Sand Cake
"Sand cakes are typical fare at German Kaffeeklatsch (coffee with some friends at about 4 p.m.). I post this in answer to a request for Sand Cake. This is different from the classical one (a pound cake), where you cream the butter with sugar and eggs, then add flour.
This should be more like a firm sponge cake, where you beat eggs with sugar first, then fold in flour and MELTED butter! –It is from one of my favourite cookbooks “Schwarzer, Horst et al.: Das ist Kochen, Germany, 1981”. I haven't tried it yet, so if you do, let me know. :)"
- Ready In:
- 1hr 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Yields:
-
12 pieces
- Serves:
- 4-6
ingredients
-
For cake
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup superfine sugar, plus
- 2 tablespoons superfine sugar (250 grams)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (150 grams)
- 1 cup cornstarch, plus
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (150 grams)
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, plus
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (170 grams)
-
For 10 inch (26 cm) springform
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon flour
directions
- NOTE: Recipe states to only grease and flour the bottom of the form, so that the cake will rise evenly and not only in the middle. You are supposed to loosen the sides with a thin sharp knife after baking, before removing the rim!
- Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
- Brush springform bottom with melted butter. Put in fridge until firm (2 min). Add flour and shake over sink until evenly dusted, shake out excess flour.
- Melt butter without browning. You will need it to be liquid, put barely warm.
- Mix flour and cornstarch.
- Put the eggs, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a large bowl and put this over a water bath (put bowl over a shallow pan filled with hot water, so eggs will get warm without curdling). Beat egg mixture on water bath until thick and heated to 97 F (36 C). Test temperature by bringing a drop of the mixture to your lower lip. It should feel neither hot nor cold (body temperature).
- Remove mixture from water bath and beat on low speed until cold again. (You could do this in a cold water bath to quicken the process).
- Sift flour/cornstarch over egg mixture.
- Pour barely warm butter over eggs/flour.
- With a rubber spatula fold flour and butter carefully but thoroughly into egg mixture.
- Fill batter in prepared form. Bake in the lower third of oven 30-40 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, no crumbs attached.
- Remove from oven and let cool in form for 15 minutes. Loosen rim with a thin sharp knife and remove from the form. Let cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve as is, or better, after at least 6 hours (to firm up), half horizontally and fill with any cake filling and top with a topping of your choice.
- NOTE: This batter can be baked in a 9x5 inch loaf pan or a bundt form as well, baking time will be longer though, so reduce heat to 350F (180 C).
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Reviews
-
I tried this cake, and it never rose and was as dense as cement. I am not sure how it is supposed to rise without leavening or whipped egg whites. Perhaps there is an error in the recipe??
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Hi,
I am German and I live with my husband Thorsten (Chef Thorsten)in the former German capital Bonn, a rather small town near Cologne at the river Rhine.
I work in a teashop (a TeaGschwendner franchise shop, see my web site link) situated in a quaint little old house in the center of Bonn and like it a lot. I enjoy to make myself comfortable with a cup of tea and a book (an old cookbook is good).
