# Apple Wähe with Protein: the Swiss Classic with More Protein and Less Sugar

> The apple tart rebaked: quark custard instead of cream, wholegrain in the pastry, half the sugar. Recipe with quantities, timings and step-by-step photos.

The apple Wähe is the bake everyone in Switzerland knows and almost nobody questions. Puff pastry from the packet, a custard of cream, egg and sugar, apples and cinnamon on top. It tastes of Sunday and of grandmother. It just fits badly into a daily life where you watch your protein and keep an eye on sugar. So we baked it again: same taste, different construction. Quark instead of cream, wholegrain in the pastry, half the sugar and apples sour enough to do the rest.

## Why the Wähe is a good candidate

With many desserts, sugar cannot be reduced without the structure collapsing. The Wähe is different. It consists of three parts that can be adjusted separately: base, custard and topping.

The base provides fat and carbohydrates. A quark and butter pastry brings more protein and less fat than puff pastry at the same texture. In the original, the custard is a mix of cream, egg and sugar. Replace the cream with low-fat quark and skyr and the protein content rises clearly, while the sugar in the custard can be halved, because quark tastes slightly tart and fresh by itself. The topping stays: apples. If you take tart varieties like Boskoop or Braeburn, you need less sugar, because the contrast to the custard amplifies the sweetness.

Roughly calculated, per piece with eight pieces: the classic Wähe comes to around 300 kilocalories, 4 to 5 grams of protein and about 20 grams of sugar. Our version comes to around 250 kilocalories, 11 to 12 grams of protein and about 9 grams of sugar, a good part of it from the apples. It is no protein bar, but a snack that fills you up and does not make you tired.

## Ingredients for a 28 cm tin

Makes 8 pieces. Time: 25 minutes preparation, 30 minutes chilling, 40 minutes baking.

For the base:

- 150 g wholegrain spelt flour
- 100 g white flour
- 80 g cold butter in cubes
- 100 g low-fat quark
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground hazelnuts for sprinkling the base

For the custard:

- 250 g low-fat quark
- 150 g skyr or Greek yoghurt (10 percent fat)
- 3 eggs
- 30 g sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or the seeds of half a pod
- zest of half a lemon
- 1 pinch of salt

For the topping:

- 4 tart apples, about 700 g
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp sugar for sprinkling (optional)

## Step by step

1. Mix the pastry. Combine both flours with the salt in a bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add quark and egg and knead only until the dough holds together. No longer, or it turns tough.
   *Photo 1: Crumbly flour and butter mixture in the bowl, quark on top.*

2. Chill. Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap in film and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 degrees top and bottom heat and lightly grease a 28 cm tin.
   *Photo 2: Disc of dough in film on the board.*

3. Roll out. Roll the dough out round on a little flour, about 3 mm thick and 4 cm larger than the tin. Lay it in the tin, press the edge on and prick the base several times with a fork. Sprinkle the ground hazelnuts evenly over the base; they will absorb the juice of the apples later.
   *Photo 3: Pastry lined in the tin, base pricked with a fork, nuts spread.*

4. Stir the custard. Whisk quark, skyr, eggs, sugar, cornflour, vanilla, lemon zest and salt until smooth. The custard should be thick, about like pancake batter. Blend away any lumps of quark with a stick blender.
   *Photo 4: Smooth, pale custard in the bowl, whisk beside it.*

5. Prepare the apples. Peel the apples, quarter them, remove the cores and cut into 3 mm thin slices. Mix with the cinnamon. Thin matters, so that the apples soften in 40 minutes.
   *Photo 5: Thin apple slices with cinnamon on the wooden board.*

6. Top. Lay the apples tightly on the base in a spiral from the outside in, each slice slightly overlapping the previous one. Pour the custard slowly over so that the apples are about half covered. If you like, sprinkle the tablespoon of sugar over the top; it caramelises lightly.
   *Photo 6: Spiral of apple slices, custard being poured in.*

7. Bake. Bake on the lowest shelf for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custard is set and the edges of the apples have colour. The lowest shelf makes sure the base gets crisp and does not go soggy.
   *Photo 7: Wähe in the oven, golden-brown edges.*

8. Rest. Let the Wähe cool in the tin for 15 minutes before cutting. That way the custard stays stable when sliced.
   *Photo 8: Finished Wähe on the rack, one piece cut out.*

## Three variations

- Dairy-free: replace quark and skyr with 400 g soya quark or silken tofu (blended smooth), use soya quark in the pastry too and replace the butter with 70 g coconut oil. The protein content stays comparable.
- With a nut base: put 100 g ground almonds in the pastry instead of the 100 g white flour. The base gets shorter and nuttier, the carbohydrate share drops.
- With pears or plums: works exactly the same. With plums, raise the sugar in the custard to 40 g; they are more sour.

## Storing and serving

Covered, the Wähe keeps for three days in the fridge. Cold, it even tastes better on the second day, because the custard has settled. To reheat, 10 minutes at 160 degrees in the oven, not in the microwave, or the base goes soft. A piece as an afternoon snack with a spoonful of natural yoghurt adds more protein. As dessert after lunch, half a piece is enough.

Freezing works too: cut into pieces, wrap each in film, up to two months. Put in the fridge the evening before, bake briefly in the morning.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can I leave out the sugar completely?**
In the custard yes, if the apples are sweet enough. Then add 1 tsp more vanilla and leave out the lemon zest so that the custard does not turn too sour. The sugar for sprinkling is optional anyway. Completely without sugar the Wähe tastes more like a quark bake with apple, which is also good, but something else.

**Why does my base turn soft?**
Three common reasons: the Wähe was not on the lowest shelf, the apples were cut too thick and released too much juice, or the hazelnuts on the base were left out. All three points together give a crisp base. If you want to be completely sure, blind bake the base for 10 minutes first.

**Does it also work with puff pastry from the packet?**
Yes, if it has to be quick. Custard and topping stay the same. You then lose around 4 grams of protein per piece and gain about 15 minutes. For Sunday the quark pastry is worth the effort, for a Tuesday evening puff pastry is perfectly fine.