German Pastry – A Flavor of Manner and Sweet Touch

After the French, the German have added a lot to the world of pastries. They have various kinds of pastries that are commonly referred as Blech. Blech in German refers to thin sheets. Needless to say, the concept of pastries in German cuisine is to bake cakes and pastries with multiple layers that have thin paper like strips. Generally, these pastries are rectangular in shape and sized to feed one. These German pastries are generally made in the same technique as the French pastries. However the twist in the taste lies with the choice of ingredients used and the nature of stuffing opted for.

Blechkuchen as pastries are fondly called in German are made with a batter of flour and butter. Many also use cake batter to bake belch. However the batter should have a thin consistency about them. Moreover using cake batter makes the pastries soggy and soft which is not suitable to hold the fruit toppings on top.

Here are a few famous examples of German Pastries

Butter Kuchen
As the name suggests, these pastries are predominantly made with butter and flour and generously topped with nuts and almond flakes to enhance the taste. The dough is made with rich yeast topped with chunks of butter and sugar. Hence the upper part of the dough has a glistened and crunchy sweet taste about it. While in the inner part of butter kuchen is fluffy and soft. Some variations of this typical kind of butter kuchen may also have nuts and raisins in them as stuffing. However the soft and fluffy nature of yeast dough gets marred thanks to these fillings.

Streusel kuchen
This is another famous kind of German pastry that is famous worldwide. These German pastries are typically made with sweet yeast dough. They are also fondly referred to as the short crumb cakes as these kuchens are ideally topped with cake crumbs that add to the texture as well as the taste of the pastries. These crumb cakes are made with usual ingredients of egg white, flour and sugar granules.

Many bakers are known to make various versions of these crumb cakes. A few of them are known to have vanilla filling, a few chocolate filling while others may have wild berry fillings in them. In short, one can use their imagination and make any flavor of crumb cake that their heart may desire for.

Kasekuchen
German pastries are famous for their cheese cake that is more fondly known as kasekuchen. These cakes have a salt sweet taste about them that makes them almost ethereal to taste. For extra flavor, these cheese cakes may have nuts and raisins strewn on top to enhance their look and flavor. Generally these cheese cakes are baked in rectangular shapes and then cut into small squares and sold.

German pastries have a lot of detailing and tastes quite different from the finer French pastries. The Germans are known to make pastries that have a tangy, salty sweet flavor about them.