Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Streuselkuchen

Streuselkuchen

Now you’ll see the shallow side of yours truly. :)

How can one NOT bake something called streuselkuchen?? I mean, isn’t it fun to say? So it must be fun to eat – that’s my theory. The same one I apply to snickerdoodles.

Only half of the German yeast dough is used in the recipe, so you can either cut it in half or use it again on the next day (see note). I made blackberry jam pull aparts with it and they tasted amazing – the only “but” was that a bit of the filling leaked out while the bread was in the oven. By the taste and consistency of this wonderful dough, I don’t think you’ll have a problem coming up with something to make with it.

Streuselkuchen

Streuselkuchen (German crumb cake)
from A Baker's Odyssey

½ recipe German yeast dough (recipe follows), risen, deflated, shaped into a ball and allowed to rest for 10 minutes

Streusel:
¾ cup (105g) unbleached all purpose flour
6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick/84g) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
vanilla confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling – I used regular confectioners’ sugar

Butter a 9-inch square baking pan* (do not use cooking spray – the dough must adhere to the pan). Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of the pan. It will be about ¼ inch thick. Transfer the dough to the pan and pat it onto the bottom and into the corners. Do not make a rim; the dough should be flat. Cover with a kitchen towel.

To make the streusel, put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and butter into the work bowl of a food processor (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment) fitted with the metal blade. Pulse 5 or 6 times, then let the machine run just until the ingredients begin to form small crumbly masses, about 30 seconds. Do not process beyond the crumb stage.

Uncover the dough. Press the crumbs to form clumps the size of large peas, and sprinkle on the top of the dough. Continue making larger lumps of streusel and sprinkling them evenly all over the dough. There will be a generous layer of streusel covering the dough. Cover the streuselkuchen with a kitchen towel and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

Uncover the kuchen and place the pan in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the kuchen has risen almost to the top of the pan and is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into its center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately sprinkle the top with a generous layer of vanilla confectioners’ sugar. Cool completely on a wire rack. This is at his best when very fresh. Cut into portions with a sharp knife.

* I used a 20cm (8-in) square pan and it worked fine.

Serves 8

Streuselkuchen

German yeast dough

½ cup (120ml) whole milk
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry or rapid–rise yeast
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
2 ¼ cups (315g) unbleached all purpose flour, plus more as needed
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick/57g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 tablespoon-sized pieces
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Scald the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat – you will see steam rising from the surface of the milk and small bubbles forming around the edges. Remove the pan from heat and let stand until the milk feels warm to your fingertip, about 10 minutes; an instant-read thermometer should register 43-48ºC (110-120ºF).

Sprinkle the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar into the milk and stir well. Let stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is bubbly and foamy.

To make the dough using a stand mixer (which is what I did): combine 2 ¼ cups of the flour with the remaining sugar in the bowl of the mixer and add the butter and lemon zest. Attach the flat beater and mix on low speed for about 3 minutes, until the flour looks mealy. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand, add the yeast and eggs, and stir with a rubber spatula to make a moist, thick dough. Switch to the dough hook and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes, or until the dough becomes sticky and elastic and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Scrape the bowl and the dough hook.

To make the dough by hand: stir 2 ¼ cups of flour with the remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry blender or two knives until the flour looks mealy. Add the lemon zest, then add the yeast and eggs and stir with a wooden spoon to make a moist, thick dough. Beat vigorously for 5-8 minutes until the dough becomes smooth, sticky and elastic. When you pick some of the dough with the spoon, it will be very stretchy. Scrape the bowl and spoon.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour over the dough and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1 hour or more depending in the warmth of your kitchen.

Lightly flour your work surface. Dislodge the dough from the bowl with a pastry scraper, scrape it out onto the work surface and turn to coat all surfaces lightly with flour. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a ball, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. The dough is now ready to use.

note: if you are using only half the dough, place the second ball of dough into an airtight container and refrigerate it. The next day, shape and bake it into another streuselkuchen.

42 comments:

Nic said...

I love these kind of cakes, you get the best of both worlds - light fluffy bottom, topped with that lovely crunch - and perfect with a good cup of coffee or tea!

pam said...

My grandmother used to make cakes like these. Sigh.

LyB said...

I love your theory, and I absolutely agree! That sounds delicious, the crumb topping looks so light and crunchy.

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

This sounds a lot like "Tarte au sucre" or "Sugar pie" made with yeast. The topping sounds delicious.
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

Elle said...

This looks delicious! And i think I'm in love with the idea of blackberry jam pull aparts!!!!

Marianna said...

mmmmm, Patricia! It's funny bc I'm in this strange intense baking mood lately (but dont have time to bake during the week) and have been thinking about all the things I want to make- and your streuselkuchen is exactly in the spirit/mood I'm in! Lovely!

Silvia - Magnolia Wedding Planner said...

Patricia dear ! Even if the name is incredibly difficult I adore this recipe and I copy it immediately! I'm not good as you but I'll give it a try!
This is perfect for my big breakfast! :-D
Thanks hun!
Silvia

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Yummy! Now you've got me thinking streusel for breakfast. This looks delicious, Patricia!

Peter M said...

Patricia, I want to eat this cake whilst listening to the Hansel Und Gretel story! lol

Anonymous said...

Streusel? Yeasted kuchen? I'm SO making this, ASAP.

ChichaJo said...

Not only does that have such a cute name, but it looks and sounds delicious as well! :)

Anonymous said...

This looks so good right now, with my coffee! I hope I have the attention to make this. Maybe just send some to me. Haha. :)

kickpleat said...

yeast dough? i'm up for the challenge! this looks amazing.

Amy said...

Ooh! A yeasted cake! It sounds lovely! I must try this. Thanks Patricia!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I'm a sucker for anything with a streusel topping. In fact, I have a muffin pan that makes only tops, so I might try this as muffin tops and get as much streusel as possible!

Anonymous said...

that looks lovely. it actually sounds pretty light, great for tea!

Deborah said...

Oh yum! This sounds like something I would totally love!

Peabody said...

A yeast crumb cake...that sounds lovely.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm. Crumb cake. Yes, please. This sounds nice and airy. Perfect for spring. Well, almost summer, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Oh I completely agree- Now I want to bake it too because that name alone is great! Beyond names though, it looks really tasty.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I love the height and fluffiness of this cake, Patricia!

Eva said...

That tastes like home! I definitely need to make more streusel kuchen!!

Elle said...

My brother in law would LOVE this! Wonder if it would mail OK? It looks gorgeous!

Barbara said...

Your streusel looks amazing. So light and airy.

KJ said...

I agree it's all in the name. For me it's whoopie pies, twinkies and pollywaffles. How could you not enjoy them?

I love yeasted cakes. So a big yum from me for the streuselkuchen.

Anonymous said...

This sounds lovely and yes the name is fun like snickerdoodles. I wish I could say it with a strict German accent.

Anonymous said...

That looks out of this world!!!

Sarah said...

A fun name makes everything more fun! This looks delicious.

Patricia Scarpin said...

Nic, you've said it all, my friend!

Pam, make one for you! :)

LyB, I was in love with this topping!

Edamame, I'm sorry for spoiling your diet! :)

Shari, I took a look at your sugar pie and it look super yummy.

Elle, make sure you close the rolls tightly, so no jam will leak out!

Marianna, I'd love to see your version for this cake!

Silvia, I'm sure you'll make something delicious!
xoxo

Lynn, thank you, darling!

Peter, great idea. ;)

Deb, I'm sure you'll love this!

Joey, thank you, sweetie!

Joy, I would gladly!

Kickpleat, go ahead!

Amy, thank you!

Lydia, I love streusel, too, and I think your idea will be phenomenal!

Diva, thank you!

Deb, I think you would!

Pea, thank you, darling!

Cookinpanda, I agree. :)

Hannah, I love the name, too!

Susan, it's very tender.

Eva, this reminds of you, indeed!

Elle, make some for him! :)

Barbara, thank you!

KJ, I have got to make everything you mentioned , now. :)

Cathy, I should have learned something from my grandmother. :)

Candace, tks!

Sarah, fun, indeed!

Nora B. said...

These look so delicious, Patricia. I think Eva made a similar thing before for me and it was just delicious. I love the contrast of textures of the yeast base and crunchy & buttery streusel topping.

Have a nice weekend, dear.

x Nora

Anonymous said...

I can see why you want try a recipe with that name ;) It looks delicious!

Susan @ SGCC said...

Wow! That looks so delicious! I adore cakes like that.

Lisa said...

Your Streuselkucken looks so good! I love that you can save the rest of the dough for another day.

My Dad often talked about his mother baking "kuchas." She put sour cream and cinnamon sugar, brown sugar or cocoa across the top instead of streusel, but otherwise it sounds the same. Thanks for jogging my memory!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! This is one of those cakes that I've been wanting to try, but the recipe I have looks so complicated that it scares me a bit.

Jaime said...

the crumb looks so light and moist! i love anything w/a streusel topping!! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey there - First time on your blog and I've just got to comment on how great it is! I completely lost track of time browsing your mouth-watering recipes, I'm going to have to get straight back to homework once I've left this comment :P
This pudding looks delicious and i love the story behind it, but it looks very hard to make - it'll probably end up on my "some day" recipe list :)
Loving the blog!

Anonymous said...

Hello, and thank you for posting the recipe for this tender buttery-looking cake.
Can i ask for your advice? i tried making it, but even though the dough had increased in size (after an hour or so), it was still way too sticky to shape or roll. Should i have allowed it more time to rise? or add more flour? Is it a workable dough?

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hi, Micky!
I don't remember the dough being too sticky, but we have to consider the different kinds of flour out there... I don't like adding more flour because it may cause the bread to become tough and dry. Maybe you should knead it a little bit more?
Good luck next time and thank you for your comment!

Anonymous said...

Hello, and thank you so much for your quick response! Really...
So it's the beating... i can never figure out where the line between under and over-beating lies.
i'll try to get it a little more firm at that point and see where that takes us :) Thanks again!

Watercolor Wendy said...

I want to make this but I was hoping to find a version with the pudding. All I can find are recipes in German.

Beatriz said...

Me encanta!

Anonymous said...

I just took this out of the oven, it turned out perfect! delicious.

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