Germany is well known for their ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ (coffee and cake). Therefore, the traditional and delicious recipe of a strawberry cake of Janice her mum should not be missed! The great thing about this recipe is that you can vary it with different fruits, so that you can also eat it when it is not strawberry season.

Coffee and cake, also called ‘Kaffeeklatsch’, is a German tradition. It literally means to eat cake, drink coffee and have a good talk with friends or family. The tradition goes through all generations. If you stroll through the streets you see students, adults, families or older people sitting in cafes and eating a piece of cake together with a nice cup of coffee. The sort of coffee does not matter; it can be a filter coffee, cappuccino, milk coffee, Latte Macchiato or Espresso.

Characteristics about the tradition of coffee and cake

Time for coffee and cake:

Between 3 and 4 pm.

Days for coffee and cake:

Sundays, feast days, birthdays, special events and in general every day you invite family or friends and feel like a good treat.

Which cake is typical?:

One of the most famous cakes of Germany is the ‘Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte’ (Black forest cake), which is famous in the south of Germany. However, it is not the type of cake people ‘normally’ eat at home in the rest of Germany. It depends on what you like. Typically, we have cheese cakes, strawberry cake (in summer), apple cakes, crumble cakes, chocolate cake, marble cake etc.

Where to get the cake:

You can have coffee and cake in cafes, buy it at a bakery or in the supermarket OR bake it yourself. Let us be honest, a self-made cake mostly tastes the best and the smell of cake just taken from the oven is a dream. Germany is a baking nation, because many Germans bake cakes, breads or cookies.

How to make a delicious strawberry cake

We love strawberry cake!

Therefore, we will share one of our favourite recipes with you – the delicious, fruity and easy to make Strawberry cake á la Mama.

Print Recipe

Strawberry cake á la Mama

Prep Time45 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Course: Cake

Cuisine: German

Keyword: German, Strawberry cake

Equipment

• spring form ø28 cm or baking tray
• baking paper

Ingredients

For the sponge cake base:

• 4 eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 4 tbsp water, luke-warm
• 1 pkg vanilla sugar (8g)
• 1/2 pkg baking powder (7,5g)
• 1 pkg vanilla custard powder (without sugar) (37g)
• 150 g flour

For the vanilla custard-strawberry topping:

• 1,5 kg strawberries
• 2-3 pkg cake glaze (12g, the amount depends on the size of the cake)
• 75 g vanilla custard powder (not needed if you make the vanilla custard yourself)
• 750 ml 3,5% milk (not needed if you make the vanilla custard yourself)
• 3 tbsp sugar 40g, (not needed if you make the vanilla custard yourself)

For the vanilla custard (if you want to make it yourself):

• 750 ml 3,5% milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 pkg bourbon vanilla sugar (8g)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 7 tbsp food starch

Instructions

Sponge cake base

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Separate the yolks from egg whites and beat the egg white together with 50 g of sugar until stiff.
• Separately, add the luke-warm water, 150 g sugar and vanilla to the egg yolk and steer until frothy.
• Add the flour and custard powder and stir well.
• Add the egg whites to the mix and mix carefully.
• Fill the dough in a springform pan ø 28 cm, and then cover it with a baking paper. Use a baking tray, if you use the double amount of dough.
• Bake the dough in the oven for 20 minutes, until the sponge cake base is gold brown.
• Let the sponge cake base cool down a bit.

Vanilla custard-strawberry topping:

• Meanwhile, cook the vanilla custard. You can use prepared vanilla custard powder that you cook according to the instructions OR make the vanilla custard yourself. See further below if you want to make the vanilla custard yourself.
• After the vanilla custard cooled down a bit, spread it over the cake base.
• Add the strawberries on the cake base with the vanilla custard. We used whole strawberries, but it is also nice if you first slice them in half.
• Prepare the cake glaze and add it on the strawberries.
• Let it cool down.

Self-made vanilla custard (optional, see above)

• Bring 650 ml milk to cook.
• Meanwhile, scrape out the vanilla bean and add it together with the vanilla bean to the milk.
• Mix the 100 ml milk with the bourbon vanilla sugar, the sugar, the egg yolks and the food starch until it is a smooth mix.
• When the milk boils, add the mixsugar-egg-milk-mix and stir it constantly. Briefly boil it.
• Let it cool down.

Notes

The amount of the ingredients for the sponge cake base is suitable for a springform of ø 28 cm; use the double amount of ingredients, if you want to make the cake on a baking tray.

When making the vanilla custard, we recommend adding a little less milk than normally instructed on the package of the vanilla custard powder, so that the custard is not too liquid. You can always add more liquid if necessary.

 

TIP: Of course, strawberries are not always available. Instead, you can also use other fruits, such as berries, peach, mandarins and cherries from the tin. You can be creative!

Enjoy the strawberry cake!

What is your favorite cake for coffee and cake?