Kirsch-Streuselkuchen - German Cherry-Crumbcake

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. Yet the ladies at the fair would ask every year 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 powder
pinch of salt

for the topping
1.5 cups sour pitted cherries

for the crumbs:
a little over half a stick of 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 sprinform
5. spread the batter in the springform evenly
6. put the cherries or other fruit on top and spread it evenly




Cake before I put it in the oven

 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...

Last piece...the cake disappeared before I could take a picture of the whole thing...=)

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.