Chäschüechli: Savory Cheese Tartlets

Chäschüechli are small, Swiss-German savory tartlets—think mini-quiches—made with Swiss cheese and a mix of other fillings. Recipe below.

WE LOVE CHEESE. A LOT. So when Ammerländer asked if we would like to sample some of their cheeses, we said yes, please! Besides just sampling the cheeses on their own (did we mention we love cheese?), we baked some into these creamy, custardy, savory cheese tartlets.

Ammerländer is a dairy cooperative in northern Germany. Started by seven farmers in 1885, it works exclusively with farmers within 80 kilometers of the dairy; average herd sizes are about 100 cows. The co-op values its farmer partners. In fact, portraits of individual farmers are featured on their cheese packaging. They also value sustainability, caring for the land and the cows that help them produce the cheese, butter, milk and milk powder they sell both in Germany and in more than 60 countries worldwide. In keeping with the company’s natural approach, Ammerländer cheeses are made without preservatives, antibiotics, coloring or additives.

We sampled Ammerländer Swiss and Ammerländer Butterkäse (BOO-ter-keh-zuh) cheeses. Both have a fat content of 45% FIDM (fat in dry matter, a standard of measure of cheese fat content). This high fat content makes them great melting cheeses—think grilled cheese sandwiches or topping burgers. They’re also great for eating on their own or with crackers, creamy, buttery rich and mild, while being satisfyingly big-flavored. The Swiss, which we used for these cheese tartlets, has a nice nuttiness as well.

Chäschüechli is actually a Swiss-German treat, small savory tartlets made with Swiss cheese. It is roughly (and we do mean roughly) pronounced CHAY-shyooch-lee, with a guttural “ch” sound (think of the Scottish word loch). These tartlets are almost like mini-quiches, eggy and custardy, and open to variations. Since the Swiss cheese we used is actually German, we made some with cubes of Black Forest style ham. We also mixed up the cheeses, using all Swiss in some, adding the Ammerländer Butterkäse or cheddar or Parmesan to some. And you can do this all in one batch, putting different cheese fillings in individual pastry shells and baking them all at the same time.

Print Pin

Chäschüechli: Savory Cheese Tartlets

Chäschüechli are small, Swiss-German savory tartlets—think mini-quiches—made with Swiss cheese and a mix of other fillings.

Course Light Meal, Snack

Cuisine Swiss-German inspired

Servings 12 or so

Equipment

• a 12-cup muffin/cupcake tin and possibly an additional 6-cup tin

Ingredients

For the crust

• 2 cups unbleached white flour plus more for rolling out the dough
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter cut into small bits
• 5 or 6 tablespoons very cold water

For the filling

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups half and half
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a grating of black pepper
• 1 -1/2 cups Ammerländer Swiss cheese, or other Swiss style cheese, coarsely grated (use the largest star on the grater)
• 1/2 cup Ammerländer Butterkäse, sharp cheddar, or Parmesan, coarsely grated
• 1/2 cup of diced ham—we used a Black Forest style ham—diced into little cubes (optional)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely minced (optional)

Instructions

• First, make the crust. Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse once to blend. then drop in the chopped cold butter and pulse in little bursts until the dough is the consistency of cornmeal. Add the cold water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing quickly, until the dough just starts to form a ball. If you see little bits of butter remaining, that's okay. That means your pastry will be even flakier. (You can also make the dough by hand without a food processor—see Kitchen Notes.)
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, form into a ball, and flatten it a bit with the heel of your hand. Wrap in plastic film and put in the fridge for 20 or 30 minutes.
• Take the chilled dough out of its wrapper and roll it out pretty thinly on a floured surface. Using a 4-inch round pastry cutter, or something else of about that diameter (we used a big coffee mug), cut out at least 12 circles, Place each circle in one of the muffin tin cups and lightly press into place. It’s okay if the edges are rough and not perfectly crimped. Also, no need to grease the muffin tin—the dough has so much butter, it won’t stick. If you happen to have more than 12 circles, use your backup tin.
• Next, make the filling. First, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Then in a medium bowl, beat the three eggs just until they are uniformly bright yellow. Pour in the half and half, add the nutmeg, salt and black pepper, and stir until all is uniform.
• Evenly parse out the cheeses among the muffin tins. If you are adding a little ham, this is the point to add it—just drop a pinch of the cubed ham bits into each cup. Next, using a large spoon, add the egg mixture to each tin. Don't fill the individual cups all the way to the top— go with slightly lower than the top edge. If you are including a bit of parsley, add it now, sprinkling just a bit on top.
• Slide the tin (or tins) into the hot oven and bake for about 23-30 minutes (depending on the nuances of your oven). These are done when the filling is set and the top is puffy and golden-brown. Take the tins out of the oven and let them cool on a rack. Each individual Chäschüechli should easily pop out of its cup with the help of a table knife. These are lovely served warm or room temperature.

Kitchen Notes

Making the dough by hand. If you prefer to make the dough by hand, put the flour and salt in a bowl and stir with a fork. Add the butter to the bowl all at once. Then, using a pastry fork or pastry cutter, or even a pair of table knives, cut the fat into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse cornmeal or bread crumbs. Starting with 3 or 4 tablespoons, sprinkle the cold water over the flour mixture and, working very quickly with a fork or pastry cutter, mix everything together. Keep adding water, in little dashes just until the dough comes together. Gather it into a ball, flatten it, wrap it up and put it in to fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.

Leftovers? These tartlets will keep nicely stored covered in the fridge for several days. Heating them briefly in a toaster oven or the microwave beautifully restores their robust flavor.