Viennese Grape Streussel Cake

 Wiener Steussel Trauben  Kuchen

Viennese  Streussel Grape Cake

I have several old, really old, Austrian and German Cookbooks that I truly treasure.  These books came to me as gifts from relatives in Austria and friends who know my passion for Austrian Cooking.

My oldest book is   – “Davidis Kochbuch” author: Marie Walter, Globus Verlag Gm.b.h. Berlin , there is no date when it was printed or published.

Another is: ” So Kocht man in Wien”  Author: Rudolf Roesch, Verlag – Ernst Reinhardt in Muenchen.  Herbst 1938.

Yet, another  is – “Wiener Kochbuch”  Author: Kuechen Chef, Karl Duch – Fachverlag fur Kochkunst, Mayer & Comp. INH.L.u.E Peters, Wien 1, Singerstrasse 7 – January 1946

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In the Davidis Cookbook, one reads on the first few pages  instructions about cooking in general, among it says:

“Die Bestandteile der vorkommenden  Rezpte sind zwar so viel als moeglich genau angegeben, doch kann das passende Verhaltnis von Salz zu den Speisen unmoeglich uberall bestimmt werden; ebenso unmoeglish wuerde es der Hausfrau sein, bei jedem Gericht die Wage oder das Mass in die Hand zu nehmen und bei den verschiedenen Portionen Berechnungen anzustellen.  Gewoehnt man sich, das Augenmass aufmerksam zu gegrauchen und lieber etwas Salz nachzugeben, als die Speise zu versalzen, so wird man bald mit dem richtigen Verhaeltnis bekannt warden.”

Here is the translation!

“The ingredients  of the recipes are as much as possible correct, because one cannot determine the exact  relationship of salt and the food,  at the same time  it would be impossible for the housewife  to take a scale or a measure (cup) each time she cooks and starts making calculations about portions in the recipe.  Therefore, it is best when one gets used to using an eye measuring system, and with time one gets used to determine the right relationship of salt in proportion to the food …it is better to add salt later than over-salting it early on in the process.”

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This was an example for all the recipes in the book, even though there are grams, Miligrams. Mililiter, etc.  of the different ingredients listed. However,  these are in essence only guidelines to your own creativity….

And this is totally my philosophy of cooking.  No matter how exact I write my recipe that I publish, and no matter how many “interns” I have to reproduce my recipes before I publish it, it will never be 100% reproducible in someone else’s hands and kitchen.

I have many, many cookbooks and have cooked out of most of them, and more often than not, the  recipes do not come out as they are described. The only way one can be successful in following recipes in cookbooks is to add a little of one’s own creativity to the final successful outcome of the dish.

Therefore, keep on cooking, the more you cook the better you will become.

“Practice makes the Master!”

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Viennese Grape Streussel Cake

Use an 11 inch round spring form pan, or a medium size rectangular baking pan.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F

Ingredients

¾ cup butter at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

zest of 1 lemon or orange

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

2 to 3 cups red seedless grapes, washed and dried

Steussel

1 cup flour

1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

zest of one lemon or orange

Making the Streussel

Use a food processor: add the flour and the cool butter – pulse a few times to create pea-size little balls, lastly add the sugar and pulse only a couple of times to mix the sugar into the mixture….

Making the cake dough

In an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs – one at a time.

Add zest of lemon and Vanilla

Mix flour and baking powder  – then add to the above mixture and adding milk at the same time

Grease and dust with flour – a medium size glass baking pan or an 11 inch spring form.

Pour the dough into the pan – then place the dried, dusted with flour -grapes on top.

Add “Streusel” all over the top of the cake

Bake cake at 350 F for about 1 hour – or until cake thermometer registers 180 F in the center of the cake.  You need to see cooking bubbles in the center of the cake….

Cool to room temp – before serving.

This cake is a perfect treat for Breakfast, or Afternoon Coffee or…

“Ich lade ein zum Nachmittags Kaffee!”

I invite you to an Afternoon Coffee!

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Copyright: Maria Reisz Springer……..

Maja’s Kitchen LLC….

http://www.majaskitchen.com

maria@majaskitchen.com

http://www.culinaryhalloffame.com/

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Unauthorized use, distribution, and/or duplication of proprietary material without prior approval is prohibited. If you have any questions or would like permission, I can be contacted via email at: maria@majaskitchen.com   Feel free to quote me, just give credit where credit is due, link to the recipe, and please send people to my website, http://www.majaskitchen.com

Thank you!