Apple Kuchen

While descendants of Norwegian immigrants are a large force in the eastern half of the state, there is a ton of German ancestry in North Dakota. So it's no surprise that the occasional German recipe sneaks its way into the local church cookbooks.

"Kuchen" is just German for "cake," but in the upper Midwest, it refers to a doughy coffee cake-style dessert featuring a fruit and plenty of cinnamon and sugar. I've only had kuchen a handful of times in my life, but it's one of those ubiquitous desserts found in every local diner alongside the rhubarb pie. It's so beloved in the area that it's been adopted as South Dakota's state dessert (Then again, they pronounce Pierre as "peer" so what the heck do they know?). I just learned that ND doesn't even have a state dessert, so please rectify this glaring omission, North Dakota state legislature. I have a few suggestions.

This recipe comes from my Aal Church Cookbook (1872-1972) and was submitted to the book by Mrs. D Loken.

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Apple Kuchen (Coffee Cake)

1 pkg. yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup soft margarine (or butter)

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

2 1/2 cups flour, sifted

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine. Pour into well-greased cake pan (I used two pie dishes). Top with 3 cups pie apples. Sprinkle over this 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Drizzle 3 tablespoons melted margarine (or butter) over this. Cover pan, let rise until double. Bake in 375° oven for about 30 minutes.

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As I said before, I haven't eaten much kuchen in my day, but this was pretty darn good. I can't really think of a dessert this is comparable to, with its yeasty fluffiness coupled with the heavier, wet apple topping. It's almost like a bready pancake with fruit baked in. I would definitely like to try some other fruit variations in the future.

Final Rating: 3.75/5 a pretty decent way to shovel sugar into your mouth