Apple Cake (Riemchenapfel)

This cake is known in the Rhineland as "Riemchenapfel", and every bakery sells it. The filling can vary; in addition to apple sauce apricot or plum jam is also used. When using unsweetened apple sauce this cake is very healthy (for a cake): the yeast dough contains little sugar, and the filling only contains the sugar from the fruit.

Ingredients:

Springform, 26 cm (10 inches) in diameter

Some grease or parchment paper 

250 g all-purpose flour 

125 ml milk, lukewarm 

25 g butter

75 g sugar 

1 package active dry yeast 

1 pinch salt

700 g apple sauce, unsweetened 

2 tablespoons apricot jam 

Preparation:

1. Prepare yeast batter: sift flour into a bowl, mix with 25 g sugar, then make a little dent into the flour. Sprinkle 25 g sugar around the rim on the flour. Heat milk until lukewarm. Add 25 g sugar and yeast, stir; pour milk with yeast and sugar into the well in the flour. Cover bowl with a towel. Let yeast rise for about 30 minutes in a warm place or until bubbly.

2. Using the knead hooks of an electric hand mixer mix ingredients in bowl. Add salt and butter and work the dough until it starts pulling back, pulling away from the bowl, and forming a ball. Remove dough from the hooks and the side of the bowl. Sprinkle some flour over the dough, so that it won't stick to your hands.

3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Line the springform bottom with parchment paper or grease. Roll out 1/3 of the dough and put on springform bottom. Take another 1/3 of the dough, make long tubes and line the inner edge of the springform. Push the tubes flat against the edge, about 2 cm  high, and connect the edge with the springform bottom.

4. Add apple sauce to springform. Spread evenly. Take the remaining 1/3 of the dough, roll it out flat into a circle with the diameter of the springform. Using a pizza or a pastry wheel cut out thin strips. Put the strips in a crisscross pattern over the applesauce.

5. Bake cake for about 30 min at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

6. Stir apricot jam until smooth. Remove cake from oven and brush the top with the apricot jam. Remove springform edge, let cake cool down before serving. 

Comments:

1. The cake is best when served with freshly whipped cream.

2. The sugar for the yeast batter can be further reduced (25 g).

Espresso Chocolate Cake

When I saw a photo of this cake I was intrigued by its looks, and what can be wrong with chocolate and coffee?!

Ingredients:

Deep baking sheet 

Parchment paper 

For crust:

125 g all-purpose wheat flour 

1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

15 g cocoa powder 

50 g sugar 

1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla extract 

80 g soft butter

2 tablespoons water or milk

For sponge cake:

4 eggs 

80 g sugar 

1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla extract 

80 g all-purpose wheat flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

20 g potato or corn starch 

Filling:

200 g dark fruit jam/spread

600 g whipping cream 

100 g dark chocolate 

5-6 teaspoons instant espresso powder 

Decoration:

Shaved chocolate, espresso beans, mini chocolate bars

Preparation:

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pencil a circle of about 22 cm (9 inches) in diameter. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (375 F).

2. Prepare crust: sift flour, baking powder and cocoa power into a bowl and mix, then add all remaining ingredients. Using an electric hand mixer mix batter until crumbles have formed. Put crumbles into the circle drawn on parchment paper. Press crumbles together with the back of a tablespoon. Bake cake for about 15 minutes, the remove crust from hot baking sheet.

3. Line baking sheet with a new piece of parchment paper. Prepare sponge cake: whisk eggs until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla sugar or vanilla extract and whisk for an additional 2 minutes. Sift flour, baking powder and starch, add mixture to batter and briefly mix. Spread sponge batter onto parchment paper and bake at 200 degrees Celsius (375 F) for about 9 minutes. Remove sponge cake from hot baking sheet and let cool upside down on a second piece of parchment paper.

4. Prepare filling: In a stovetop pot melt chocolate into the whipping cream at low heat stirring frequently. Add espresso powder to taste. Remove cream from heat, and chill in refrigerator until cold.

5. Spread 2 tablespoons jam or fruit spread onto the pie crust. Remove parchment paper from sponge cake and cut sponge lengthwise into four strips of equal width. Spread remaining jam or fruit spread onto sponge strips.

6. Whip chilled cream unto stiff. Spread 2/3 of the stiff cream onto the sponge strips. Roll up the first sponge strips like rolling up a jelly roll. Put the rolled up strig with one open end on the pie crust. Now take the next sponge strip. Where the first strip ends start rolling the second strip around the cake. Do the same with the remaining two strips. Spread the remaining cream on top and around the sides of the cake. Remove any extra crust that is bigger than the actual cake. Decorate the cake with remaining chocolate cream, shaved chocolate and espresso beans. Chill cake in fridge for about 1 h before serving.

Date Cookies

This recipe uses oats, so these cookies can be eaten by people who are sensitive to gluten.

Ingredients:

Baking sheet 

Parchment paper 

100 g oats

250 g (fresh) dates

For the batter:

50 g soft butter

3 tablespoons maple syrup 

2 eggs 

50 g hazelnut flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

Preparation:

1. Roast oats at low heat in a pan without oil; pour onto a plate and let cool down. Pit dates and mince into fine pieces.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Add butter and maple syrup to a bowl. Blend until smooth using an electric hand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time and mix for 1/2 minute per egg.

4. Mix hazelnut flour with baking powder; add to batter. Lastly, add minced dates, and briefly blend.

5. Using two tablespoons put a walnut sized amount onto parchment paper. Leave some space in between cookies.

6. Bake cookies for about 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

7. Remove baking sheets from oven, pull cookies and parchment paper off the baking sheet. Let cookies cool down, then store in an airtight box.

Comments:

1. The original recipe uses a blender to purée the dates. I had a hard time with this, so I cut them into small pieces. If you decide to blend then you might have to soak the dates in water to soften them. Or use very fresh and ripe dates.

2. Oats do not contain gluten, so you can make these cookies if you are sensitive to gluten. However, oats and wheat are often processed in the same plant. To avoid issues caused by cross contamination make sure to buy certified gluten free oats.

3. The original recipe bakes these cookies for 30 minutes, but mine would have been burned if I had baked them that long.

Rum Sponge Cookies

Ingredients:

Baking sheet

Parchment paper

For the batter:

3 eggs

120 g sugar

1 pinch salt

3 tablespoons rum

150 g all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Filling:

Nutella or some other soft chocolate filling

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk eggs with an electric hand mixer for about 1 minute until fluffy. Add sugar, salt and rum and whisk until sugar has dissolved.

3. Sift flour into a separate bowl. Add flour in two portions to batter. Remove about 4 tablespoons of the batter; add cocoa powder to the removed portion and make sure cocoa is mixed in well. Transfer cocoa batter into a ziplock bag, then cut a small corner.

4. Using two teaspoons add small portions of the yellow batter onto parchment paper. Leave some space between the cookies. Squeeze the cocoa batter in a spiral pattern on top of yellow batter.

5. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Remove cookies from oven, let cool down by removing the parchment paper with the cookies from the baking sheet.

6. Once the cookies have cooled down, take one cookie and spread some Nutella on the flat back edge. Take a second cookie and press its back against the Nutella.

7. Store cookies in an air-tight box.

Cherry-Yoghurt Cake with an Eggnogg Topping

Fruits are much more limited during fall. Apples, pears, and oranges are abundant, but other fruits are more scarce. Thus, fall is a great time to use other ingredients like chocolate or my favorite, jarred sour cherries. In Germany these cherries are known as "Schattenmorellen". Trader Joe's imports them and sells them as Morello Cherries.

Ingredients:

9x13 inch (30x40 cm) Pyrex dish or deep baking dish

Some grease

Batter:

4 eggs

125 g sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

125 ml vegetable oil

150 ml sparkling water

250 g all-purpose flour

3 leveled teaspoons baking powder

1 jar sour cherries (Dark Morello Cherries from Trader Joe's or Schattenmorellen)

Yoghurt Topping:

400 g (1 pint) whipping cream

3 teaspoons powdered sugar

400 g Greek Yoghurt (Fage)

Eggnogg Topping:

250 ml (1 cup) Eggnogg (with alcohol)

1/2 package non-cook vanilla pudding (JELL-O)

Preparation:

1. Drain sour cherries very well. (You can drink the juice; it's really tasty as a spritzer with sparkling water). Grease Pyrex dish or baking dish. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

2. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric hand mixer for about 1 minute or until fluffy. Add oil and sparkling water and whisk briefly.

3. Mix flour and baking powder and sift into a separate bowl. Add flour mixture in two portions to the batter, whisk after addition of each portion. Pour batter into. Pyrex or deep baking dish, bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

4. Remove cake from oven and let cool down. Spread drained sour cherries on top of cake. Whip cream with powdered sugar until stiff. Briefly stir yoghurt until smooth. Carefully fold whipped cream under yoghurt. Spread yoghurt-cream topping on top of cherries. Chill for a while.

5. Whisk eggnogg and JELL-O for about 2 minutes. Pour eggnogg mixture on top of yoghurt topping and spread evenly. Chill cake for a couple of hours or overnight before serving.

Comments:

1. The eggnogg brand I remember from Germany, probably because of their memorable ads, is Verpoorten advocaat. That one is rather expensive in the USA, so I used Pennsylvania Dutch.

Apple Cake with a Marzipan Topping

Ingredients:

9x11 (30x40 cm) Pyrex or deep baking dish or 12 inch (28 cm) springform

Some grease

Pie Crust:

220 g all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

75 g sugar

110 g (1 stick) soft butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 package vanilla sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Filling:

750 g or 1.5 pounds apples

Topping:

100 g marzipan

4 tablespoons calvados

75 g soft butter or margarine

75 g sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 package vanilla sugar

150 g sour cream

100 g sliced almonds

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven so 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Grease bottom of baking dish or springform.

2. Mix flour and baking powder, then sift into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and using the knead hooks of an electric hand mixer until a dough has formed. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

3. Peel apples, cut into quarters and remove core. Cut apples into thick slices.

4. Use 2/3 of the pie crust batter and put on bottom of baking dish or springform. Form a long rod of the remaining batter and line the edge of the baking dish or springform about 2 cm or 3/4 inch high.

5. Put apples on top of bottom and bake for about 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

6. Topping: Whisk marzipan and calvados until smooth. Add butter or margarine, sugar, vanilla sugar and sour cream and keep whisking. Lastly, stir in almonds and spread on top of hot apples.

7. Bake cake for an additional 15 minutes of until toothpick comes out clean.

Comments:

1. The original recipe uses 1 egg in the batter for the pie crust. I prefer to leave it out; the batter is less crumbly without it.

2. I didn't have any calvados, so I used amaretto instead.

Blueberry Cake With Two Batters

I love blueberries, and I remember harvesting them in the woods when I was a child. They were quite rare, and precious. When I saw this recipe I was intrigued - it combines a blueberry pound cake and a German-style cheesecake.

Ingredients:

Pyrex or deep baking dish (9x13 inches or 30x40 cm)

Some grease

300 g blueberries

Cake Batter:

200 g (2 sticks) soft butter or margarine

150 g sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

300 g all-purpose flour

3 leveled teaspoons baking powder

Cheesecake:

2 eggs, separated

1 pinch of salt

80 g powdered sugar

200 g sour cream

200 g Greek Yoghurt (Fage or Chobani)

Preparation:

1. Grease Pyrex or deep baking dish. Wash blueberries, drain well. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

2. Prepare batter: Whisk butter or margarine with an electric hand mixer until soft. Add sugar and vanilla extract until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, and whisk for 1/2 minute per egg.

3. In a separate bowl mix flour and baking powder. Sift, and add in two portions to the batter. Pour mixture into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at deep baking dish at180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

4. In the meantime prepare the cheesecake topping: Whisk egg whites with salt until stiff. Slowly add the powdered sugar. In a separate bowl blend egg yolks, sour cream and Greek yoghurt. Carefully fold the egg white mixture into the sour cream blend.

5. Remove cake from oven and add 2/3 of blueberries on top. Spread cheesecake topping over blueberries, sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of blueberries on top.

6. Return cake to oven and bake for an additional 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) or until toothpick comes out clean.

7. Remove cake from oven and let cool down before serving.

Comment:

1. I used fresh blueberries, but you can certainly use any time of berry!

2. Instead of using two sticks of butter I only used 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup (125 ml) buttermilk.