Life always tastes better with cheesecake. Historians say cheesecake was served to the athletes during the first Olympic Games held in 776 B.C. Greek brides and grooms were also known to use cheesecake as a wedding cake. The ingredients and recipe was pretty simple: flour, wheat, honey and cheese were formed into a cake and baked.

This is recipe is ideal for hot summer days because it doesn’t require any oven baking. One of the main ingredients is high quality quark cheese. I only add a little a bit of sugar to the crust, the cheesecake filling has has no added sugar to the recipe.

Quark is a fresh cheese of European origin. It is a mild creamy cheese without the sour taste of yogurt. It is a soft un-aged cheese and is not the same thing as cream cheese or cottage cheese. It is also distinct from ricotta because ricotta is made from scalded whey. My favorite quark is from the Mountainoak Cheese dairy farm located in Hamburg, Ontario.

Yield: 16 slices

Ingredients: use 24 cm springform pan

• 200g graham wafer crumbs plus 3 tablespoons extra for topping if you wish

• 110g melted unsalted butter plus extra to grease the sides of the springform pan

• 1/4 cup sugar dark brown sugar

• 379g quark cheese from your local dairy farm Mountainoak cheese

• 237ml carton fresh cream 35%

• 1 can (398ml) crushed pineapple

• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

• 1 lemon JELL-O package (85g)

Instructions:

1. Line the springform with parchment paper and grease the sides with butter.

2. Combine graham wafer crumbs with melted butter and sugar. Press into bottom of the springform.

3. Strain a can of crushed pineapples. Heat up pineapple juice and mix with lemon JELL-O powder. DO NOT ADD EXTRA WATER!

4. Cool down jello in room temperature.

5. Combine crushed pineapple with quark cheese and cooled JELL-O mixture.

6. Whip fresh cream for about 5 minutes and fold it gently into cheesecake mixture.

7. Pour mixture into the springform and sprinkle the remaining crackers over the top if you wish. I often skip the topping for a lower calorie dessert.

8. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving.

Note: This recipe has only sugar present in the pineapple and in the lemon jello. No sugar been added to actual cheese mixture.

Enjoy it!