German Archives - Jenny is baking

Snow White Cake with Strawberries

We finally need another German recipe on the blog, for that reason you will get the typical Snow White Cake aka Donauwelle. But I am serving this classic with a twist, you will get it with strawberries instead of cherries. This cake contains a marbled cake base (another super German recipe) into which you press some cherries (normally), followed by a layer of German buttercream and topped off with a chocolate layer. Beside the Black Forest Cake this Snow White Cake is super German for me. But since I was not in the mood for canned cherries, I decided to use a lot of fresh strawberries, so my buttercream contains chunks of strawberry. The chocolate layer also has some strawberries tucked inside. Because why not? Continue Reading…

21/05/2021

German Tree Cake with Dulce de Leche

Baumkuchen mit Karamell aus Südamerika namens dulce de leche

Today I am introducing you to a German treat with a Latin American twist: tree cake with the caramel dulce de leche. You may wonder why it is called tree cake. All the layers are supposed to represent the rings you see when you cut through the stem of a tree. If you buy this cake at a fair, the layers are not shown horizontally, but vertically. This makes it look even more like the real tree rings and hence the name. However, since you need a special construction with the cake roating on it to bake layer after layer, I decided to go for a simple version you can prepare with your oven at home.

01/12/2020

Pfeffernüsse or German Spice Cookies from Grandma

Have you ever heard of Pfeffernüsse aka German spice cookies? I live in the south of Germany in the city Munich. Once I asked in a bakery whether they sold any and they look at me as if as were from Mars. So I checked, since there are so many German dialects, maybe they use another word in Bavaria, but no, I quickly learned that they are also called Pfeffernüsse here. However, they seem to be more common in the north of Germany, the Dutch and Danish also have similar versions. The handwritten recipe book from my grandma contains about ten different recipes. Many of her recipes contain peppermint extract and this one is closer to gingerbread or German Lebkuchen. Pfeffernüsse literally translates as “pepper nuts”, probably they are called “nuts” because they are the size of walnuts. At least the ones I grew up with are rather small.

27/11/2020

Bavarian Zwetschgendatschi or German Plum Cake

Finally it is plum time! For that reason you get Bavarian Zwetschgendatschi or plum cake today. Since I have been living in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, for more than a year, I need to introduce some local traditions and one of them definitely is Zwetschgendatschi. There are a lots of fights about what is the most classic version of this iconic dish. You can either prepare it with yeast dough or a pie crust, you may wish to only serve it with plums for them to shine. I, however, am a huge fan of crumbs or streusel and therefore decided to go with the crumb version. If you don’t want to wait for the yeast dough to rise, you can also make this plum tart, which I like just the same.

07/08/2020

Classic Red Riding Hood Cake from Germany

Have you ever heard of the red riding hood cake we have here in Germany? Well, it is a cake with a very red glaze, smooth as glass. Its shiny color reminds you of the red riding hood and hence it got its name from this tale. The base of this impressive cake is like a marbled cake, which is dotted with cherries. The second layer consists of whipping cream mixed with quark and the third is a glaze made with cherry juice. Welcome to a German fairy tale!

19/06/2020

German Cheesecake with Apricots and Crumbs

Cremiger Käsekuchen mit Aprikosen und Streuseln

I asked you on Instagram and you all agreed, you wanted to get the recipe for ths cheesecake with apricots and crumbs. So here goes. I decided to make my favorite cheesecake with a pie crust (this is a very German thing to do) and fill it with lots of apricots (two layers) and sprinkle with some crumbs. Yes, I love crumbs on about anything. If you are not that much into crumbs, you can just leave them out, no problem.

12/06/2020

Traditional German Cinnamon Stars with Video

Die allerbesten und einfachsten Zimtsterne

These are the easiest and simplest cinnamon stars! I know, I am posting this recipe pretty late, you probably are all done with your Christmas baking. The reason I am doing this, is because I posted an Instagram story with several tips for making these. You all asked which recipe I was using and why the recipe is not on my blog yet. For that reason I decided to post this traditional German Christmas cookie: cinnamon stars! The recipe is completely gluten-free and only contains a few ingredients. The dough can be a bit finicky, my German bakers know what I am talking about. Below you will find several tips how to make them and for the recipe to turn out great.

17/12/2019

Perfect Gingerbread for Houses and Christmas Tree Decoration

Perfekter Lebkuchen für Baumschmuck, Dekoration, Knusperhäuschen usw.

It was the end of November, we were living as poor university students at that point in Dresden, in the east of Germany. We had no clue what to do. Everybody around us seemed to be busy decorating the apartment with wood handcraft from the close Ore mountains. Nutcrackers, smoking manikins, “Schwippbögen”, these are usually showing the nativity, were unwrapped and placed throughout the apartment. We simply couldn’t afford German wood handcraft from the region and therefore only had bare walls to show. Our Christmas decorations? Nil, nada, inexistent. What to do if you can barely make ends meet? My solution was simple: gingerbread or German Lebkuchen. Gingerbread is perfect if you want to use it as decoration. Regardless if you wish to use it for a gingerbread house (or even village?), to decorate your Christmas tree with, or to make an advent calendar. Gingerbread was my solution to our Christmas decoration.

09/12/2019

German Nut Triangles

These German nut triangles are one of my favorite desserts from Germany. I just learned recently that you supposedly only serve them during Christmas season in some regions of Germany. However, I remember seeing them everywhere all year round, every bakery had them at least where we lived. Even the school kiosk offered them all the time and I happily ate them day in and day out.

04/10/2019

Creamy German Cheesecake with Strawberries

Creamy German Cheesecake with strawberries, that’s what you will get today. You may ask what German cheesecake is compared to American cheesecake? The main differences are that you use quark or curd cheese instead of only cream cheese and you have a pie crust to keep it all together and not your typical cookie crust. Do you want to give this cheesecake a try? The version you see below is the creamiest of them all. You can eat it plain or serve it, as I did, with a strwaberry topping. If you rather try some other, this is more traditional cream cheesecake with blueberries a no refined sugar, this one with apples and caramel, this one is the traditional Japanese, or a no-bake with limes. Continue Reading…

03/05/2019

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