Backen auf Deutsch, Part I: #76 Kiwikuchen

While in Germany, I bought myself a present:


It's the perfect gift (I know myself so well). I can read German, bake cakes, and then eat dessert. AND, today, my dear friend Kelsey suggested I blog through it. Fab. Kind of like Julie and Julia, but much shorter, much easier, much cheaper, and hopefully much less dramatic.

Rules:
1. I can't re-bake a recipe until I have tried every single one in the book.
2. I can't eat an entire cake by myself.
3. I do not have to bake every cake before I graduate. Don't even suggest it.

So here we go! Wir backen auf Deutsch!

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#76 Kiwikuchen
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Kiwi=kiwi
Kuchen=cake

Rachel joined me for a lovely Sunday afternoon recently and we christened the cookbook! We felt like something light and fruity, and the kiwi cake sounded perfect. Earlier, I bought a food scale: the measurements in the book are, naturally, metric! Grams of butter, what?

Armed with an Android German-English dictionary app, we set about translating.

>Preheat the oven. Got it.

>"Kuchenform einfetten"...clever! "Put fat in the cake pan"-->grease the pan!

>Stir the 200 grams of flour and the...wait. "2 TL [baking powder]". TL?

We almost added 2 Tbsp of baking powder, before pausing to discuss how most recipes call for teaspoons of it, not tablespoons. A quick Google led us to this beautiful German Cooking Glossary.

For your personal edification:
1 TL=1 Teelöffel=1 teaspoon=1 tsp
1 EL=1 Esslöffel=1 eating spoon=1 tablespoon=1 Tbsp

Once we sorted that out, we were home free! The cake itself included chunks of fresh kiwi and the glaze was delicious with cream cheese, lemon zest, and powdered sugar. We topped it with kiwi slices, and ENJOYED!




It was perfect. The cake itself wasn't too sweet, which offset well the super sweet glaze. The kiwi was refreshing. We both highly approve.

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Changes made:
~Added about a Tbsp of milk to the glaze
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Next time would:
~Cool the cake more before frosting. :)
~Double the recipe; it only made one 9x5 loaf.
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Perfect for:
Afternoon tea with the ladies.
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