Schmandkuchen - the creamiest cake you have ever eaten

by Lisa Schuhmacher

The "Schmandkuchen" is a creamy cake and a very famous dessert in Germany, especially in Thuringia. There are several types of Schmandkuchen as for example baked with fruits or poppy seed.

The following recipe is prepared with canned mandarins and topped with fruit juice glaze. Of course you can vary in the kind of fruits you use. German bakers recommend especially blueberries, raspberries or currants.

Ingredients for the dough:

200 g flour

100 g sugar

100 g butter

1 egg

Filling Ingredients:

3 cups (à 200 g) Schmand (sour cream)

1 packet Vanilla Pudding powder

500 ml fresh milk

4 tablespoons of sugar

2 small cans (à 300 g) mandarin oranges, to be strained in a sieve and juice to be saved for later use

Topping:

1 pkt gelatine (fruit glaze)

250 ml juice from canned mandarin oranges

2 tablespoons of sugar

Now let's start!

First, knead all the crust ingredients together and form into a pliable dough. Line a 26 cm diameter springform with dough, bringing it halfway up the sides.

Cook pudding as indicated on the packet instructions (and then transfer into a bowl in order that it can cool down faster.

Add Schmand and mix it well. Pour filling into form and arrange the mandarin oranges on top (see photo below). Bake in a preheated fan oven (160ºC) for one hour. Cool the cake completely while still in the springform.

Mix the gelatine with hot water and sugar and also use the juice of the mandarin oranges in a pot. Mix the ingredients well and cook over medium heat. Bring mixture to a light boil and stirring all the time. It is important to keep stirring or else lumps will form. Let it cool down for one minute before pouring onto a tablespoon which is held above the centre of the cake. The glaze will spread over the top of the cake by itself.

German's tip: It is best if the cake is baked one day before serving in order the filling can set.

#Food #Germany #cake #Thuringia #Cheesecake