This cake or sponge cake is very popular in Rhineland-Westphalia and North Germany. It is the cake that is usually ordered in cafeterias to accompany tea or coffee, what the Germans call the "kaffezeit", the time in the afternoon when they go to the nearest cafeteria.
It belongs to a type of cakes that are covered with the so-called "streusel", a mixture of flour, butter and sugar that you have probably eaten more than once, ignoring that it is a German invention.
Often the streusel is enriched with nuts as we are going to do next, in this case by adding almonds (so the name would be butterkuchen mit mandel, where mandel means almond).
It is usually made in shallow trays.
INGREDIENTS
- 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of pastry flour
- 250 grams (9 oz) of butter
- 200 ml of whole milk (1 cup)
- 180 grams (6.3 oz) of sugar
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) of almonds (chopped or filleted)
- 1 XL size egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
- 40 grams (1.4 oz) of fresh yeast
First you have to heat the milk until it is lukewarm. Then add the crumbled yeast and reserve.
In a large bowl add the flour, 50 grams (1.8 oz) of sugar, 100 grams (3.5 oz) of melted butter (that we have melted in the microwave, for example), the beaten egg and the mixture that we have made at the beginning of yeast and milk. Mix well and knead to form a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Cover the bowl with a cloth and place it in a warm place, without much light and free from drafts. In 1 hour it will have doubled the volume. Once the time has elapsed, we must take the dough to the mold that is used with the butterkuchen. Said mold is a tray of about 40 x 40 cm (16 x 16 inches), not very deep (about 2 cm~0.9 inches). If you can't find it, use a baking dish that is at least the size indicated, filling it halfway. We spread the mold with melted butter to facilitate unmolding (unless it is silicone, which would not be necessary).
Pour the dough into the mold and flatten it. So, pay attention to this, with the four fingers of the hand we make holes in the dough so that we touch the bottom of the tray. Make them throughout the dough, at spaces as regular as possible. This is very important.
We cut the rest of the butter (150 grams ~ 5.3 oz) into small cubes that we place in each of the holes that we have made with our fingers. Then sprinkle the sliced or chopped almonds all over the surface, doing the same with the 130 grams (4.5 oz) of sugar.
This mixture of almonds, sugar and butter is the streusel of the cake. Let rest for half an hour for the dough to rise again.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (390 F) and introduce the cake for about 20 minutes, until it is visibly done.
We extract and cut directly from the tray, it is not usually unmolded. If everything has gone well, the cake will be soft and the surface will be crispy with the sugar and almonds.