~~~~~Donauwelle Cake~~~~~

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!!