Cake | Rust and Flour

Quick and easy and super delicious. Also very German, what’s not to love?

The German Butterkuchen was actually made by my boyfriend. Lucky me! Back in the summery days, when I used to live on a boat on the Thames, I went to work one day and sat there with my German colleagues and we got talking. Talking about being German and about all the things we miss. This conversation happens roughly every month and usually ends in someone asking some relatives back in Germany to send some typical German sweets over.

Probably the most German cake of all cakes. Probably…

So, we were talking and lots of stuff came up. Like, great beer of course. Proper bread. Ahoi Brause. Halloren Kugeln. Pretzels. And Butterkuchen. Butterkuchen is pretty great actually. It’s super easy to make and you have it to almost every get-together in Germany. Birthday? Butterkuchen. Wedding? Butterkuchen. And a wedding cake probably, since Butterkuchen is not the most glamourous of all cakes.

It consists of lots of butter (you don’t say…), sugar and more sugar on top. Bit of flour and yeast and you’re done. And the best thing is: You don’t even need a fancy cake tin. Just use your baking tray and some baking paper. Easy-peasy.

German Butterkuchen
serves a bunch of people

400g flour
1 sachet yeast
100ml milk
300g butter
75g sugar
1tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch of salt
4 eggs
150g almond flakes
200g icing sugar
lemon juice

Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl. Heat the milk in a microwave (shouldn’t be too hot!) and dissolve half of the butter in it. Add the milk mixture to the flour. Whisk is so that you get a nice smooth dough. Gradually add the eggs one by one, whisking thoroughly after every egg.
Cover the dough and let it rise until doubled in size.

After that (it can take up to an hour), put the dough onto a greased baking tray and let it prove for another 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cover your fingertips in flour and punch little holes in the dough. But flakes of the rest of the butter in each hole. Sprinkle the almonds on top.
Bake the cake for around 15-20 minutes.

Combine the icing sugar with some lemon juice and pour the mixture over the still warm (but not hot) cake. I usually use a fork to pinch some holes in the cake so that the icing can seep into the cake.
Let the cake cool completely and cut it into squares.

That’s it! It does take a little bit of time but a German Butterkuchen is definitely not difficult and a great way to prepare something for more than 3 people.

Enjoy, Becca x

Not as disgusting as it sounds.

It’s vegan. It’s green. It has some vegetables in it. “Ewwww”, I hear you scream. And still, I bet you’d like a second slice after I forced you to eat your first one. Because I’m nice and stuff. Sharing cake, that’s what nice people do. Especially when that cake is packed with veggie goodness and still tastes like the best chocolate cake you’ve ever eaten. It’s good for you!

Quite frankly, I did hesitate a bit when my friend told me about this. But after my recent discovery that brownies with vegetables (as in beetroot) are super duper delicious, I thought I’d give it a go. Turns out, it was one of the easiest cakes I ever made!

Mini Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado*

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Avocado
makes one 9 inch cake

For the dough:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups spelt flour (or wholemeal flour)
6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
1/4 almond oil (or any other vegetable oil)
1 very ripe medium avocado, mashed
2 cups water
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the frosting:
1 very ripe avocado
1 tsp lemon juice
250g powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F), grease two cake tins (8 or 9 inch rounds).

Mix all the dry ingredients together (flours, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda).
In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together except the sugar (almond oil, avocado, water, vinegar, vanilla extract). Add the sugar and stir it well.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients until smooth and fill the two cake rounds.

Bake for around 30-40 minutes and let them cool down.

For the frosting, scoop the very very very ripe avocado in a bowl and add the lemon juice. Whisk it with a hand mixer until it’s very smooth. It takes around 3 minutes.
Gradually, add the powdered sugar and the vanilla extract and whisk until all lumps are gone.
Put some of the frosting in between the two cake rounds and press them lightly together. Add the rest of the frosting on top and let it settle down a bit.

*if you want to have mini versions of this cake, just use smaller cake tins. Reduce the baking time as well.

Let me know if you liked the cake. And send me your pics, I’m dying to see your versions! :)

Enjoy, Becca x

PS: Thanks Joy The Baker for the inspiration!