Katharina’s Favorite Cake

My family really likes sheet cakes; here we also call them “Mehlspeisen” (flour dishes). Almost every other day, there’s a Gugelhupf, roulade, cake, or torte. For me, all recipes must be simple, quick, and good. For holidays or Sundays, I particularly enjoy making the pumpkin seed torte, which is very delicious and moist. It requires a lot of eggs and pumpkin seeds, but otherwise, it’s no witchcraft. This was the favorite torte of Katharina, our summer intern this year :-)

Pumpkin Seed Torte Recipe:

8 fresh eggs, 120 g sugar, 80 g breadcrumbs, 200 g roasted and chopped pumpkin seeds, 1 packet vanilla sugar, (if desired, 2 tablespoons rum). 1 packet whipped cream and redcurrant jam for filling, chocolate glaze.

Separate the eggs, beat the egg whites, in a separate bowl beat the egg yolks with sugar until fluffy, add breadcrumbs, vanilla sugar, pumpkin seeds, finally fold in the egg whites with a spatula and pour the batter into a greased cake pan lined with coconut flakes or breadcrumbs, then bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees Celsius) for approx. 40 min.

Let it cool, cut it twice with a cake knife. Spread a good layer of redcurrant jam (Johannisbeer) on each layer, then a layer of whipped cream, then another layer of cake, again redcurrant jam and whipped cream. On top, I just add a thin layer of fine redcurrant jam and a thin chocolate glaze. Chill, let it set, done. If you don’t like pumpkin seeds, it also tastes very good with coarsely grated nuts or brittle.

Since yesterday was Apple Day, here’s also a simple shortcrust pastry recipe for an apple crumble cake. It tastes best on the second day, provided there’s still some left, as it becomes beautifully crumbly and juicier then. Also simple and quick to make.

Simple Apple Cake with Crumbles (amount is calculated for one baking sheet; for a cake pan, simply halve the ingredients).

For the topping: grate 1.5 – 2 kg of apples (not too fine), then briefly warm them in a bowl, add cinnamon, sugar, lemon zest or lemon juice, a splash of water and blanch briefly, then chill.

Shortcrust pastry: 500 g butter, 4 eggs, 200 g sugar, 1000 g flour, 2 packets baking powder.

Prepare a shortcrust pastry from the ingredients. I simply put all ingredients into the food processor with a dough hook, set it to low speed, and it makes a fine dough that easily detaches from the bowl. Then, spread a good half of the dough onto the baking sheet with a rolling pin and put the rest immediately into the freezer (for the crumbles). When rolling out the dough, I always use baking paper above and below the dough, so the dough never sticks to the rolling pin and it’s very quick. Spread the cooled apple mixture onto the dough and distribute it over the entire baking sheet. Crumble the rest of the shortcrust pastry by hand and sprinkle it over the dough as crumbles. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for approx. 40-50 min.

All the best and good luck. Your farmer’s wife Katharina from Zittrauerhof in Gasteinertal. Next time, there will be more tips about the farm, away from the kitchen :-)