beat whipping cream into stiff peaks and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat Topfen, lemon zest and juice, sugar and vanilla sugar until smooth. In a small saucepan, stir together agar-agar gelling powder and cold water and bring to a boil. Add 4-5 tablespoons of the Topfen mixture and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes. (In the meantime get everything ready to assemble your cake because the filling will set quickly.) Whisk the agar-agar mixture into the remaining Topfen mixture. Fold in the whipped cream.
- Assembly: Remove the cake from the pan and peel off parchment paper. Place the cake layer onto a cake platter and tighten cake ring around it snugly. Spread a third of the Topfen filling on the cake. Place a third of the Blueberry Swirl mixture in spoonfuls onto the Topfen filling and carefully swirl the with a skewer. Repeat until the fillings are used up. Cover torte with plastic wrap and chill for at least four hours or overnight. Torte may be stored chilled for up to three days.
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