Cherry Kuchen (Pronounced Ku-Kah by My Family)

"Old family recipe for a coffee cake with fruit topping from a region in Russia where a community of Germans lived. This is my father's version of the recipe which is almost sugar-free. Very good served warm with vanilla bean frozen yogurt or ice cream."
 
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photo by Syrinx photo by Syrinx
photo by Syrinx
Ready In:
1hr 10mins
Ingredients:
12
Yields:
2 9x9 inch coffee cakes
Serves:
12
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ingredients

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directions

  • Add water to beaten eggs and dissolve dry yeast in this mixture. Let all these ingredients rest refrigerated for 15 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, blend with a pastry blender or by hand flour, salt, sugar, butter and cardamom.
  • In a large mixing bowl, make a ring of blended flour. Pour chilled yeast mixture into the center and work it into dry ingredients. Knead until smooth, about 2 minutes. Form dough into ball and let rest, covered for about 20 minutes.
  • Roll out dough into 2 9x9 baking dishes. Push edges of dough up against dish to prevent fruit topping from spilling.
  • For topping, spread cherries over top of dough. With a pasty blender or fork, cut butter into flour and sugar until small crumbs of mixture are formed. Sprinkle crumb mixture over top of cherries.
  • Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until topping begins to golden.

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Reviews

  1. Very good. I didn't have any cardamom powder, so I took the seeds out of cardamom pods and ground those up (using a little more than indicated in the recipe). And I used more cherries than indicated, since I only have one 9X9 pan so had to make a half-quantity, but I couldn't think what to do with any leftovers. The flavour of the kuchen was lovely, but I found the crust a little dry (perhaps I cooked it for too long?). I would suggest using the tartest cherries you can find; mine were possibly a little too bland - still delicious, but I can imagine that a bit of sourness would complement the cardamom base and streusel topping very well. I really liked this recipe, and will definitely make it again. Reviewed for Pick A Chef, Fall 2007.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a civil engineer, born and raised in Denver. After losing about 60 lbs through a sensible diet and exercise, I have learned to cook quick and healthy meals. I still take a day to splurge once a week and I love to make desserts too! My main activities outside of the long hours I spend at work are kickboxing, fitness boot camp, ballet and tap. I also enjoy cooking but as a single girl, I'm always looking for recipes that can be made small and will last a few days. <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/adopted_1_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting">
 
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