So... I was
planning to bake this cake since ages, reason alone was because of its design
on the top.
It is a
typical German Sheet Cake made with three layers and is named after the River
Donau (Danube River) the second longest
river in Europe which flows through 10 countries, starting from Germany till Ukraine.
A must cake
in get-togethers or parties, it is loved by all age and groups of people
Now you may
think why is it named after a river? Many theories but No special background, many
say it’s only similar to the river waves in zigzag form,or it was first baked
in Donau or or or
When the
cherries sink in the two layered batter it makes a design of waves
Well it may
not be seen clearly here as I made this cake for an event and did not get the
chance to take pictures while it was been cut L
Actually
the top of this cake has a wavy design, as soon as we pour the chocolate we
have to make the waves with a zigzag spatula fast, but sadly the chocolate
starts to set very fast too and I could not manage the waves, so I sprinkled
the flakes on it :D
But mainly
the taste counts and that was really coooool :D
I am
determined to make it again and this time with the waves: D
It is made
with a sponge batter, divided in two, light and dark and layered with sour
cherries, covered with pudding and lastly topped with the couverture chocolate.
It is a
very heavy cake as we use nearly 700g butter in it, the custard the chocolate
all make it a perfect rich in kals cake :D
But well,
what is life….. if nothing to nibble ;P
Here’s how
we make it:
For the
batter;
5 eggs
380 g AP
flour
250 g sugar
2 tsp vanilla
extract
3 tsp level
baking powder
500 g soft
butter
200 ml
fresh milk
40 g dark
cocoa powder
400 g Sour
Cherries
(In glass jars)
For the
Pudding:
I made the
normal Blue Bird Custard
500 ml milk
2 heaped
tbs of custard powder
3 tbs of
sugar
(200g soft
butter later while making its cream)
For the
Chocolate topping
400 g
semisweet chocolate
20 g soft
butter
Pre-prepare
the following:
-make the
custard and keep it in the room temperature
-drain the
cherries and keep aside
- line the baking tray with a parchment paper (the
universal sheet tray)
The Sponge:
-sift the
flour with the baking powder in a bowl
-beat the
butter till it turns white and fluffy
-add the
sugar and beat well
-add the
eggs one after the other and beat till smooth
-pour in
the milk/vanilla extract and beat on a low speed so the milk does not shoot out
-now add
the flour/b.powder slowly and keep beating into a smooth batter
-take out ¼
of the batter in a separate bowl and spread the rest ¾ batters on the baking
sheet
-level it
with the help of a spatula
-mix the
cocoa powder in the ¼ batter and spread that onto the first layer of the batter
-spread it
very gently with a spatula so that it is even
-now lay
the sour cherries on the top covering the whole tray
-Bake in a
preheated oven on 175° C aroud 35-40 minutes
-take it
out and let it cool at least 30 minutes before the custard layer come on it
Layers;
-now first beat the butter in a bowl and spoon the
custard with it slowly mixing all in a smooth cream
-spread
this evely on the cake
-keep it in
the fridge to let it set and gets a bit firm too
In the mean
while melt the semisweet chocolate in a double broiler, adding the butter to
it.
keep mixing
gently so it does not get hard,take off and let it cool down but it
must not get hard
Now take
the tray out of the fridge and pour the chocolate very slowly on different
corners so that you can spread that easily soon after
(Here’s
where I could’nt manage it very fast and the chocolate started to get hard due
to its consistency of choc and butter)
If you are
fast enough then make wves with a zigzag spatula on the top like shown in this
picture and let it stay, it will get firm in minutes
(This Picture is courtesy Google)
There you
have your delicious “Donauwelle” (Danube River)
It is time
consuming but is worth making it, as you’ll really love it :D
Happy Baking!!
