Dakota Kuchen

I've been meaning to tackle the challenge of Dakota Kuchen for awhile now but my day job kept me busy all Fall.

Was glad to have a few quiet days over the holidays to finally test my grandmother's recipe.

What is Dakota Kuchen?

Well kuchen just means 'cake' in German so really it could mean any kind of cake generally speaking. But Dakota Kuchen refers to a specialty of the region made by German Russians - a pie-shaped pastry with a sweet yeast dough and fruit mixed into a custard with a little crumble on top.

There are variations like sugar kuchen with a crusted sugar coating similar to a coffee cake, or 'kase-kuchen' which uses cottage cheese to make the custard for a softer cheesecake like dessert (sounds weird but tastes good!).

The fruit custard variety is the most common and well-recognized. All varieties have simple, common ingredients as these were made in times and areas that had access to mostly just basic staples.

It's actually the official dessert of South Dakota and if you happen to be traveling in the Dakotas, particularly the Central and Western areas, you might find a diner or restaurant that has a lovely rotating glass case displaying a variety of fruit kuchen for dessert options. Keep your eyes peeled next time you're traveling through!

But while Dakota Kuchen refers to a specific type of dessert prepared by those of German Russian heritage, there are as many variations of recipes for it as there are German Russian grandmothers.

Of course, every grandmother gave her unique touch to it. If you went to a neighbors for coffee hour, for example, it might be similar but just not the same!

And given that many of our grandmother's recipes have not been written down.....or were written but with vague instructions because they thought you already knew what you were doing =)......some of the tricks of the trade have been lost by those of us who might have watched or even helped when we were younger. I've wanted to take a stab at making kuchen on my own and seeing if I could capture that taste sensation that might bring back a memory of the many times our family has shared her kuchen together.

My grandmother, Emma Werner, was from the Carson/Elgin area of North Dakota, in the Southwest area between Teddy Roosevelt National Park and the Missouri River. Her parents and my grandfather's parents were Germans who emigrated from the Odessa region of Russia (see the Tale of the Farmers Daughter).

Several pictures I have of her from the 1920's have her with a 'kiss curl', a popular style from the movies of the time. It's fun to think of her as a young girl in a flapper dress. Apparently stories have been told that she got up to some high-jinks in her younger days, sneaking out of the house to party (only in those days, it was by horse and not car).

But of course, in her later years, she was just 'Grandma', always quick with an enveloping hug or making delicious meals or treats in my memory.

She would make big batches of kuchen (~25 pies) and freeze them - they could then be pulled out for guests or holidays, thawing quickly and providing a nice dessert for coffee hour. As a kid sent down to the deep freezer to pull another one out to thaw, it seemed there was thankfully a never-ending supply.

My mother had written down the ingredients probably captured while her mother-in-law was in action but there wasn't much there for technique. Even the measurements might have been 'guesstimated' as I don't remember her really using measuring cups or spoons. So I did a little web searching to glean what was out there for ingredients and techniques from other sources just to orient myself.

There were nice instructions on a variation by Prairie Californian , actually one on Epicurious by America's Test Kitchens as well as several available (sans illustrations or much detail) on the Germans from Russian Foodways and Traditions Facebook Notes page. While the fruit custard recipes were roughly similar, some differed in using sour cream, vegetable oil or lard instead of butter or used different proportions. I couldn't find any recipes for the sugar kuchen and no coffee cake variations that mixed crushed corn flakes with graham crackers like my grandmother's. I don't think it was all that uncommon, just found it odd that none were documented.

It was likely more just a sign of the times, many recipes probably preceding the internet age and living only in local town or regional cookbooks or on family recipe cards. Even more reason for me to take pictures and write down what I did in case others are trying to keep the tradition alive.

So the recipe and steps of my grandmother's recipe are presented below in detail. While most steps are described within the recipe steps themselves, I do have a few additional notes before you get there.

Scalding Milk

You will note the recipe calls for scalding the milk and cream used for the dough. I didn't see this in the other recipes I found online so I looked into why this might be and learned a bit along the way. While 'scalding' sounds like you are burning something, it's not as scary as it sounds and I was surprised I was already doing this when .making yogurt in the Instant Pot, I just didn't know that was what it was called! Essentially scalding means heating the milk over medium heat to bring to ~180 degrees F (well short of boiling). If you don't have a thermometer, heat until you see tiny bubbles forming on the sides of the saucepan. Then you remove from heat and cool it 5-10 min to closer to room temperature before using.

Before the age of pasteurization, milk was scalded to eliminate enzymatic activity and to kill off bacteria. While that's not really necessary anymore, pastry chefs will still scald milk for a couple good reasons.

1. Warm milk absorbs flavors so you get a more flavorful dough if you are adding something like vanilla or herbs.
2. Scalding denatures whey proteins (which weaken gluten and can interfere with dough rising) so that they unfold. You get a better rise and a finer crumb. See highly scientific diagram above.
3. Having warm milk helps the yeast activate faster and sugar dissolve helping your ingredients just incorporate together better.

Love getting at the science of why you do something! One more thing.....the kuchen dough recipe is the same one my grandmother used for cinnamon buns.....now I know that scalded milk is what made them so light and fluffy! (So if inspired, make an even bigger batch of dough and save it for making rolls.)

Big Batch Philosophy

Speaking of a bigger batch, one more note. You may wonder why the recipe is proportioned to make such a big batch....it might seem extreme. Let me disabuse you of this notion.

While my daughter Mallory was completely disgusted by having to cut up rehydrated prunes and apricots (not her faves but I needed to make the traditional variations), having kuchen in the oven appears to be a great way of pulling teenagers out of their rooms and off their electronic devices.

As I was pulling the first batch of 4 out of the oven, children started to wander into the kitchen one by one asking 'What is that smell?' 'What are you making?'

My son kept pestering me to take the requisite blog photo of the results so he could dig in.

The first 3 were gone in under 15 minutes. I recommend making at least 12 as they will go fast. Whatever you don't eat right away in a few days, you can wrap in aluminum foil and freeze for later.

I'm looking forward to pulling these out for a cup of coffee on a cold February weekend!

Here's the recipe below! (makes 12 pies)

Ingredient List
Pastry Ingredients (~12 pies)
1 c heavy cream (mix with milk and scald)
1 c milk (mix with cream and scald)
6 eggs
1 c sugar
2 tsp salt
1 packet yeast
1 stick butter, cold
~8 cups flour
Custard Ingredients (for 6-8 pies)
6 eggs
2 c whipping cream
1 c sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Crumble for Fruit Kuchen (for 6-8 pies)
2 c flour
1.5 stick butter, cold
1 tsp cinnamon
Crumble for Sugar Kuchen (for 6 pies)
1 c crushed corn flakes
1 packet graham cracker crumbs
1 c sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted

Pastry Instructions

For the dough, start by scalding the milk and cream (see details in blog text). Remove from stove and let cool ~10 minutes
While milk/cream heating, mix flour and salt together in a separate bowl. Cut the dry ingredients with butter as you would for a pie crust. I use very cold butter and a box grater to make quick work of breaking butter into small pieces and mixing with the flour
Once milk/cream cooled, put ~1/2 cup of milk/cream in a separate container (like a measuring cup) and add yeast packet to allow yeast to activate (use small whisk to disperse yeast clumps). You can add a pinch of sugar to help activate. Once nice and foamy, add yeast mixture to milk/cream and add sugar and eggs. Stir well. You want the liquid mixture to be slightly warm to dissolve the sugar well.
Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients gradually and incorporate to create a shaggy, slightly wet dough.
Dump onto the counter with a little flour to form into a nice large ball. Let rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours in warm location (I place in a stainless steel mixing bowl sprayed with Pam).
After the rise, divide dough and shape into 12 balls and let rise another 1/2 hour.
If making fruit kuchen, roll out to fill the pie pans (8 inch). It's best to roll to a slightly smaller than needed size as you can push the dough easily into the tins.
Spray pie tins with Pam before putting dough in. The dough should not come completely up the side of the pie tin (little higher than 3/4 up the side).
If making sugar kuchen, take the balls of dough and prick all over with a fork. Allow to rise for additional hour before rolling out and placing in pie tins. The dough can go into the tin flat (not up the sides).

Fruit Kuchen Custard

Add eggs, sugar, salt, cream and vanilla all together. Mix by hand and set aside until ready to pour over fruit.

Crumble for Fruit Kuchen

Cut the dry ingredients with butter as you would for a pie crust. I use very cold butter and a box grater to make quick work of breaking butter into small pieces and mixing with the flour.

Crumble for Sugar Kuchen

Add crushed corn flakes, crushed graham cracker, sugar and cinnamon together.
Stir to mix thoroughly. Melt the stick of butter and mix into the dry ingredients.

Assembly and Baking

For fruit kuchen: apples, peaches, plums, prunes, apricots, or rhubarb are most commonly used. Use fresh fruit when available. If using dried fruit like apricots or plums, place in hot water to soften and rehydrate and then cut into small pieces. If using canned peaches, use those in fruit juice rather than heavy syrup and drain and dry before adding. Apples should be cored, peeled, and sliced thin.
Place cut up fruit (apples, peaches, plums, prunes, apricot) on top of the dough with spaces in between pieces so the custard can fill in.
Pour 1 soup ladle of custard over the fruit just so it is covered. (Remember to thicken the custard with a hand mixer for a few minutes prior to pouring.)
Sprinkle a handful of the crumble mix on top of the custard.
Bake at 350 degrees for ~30 min til golden brown. Cool on a rack.
You can bake in batches of 3 or 4 depending on your oven size. (I baked 2 on top rack and 2 on lower rack and just rotated them halfway thru for even browning).
Assembly for Sugar Kuchen
For sugar kuchen, remember you are using dough that has been allowed to rise longer and you are placing it in the tins without stretching it up the sides. Just add ~1/2 cup sugar kuchen crumble on top of dough and bake as above.