Jewish Cook Book - Coffee Cakes (Kuchen)

This is the Coffee Cakes (Kuchen) section of this book

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Rendered butter
Procure as much country or Western butter as desired, you may get several pounds of it when it is cheap during the summer; or any butter unfit for table use may be made sweet and good for cooking purposes and will last for months, if prepared in the following manner: Place the butter in a deep, iron kettle, filling only half full to prevent boiling over. Set it on the fire where it will simmer slowly for several hours. Watch carefully that it does not boil over. Do not stir it, but from time to time skim it. When perfectly clear, and all the salt and sediment has settled at the bottom, the butter is done. Set aside a few minutes, then strain into stone jars through a fine sieve, and when cold tie up tightly with paper and cloth. Keep in a cool, dry place.

Coffee cake (kuchen) dough
Soak one-half ounce of yeast in one-half cup of lukewarm milk; when dissolved put in a bowl, or round agate pan, and stir in one cup of sifted flour, one teaspoon of sugar and one-fourth teaspoon of salt, mix thoroughly, and put in a warm place (not hot) to rise, from one to two hours.

When well risen, cream well together one cup of sugar and three-fourths cup of butter, then add three eggs, five cups of sifted flour, one cup of milk and one teaspoon of salt, mix together until light, then stir in the risen yeast, and with a spoon work well for ten minutes, and set aside to rise again, five or six hours or all night. Dough should not be very stiff. When well risen it can be used for cinnamon cake, pies or pocket books. This recipe makes one large cinnamon cake, three pies, and about one dozen pocket books. If set at night use half the quantity of yeast.

Kaffee kuchen (cinnamon)
Butter long and broad cake-pans thoroughly, roll out enough dough to cover them, and let it rise about half an hour before baking, then brush it well with melted butter. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top and some chopped almonds. Take a small lump of butter, a very little flour, some sugar and cinnamon and rub it between the hands until it is like lumps of almonds, then strew on top of cakes.

Cinnamon rolls or schnecken
Take half the kitchen dough. Roll one-half inch thick and spread well with melted butter. Sprinkle generously with scraped maple, brown or granulated sugar and cinnamon, then roll. Cut the roll into equal parts about one inch thick, place close together endwise in a spider, generously buttered, spread with one-fourth inch layer of brown, or maple sugar. Let rise until light, and bake ten to twenty minutes in a hot oven, a golden brown. Invert the spider, remove rolls and serve caramel side up.

Abgeruehrter kugelhopf
Soak one-half ounce of yeast or one cake compressed yeast in a very little lukewarm milk; add a pinch of salt and one tablespoon of sugar, stir it up smooth and set back of the stove to rise. In the meantime rub a scant cup of butter and a scant cup of powdered sugar to a cream, add gradually the yolks of four eggs, one at a time and add also the grated peel of a lemon. Sift two cups of flour into a bowl, make a depression in the centre, pour in, the yeast, one cup of lukewarm milk, and make a light batter of this. Add the creamed butter and eggs and stir until it forms blisters and leaves the bowl clean. Take one-half cup of cleaned and seeded dark raisins and cut up some citron very fine. Dredge flour over them before adding, and if necessary, add more flour to the dough, which should be of the consistency of cup cake batter. Last add the stiffly-beaten whites of the eggs. Place in a well-greased long or round pan with tube in centre; let rise until double in bulk, and bake in moderate oven until browned and thoroughly done.

Plain bunt or napf kuchen
Take one cake compressed yeast, add a pinch of salt, one tablespoon of sugar, and about two tablespoons of lukewarm water. Stir the yeast until it is a smooth paste and set it in a warm place to rise. Sift two and one-half cups of flour (use the same size cup for measuring everything you are going to use in your cake), make a depression in the centre, stir in the yeast and a scant cup of lukewarm milk, make batter, and let it rise until you have prepared the following: Rub one-half cup of butter and three-fourths cup of powdered sugar to a cream, just as for cup cake, then add gradually one egg at a time, using three altogether, and stirring all the time in one direction. Work in the risen batter two or three spoons at a time between each egg. Grate in the peel of a lemon or an orange. Butter the bunt-form well (do this always before you begin to work). Blanched almonds may be set in the grooves of the cake-form after buttering it. Put in the dough, set it in a warm place and let it rise for an hour and a half or two hours. Bake in a moderate oven one full hour, covered at first.

Chocolate coffee cake
Pour a bunt kitchen dough into long, well-buttered tins, and when baked remove from the oven and cover thickly with boiled chocolate icing.

Pocket books
Take as much of the coffee cake dough as you desire, lay it on a well-floured biscuit board and mix just enough more flour with it to enable you to roll it out without sticking to the board. Roll out about one-fourth inch thick and cut the dough in squares about as long as your finger.

Beat the yolk of one egg and two tablespoons of milk together; wet each square well with the mixture, lay one raisin in the centre (after the seed has been removed from it), sprinkle thickly with sugar and cinnamon mixed together, then put a small dab of butter on top. Catch the four corners of each square together, so that the inside is protected. Lay the pocket books, not too closely together, in a greased pan and set aside to rise. When well risen bake in a moderately hot oven until well baked and browned nicely.

Bola
Make a good, rich bread dough. Let it rise overnight; next morning; mix with dough two eggs; one-half pound of butter well kneaded; stand by fire until well risen. When risen, roll out into thin sheets and sprinkle with chopped almonds, citron, cinnamon and plenty of brown sugar and lumps of butter all through; roll up like jelly-roll, cut in pieces a finger long, grease pan, stand pieces in centre, others around and let rise before baking. Watch it well while baking.

French coffee cake (savarin)
Soak one cake of compressed yeast in a little lukewarm water or milk. Put the yeast in a cup, add two tablespoons of lukewarm water, a pinch of salt and one tablespoon of sugar, stir it up well with a spoon and set back of the stove to rise. Rub one-half cup of butter to a cream, add one-third cup of powdered sugar and stir constantly in one direction. Add the yolks of four eggs, one at a time, and the grated peel of a lemon. Sift two cups of flour into a bowl, make a depression in the centre of the flour, pour in the yeast and one cup of lukewarm milk. Stir and make a light batter of this. Add the creamed butter and eggs, stir until it forms blisters and leaves the bowl clean; one-half cup of dark raisins, one-half cup of pounded almonds and a little citron, cut up very fine, and last the stiff-beaten whites of the eggs. Fill your cake forms which have been well-greased, set in a warm place to rise until double in bulk, about forty-five minutes, and bake in a moderate oven forty-five minutes. Fill the centre with whipped cream and serve with rum sauce.

Baba à la Parisienne
Prepare the yeast as above; cream a scant cup of butter with four tablespoons of sugar, the grated peel of a lemon, add five eggs, one at a time, stirring each egg a few minutes before you add the next. Have ready two cups of sifted flour and add two spoonfuls between each egg until all is used. Make a soft dough of the yeast, a scant cup of lukewarm milk, add two spoonfuls between each egg until all is used up, a pinch of salt, and one cup of flour. Let it rise for fifteen minutes. Now mix all well, rub the form with butter, and blanch one-half cup of almonds, cut into long strips and strew all over the form. Fill in the mixture or cake batter, let it rise two hours and bake very slowly.

Mohn (poppy seed) roley poley
Roll out a piece of dough large enough to cover your whole baking-board, roll thin. Let it rise until you have prepared the filling; grind one cup of black poppy seed in a coffee-mill as tight as possible and clean it well, throw away the first bit you grind so as not to have the coffee taste; put it on to boil with one cup of milk, add two tablespoons of butter, one-half cup of seeded raisins, one-half cup of walnuts or almonds chopped up fine, two tablespoons of molasses or syrup, and a little citron cut up fine. When thick, set it away to cool, and if not sweet enough add more sugar and flavor with vanilla. When this mixture has cooled, spread on the dough which has risen by this time. Take up one corner and roll it up, into a long roll, like a jelly-roll, put in a greased pan and let it rise an hour, then spread butter on top and bake very slowly. Let it get quite brown, so as to bake through thoroughly. When cold cut up in slices, as many as you are going to use at one time only.

Mohn wachtel
Take coffee cake dough. Let the dough rise again; for an hour, spread with a poppy seed mixture, after cutting into squares, fold into triangles and pinch the edges together. Lay in well-buttered pans, about two inches apart, and let them rise again, spread with poppy seed filling. Take one-half pound of poppy seed (mohn) which have previously been soaked in milk and then ground, add one-quarter of a pound of sugar and the yolks of three eggs. Stir this all together in one direction until quite thick and then stir in the beaten whites to which you must add two ounces of sifted flour and one-quarter of a pound of melted butter. Fill the tartlets and bake. The poppy seed filling in Mohn Roley Poley may be used in the Mohn Wachtel if so desired.

Mohntorts
Line a deep pie-plate with a thin sheet of kuchen dough, let it rise about half an hour, then fill with a poppy seed filling same as used with Mohn Wachtel. Fill the pie-plates and bake.

Small mohn cakes
Roll coffee cake dough out quite thin, spread with melted butter (a brush is best for this purpose). Let it rise a little while, then sprinkle well with one cup of sugar, add one-half pound of ground poppy seed moistened with one-half cup of water, cut into strips about an inch wide and four-inches long; roll and put in a well-buttered pan to rise, leaving enough space between each and brush, with butter. Bake in moderate oven at first, then increase the heat; bake slowly.

Berliner pfannkuchen (Purim krapfen)
Take one and one-half cups of flour, a pinch of salt sifted into a deep bowl, one cup of lukewarm milk and three-fourths cake of compressed yeast which has been, dissolved in a little warm water and sugar. Stir into a dough, cover with a towel and set away in a warm place to rise. When well risen, take one-half cup of butter, one cup of sugar, a little salt and rub to a cream. Add two eggs well beaten, stir all well and add the risen dough, one teaspoon of salt and work in gradually five cups of sifted flour and the grated peel of a lemon. Stir the dough till it blisters and leaves the dish perfectly clean at the sides. Let the dough rise slowly for about two hours (all yeast dough is better if it rises slowly). Take a large baking-board, flour well and roll out the dough on it as thin as a double thickness of pasteboard. When it is all rolled out, cut with a round cutter the size of a tumbler. When all the dough has been cut out, beat up an egg. Spread the beaten egg; on the edge of each cake (spread only a few at a time for they would get too dry if all were done at once). Then put one-half teaspoon of marmalade, jam or jelly on the cake. Put another cake on top of one already spread, having cut it with a cutter a little bit smaller than the one used in the first place. This makes them stick better and prevents the preserves coming out while cooking. Set all away on a floured board or pan about two inches apart. Spread the top of each cake with melted butter and let them rise from one to two hours. When ready to fry, heat at least two pounds of rendered butter or any good vegetable oil in a deep iron kettle. Try the butter with a small piece of dough. If it rises immediately, put in the doughnuts. In putting them in, place the side that is up on the board down in the hot butter. Do not crowd them in the kettle as they require room to rise and spread. Cover them with a lid. In a few seconds uncover. If they are light brown, turn them over on the other side but do not cover them again. When done they will have a white stripe around the centre. Take them up with a perforated skimmer, lay on a large platter, sprinkle with pulverized sugar. If the butter gets too hot take from the fire a minute. These are best eaten fresh.

The doughnuts may be baked in moderately hot oven and when half done glazed with sugar and white of egg.

Topfa dalkeln. Cheese cakes (Hungarian)
Take one-half ounce of yeast, mix with a little scalded milk which has cooled to lukewarm, one-half cup of flour and put aside in a warm place to rise. Allow two cups of scalded milk to become lukewarm. Add one pound of flour (four cups sifted flour) to the risen sponge, then the two cups of milk, mix these very well, cover with a cloth and put aside in a warm place to rise. Take one pound of sweet pot cheese, a pinch of salt, three egg yolks, rind of one lemon, one-half cup of light colored raisins and sugar to taste; mix very well and add the beaten whites and mix thoroughly. When the dough is very well risen, place on a pastry board, roll out and spread with melted butter, fold these edges over to the middle, then the top and bottom over, roll again and spread with butter, fold all sides in once more, roll, spread with butter, repeat the folding, roll out to one-half inch thickness, cut in three-inch squares, place a tablespoon of the cheese mixture in the centre of each square, fold over opposite corners, spread egg white over the top of each pocket, let rise fifteen minutes or one-half hour and bake in a hot oven; when they are well risen, lower heat and bake to a golden brown. This will make about thirty cakes. The dough in the above may be used with the following filling:

Boil and stone one-half pound of prunes, mash to a pulp, sweeten, add the grated peel of a lemon, some cinnamon, etc., and put one teaspoon of this into each square. Take up the corners, fasten them firmly, also pinch all along the edges and lay in a buttered pan, let them rise half an hour before baking. Spread them with melted butter, and bake a nice brown.

Puffs (Purim)
Make the dough same as for Berliner Pfannkuchen, and when well risen roll out on a floured board one-half inch thick, cut in triangles, lay on floured dishes or board to rise. When well risen, drop into a deep kettle of boiling butter and with a spoon baste with the butter until brown; remove with a perforated skimmer and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Kindlech
Into a large bowl sift one pound of fine flour. Make a depression in the centre and pour into it one yeast cake dissolved in a little milk. Let this remain until the milk and yeast have risen a little. Stir in the surrounding flour together with three well-beaten eggs, a quarter of a pound of butter, six ounces of sugar, a pinch of salt and two cups of lukewarm milk. Knead the whole into a smooth dough.

Roll this out very lightly on a well-floured board, brush over with a feather dipped in melted butter and strew thickly with chopped almonds, sultanas and currants. Next fold over about three fingers' width of the dough. Brush the upper surface of this fold with melted butter and strew with mixed fruit and almonds. Fold over again and repeat the operation until the whole of the dough is folded up in layer somewhat resembling a flattened, roley poley pudding. Brush the top well with another feather dipped in beaten egg and cut the whole into thick slices or fingers. Let them stand for half an hour and then bake for an hour in a rather slow oven.

A Cheap coffee cake
This German coffee cake is made by kneading into a pint of bread dough one well-beaten egg, one-half cup of sugar, and a generous tablespoon of butter. The mixture is rolled flat, placed in a shallow pan, let rise again until very light, sprinkled with finely chopped nuts, dusted over with sugar and cinnamon and baked in a quick oven.

Bohemian kolatchen
Make kuchen dough. Add a little cinnamon and mace and one teaspoon of anise seed, well pounded, or flavor to taste. Let rise till very light, then take out on mixing board and roll out to about one-half inch in thickness. Cut in rounds three inches in diameter and lay on a well-buttered pan, pressing down the centre of each so as to raise a ridge around the edge. When well risen, brush the top over with stiffly-beaten white of an egg and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Zwieback
Scald one-half cup of milk and when lukewarm add to one cake of compressed yeast. Add one-fourth cup of sugar, one-fourth cup of melted butter, one-half teaspoon of salt and three eggs unbeaten, one-half teaspoon of powdered anise and enough flour to handle. Let rise until light. Make into oblong rolls the length of middle finger and place together in a buttered pan in parallel rows, two inches apart. Let rise again and bake twenty minutes. When cold, cut in one-half inch slices and brown evenly in the oven.

Sour cream kolatchen
Cream one-half cup of butter, add five yolks, two tablespoons of sugar, grated rind of a lemon, one cup of thick sour cream and one ounce or two cakes of yeast dissolved with a little sugar in two tablespoons of lukewarm milk. Stir all together and add three cups of flour; mix and drop from end of teaspoon on well-greased pans. Let rise until light in a warm place. Place a raisin or cherry on the top of each cake, spread with beaten white of egg, sprinkle with sugar and bake ten minutes in a hot oven.

Russian tea cakes
Mix one cup of sugar, one cup of eggs (about five), and one cup of sour cream with enough flour to roll. Toss on board, roll out one-fourth inch thick, spread with a thin layer of butter, fold the dough over, roll and spread again; repeat three or four times, using altogether three-fourths pound of brick butter. Then place dough in a bowl, cover, and let stand on ice to harden. Then roll as thin as possible, strew with one cup of chopped almonds, sugar and cinnamon, and cut into seven-inch strips. Roll each strip separately into a roll, cut into squares and strew top with chopped almonds, sugar and cinnamon. Bake in a hot oven.

Wiener kipfel
Dissolve one ounce of yeast in one-half cup of lukewarm milk, a pinch of salt and one tablespoon of sugar, set away in a warm place to rise. Sift one pound of flour into a deep bowl and make a dough of one cup of lukewarm milk and the yeast. Set it away until you have prepared the following: Rub a quarter of a pound of butter and four ounces of sugar to a cream, adding yolks of three eggs and one whole egg. Add this to the dough and work well. Let it rise about one hour, then roll out on a well-floured board, just as you would for cookies and let it rise again for at least one-half hour. Spread with beaten whites of eggs, raisins, almonds and citron. Cut dough into triangles. Pinch the edges together. Lay them in well-buttered pans about two inches apart and let then rise again. Then spread again with stiff-beaten whites of eggs and lay a few pounded almonds on each one. Bake a light yellow.

Spice roll
Roll out coffee cake dough quite thin and let it rise half an hour, brush with melted butter and make a filling of the following: Grate some lebkuchen or plain gingerbread; add one-half cup of almonds or nuts, one cup of seeded raisins and one cup of cleaned currants. Strew these all over the dough together with some brown sugar and a little syrup. Spice with cinnamon and roll. Spread with butter and let it rise for an hour. Bake brown.

Wiener studenten kipfel
Make dough same as for Wiener Kipfel. Roll it out quite thin on a well-floured board and let it rise. Cut also into triangles (before you cut them, spread with melted butter). Mix one cup of chopped fresh walnuts with one cup of brown sugar, juice of a lemon, or grind the nuts; add cream to make a paste, sugar to taste and flavor with vanilla, and fill the triangles with the mixture. Take up the three corners and pinch together tightly. Set in well-buttered pans and let them rise again and spread or brush each one with melted butter. Bake a light brown.

Yeast krantz
Take coffee cake dough, add one-fourth cup of washed currants. Let rise in warm place, then toss on floured board. Divide into three or four equal parts, roll each part into a long strand and work the strands together to form one large braid. Place braid in form of a circle in greased baking-pan or twist the braid to resemble the figure eight, pretzel shape. Let rise again in a warm place and bake in a moderate oven one-half hour or until thoroughly done. Brush with beaten eggs and sugar, sprinkle with a few chopped almonds. Return to oven to brown slightly.

Stollen
Sift two pounds of flour into a bowl and set a sponge in it with one cake of compressed yeast, one teaspoon of salt, one pint of lukewarm milk and one tablespoon of sugar. When this has risen, add one-half pound of creamed butter, a quarter of a pound of seeded raisins and one-quarter of a pound of sugar, yolks of four eggs, four ounces of powdered almonds, and the grated peel of a lemon. Work all well, beating with the hands, not kneading. Let this dough rise at least three hours, roll, press down the centre and fold over double, then form into one or two long loaves, narrow at the end. Brush the top with melted butter, let rise again and bake three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven.

Apple cake (kuchen)
After the pan is greased with butter, roll out a piece of dough quite thin, lay it in the pan, press a rim out of the dough all around the pan and let it rise for about ten minutes. Pare five large apples, core and quarter them, dipping each piece in melted butter before laying on the cake, sprinkle bountifully with sugar (brown being preferable to white for this purpose) and cinnamon. See that you have tart apples. Leave the cake in the pans and cut out the pieces just as you would want to serve them. If they stick to the pan, set the pan on top of the hot stove for a minute and the cake will then come out.

Cheese cake or pie
Take one and one-half cups of cheese, rub smooth with a silver or wooden spoon through a colander or sieve, then rub a piece of sweet butter the size of an egg to a cream, add gradually one-half cup of sugar and the yolks of three eggs, a pinch of salt, grate in the peel of a lemon, one-half cup of cleaned currants and a little citron cut up very fine. Line two pie-plates with some kuchen dough or pie dough (See "Coffee Cakes (Kuchen)"), roll it out quite thin, butter the pie-plates quite heavily, and let the dough in them rise at least a quarter of an hour before putting in the cheese mixture, for it must be baked immediately after the cheese is put in, and just before you put the cheese into the plates whip up the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth and stir through the cheese mixture.

Cherry cake
Line a cake-pan, which has been well-buttered, with a thin layer of kuchen dough. Stone two pounds of cherries and lay them on a sieve with a dish underneath to catch the juice. Sprinkle sugar over them and bake. In the meantime beat up four eggs with a cup of sugar, beat until light and add the cherry juice. Draw the kuchen to the oven door, pour this mixture over it and bake.

Peach kuchen
Grease your cake-pans thoroughly with good clarified butter, then line them with a rich coffee cake dough which has been rolled very thin and set in a warm place to rise. Then pare and quarter enough peaches to cover the dough. Lay the peaches in rows and sweeten and set in oven to bake. Make a meringue quickly as possible and pour over the cakes and bake a light brown.

Fresh prune cake (kuchen)
Line a greased biscuit-pan with some of the coffee cake dough. Roll the dough thin and let it come up on the sides of the pan, then set aside to rise. When risen, cut the prunes in halves (they must be the fresh ones, not dried), lay in rows thickly and close together all over the bottom of the pan, do not leave any space between the prunes. Sprinkle very thickly with sugar, lightly with cinnamon, and lay bits of fresh butter all over the top. Bake until done in a moderately hot oven.

Prune cake (kuchen)
Line one or two plates with a thin roll of kuchen dough and let it rise again in the pans which have been heavily greased. Have some prunes boiled very soft, take out the kernels, mash them until like mush, sweeten to taste, add cinnamon and grated peel of a lemon or lemon juice, put in the lined pie-plates and bake immediately. Serve with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored.

Huckleberry kuchen
Line your cake-pans, which should be long and narrow, with a rich kuchen dough, having previously greased them well. Make a paste of cornstarch, one cup of milk, one tablespoon of butter and one teaspoon of cornstarch wet with cold milk. Boil until thick, sweeten and flavor with vanilla and spread on top of the cake dough, then sprinkle thickly with huckleberries which have been carefully picked, sugared and sprinkled with ground cinnamon. Bake in a quick oven.

Huckleberry pie
Clean, pick and wash two cups of huckleberries, then drain them. Beat yolk of one egg and two tablespoons of sugar until light, add one tablespoon of milk, then the drained berries. Line one pie-plate with rich pastry or cookie dough, pour on it the berry mixture, put in the oven and bake light brown; remove from the oven, spread with a meringue made of the white of the egg beaten stiff, and two tablespoons of sugar added. Brown nicely. The white can be beaten with the yolk and sugar, if preferred.