Food Fit for a German, you say??
Here's my entry for the 36th edition of the Steemit Culinary Challenge, hosted by healthy food lover @woman-onthe-wing and sponsored by @gringalicious, @sirwinchester, and @englishtchrivy. This week's judge, @ch00fy has a thing for German food, hence the theme "Food Fit for a German".
Hearty danke to our host, sponsors, and judge!!
As I was thinking about what to cook up for this weeks' challenge, in the back corner of my mind I remembered an NPR story from a while back about a certain type of German cake with plums. Since it is most certainly plum season and this challenge is most certainly German, I dug around on the internet and found some recipes for this German Plum Cake, Zwetschgendatschi. It is a white cake topped with fresh juicy plums which release their juices into the cake while it is baking, resulting in a fluffy and moist cake with mellow sweet plums baked right in.
After reading around and learning more about this yummy cake, I decided to improvise and brighten up the flavors a bit.
The Zwetschgendatschi can be made with a yeast dough or a regular cake batter, but I chose the yeast dough version for extra rise. To my version of the Zwetschgendatschi, I also added lemon zest and a light lemon glaze. The combination of the tart lemon with the mellowed out sweet plums is just delightful. I also added some crumbly streusel to the top, which is found in some, but not all, Zwetschgendatschi. Also, the market had loads of fresh blackberries, so I added blackberries among the plums to add more color and fruity sweetness to the cake. Once it was all baked, I put a dollop of fresh whipped cream over the top for a smooth and light finish.
So let's get into it, shall we?
The dough
Ingredients
- 1 c milk
- 2 1/4 t yeast
- 2 eggs
- 1 T vanilla
- 1 Tcinnamon
- 1/4 t salt
- 2 T sugar
- 4 T vegetable oil (or melted butter)
- 3 c flour
Directions for the dough
A - Whisk together the yeast and the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes or until bubbles begin to form on the surface.
B and C -Whisk in the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, oil, and salt to combine.
D through I - One cup at a time, whisk in the flour.
In a stand mixer or by hand, knead the dough for about 4 minutes until it clears the sides of the bowl.
Allow to rest at room temperature, covered with a towel, for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
I may or may not have forgotten to add the vanilla until this step. :X
- Once the dough has doubled in size, press it out into an oiled rimmed baking dish. (8x13 inches is the dish I used.)
The toppings
Ingredients
- 5-6 plums, sliced into wedges
- 2/3 cup blackberries
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 T sugar and 1 T cinnamon, combined
Directions for the toppings
- Sprinkle the prepared dough with the cinnamon sugar mix, and then with the lemon zest.
- Arrange the plums and berries however you like. If your dish is circular, go nuts and do a spiral!
The streusel
Ingredients
- 1 c flour
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1 T cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 T vanilla
- 2T lemon juice
Directions for the streusel
- Mash it all up with your hands until it's crumbly. That's how you prepare streusel!
- Distribute the streusel over the top of the plums and blackberries.
- Allow the entire thing to rise again on the counter for 1 hour.
- Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
The lemon glaze
Ingredients
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 cup powdered sugar, or more to reach desired consistency
- 1 t vanilla
Directions for the lemon glaze
- Using a fork or a whisk, combine all ingredients until the glaze is runny but not too loose. It's going to be drippy and that's ok. Just give it a taste and if it's too tart and too runny, add more powdered sugar.
Once your Zwetschgendatschi is finished baking, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool. Step back and allow it to cool!!!
- At this point, once the zwetschgendatschi is cool, you can pour on some glaze and dig in!
Or, you can be brave and dollop on some fluffy whipped cream to turn this cake into an extra special treat!
Here's how to whip up the whipped cream!
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 T sugar
Directions
- Whip it. And whip it good.
- Don't whip it too good or you'll end up with butter.
Zwetschgendatschi. I may not be able to pronounce it, but I can sure put it away. (In my belly).
Thanks again to our host, sponsors, and judge! Also, note that I got ahead of myself and listed this as #37 challenge on my index card! Oopsy daisy!
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please do check out my blog.
All content and photos by @jaymorebeet, taken on July 31, 2017, using a Canon EOS 7D Mark II.