Cherry Cheese Kuchen
I was wondering how to use the pitted sweet cherries in my freezer, and the idea of making a kuchen, a German yeast coffee cake, came to mind. In this Cherry Cheese Kuchen, the cherries are placed atop a vanilla and lemon-scented cream cheese filling, which rests on a circle of sweet yeast dough. Lastly, the kuchen is covered with a buttery crumb topping.
Served warm with a cup of good coffee, this is breakfast heaven. The kuchen is not excessively sweet, and the cherries, cheese, and crumb topping combine to create a delightful breakfast pastry.
The dough, the cream cheese filling, and the crumb topping are all prepared the day before so in the morning it’s just a matter of rolling out the dough and assembling the kuchen. Following a quick proof to let the dough get slightly puffy, the kuchen is baked just until the edges start to brown, and it feels firm.
This kuchen was made using a 9.5″ by 1.5″ stainless steel cake ring and a silpat-lined half sheet pan. A 10″ springform pan was used for the Plum Kuchen and works equally well.
As I happily discovered following my two test bakes, Cherry Cheese Kuchen freezes exceptionally well.
Cherry Cheese Kuchen
| Yield: 1 9.5†kuchen | # of Servings: 8 |
Ingredients:
½ recipe Sweet Yeast Dough
1 recipe Cream Cheese Filling
1 recipe Crumb Topping
3 ½ cups (15.5 oz / 439 g) frozen sweet cherries, defrosted and drained
Butter, as needed for greasing the cake ring or springform pan
Special tools and equipment needed:
- One 9.5†by 2 ⅜†stainless steel cake ring1 or 10†springform pan
- Half-sheet pan or large cookie sheet, lined with a silpat sheet or parchment.
- Small pastry wheel or pizza wheel
Directions
Day one:
- Make the Sweet Yeast Dough and refrigerate overnight.
- Make the Crumb Topping and Cream Cheese Filling and refrigerate overnight.
- Defrost cherries in a colander over a bowl. Once thoroughly defrosted, place on a paper towel-lined plate and store overnight in the refrigerator. Pat dry with fresh paper towels the next day.
Day two:
- If using the cake ring, butter the inside of the ring and place on a silpat or parchment lined pan. If using a springform butter the sides and bottom of the pan.
- Remove the cream cheese filling from the refrigerator.
- Take 14 oz of the yeast dough and roll into a 10†circle. Let the dough rest for two minutes.
- Using the cake ring or the bottom of the springform as a guide, cut a circle of dough. If the dough circle shrinks slightly press or roll it outwards so it’s touching the edges of the pan.
- Using small offset spatula or plain rubber spatula, spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the yeast dough circle.
- Remove the cherries to another plate with fresh paper towel to absorb any excess cherry moisture.
- Place the cherries evenly over the cherries evenly over the cheese filling.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping over the cherries.
- Let the kuchen rise in a warm spot, just until the dough gets puffy, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- Bake the kuchen for 40 to 45 minutes, until the dough edges are golden brown, the top springs back, and an instant read thermometer reads 205 °F.
- Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. In 10 minutes, remove the ring using pot holders, or open the outside of the springform pan.
- Once lukewarm, slide the bottom of a loose-bottomed tart pan underneath and move to a serving plate.
Notes:
- The cake ring is available from BridgeKitchenware.com.
- Frozen sweet cherries are available in many supermarkets.
