Mandarine Cream Torte #dairyfree #recipe {Käse-Sahne-Torte} for Opa

Happy Birthday to my Opa!!!  Today he would have celebrated his 93rd birthday ~ he has been  gone for over twelve years and to this day I miss him.  When in Tuttlingen {my other home} I make sure to pay him a visit at the graveyard.

My Opa was a wonderful, kind man. He loved art and always found time for me. When I was little together with my Oma went on adventures every Sunday.  It was always a day trip, and in the afternoon we always stopped for Kaffee und Kuchen {coffee and cake}.  Oh, yes Opa loved dessert;  lunch or dinner was never complete without it.

Opa at Mainau

So as I got older and started cooking my present for Opa on his birthday was a Käse-Sahne-Torte made from scratch; it is a torte filled with quark , whipped cream, and lemon. Oh, so delicious!!!

Opa passed away in 2001 ~ I remember the day, the phone conversation, and me walking while crying all the way from the north side of Chicago to Ron's downtown office.  I can honestly say that I was devastated, it was not a surprise and yes he lived to be 80 years old but it did not make it any easier.  Due to his heart condition he was never able to visit me in Chicago; the last time I saw him just a few weeks before his passing he told me that he had always wanted to visit and see my life on the other side of the Atlantic; he told me that he was thinking of me every single day; that he missed and loved me. As I write this tears well up in my eyes and I can still hear his voice…those are cherished memories. Opa never got to meet either of our girls but I just know that he would have adored them. So in remembering my Opa, honoring his birthday and telling the girls more about him I made Käse-Sahne-Torte; the first one in at least twenty years.

Now we all know, that the regular recipe just would not work since it is laden with (ga)lactose and would  not be a treat for the girls.  So I challenged myself to make "safe" Käse-Sahne-Torte for the family…and?!  YES ~ I declare success in achieving a "safe" Käse-Sahne-Torte a.k.a. Mandarine Cream Torte since I added some canned mandarines to the filling.  Oh yes, so good and it set perfectly.

So what did I use?  I substituted soft tofu for the quark, our favorite whipped topping for the cream, and added some gelatin.

Mandarine Cream Torte
Crust

• 2 eggs
• 3 Tb cold water
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean scraped out
• 2/3 C flour
• 1/3 C + 1 Tb corn starch
• 1 tsp baking powder

*** Preheat oven to 375F*** Line a springform baking pan with parchment paper

1. Beat eggs with cold water until they are fluffy
2. Add sugar and vanilla; beat for another two minutes
3. Combine flour with corn starch and baking powder
4. Slowly - while continuing to mix - add flour/starch/baking powder to the egg mixture on the lowest speed of your kitchen machine
5. Pour batter into a parchment paper lined springform and bake immediately.  
6. Bake for about 25 minutes
7. Remove from the oven, slide a knife along the edges and open the form.
8. Let crust cool down.
9. Once it has cooled down carefully separate the crust into a top and lower layer.  Then place the bottom back into the springform and close it up. Line the walls of the springform with aluminum foil, or place a cake ring round the walls.

Filling

• 1 pack gelatin
• 4 Tb cold water
• 1/2 C lemon juice
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean scraped out
• 2 pack 12 oz each soft tofu
• zest of one untreated lemon
• 1 small can mandarines drained, and chopped {about 10 oz.}
• 1-1/2 - 2 C whipped topping {I use truewhip}
• 1/4 C powdered sugar

1. Dissolve gelatin with cold water
2. Add lemon juice with dissolved gelatin, sugar and vanilla to a large mixing bowl.  Beat the ingredients until they are creamy
3. Add tofu and mix until it has fully incorporated.  It will look cream like a custard.  Add lemon zest together with the mandarine pieces.  Beat the mixture for another couple of minutes or so {the mandarine pieces will break apart}
4. Gently fold whipped topping into the filling
5. Adjust - if needed - flavor by adding more lemon juice or sugar
6. Pour the filling onto the bottom of the torte into the prepared springform.
7. On your surface cut the top into 16 slices and place on top of the torte.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least three hours
9. Remove about 1/2 hour before serving and top with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!