Monday, February 25, 2013

Baking Cakes with Potatoes II - Potato Crumb Cake with Cherry Jam


The second cake that I am featuring in my series "Baking Cakes with Potatoes" is a so-called Potato Crumb Cake with Cherry Jam (Kartoffel-Krümel-Kuchen mit Kirschmarmelade). A delightful cake, perfect with that afternoon cup of tea or coffee. This simple cake certainly has that "old world charm" that I like so much in my baking.




Recipe for the Potato Crumb Cake with Cherry Jam
(Kartoffel-Krümel-Kuchen mit Kirschmarmelade)


Ingredients for the Crumb Cake
  • 300 grams (10.5 ounces) plain/AP flour
  • 2 ½ tsps baking powder
  • 125 grams (4.4 ounces) waxy (russet) potatoes - cook the potatoes with the peel on.in unsalted water, let them cool, then peel and grate them on the small grates of your box grater. Or peel the potatoes while they are stiill warm and push them through a potato ricer and then let them cool them completely.
  • 50 grams (1.7 ounces) old-fashioned oats 
  • 150 grams (5.2 ounces) superfine white sugar
  • 1 egg (L), preferably free range or organic, room temperature
  • 2 tsps of homemade vanilla sugar (you can also use 1 package pure vanilla sugar or 2 tsps pure vanilla extract instead)
  • one pinch fine salt (I used fine sea salt)
  • 75 grams (2.6 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • a few tablespoons cherry jam or any other jam of your choosing (preferably homemade)
  • a bit of dark rum (optional)
  • a bit of powdered sugar for dusting (optional)



Equipment
  • one 26 or 28 centimeter (10- or 11- inch) round springform pan
  • unbleached parchment paper
  • pastry brush

Preparation of the Crumb Cake
  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  2. Butter the springform pan, line with unbleached parchment paper, butter and flour parchment paper, knocking out any excess flour.
  3. In a large bowl, either using your hand mixer or a pastry cutter, mix together all of the ingredients just until they come together as a crumb mixture.
  4. Take half the crumb mixture and put it into the springform pan in an even layer a possible. Press lightly to even out the crumbs a bit.
  5. With an offset spatula spread the jam on the crumb mixture. NOTE: you can add a bit of dark rum to the jam and heat it slightly before you spread it on the crumb mixture.
  6. Cover the jam layer with the remaining crumb mixture.
  7. Bake for about forty minutes, transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing. You can also dust  the baked cake with a bit of powdered sugar before serving. 



Serving some lightly whipped cream would be wonderful with this cake. As the Potato-Raisin Gugelhupf, this cake can be stored for a few days, just make sure to wrap it well.


Sources:
  • Round springform pans from "Kaiser" (http://www. springform-pan.kaiserbakeware.com)
  • Cake plate and dessert plates from "Bunzlau Pottery" (http://www.ceramicboleslawiec.com)
  • Cake forks from "Butlers" (http://www.butlers.de)


**********************************************






23 comments:

  1. I love potatoes in bread, so why not in cake! It looks so wonderful with the layers of jam and crumb topping.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Liz, baking cakes with potatoes, be they mashed, grated or riced, has a long tradition and the addition of the potatoes is what keeps the baked goods moist. What better use for leftover boiled or mashed potatoes than putting them in a delightful cake.

      Delete
  2. I have never had a cake made with potatoes…your cake looks so amazingly delicious! The kind of cake that is perfect to have with a cup of tea or coffee! Beautiful photos, Andrea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy, thanks for commenting - cake with potatoes was new to me as well but there is much more to a potato than one would think and I am loving the different recipes that I am making for my series!

      Delete
  3. You always do such a lovely job on your baking. This cake is no exception. It looks lovely and very yummy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geraldine, thank you so much for your kind comment - this is a simple yet delicious cake and such a breeze to put together.

      Delete
  4. This is such a brilliant recipe, never thought of adding potatoes to a crumb mixture. I will make this one for sure Andrea! And with cherry jam, my favorite!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paula, sometimes, simplicity is the way to go - it is fun to try out traditional ways to bake, I am having a wonderful time trying out recipes that have potatoes as one of their main ingredients. There are a few variations that I found with respect to this recipe such as adding a layer of sliced apples between the crumbs, adding a bit of cream to the crumbs, etc. - time to experiment some more, soon.

      Delete
  5. I'm just loving this series on baking with potatoes! Too good! And how beautiful! Thank you for sharing...and brightening up a cold Wednesday morning. I hope you are having a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Monet, thank you very much - the series is fun to put together and I am learning quite a bit about baking - which is "a good thing".

      Delete
  6. Oh my god! Potatoes have never looked so fantastic! Andrea, this is a stunner. And with cherry jam? Adopt me please! (love the blue dishes too).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hester, that would be fun, wouldn´t it ?! I could finally learn about Irish cooking!

      Delete
  7. Hi Andrea, My comments have not been going through on blogspot and blogger but hopefully the glitch is corrected and I'm trying again. I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your "baking cakes with potato" series as well as your other recent posts...all excellent. Karen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen, thank you so very much for all your efforts - it can be quite trying when the comment sections do not work and I really appreciate your "coming back"! I had a few friends do some "test comments" after you alerted me to the problem - the comments went through, hopefully, this episode was only a temporary glitch in the system. I am also so very glad that the mail did not completely fail me!

      Delete
    2. Hi Andrea, It is always a pleasure to stop by and see your lovely posts. It was very frustrating to leave comments and then they just vanished into thin air when you hit the publish button. There are several other people who have been experiencing the same thing on other sites. One day it is working and then another day it isn't. I am very happy that the mail didn't fail as I'm thrilled with my little package.

      Delete
  8. I came to the US and was surprised to see potatoes in bread (I don't think we have that in Japan). So I can imagine now potato in a cake! :) You make dessert (any desserts) so beautifully. I don't know - I try to learn a trick from you but haven't figure that out. Maybe the way you present the dessert, or how you take pictures, or could be plates and everything else. I feel like I'm sitting at the table and joining the tea time. I get that kind of feeling when I come here! Looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nami, thank you so much for your wonderful comment - the mashed or finely grated potatoes in these recipes act like a substitute of sorts, they are like stand-ins for some of the flour and they make these cakes nice and moist with interesting textures. It is worth trying out one or the other recipe with left-over potatoes. I now make an effort to always boil more potatoes and stash some in the fridge for baking.

      Delete
  9. I've never baked a cake with potatoes before, but this would make me want to try. The cherry jam makes it perfect!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth, you might be surprised at how wonderfully moist these cakes turn out, they do NOT taste like potato at all!

      Delete
  10. Beautiful, yummy and very interesting. I've known potatoes in bread but never in cakes. Well done Andrea, and sorry for not commenting a lot lately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carola, nice to hear from you again - hope all is well!

      Delete
  11. This is so beautiful. I love the jam layer. Hmm...now I will have to make this one as well! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elaine, thank you, a jam layer is often just perfect with a crumb cake but you could also use up some apples that you have and layer them between the crumbs with a bit of sugar and a sprinkiling of ground cinnamon.

      Delete