Piece of Cake: German Cherry Crumb Cake - Kirsch-Streuselkuchen

Here is a secret: My husband is a 3-time Weld County Pie Champion blue ribbon winner. I am not! I don't do pies. It's not a German thing. In fact, when we first started dating, we always argued about the usage of the word cake and pie. I'd call his pie a cake, and he 'd be very offended. "It's not a cake! This is a P-I-E! A cake is something different," he woud yell in frustration. Problem is we don't have the word pie in German. A baked sweet something is just a Kuchen/ cake.

Year after year the judge ladies at the fair would ask upon turning in the pie: Did he really make that pie?" They could not believe that a guy could make better pies than the old blue haired ladies...

Well I am not a champion pie maker. And I have never won any of the baked goods competitions at the Weld County Fair. It's just too intimidating with a husband like mine...But here is a really great recipe for an amazing German style cake!

You can make it with sour cherries or any other kind of tart fruit ( apples, red currents, any berries really, or apricots)



Ingredients for the batter:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 125 grams sugar
• vanilla (powder or liquid version)
• 200 grams flour
• 2 tsp. baking powderpinch of salt

for the topping

1.5 cups sour pitted cherries or other sour fruit cut into bitesized pieces



for the crumbs:

• a little over half a stick of COLD unsalted butter
• 75 grams sugar
• 150 grams flour

1.cream the butter with sugar, add the three eggs incorporating one egg at a time mixing it for about a minute, add vanilla flavoring

2. mix flour, baking powder, and salt together.

3. add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients one tablespoon at a time.

4. butter a springform (springform is the kind of pan that's round and the rim pops off after the cake is baked)

5. spread the batter in the springform evenly

6. put the cherries or other fruit on top and spread it evenly


 Make crumbs:
1.cut the cold butter into a small bowl
2.add the flour and sugar to it
3.gently work the flour and sugar with your fingers into the butter

Remember: you are not trying to make dough here! Just a lumpy mixture to spread over your cake!

Bake for about one hour at 375 Fahrenheit in preheated oven. Check with a toothpick for doneness...

This cake is really a piece of cake to make! I have been doing it since I was a young child in Germany. So don't be afraid to try it, and let me know how your's turned out.