As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
Now that Autumn is in full swing, it is nice to have the German Israelite things for breakfasts in the kuchens. This is my personal recipe of Braided Cherry Bread, Geflochtenes Kirschbrot, which is part of the romantic poetry of the Goethe soul, of an Israelite People who produced Martin Luther and Johan Sebastian and Christian Bach.
The Crimean German or Russian German were a unique tribal group in they were a quite decorative people in making pretty out of plain. That is what this recipe is, and this recipe turns a few fruit into Jesus feeding the many.
For starting this, you can cheat if you like and get that pre made bread dough in the store, but make sure you sugar it heavily when you put the cinnamon on top.
To start, get two regular bags of blueberry and strawberries, about 6 to 8 ounces. Separately in the strawberry first as you do not want black strawberry, put them into a food processor.
A kettle for each berry and you add:
Blueberry
1/4 lemon juice
1 1/2 cup sugar
Strawberry
1 1/2 cup sugar
Bring both to a boil and then let cool.
After they have cooled, take out about a cup, and mix 5 tablespoons of corn starch, and then add to the respective berries.
Boil again stirring, as this will stick, and then set aside to cool, as it will mud up when it cools.
Now for the sweet dough:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg
4 cups flour
1 cup warm water for yeast
Double raise a sweet dough recipe, which I am not going to give you as it is secret in Blessed Healing Bread, or you can use German Pretzel recipes, but you flatten it out to 9 by 13 inches.
Sprinkle cinnamon on top after you have it rolled out. If you cheat on this and use grocery dough, then put sugar on top.
Now, with a knife cut this dough which is 9 x 13 inches in half. Then cut the halves into halves, and again, so you end up with 8 strips.
Onto a big cookie sheet which has parchment paper on it, you take the first strip and you twist it, so that it makes a pretty twist like a candy cane, and you begin your spiral in the center of the pan. You do not want this too tight, as remember this dough will rise.
If you run out of room in the spiral getting too big, then just put the remaining strips on the long edges of the pan.
Now let it rise.
Now take your blueberry and strawberry filling and if you care you can pipe it into a frosting bag, but a spoon will work. Start with one in the outside spiral, and then alternate to the next, so that when you eat this, you get a delight in tasting a new fruit each time.
Now cover this with part of the Streusel Topping.
Streusel Topping
- 3⁄4 cup sugar
- 3⁄4 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1⁄4 cup butter, softened
Add sliced almonds or whatever you like for nuts on top, and bake it at 350 degrees for about a half hour. Be aware that if it starts browning on the edges, the bottom is probably darker, so you do not want to burn this.
After it is baked and cooled, you make butter cream.
I never use a recipe, but this is close.
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp real vanilla
2 tablespoons soft butter
3 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream.
You know what frosting is in constituency and this is what you are shooting for. You want it stiff and not runny, as I put this into a quarter zip lock bag, cut a little off the bottom corner with a scissor, and this is my piping bag, and you can swirl a design on it.
At this time, you will have noticed that you have enough filling, topping and butter cream for another kuchen. Freeze it, and this will force you to make one again in about a month and it will go faster next time and seem easy.
I like this best with a coffee, with honey and cream, as coffee is more acidic and it balances out the sweet of this kuchen.
Pretty foods make everyone feel better. That is why you make pretty foods.
Oh and that is my big ass aluminum cookie pan I got out of the thrift store for a buck. Was too big for some old girl's oven and she bent the ends down or the Mr. did. It is twice as big as a normal 9 x 13. It is a big mother and old as the hills. Glad the kids threw the old gal in the nursing home and the pan in my direction. Works like a blessing.
I suppose you could use a big ass pizza dough stone, but this kuchen needs room to grow.
Probably is a dozen servings or 18 if you pretend you do not put on the feed bag. Back in the day, this would probably feed about four of them German American Israelite boys if you let them have at it after stacking bundles.
Nuff Said
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