Marillenkuchen

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large rimmed baking tray (approximately 30 x 40cm)
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Rolling pin (optional, hands work fine)
• •Clean tea towel for covering dough

Instructions

1. 1

   Activate the yeast

   Warm the milk until it feels comfortable against your wrist, not hot. Stir in a teaspoon of the sugar and sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Let it sit for ten minutes. The surface should foam and bubble, proof that your yeast is alive and ready to work. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead and no amount of hoping will fix it. Start again with fresh yeast.

   If you can find fresh yeast (Germ), use it. Austrian bakers prefer it for Germteig and the flavor is rounder. Crumble 21g into the warm milk and stir until dissolved.
2. 2

   Make the Germteig

   In a large bowl, combine the flour, remaining sugar, Vanillezucker, salt, and lemon zest. Add the softened butter, egg yolks, and the foamy yeast mixture. Stir until the dough comes together, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for eight to ten minutes. You're looking for a dough that's smooth, soft, and springs back when you press it with your finger. It will be slightly sticky. That's right. Don't keep adding flour to make your life easier because you'll end up with a dry, tough cake that no amount of apricots can save.

   The lemon zest is quiet but important. It lifts the buttery dough and keeps the sweetness honest. Use a fine Microplane and stop before you reach the white pith.
3. 3

   First rise

   Shape the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and set it somewhere warm, not hot, for about one hour. The dough should double in size. Gretel always said a good Germteig needs a warm corner and no interruptions. If your kitchen is cold, turn the oven on to its lowest setting for two minutes, switch it off, and let the dough rise inside with the door cracked open.

4. 4

   Prepare the apricots

   While the dough rises, wash the apricots and cut them in half along the seam. Remove the stones. If the apricots are very large, quarter them instead. The fruit should be ripe but still firm enough to hold its shape. If they're so soft they collapse when you halve them, they'll turn to mush in the oven. You want apricots that smell like summer when you bring them to your nose. If they don't smell like anything, they won't taste like anything either.

5. 5

   Shape and fill the cake

   Butter a rimmed baking tray, about 30 by 40 centimeters. Punch the risen dough down gently with your fist. Roll or press it out onto the tray with your hands, pushing it into an even layer that reaches the edges. The dough should be about one centimeter thick. Arrange the apricot halves cut-side up across the entire surface, pressing them lightly into the dough. Pack them close together. They'll shrink as they bake and you don't want gaps. Sprinkle the two tablespoons of sugar over the fruit.

6. 6

   Second rise

   Cover the tray loosely with the tea towel and let it rest for twenty minutes. The dough will puff up slightly around the apricots, cradling each piece of fruit. This short second rise gives the cake its soft, pillowy texture underneath the golden crust. Don't skip it. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) while you wait.

7. 7

   Bake the cake

   Bake on the middle rack for 30 to 35 minutes. The dough should turn a deep golden brown around the edges and the apricots will concentrate and caramelize, their cut surfaces turning jammy and dark at the tips. The kitchen will smell like warm butter and stone fruit and you'll want to eat it immediately. Don't. Let it cool in the tray for at least fifteen minutes. The fruit is searingly hot straight from the oven.

8. 8

   Dust and serve

   Dust the warm cake generously with powdered sugar. Cut it into generous squares and serve with a spoonful of unsweetened Schlagobers on the side. Marillenkuchen is best eaten the day it's made, still slightly warm, with a cup of coffee in the afternoon. It sits beautifully on an outdoor table in the summer, which is exactly where it belongs. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •The apricots must be ripe but firm. Smell them at the stem end before you buy. A ripe Marille smells sweet and floral, almost honeyed. If there's no scent, the apricot has nothing to give your cake. Pass and wait a few days for the next delivery.
• •Pack the apricot halves tightly together on the dough. They lose about a third of their volume in the oven as the juices concentrate, and what looked like a generous covering can turn into lonely islands of fruit surrounded by bare dough. Better too many than too few.
• •Vanillezucker is not vanilla extract. It's sugar infused with real vanilla, and it gives Austrian baking its distinctive warmth. You can buy it in packets or make your own by burying two split vanilla pods in a kilo of caster sugar for a week. Keep refilling the sugar and replacing the pods once a year.
• •If you can't find Wachau apricots, use the ripest, most fragrant stone fruit available to you. French or Spanish apricots work well when they're properly ripe. Supermarket apricots picked hard and shipped green will give you nothing. In that case, make a different cake and wait for apricot season to find you.

Advance Preparation

• •The Germteig can be made the evening before, covered tightly, and left to rise slowly overnight in the fridge. Take it out an hour before you want to shape it, to let it come back to room temperature. The slow cold rise actually develops more flavor.
• •Marillenkuchen is best the day it's baked. It keeps overnight covered at room temperature but the dough loses its softness by day two. If you have leftovers, warm individual squares briefly in a low oven before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)