by Sandra Fikes

Created on: January 16, 2008   Last Updated: April 09, 2011

How does one begin to think on where to start when creating a guide to the richness of German desserts and pastries? How can anyone write an article that can do a subject such as this justice? There are a few recipes that I suppose deserve extra special attention, so it is those on which I will focus and I hope this will encourage you, dear reader, to explore more into the wonderful and rich history of German baking.

The first item that I suppose I should discuss is the Kuchen. For such a simple seeming cake it has proven to be a staple of German cooking even when Germans have immigrated to other countries.

In 2000 state legislature in the state of South Dakota made kuchen the official state dessert. In the 1880's German immigrants had brought their recipes for this traditional German dessert with them and it has been a popular staple of McPherson County in north central South Dakota ever since.

Kuchen, the German word for "cake", is made any number of ways and is therefore difficult to exactly define other than being a traditional German dessert cake. Some well known methods for making kuchen include a popular Southern Indiana version that has a cinnamon and sugar filling, perhaps best described as being a German coffee cake. Then there is the pie pastry variety that often has a thick cake-like crust and a sweet custard filling. A cheesecake type of pastry variety has a yeast raised crust and a filling of fruit and creamy custard. And there is a variety that has been described as being like a nut roll where the kuchen is made in a long rolled spiral of filled dough.

Whatever variety of kuchen it is a very popular German dessert that has been known to be found wherever German immigrants have settled. Even in Germany the varieties are diverse. Ingredients in the cakes can vary depending on the region in which the kuchen is made. Regardless of the wide diversity, there is still a basic commonality in the recipes that defines what a kuchen is. The kuchen is made up of layers and has a cake dough that is often made up of flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk (or water), flavoring, and either baking powder or yeast.

The International Jewish Cook Book [1919] by Florence Kreisler Greenbaum lists the following recipe for kuchen dough:

"COFFEE CAKE (KUCHEN) DOUGH

Soak one-half ounce of yeast in one-half cup of lukewarm milk; when dissolved put in a bowl, or round agate pan, and stir in one cup of sifted flour, one teaspoon of sugar and one-fourth teaspoon of salt, mix thoroughly,

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