German Pumpkin Cheesecake (Käsekuchen)

Preheat oven (conventional setting, NOT convection) to 350° Fahrenheit/ 180° Celsius. Prep a 10 inch (25 cm) springform pan by putting parchment paper on the bottom, then secure the ring around it. Cover the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil to avoid grease dripping and creating smoke in your oven. Bring all ingredients to room temperature.

Process your cookies into crumbs. It's easiest to do this use a food processor, but you can also put the cookies into a freezer bag, and used the flat side of a meat tenderizer to make crumbs.

Melt the butter and mix together with the cookie crumbs and spices. Press the cookie crumbs onto the bottom of the springform pan using your hands or the backside of a spoon, let sit in the fridge while you prepare the cheesecake filling.

Using a handheld mixer, combine the quark and pumpkin puree. Add in eggs, cornstarch, vanilla and sugar and mix until combined.

Pour the mixture on top of your cookie crumb crust in the spring form.

Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven (loosely lay some aluminum foil over the cake towards the last 30 minutes of baking). If your ingredients were cold when using, the cake can take up to 30 minutes longer to bake. Shake the cake gently. If only the middle 2 inches wiggle, you're ready to proceed to the next step.

Mix together the sour cream and honey, spread over the cheesecake and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

To avoid the top from cracking, turn off your oven, crack open the oven door, and let your cheesecake cool down in the oven for one hour. Then transfer your cheesecake to the counter for a few hours before moving to the fridge overnight (or for at least 4 hours).

Decorate with marzipan if desired. My cake did crack a little bit after all, so I disguised the crack with some marzipan leaves made from these fun leaf cutters.