The national cuisine of Germany is famous for its delicious pastries. German pies, rolls and cakes are well known not only in Europe but also beyond its borders. Among the recipes for confectionery, there are truly unique ones; they can be tasted in their original form only in their homeland. But there are also many delicious desserts that any housewife can easily prepare - for example, a German “kitchen” pie.
Varieties of German pies
The word Kuchen means pie in German. This is the most common type of baked goods in German cuisine, and no holiday or hearty meal is complete without it. Sweet pies are prepared with a variety of additives and fillings - sour cream, nuts, apples, berries, jam, chocolate. They are given unusual shapes, decorated with multi-colored glaze and candied fruits. Most of the popular types of pies are not difficult to prepare, and even a novice pastry chef will be able to bake them.
Rivel-kuchen with butter crumbs
Pie with butter crumbs is a dish that no German holiday can do without. Complex components are not required for its preparation. This cake can be baked very quickly and is perfect for Sunday breakfast and for receiving guests.
The classic version of the German pie (rivel-kuchen) is made from one layer of dough with sour cream sauce.
What you need for baking
The set of ingredients required for the preparation of a classic kitchen can be divided into components for the dough, sour cream sauce and topping.
For the test:
- flour (wheat, premium) - 1 kg;
- margarine (or butter) - 200 grams;
- milk -1 liter;
- chicken eggs - 3-4 pieces;
- sugar - 1 glass;
- dry yeast - 1 pack;
- vegetable oil -1-2 tablespoons;
- salt - ½ teaspoon.
For the top layer:
- sour cream - 2-3 tablespoons;
- eggs - 1 piece;
- sugar - 2 tablespoons;
- soda - ½ teaspoon;
- flour - 1-2 tablespoons.
For powder:
- flour - 200 grams;
- butter - 125 grams;
- sugar (optional) - 3-4 tablespoons.
Cooking procedure
Dissolve yeast in warm water and knead into a soft dough. Lubricate it with a thin layer of vegetable oil on top and put it in a warm place without covering it with a lid. When the dough starts to rise, gently knead 2-3 times.
Put the finished dough on the table, sprinkled with flour, and sprinkle with flour on top and lightly roll out with a rolling pin. Transfer the tortilla to a greased baking sheet with vegetable oil, align to shape and allow a little distance.
To prepare sour cream sauce, grind an egg with sugar in a bowl, add sour cream and soda. Mix thoroughly, add flour and beat until smooth.
The main element that gives the German pie a delicate creamy taste is a rich crumb called "rivel" or "streusel".
To prepare it, you need to put butter and flour warmed to room temperature in a bowl, knead with a spoon, and then grind it by hand so that you get lumps of different sizes. Sugar can be added to the streusel mixture immediately, or sprinkled on the cake after cooking.
Pour the dough with sour cream sauce and sprinkle evenly with lumps of strusel. Place a baking sheet with a pie in an oven preheated to 50 ° C and bake for 15 minutes. Then increase the temperature to 180 ° C and stand for another 20-25 minutes until tender.
An interesting feature of rivel-kuchen is that the next day after cooking, it not only does not get stale, but also becomes even softer and more tender. A similar effect is caused by the fact that the top layer of the crust continues to gradually soak in the sauce.
Baumkuchen - a pie in the shape of a tree
Baumkuchen (German: Baumkuchen - pie tree) has been known in Germany since the beginning of the 15th century, and its recipe appeared in cookbooks in 1682. The dessert got its name from the fact that its shape resembles a tree trunk, and the cut is similar to a cut with annual rings. There are many recipes for puff pies in the world, but only baumkuchen has layers that are not horizontal, but vertical.
In the past, this pie was baked over a fire on a skewer, pouring dough on a stick and rotating - this is how the layers were formed. Later, the recipe became more complicated, and today it is believed that it is impossible to make a real baumkuchen at home. But inventive housewives have found a way to cook the "pie-tree" in a conventional oven.
To bake baumkuchen, you need to make a soft, creamy dough like in the classic recipe. Thin cakes are baked for 5-7 minutes at 220 ° C on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Immediately after cooking, the blank is greased with a layer of apricot jam and rolled into a roll using a thin cardboard tube. Each next cake is wrapped around the previous ones, forming a thick “trunk.
The finished layer cake is placed vertically and covered with a thick layer of melted chocolate glaze. This unusual German cake is usually prepared for Christmas.
A simpler version of baumkuchen is called "corners" (Baumkuchenspitzen). The recipe is the same, but after baking the cakes are not rolled up into a tube, but spread with a layer of jam and stacked one on top of the other. The resulting puff pastry is cut into triangles and poured over with chocolate.
German kitchen with apples
The German Apple Pie (Apfelkuchen) can be prepared in many different ways.
In the first version, the dough for the crust and powder is prepared in the same way as for the rivel-kuchen. When the tortilla is laid out on a baking sheet, apples are placed on top of it, cut into slices or grated on a coarse grater.
The fruits are covered with dusting powder (streusel) and the cake is baked at 180-200 ° C for about 40 minutes. If you use 1 kg of flour for the dough, you need 7 large apples.
In the second option, when preparing the dough, instead of yeast, soda is used (1 teaspoon per 1 kg of flour) or a baking powder for the dough (1 package). Bake for 35-40 minutes at 180 ° C.
The cake will become more flavorful if vanilla sugar is added to the dough while kneading.
Other popular German pastries
There are many original baked goods in Germany. One of the most famous sweet dishes is the Black Forest Chocolate Cherry Cake. His recipe was created in the 20-30s of the twentieth century, but quickly gained popularity all over the world. When preparing this cake, cocoa is added to the cakes and soaked in cherry or cherry liqueur, and the cake is covered with chocolate icing and decorated with cherries on top.
European food lovers are also familiar with strudel, but they often confuse Austrian and German strudel. In Germany, this dish is prepared with potatoes, onions, meat and cabbage in different combinations, and not always in the form of thin dough rolls with filling. More often, rolls of soft dough are put in a bowl with a mixture of meat, potatoes and cabbage, and all this is baked in the oven.
Delicate airy German strudel replaces the bread for the main course.
Fans of sweet pastries will also appreciate the Schikhtorhe cake.
Conclusion
If you love mouth-watering desserts, then you are unlikely to remain indifferent to German pies and pastries. These dishes deserve a place of honor in the culinary collection of any hostess.
