Sarah Cooks: Cake

Pflaumen Streuselkuchen

3/10/2019 01:10:00 PM

Pflaumen Streuselkuchen! This is a traditional German cake, with a butter cake base, a layer of juicy plum slices, and a lovely thick layer of buttery crunchy streusel crumble. It's perfect for dessert, afternoon tea, a Kaffeeklatsch, or general snacking. Simple, sweet, and delicious, it's hard to stop at one slice!

Pflaumen Streuselkuchen

I was recently sent a (five kilo!) sample of Queen Garnet plums, a new variety of specialty plums that are sweet and juicy, with a really deep red colour. The press release the PR folks sent was full of facts about the health benefits of the plum ("seven times the antioxidants found in other commercial plum varieties"), but you all know me, all I could think was how best to cook these up into delicious desserts!

Queen Garnet Plums

My first thought was, of course, a German plum cake, or Pflaumenkuchen. I've previously blogged a version with a yeasted base covered in plum slices (and see the recipe here!), but this time I wanted something a bit more cakey and sweet, and definitely topped with lots of crunchy delicious Streusel. So: Pflaumen Streuselkuchen.

The base of this Pflaumen Streuselkuchen is a plain Rührteig (literally a "stirred dough"), which is essentially a butter cake base. It's similar to a Victoria sponge, but with slightly different proportions. I've also found that for butter cake bases, the all-in-one method works really well. (This is a tip I learned from Mary Berry, and I use it all the time now). Rather than creaming the butter and sugar, then adding eggs one by one followed by the dry ingredients, you just place everything into the bowl of an electric and beat for a few minutes until combined, light and fluffy. You do need to make sure the butter is properly soft, but other than that it's easy and effective.

Rührteig

And then I covered the base in plum slices! I love how deep red the Queen Garnet plums were.

Plums

And finally, a nice thick layer of Streusel (crumble). German Streusel is just butter, flour and sugar (with a little vanilla), mixed together until crumbly - no rubbing butter into flour by hand, as per a British crumble. To save on the washing up, I made the Streusel first, then scraped it out of the mixer, and then made the cake base in the same mixer. (No need to wash in between).

Streusel

And here it is, baked! The Streusel does brown quite quickly, so check halfway through the baking time and cover with foil if it's getting too brown and the cake underneath needs more time to cook.

Baked!

I love the thick layer of Streusel on top!

Pflaumen Streuselkuchen

Another Streusel shot because, ugh, so good.

Pflaumen Streuselkuchen

The cake was so good! I ate quite a few slices, and shared some with colleagues too. They loved it, and one immediately demanded the recipe too, yay! Crunchy buttery goodness against the tangy plums - how delicious! It was best fresh, but was still good a few days later. The only constructive feedback I got was from my German wife, who said it needed more plums. (This feeds into my theory that Germans don't actually like the "cake" part of cake, and are all about the fruit and whipped cream, hehe). You'll also note that the Rührteig base rose quite a bit (even though I use less baking powder than a traditional Rührteig), and it's quite sturdy, so it could definitely handle more plums. I used a twenty-three centimetre tin, but in the recipe below I suggest using a twenty-five centimetre tin, so you can have a slightly thinner base and also fit more plums in.

Pflaumen Streuselkuchen

Do make this cake! It's so easy and so good! Those fancy Queen Garnet plums are in season in March, and are available at Woolworths nationally, some Coles on the east coast and some speciality retailers. But if you can't find them, don't let that stop you, any ripe sweet plums you can get your hands on will be delicious! A nice Stück of Pflaumen Streuselkuchen and a big Tasse of Kaffee and your weekend afternoon is set.

Pflaumen Streuselkuchen

A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients

For the Streusel

150 grams plain flour

75 grams sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 grams unsalted buter, softened

For the Kuchen

125 grams unsalted butter, softened

100 grams sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

3 eggs

250 grams plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons milk

For the Pflaumen

3-5 large ripe plums

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the base and sides of a 23 or 25cm springform tin with baking paper.

To make the Streusel, place the plain flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low speed until the dough comes together in sandy clumps. Tip the streusel mixture into a separate bowl and set aside. Scrape the mixing bowl and the beater as best you can, but there's no need to wash it before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.

To make the Kuchen, place all ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer, and beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, or until smoothly combined, light and fluffy. Spread the batter evenly in the base of the prepared tin. (It will be quite thin).

Wash the plums, cut in half around the equator and twist to separate the two halves. Remove the pit and discard. Cute the two halves into thin wedges and arrange over the cake batter in the tin. Repeat until the cake batter is covered with plum slices.

Pour the crumble over the plum slices.

Bake for 30-50 minutes, or until cooked through when tested with a skewer. You may need to cover the cake with foil if it is browning too quickly.

Allow to cool in the tin on a rack for 10-20 minutes, then unmould and allow to cool completely.

Makes 1 x 25cm cake

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Sarah received complimentary Queen Garnet plums from Nutrafruit but was not obliged to post or compensated in any way. All opinions are my own.

Bravetart

Obsession: Bravetart

1/10/2019 10:57:00 AM

Cake

Chocolate Passionfruit Layer Cake

10/24/2018 10:34:00 PM

Cake

Tropical Tarte Tatin

10/11/2018 08:25:00 PM

New recipe today! I've got a super pretty and delicious tropical tarte tatin - a gorgeous scone dough topped with slices of fresh pineapple and glacé cherries and an addictive buttery caramel sauce. I served it with a coconut cream for total tropical deliciousness.

Tropical Tarte Tatin

Last month when Prahran Market asked me to join their A-Team, one of the ingredients they gave me in their mystery bag was mini organic pineapples from Queensland. TOO cute, amirite? They smelled amazing, and I couldn't wait to cook with them! I had quite a few ideas on the brain, but in the end, I couldn't go past an old-fashioned pineapple upside down cake.

This is essentially a riff on Nigella's Irish Tarte Tatin from How to Eat (which itself is a riff on Darina Allen's Roscommon Rhubarb Pie). What we've got is a fruity topping, with a scone dough. A traditional pineapple upside down cake is topped with a normal butter cake, but I do like the heft and crunch of a scone dough.

To start, I lined the base of the tin with a mixture of butter and light muscovado sugar, and topped it with slices of fresh pineapple and some glacé cherries. During baking the butter-sugar mixture melts and becomes a delicious caramel sauce that soaks into the base.

Pineapple and Cherry topping

The base is a standard scone dough, with coconut added for texture and general deliciousness, bound together by buttermilk which gives the dough a nice tender bite.

Tropical Tarte Tatin

The coconut cream - a riff on another Nigella recipe, her Barbados creams - is a mixture of coconut yogurt and regular cream, whipped until thickened and topped with brown sugar, which goes all melty and dissolves into the cream. It has a gentle coconut fragrance and is soooo delicious with the pineapple tart!

Tropical Tarte Tatin

The tart was fabulous as a dessert, as an afternoon tea and (just quietly), even as breakfast. The crunchy caramelised edges are the BEST.

Tropical Tarte Tatin

This tarte is best fresh from the oven, but it's still nice a few days later - I'd just suggest heating individual slices in the microwave first. I hope you enjoy it!

Tropical Tarte Tatin

A Recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients

For the Coconut Cream

100 grams coconut yogurt

100 grams cream

2 tablespoons light muscovado sugar (substitute brown sugar)

For the Tart

60 grams butter, softened

60 grams light muscovado sugar (substitute brown sugar)

1 x mini organic pineapple

13 glacé cherries

310 grams plain flour

20 grams caster sugar

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

55 grams cold butter, cut into small cubes

25 grams shredded coconut

175 millilitres buttermilk

1 egg

To glaze: condensed milk or beaten egg and granulated sugar

Method

To make the coconut cream, place the coconut yogurt and cream into a mixing bowl. Whisk until combined and slightly thickened. Spoon the cream into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle over the light muscovado sugar in a thick carpet. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

To make the tart, preheat the oven to 220C.

Cream together the softened butter and light muscovado sugar. Spread evenly across the base of a deep 20-cm pie dish with sloping sides.

Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple, cutting as straight as possible. Stand the pineapple up, and cut off the skin in strips. Cut out any little eyes with small diagonal cuts. Slice the pineapple crossways into 1 cm rounds. Cut out the central core in each slice. Arrange the pineapple slices and glacé cherries in the base of the pie dish.

Sieve the flour, caster sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub into the four until the butter is evenly distributed and mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the shredded coconut.

Pour the buttermilk into a measuring jug and whisk in the egg.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the liquid all at once and stir in gently to form a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface and pat and roll the dough into a circle about 2.5 centimetres thick. Place the disc over the pineapple and tuck in the edges as neatly as you can. Brush the dough with either condensed milk, or a little beaten egg and granulated sugar.

Place the pie dish on a baking tray (to catch any sticky drips) and place into the oven. Cook for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180C and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until the top is crusty and brown and the dough is cooked. You may need to cover the pie with foil halfway through if it is browning too quickly.

Allow the tart to cool for 10 minutes, then gently loosen the edges with a butter knife. Place a serving plate over the top of the pan, and, with oven mitts and confidence, turn it upside down so that the pie comes out onto the plate with some caramelly liquid.

Serve the tart warm, with the coconut cream.

Makes 1 x 20cm tart, serves 8

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Burnt Butter

Burnt Butter Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

6/04/2018 09:51:00 AM

Burnt butter carrot cakes with cream cheese icing. These gorgeous little cakelets are moist and tender, with the wonderful nutty flavour of burnt butter and the autumnal warmth of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. They're slathered in a tangy cream cheese frosting and topped with crunchy roast pistachios. They're also gluten free! Perfect for afternoon tea, or in my case, my birthday party!

Burnt Butter Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

A short while ago, my friend Lily gifted me these beautiful carrots from her farm in the lovely Bega Valley. Aren't they gorgeous! She even hand made that sweet bag to transport them. Too cute!

Beautiful Carrots

I roasted some of the carrots to accompany a roast chicken, and they were beautiful! So sweet and, well, carroty, much more so than the carrots I usually get from the supermarket in a (non-handmade) plastic bag that live for weeks (months?) in my refrigerator crisper. The remainder of the gifted carrots made their way into these carrot cakes!

I'd had Joy the Baker's Brown Butter Carrot Loaf Cake on my to-do list (aka my "Cakes to Bake" board on Pinterest), and this seemed like a good way to use up the lovely carrots! I ended up baking these as my birthday cake. Joy said that the recipe would work with gluten free plain flour, and seeing as I had a coeliac on the invite list, I thought it would be a good option. (Joy recommended Bob's Red Mill GF plain flour, and I followed her recommendation. It seems that all commercially available GF plain flours are slightly different, with different ratios of base flours (rice flour, tapioca flour, sorghum flour, potato flour etc.), and some contain xanthan gum as well. I wasn't sure if a different brand would work in the recipe, so I played it safe and stuck with the recommendation. (To make things even more confusing, Bob's Red Mill makes a couple of different GF plain flours. After much deliberation at the gourmet supermarket, I chose the Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, which contains xanthan gum, and it worked well!) If you try this recipe with another brand and it works for you, please let me know in the comments!

Ingredients

Apart form the carrots and the flour, the next key ingredient is the burnt butter. Oh man, I love burnt butter. I love it in sauces, I love it drizzled over poached eggs, and I definitely love it in baked goods. (See my burnt butter honey madeleines, and my burnt butter ricotta gnocchi). Everyone describes it as nutty, which it is, but it's so much more than that. It's just got this mouth filling deliciousness and heavenly aroma. Make some and see!

Burnt Butter

Apart from browning the butter, the recipe is a simple matter of mixing wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Easy!

I made a few changes to the recipe - firstly, I (obviously) went for the GF flour, and secondly, I made mini loaves, rather than one big one. I can't resist a mini loaf - they're just so cute! I also skipped Joy's icing recipe, as it seemed like it would be too sweet for my taste. I just did a simple icing of 250 grams cream cheese to a quarter cup icing sugar. (This made quite a tangy, cream-cheese forward icing, which I love, but in the recipe I've suggested using up to half a cup of icing sugar. Start with the smaller amount, taste, and see if you want to add more!)

Burnt Butter Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

These cakelets were so good! The cakes themselves were moist and tender-crumbed, with a nice crunch on the edges. They smelled amazing and tasted rather like gingerbread or pumpkin bread - cosy autumnal flavours. Enjoy!

Burnt Butter Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Burnt Butter Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Cake recipe adapted from Joy the Baker, Icing recipe by Sarah

Ingredients

For the cake

170 grams unsalted butter

2 cups plain flour (gluten free, if required - I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)

3/4 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

For the Icing

250 grams cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4-1/2 cup icing sugar

1/4 cup salted roasted pistachios, roughly chopped

Method

To make the cakes, Preheat the oven to 175C. Butter an 8-loaf mini loaf tray.

Melt the butter in a light-coloured frying pan over a low heat. Continue cooking until the butter foams up and starts to sizzle, and the milk solids separate. Stir with a heatproof spatula to prevent the milk solids sticking to the pan. Once the sizzling has subsided and the butter had turned from yellow to a medium brown colour, (and most importantly, smells amazing), take off the heat and set aside to cool completely.

Whisk together the plain flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.

In a large measuring jug, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, buttermilk and cooled melted butter. Stir in the grated carrots.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together gently until combined and no big pockets of flour remain.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until cooked through when tested with a skewer.

Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat together the cream cheese, vanilla extract and icing sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Start with the smaller amount of sugar, then taste and add more sugar if you like.

When the loaves are completely cold, spread the icing on the loaves and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.

Makes 8 mini loaves