There’s a category of German dessert that doesn’t really have an English name. It’s somewhere between a soufflé and a pudding and a cake, and it usually involves quark — that tangy, thick fresh cheese that sits in every German refrigerator like it pays rent.
This Quarkauflauf is the version I make when apples need using up. You slice them into a dish, pour a fluffy quark-semolina batter over them, and bake until it puffs up golden and trembling. It deflates a little when it cools — that’s normal, that’s charm.
The semolina gives it structure without making it heavy. The eggs give it lift. And the apples underneath go soft and almost jammy. It’s comfort food in its purest form — the kind of thing you eat standing at the counter with a fork before anyone else gets to the kitchen.
Serves: 4 • Time: 55 minutes