While growing up, the German classic Kaesesahne Torte was a staple in our house and loved by my whole family. The translated name is cream cheesecake. It consisted of two sponge layers filled with a dairy mixture of quark (similar to yogurt or cottage cheese) and cream, flavored with lemon juice and originally, tangerine slices.

Over time we omitted the top layer and experimented with all kinds of fruit. In winter we used canned pineapple or mandarins, in summer fresh fruit like strawberries, or plums. The latter resulted in a quite exquisite cake, I have to say. We experimented quite a bit. I remember when kiwis became popular and we made a Kaesesahne with kiwis and were appalled with the taste! We discovered that enzymes in raw kiwis make dairy products bitter.

For many years my go-to version was Kaesesahne with strawberries, until I tried raspberries. We never had it when I was growing up but this became my all-time favorite! The balance between sweet and tart is just perfect. Serving it in a bowl without the sponge cake makes it a winner at any gathering, not only because of its delicious flavor but also due to the flexible serving size – anyone can take as much as they want.

For this recipe, I use Greek yogurt and Sucanat sugar. Sucanat sugar is an unrefined sugar that is not as processed as white sugar and therefore contains more vitamins and minerals. Using all organic ingredients makes this dessert actually a fairly healthy dish as it contains a lot of fruit, not a lot of additional sugar, and buffers the carbs with a good amount of protein and fat.

If you plan to put the yogurt mousse on a sponge cake then the serving size would result in 14 – 16 pieces. For serving a smaller party, I would make the amount listed below for at least 8 people.

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ tbsp (25 g) gelatin (I use Great Lakes Wellness Gelatin)
• about ½ cup (120 ml) apple juice, or any other fruit juice, no lemon juice
• 20 oz (565 g) raspberries, thawed if previously frozen, or fresh, pureed
• additional raspberries, fresh, for decoration on top (if desired)
• 3 ½ cups / 26.5 oz (750 g) Greek yogurt (ideally Straus Whole Milk Plain Greek Yogurt)
• 3 ⅓ tbsp (50 ml) lemon juice
• 1 ¾ cups / 5 oz (140 g) sugar (I use Sucanat)
• 1.5 pt / 24 oz (710 g) heavy whipping cream
• 2 ½ tbsp (25 g) sugar (I use Sucanat)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions:

• To bloom gelatin, stir gelatin into apple juice using a heat-resistant jar and set aside.
• Puree raspberries with a blender (I use a hand blender).
• In a big bowl that can hold everything, put yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, and raspberry puree. Stir until smooth.
• Whip the cream with sugar and vanilla extract until slightly stiff. Then chill in the refrigerator.
• Put the jar with soaked gelatin in a pot with warm water and heat up on the stove until it liquifies.
• When the gelatine is liquid, stir swiftly into the yogurt mixture, combining well.
• Immediately after fold in the whipped cream.
• Pour mixture into a bowl and chill for at least several hours, or even better if overnight.
• For best flavor, remove from the fridge about half an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Notes:

• When baking or making desserts, using a scale to measure weights yields the best results, which are more accurate than volume measurements.
• If raspberries are frozen, take them out of the freezer the night before and put them into the fridge. Or the day of, put them in a sealed plastic bag and submerge them in warm water to thaw.
• If using a different brand of yogurt than the one mentioned above, do a taste test before adding the gelatin and the cream. The mixture should be very tart before adding the whipped cream. Add more lemon juice if needed.
• This recipe can be used with pretty much any fruit, like strawberries, peaches, plums, canned pineapple (raw pineapple will set off the taste because of its active enzymes, just like fresh kiwis), etc. Adjust the sugar and/or lemon juice depending on the fruit used. Usually, strawberries require more lemon juice while ripe apricots would need less sugar.