More Fun with Johannisbeeren

I promised another Johannisbeeren (aka, fresh currant) recipe, and this one is a winner. I picked this recipe because it's very similar to what's often sold in bakeries and it includes another of our favorite German ingredients, quark.

Quark is a type of fresh cheese, with a consistency between sour cream and cream cheese. It's a bit sweeter than sour cream, but not as thick as (and a bit drier than) cream cheese. We most often see it in desserts like cheesecake and custard, but it's also used to make bread, spreads, dips, and more. For anyone who can't find quark, I have heard that Greek yogurt or drained yogurt are decent substitutes. For this recipe, I think sour cream would work well in the base and cream cheese would work for the filling, but the only way to know for sure will be to do extensive testing once we're back in the States. :)

Johannisbeer-Quarkkuchen
original recipe
Base
1/4 cup (150g) quark
6 tablespoons milk
6 tablespoons oil
1/3 cup (75g) sugar
2 t (1 packet) vanilla sugar
pinch salt
2 1/2 cups (300g) flour
3 3/4 teaspoons (1 packet) baking powder 

1. Mix the quark, milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.
2. Mix half of the flour mixture into the quark mixture until almost combined, then add in the rest of the flour and gently mix til fully combined.
3. Dump the dough into a greased baking dish (11x7 or 13x9) and gently pat it down til it's evenly spread.

Topping
~2 c (750g) fresh currants
1 cup (750g) quark
1 cup (200g) sugar
1-2 teaspoons (1 packet) vanilla sugar
3 eggs
2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
4 T (50g) butter, soft or melted
1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons (50g) cornstarch

1/3-1/2 cup (100g) sugar
slivered almonds to cover the top (20g)

1. Mix the quark, 1 c sugar, vanilla, 3 whole eggs, 2 egg yolks, and butter til smooth. Then mix in the cornstarch and stir til smooth and thick.
2. Wash and dry the currants, and remove them from their stems. Mix the berries with the quark mixture.
3. Dump the berry-quark filling onto the base and spread it til smooth.
4. Bake at 400F/200C for 25-50 minutes, or until the center isn't too jiggly. (My pan was a bit small, so the filling was thicker and thus needed to cook longer.)
5. While the filling is baking, whip the 2 egg whites until very stiff. Then gently fold in the sugar.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and (while it's hot) spread the egg whites evenly over the top. Then sprinkle slivered almonds over the top of that, using enough almonds to almost completely cover the egg whites.
7. Bake at 400F/200C for another 5 minutes or until the almonds are toasted.

I made a half recipe, which fits in the equivalent of a 8x8 or 9x9 pan

The recipe looks much more complicated than it actually is--it comes together in about an hour. And, anyway, it is worth the effort!