Raspberry Custard Kuchen

Debbie has planted a variety of berry bushes along our back fence, and every spring we get lots of happy mason bees followed by a bumper crop of raspberries. So the obvious thing to do is to make a raspberry pastry!

Jump to:

• What is a Kuchen?
• Is This a Real Kuchen?
• Ingredients You'll Need
• Make a Kuchen Today!
• Eat, Comment, Share, and Follow!
• 📖 Recipe Card
• 💬 Comments

What is a Kuchen?

A kuchen is a type of German cake with a bottom crust, a fruit filling, and a custard topping. That sounds a lot like a pie, right? But it's really closer to the American "coffee cake"... a single layer cake, usually rectangular, often including fruit, with a streusel (sweet crumb) topping, usually enjoyed with afternoon coffee.

In fact, there's a centuries-old “Kaffee and Kuchen” tradition in Germany. It's entirely possible that the American afternoon coffee and cake was brought here by German immigrants.

(In England, a "coffee cake" is a layered cake flavored with coffee.)

Is This a Real Kuchen?

Here's some background. I grew up in a second-generation German/Bohemian (see note below) family in Illinois. Coffee cake and pastries like kolachkes were usually available in our home, but I don't recall my mother ever making a kuchen. And I've never had one made by anyone else.

So my version may not be very much like a German version, especially the crust. I think I may be flattening it too much. I've also added some spices that may or may not be "traditional". So it's entirely possible that someone from Germany would take one look at my effort and fling it right out the window! I will keep looking for more information on making the crust.

Ingredients You'll Need

For the Crust

flour
salt
butter
heavy cream

For the Filling

raspberries
sugar
flour
ginger
allspice
cinnamon
eggs
heavy cream
vanilla extract

Make a Kuchen Today!

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Make the Crust

Here are the crust ingredients: butter, flour, cream, salt, more flour, and sugar.

Combine the 1 cup of flour and the salt in a bowl. Add the butter and cut it into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs. I use my pastry cutter for this, but you can also use a fork or your fingers.

Stir in the cream and pat the dough onto the bottom of a greased 13x9 inch. baking dish. This may be where my crust is going too flat. I think I'm patting it too much and it's supposed to still be crumbly.

Mix the half cup of flour and quarter cup of sugar and sprinkle them over the dough.

Make the Filling

Arrange the raspberries over the crust. The recipe calls for 3 cups of berries, but we had already collected 4 cups, so I put them all in. That might be too many berries. Wait, what am I saying? Please ignore the last statement!

Put the sugar, flour, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon into a large bowl and mix to combine.

Add the eggs, cream, and vanilla and whisk well to combine.

Pour the sauce over the berries.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until lightly browned.

The kuchen can be served warm or cold. We like cold better, but we usually can't wait to have a slice right away!

We like it with whipped cream even better! No, I didn't make my own whipped cream. I do that for company. For just the two of use, cream from a can is just fine!

Eat, Comment, Share, and Follow!

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