Sundays in (southern) Germany follow a certain... pattern.
You go to church, in your Sunday finery. Then often the men will go to the Frühschoppen into the Kneipe, and the women will go home to prepare the big Sunday feast - usually a big roast of some sort. After the very heavy meal, the family will go out for a Sunday walk. After the walk, it's back home for coffee and cake.
I used to hate Sundays like that. Truth to tell, our Sundays were often a bit different, but never mind that at the moment. I didn't like the big meal (which with us usually was something like venison or wild boar, yum!), not because I didn't like the food - far from it! No, I didn't like the cleaning up afterwards. Call me lazy.
But I've always loved, loved, loved the Sunday afternoon coffee hour. I love it especially when I'm at my parents' and I can sit with my Mom.(Soon!) But I can make do on my own too. As a student, I would go to the local bakery and get some sort of pastry. Now, that I'm an adult and have my own family, I bake.
All this to give you the recipe to the cake I'm making today - which is, incidentally, also the beloved birthday cake of the Muir children. I had searched very long for an easy chocolate cake even Alan would eat -- he of the cake-is-a-great-idea-but-no-thank-you-I-don't-want-any persuasion. This cake, he devours.
I got the recipe off a German cooking board and ran with it. I changed some things and exchanged some others, and now with every birthday, we have this cake and everybody loves it. In fact, everybody loves it so much that I make it for Sundays as well. Sometimes.
Sprudelkuchen
5 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup Nesquik (hot chocolate drink powder)
200 g Pecans, ground
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sparkling water
Beat the eggs until fluffy and then add sugar slowly. Add vanilla extract. Combine baking powder, flour, and Nesquik and carefully stir into the egg-sugar mixture. Don't overwork the dough! Add the ground pecans and the heavy cream, and then add the sparkling water at the end. It will look slightly disgusting when you first pour the fizzy water in but don't be deterred! The resulting dough is very thin and fluid.
Pour into large buttered cake pan (13x9) and bake at 375 F for about 40 minutes or until a stick comes out clean. Enjoy!
Comments