This apple cake is a very traditional German apple cake. It consist of a dough that covers the apple filling in the middle, hence its name, and is a little reminiscent of an apple pie. The amount described here is enough for an entire baking sheet or for two 26 cm springform cakes.
Ingredients:
26 cm (9 inch) springform or baking sheet
Cake dough:
400 g flour
4 flattened teaspoons baking powder
70 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma
2 eggs (optional)
4 tablespoons milk or more if no eggs are used.
150 g soft butter
Filling:
1.5 kg apple
50 g sugar (optional, depending on the kind of apples you use)
1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma
1 dash ground cinnamon
30 g raisins
50 g butter
50 g sugar (optional)
Some apple sauce (optional)
Topping:
Some powdered sugar
water
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (375 F). Grease bottom and sides of springform.
2. For the filling, peel apples, cut into quarters, core, and cut into smaller pieces. Add all ingredients for the filling into a pot, and mix. Add a little water, and while stirring cook apple filling at medium temperature until apples are soft. Let cool down, and add more sugar to taste if needed.
3. For the dough, mix flour and baking powder. Add all other ingredients and mix with hand mixer (knead hooks) until a soft dough has formed. Briefly knead dough to a ball with hands, and let cool in refrigerator for about 30 min.
4. Take about 1/3 of the dough and line bottom of springform. Take another 1/3 of the dough and form a long coil. Line the edge of springform with coil. Using a knife or a finger connect the dough on the springform bottom with coil and form the crust's edge.
5. Add apple filling to springform. Using a rolling pin, flatten the remaining 1/3 of dough. Take flattened dough and cover apple filling. Using a knife connect the dough on the springform edge with cover.
6. Punch a few holes into top cover with a fork. Bake cake for about 25 min on a rack in the lower half of the oven.
7. Let cake cool down briefly. While still warm, glaze cake with some powdered sugar icing.
Comments:
1. There are some people who are allergic to eggs, but baking without eggs can be challenging. However, for this cake dough eggs are not required. Instead of eggs add a little bit of milk or half-and-half. If no eggs are used the dough is actually easier to work with. It is softer and less likely to crumble because of the heat from your hands.
2. I didn't have enough apples, so I supplemented the filling with some apple sauce. Because apple sauce is very moist and can make the bottom crust soggy, I first added the apple filling into the springform, then topped it of with apple sauce using the sauce to create a smooth surface.
3. I used Gala apples. Those are naturally very sweet apples. Together with the apple sauce I used there was no need for any sugar for the filling.
Hot cross buns are spiced sweet rolls made with raisins. They are typically marked with a cross on the top and are traditionally eaten on Good Friday. I first came across these during a school exchange with Bruehl's sister city Leamington Spa. My host mother took my exchange partner and I out for an afternoon tea, and got us all a hot cross bun. It was so divine, and such a special treat on Good Friday, a day of fasting! Since then I've wanted to make them, but I've been always a little scared of yeast doughs. However, because the sweet rolls I've made before turned out ok, I've decided to give hot cross buns a try this year.
Buns:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
3/4 cup warm milk (100° to 110°)
4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 18 ounces)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup raisins
Cooking spray
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons whole milk
Preparation
1. Dissolve granulated sugar and yeast in warm milk in a bowl; let stand 5 minutes.
2. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup. Add 3 3/4 cups flour, butter, salt, cinnamon and eggs to milk mixture, stir until a soft dough forms.
3. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, add enough of remaining 1/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.
4. Place dough in a large bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes or until dough doubled in size. (Press two fingers into the dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)
5. Knead in raisins. Divide dough into 20 equal portions; roll each portion into a ball. Place balls in a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes or until rolls have doubled in size.
6. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350°).
7. Uncover rolls and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350°) for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool 5 minutes in pan, remove rolls from pan, let cool on a wire rack.
8. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in 2 tablespoons milk. Spoon glaze into a zip-top plastic bag. Seal bag; snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of bag. Pipe a cross on top of each warm roll.
Literally translated the name of this cake means "Russian pluck cake", although it might not be of Russian origin at all. It is another cheesecake variant, this time with a chocolate crust and chocolate dough pieces on top. It's one of my favorite cheesecakes because it so nicely combines two great things, cheesecake and chocolate cake.
Again, the original recipe uses Quark, a type of light and soft cheese very popular in Germany, but I exchange it for plain Greek Yoghurt (Fage or Chobani brands come quite close to the consistency of Quark).
In addition, the filling contains a package of vanilla pudding mix. I used a German brand. However, JELL-O cook & serve might work, too (I need to try this in the future), but the regular JELL-O won't work!
The original recipe uses 250 g butter and 500 g Quark for the filling making the cake quite fatty. Since I try to make cakes tasty and somewhat healthier I increased the amount of yoghurt and decreased the amount of butter.
Ingredients:
Crust:
300 g wheat flour
30 g cocoa powder
2 leveled teaspoons baking powder
150 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma
1 egg
150 g soft butter
Filling:
700 g fat-free plain Greek yoghurt (Fage or Chobani brand)
50 g butter
175 g sugar
1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma
3 eggs
1 package Vanilla pudding mix (I use a mix by a German company (Dr. Oetker) but JELL- cook & serve might work, too)
1. Mix flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a bowl. Add remaining crust ingredients, and mix with knead hooks of a hand mixer until a dough has formed. Quickly form a ball with your hands, wrap the dough in clear plastic foil and keep in the refrigerator for about 30 min.
2. For the filling, melt butter, then set aside to cool.
3. Grease bottom of springform. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).
4. Take half of the crust dough, add to the bottom of springform and flatten by either using a rolling pin or your hands. Take half of the remaining dough, form a long coil, and lay out the inner edge of the springform. Push coil against edge of springform until about an inch high.
5. Mix all ingredients for the filling until soft and creamy. Add filling into springform. Pull small pieces off the remaining crust dough, and put on top of the cake.
6. Bake cake for 60 min or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Let cake cool before serving.
I always wanted to bake with Nutella, but the recipes I found on the internet weren't to my pleasing (either too sweet or too fatty), so I made up my own recipe. Most recipes I found on the web add a lot of butter and sugar to Nutella, but what is Nutella?! It is essentially sugar and fat mixed together. I made the cake in an 8 inch springform because I was worried it might collapse in a bread form because of the surface to height ratio, but I might try it in a bread form next time. That is, if there's a next time, which depends on whether people like the cake enough to give it a second try.
Ingredients:
200 g Nutella
30 g butter
50 g sugar (see comments, I didn't add it this time)
2 eggs
1 pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
200 g flour
75 ml of milk (or a little more, see instructions)
Confectioner's sugar
Springform (24 cm or 8 inches diameter) or bread baking form
Parchment paper
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F)
2. Beat Nutella, butter, eggs, and salt until creamy. Mix flour, baking powder and sift. Add flour mix alternating with milk in two batches to Nutella batter. If necessary, add more milk until the dough heavily falls off a spoon.
3. Grease springform and line bottom with parchment paper. Add batter to springform and distribute evenly.
4. Bake cake for about 45 min or until a wooden stick comes out clean.
5. Let cake cool, the sift and sprinkle confectioner's sugar over cake top.
Comments:
1. The bread mix is not very sweet. Some might like it this way, others might want it a little sweeter, so my suggestion is to add 50 g sugar.
2. The Nutella taste is not as strong as I had hoped for. To get a nuttier taste add some hazelnut pieces to the batter.
3. The recipe might be even better using three instead of two eggs. In that case the amount of milk might have to be reduced or the batter becomes too liquid.
This refreshing summer cake contains a sponge cake bottom with walnut flour, which gives it an earthy and nutty taste. The topping contains Italian ricotta cheese, and does not require any baking.
Ingredients:
All-in-dough:
30 g flour
1 flattened teaspoon baking powder
100 g sugar
100 g walnut flour
3 eggs
Topping:
400 g strawberries
1 lime
6 g gelatine powder
100 g powdered sugar
500 g Ricotta
Decoration:
100 g strawberries
Springform (26 cm/9 inch diameter)
Parchment paper
Stovetop pot
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Add parchment paper to bottom of springform.
2. In a bowl, mix flour and baking powder. Add all remaining ingredients for all-in-dough, and whisk until a smooth batter has formed. Pour batter into springform, distribute evenly, and bake for about 25 min.
3. Remove springform ring, and put cake upside down on parchment paper, remove springform bottom, and let cake cool. Carefully remove parchment paper, and put cake bottom on a plate. Put springform ring around cake bottom.
4. Wash strawberries and cut into small pieces. Wash lime with hot water, towel dry. Zest lime, set lime zest aside, squeeze lime, and collect the juice.
5. Mix 6 g gelatine powder with three tablespoons of water in a stovetop pot. Let sit for 10 min.
6. Sift powdered sugar, and mix well with ricotta and lemon zest.
7. Add lime juice to gelatine, and gently warm up while stirring until gelatine dissolves. Stir in four tablespoons ricotta mixture, then add gelatine mix to remaining ricotta. Fold cut strawberries into ricotta mix, then add topping onto cake bottom.
8. Let cake cool for at least two hours in the refrigerator.
9. Decorate cake with strawberry quarters.
Comments:
1. The original recipe calls for hazelnut flour. Because hazelnuts are sometimes difficult to find in the US I used walnut flour instead. I am sure almond flour will work, too, but it will be less nutty and finer in taste.
2. The ricotta cheese gives the topping a grainy texture. Some people might dislike this. An alternative to ricotta may be Greek Yoghurt.
3. I prepared the sponge cake two days in advance, and let the cake cool overnight in the refrigerator. The sponge cake didn't get soaked and overly moist, and the topping had enough time to set.
4. Overall, not my favorite cake. I liked the bottom, but the ricotta texture I didn't particularly like. It is a good a somewhat lighter summer cake, though. I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars.
This was one of the easiest and fastest (25 min total time!) cake I've ever made. The original recipe uses twice as much sugar in the cake batter, but I thought that was too much, so I cut it down, and the sweetness was just right. The measurements for the toppings are (out of convenience) based on American measurements; in the original recipe it is 150 g butter, 150 g sugar, and 200 g almonds, but with the American baking sheet being a little smaller I didn't increase the amount to the one in the original recipe. Oh, and by accident I had used salted butter, but that added a nice complexity to the topping and the cake overall.
Ingredients:
Cake batter:
300 g wheat flour
150 g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
300 ml buttermilk
Topping:
1 stick butter (113 g)
100 g sugar
227 g sliced almonds
Baking sheet, some butter
a stove top pot
1. Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix for about 5 min until a smooth batter has formed. Pour batter onto greased baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) for about 10 min.
2. In the meantime, melt butter and sugar at medium heat in a pot on the stove. Add sliced almonds and mix. Evenly spread topping onto pre-baked cake. Bake for another 15 min at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) until topping is slightly brown.
Variations on this recipe use sliced hazelnuts or shredded coconut. Because shredded coconut is already sweetened, I am not sure if any extra sugar is needed for the topping. Another alternative is to use a can of well-drained mandarins. Then only 1/2 of the topping is added on top.
I'll try variations of this eventually because it was so easy to make, and very yummy.
These types of rolls are quite popular in Germany. They are very soft, and not too sweet, so they can be given to toddlers even before they have teeth and the rolls just melt in their mouth. And they are great for breakfast, especially on the go.
This specific recipe uses two different types of dough, a yeast dough and a cake dough, and dried fruit (raisins and apricots), but you don't have to add any fruit or you can vary the type of dried fruit (cranberries, figs, dates).
Ingredients:
Yeast dough:
250 g wheat flour
1 package dried yeast
25 g sugar
1/2 package (4 g) vanilla sugar or vanilla aroma
1 pinch of salt
1 egg
125 ml lukewarm milk
Cake dough:
100 g wheat flour
25 g sugar
1/2 package (4 g) vanilla sugar or vanilla aroma
1 pinch of salt
50 g soft butter
2 tablespoons milk
50 g dried apricots and/or dates, finely chopped
30 g raisins, finely chopped
1 egg, separated
1 tablespoon water
1. Yeast dough: Mix flour and yeast, add remaining ingredients and mix with knead hooks until smooth dough has formed (about 5 min). Lightly dust dough with flour, and leave somewhere warm for the yeast to rise until dough has increased in size (about 30 min).
2. In the meantime prepare the cake dough. Add all ingredients to a bowl. Use knead hooks to mix ingredients until well mixed. On a floured surface form a smooth dough with hands. Don't overwork the dough or it'll crumble.
3. Add the yeast dough to the cake dough and knead them together until the two doughs have become one. Use a rolling pin to flatten dough to a rectangle (25x48 cm or 10x19 inches). Coat dough with egg white, then add dried fruit. Form a roll starting from the longer edge, and cut off 4 cm thick pieces.
4. Press the end of a wooden cooking spoon (dipped in oil or flour) between the cutting edges until sides are folding up. Put rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let sit someplace warm until rolls have doubled in size (about 20 min).
5. Mix egg yolk with water until foamy. Coat rolls with egg yolk - water mixture. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees F) for about 20 to 25 min; to prevent the rolls from drying out, add an oven-safe bowl with water while baking the rolls.
