Bavarian Sugar Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Combine flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix in 1 cup sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt. Add 1 1/3 cups butter and eggs. Knead everything into a smooth dough. Shape dough into a ball, press flat, cover, and chill in the refrigerator 1 hour to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet with butter.
• Cut halved plums in half again, without cutting all the way through, so they fan out.
• Roll pastry dough out on a lightly floured work surface. Line the bottom and sides of the prepared baking sheet with dough. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
• Arrange plums side by side on the pastry dough; very small plums should overlap. Dot plums with 2 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and almonds.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pastry crust is lightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow plum cake to cool, then cut into squares. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Place all of the dough ingredients into the pan of your bread machine. Program the machine for Dough or Manual cycle and press Start. Check the dough after about 10 minutes and adjust the consistency by adding flour or water as needed; the dough should be fairly sticky and slack. (I added a couple Tbsp water).
• When the machine has completed the cycle, remove the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. (I let it rise an extra 40 minutes after the cycle was complete and then I turned it out onto a buttered pastry board not floured and let it rest for about 10 minutes before rolling out).
• Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. Press the dough into the prepared pan with your fingers, stretching it to cover the bottom of the pan. (I rolled it out on buttered pastry board first and then fit it into the pan).
• Cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it is doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes. With two fingers, punch deep holes all over the dough. (When punching holes in dough, if holes do not remain, it has not risen enough).
• In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle it over the dough. Drizzle the cream evenly on top.
• Bake the cake in a preheated 350º oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a light golden color. Remove cake from oven, and serve it warm from pan.

Steps:

• Finishing:
• You will need 1 10-inch springform pan.
• For the syrup, combine the sugar and water, bring to a boil and cool. Stir in the liqueur.
• For the chocolate filling, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat, add the chocolate, and allow to stand 2 minutes. Whisk in the butter until smooth and cool.
• To make the Bavarian, combine the raspberries and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Use a food mill or a fine sieve to puree and strain away seeds. Cool. Combine the liqueur and gelatin in a small, heatproof bowl and soak 5 minutes. Place the bowl over simmering water to make liquid again, then whisk into cool puree. Whip cream and fold it in.
• Slice the genoise into two layers and place one in the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Moisten with half the syrup. Whip the cooled chocolate filling to lighten and spread half over cake layer; pour on half the Bavarian. Repeat with remaining cake layer, syrup, chocolate filling, and Bavarian. Chill to set.
• To unmold, run a small knife between dessert and mold and lift off side of pan. Whip the cream and spread over sides of dessert. Press some of the chocolate shavings into cream. Arrange raspberries on top in two concentric circles around the top rim, then sprinkle center with shavings and confectioners' sugar.
• One 9 by 2-inch round layer pan, or a 9-inch springform pan, buttered and the bottom lined with a disk of parchment or wax paper Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Sift together the cake flour, cornstarch, and cocoa through a fine-meshed strainer over a piece of waxed paper to break up any lumps in the cocoa. Set sifted ingredients aside with the strainer. Whisk together the eggs yolks, sugar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and continue whisking gently until the mixture is lukewarm, about 100 degrees. This should take only a minute or two. Whip with the electric mixer on high speed until the mixture is cooled and increased in volume, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer and sift in dry ingredients, in three additions gently folding each third in with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread the top even with a spatula. Bake the layer about 30 minutes until it is well risen and the center is firm to the touch. If necessary, loosen the layer from the side of the pan with a small knife or spatula and invert the cake onto a rack. Place another rack on the cake and invert again. Remove the top rack, so that the layer cools right side up, still on the paper. Yield: 1 round layer, 9 inches in diameter by 2 inches deep