Kirschenauflauf

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Ceramic or porcelain baking dish (24cm, at least 6cm deep)
• •Hand mixer or stand mixer
• •Cherry pitter (or patience and a chopstick)
• •Large metal spoon or spatula for folding
• •Fine-mesh sieve for powdered sugar

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the dish and cherries

   Heat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Butter a ceramic or porcelain baking dish, about 24 centimeters across and fairly deep. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar and a thin coating of fine breadcrumbs over the butter, tilting the dish to cover the bottom and sides evenly. Tap out any excess. The breadcrumbs give the Auflauf something to grip as it climbs the sides of the dish. Without them, it slides back down and you lose that beautiful puff.

   If your cherries aren't perfectly ripe and sweet, toss the pitted fruit with a teaspoon of sugar and the Kirschwasser and let them sit while you make the batter. Ten minutes gives the juices time to wake up.
2. 2

   Cream the butter and yolks

   Beat the softened butter with the caster sugar and Vanillezucker until pale and fluffy, about three minutes with a hand mixer. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. The mixture should be light and almost white. This is where you're building the structure of your Auflauf. The air you beat in now is what makes the final dish light rather than dense. Add the lemon zest, the milk, and the flour, mixing gently until just combined. Don't overwork it once the flour goes in or you'll develop the gluten and the texture will turn tough.

3. 3

   Whip the egg whites

   In a clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff, glossy peaks. You want them firm enough that you could turn the bowl upside down and nothing would move, but not so beaten that they look dry and grainy. Over-whipped whites break apart when you fold them and your Auflauf will be flat where it should be pillowy. If the whites start to look chalky or clumpy at the edges, you've gone too far. Better to stop ten seconds early.

   Eggs at room temperature whip better and higher. Pull them out of the fridge thirty minutes before you start. And make sure the bowl is spotless. Even a trace of fat on the glass or the whisk and the whites won't climb.
4. 4

   Fold and assemble

   Stir one large spoonful of the beaten whites into the butter-yolk mixture. This loosens the base so the rest of the whites can fold in without losing all their air. Now add the remaining whites in two batches, folding with a large spatula or metal spoon. Cut down through the center, sweep along the bottom of the bowl, and bring the mixture up and over. Turn the bowl a quarter after each stroke. Stop the moment you can't see any white streaks. A few small lumps are fine. Over-folding is worse than under-folding. Scatter the pitted cherries into the batter and fold them through with two or three gentle strokes. Pour the batter into your prepared dish. It should fill it about two-thirds full.

5. 5

   Bake the Auflauf

   Set the dish on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Don't open the oven door for the first 25 minutes. The Auflauf will rise steadily as the egg whites expand in the heat, and a blast of cool air will collapse it before the structure has set. After 25 minutes, check through the glass if you have it. The top should be golden brown and puffed well above the rim of the dish. A skewer inserted into the center should come out with just a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. The edges will be set and slightly pulling away from the dish. The center will still have a gentle wobble. That's right. It firms as it cools.

   Every oven is different. If your top is browning too fast but the center is still liquid, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the dish for the last ten minutes. Don't tuck it tight or the trapped moisture will turn your golden crust soft.
6. 6

   Dust and serve immediately

   Pull the Auflauf from the oven and dust it generously with powdered sugar through a fine sieve. The sugar will settle on the puffed, golden surface and begin to melt slightly from the residual heat. Bring the whole dish to the table immediately with a bowl of cold, unsweetened Schlagobers on the side. Spoon it out while it's still trembling. A Kirschenauflauf starts sinking the moment it leaves the oven. That's not a failure. That's its nature. You have about five minutes of full glory, so don't waste them. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •This is a June dish. Make it when cherries are dark, heavy for their size, and so ripe they stain your fingers when you pit them. If your cherries taste like nothing, the Auflauf will taste like nothing. Wait for the right fruit or make something else.
• •Use real Vanillezucker, not vanilla extract. Austrian Mehlspeisen rely on the rounded, fragrant sweetness of vanilla sugar. You can make your own by burying a split vanilla pod in a jar of caster sugar for a week. Once you have a jar going, you'll never run out.
• •Pat your pitted cherries dry with a clean cloth before folding them into the batter. Wet fruit sinks straight to the bottom and releases too much juice, which makes the base soggy instead of custardy.
• •Serve the Schlagobers unsweetened and cold. The contrast between the warm, sweet Auflauf and the cool, neutral cream is the whole point. Sweetened whipped cream would push the dish into cloying territory.

Advance Preparation

• •Cherries can be pitted up to a day ahead and stored in the fridge, spread on a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb excess juice.
• •The butter-yolk base can be prepared up to one hour ahead and left covered at room temperature. Whip the whites and fold everything together just before baking.
• •A Kirschenauflauf cannot be made ahead. It must go from oven to table without stopping. Plan your dinner so the main course plates are cleared by the time the oven timer rings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 225g)