🎄 Seasonal collection
Holiday Baking: Apple Cakes, Strudel, Cheesecakes and Christmas Morning
Baking from the countries that taught America to bake: Vienna's strudel, Germany's sunken apple cake, Poland's lattice cheesecake, plus a few breakfasts that feed a full house on a holiday morning.
🍎 European apple bakes
Each one is the version America's apple pie grew up next to.
Wiener Apfelstrudel (Viennese Apple Strudel)
A soft egg and oil dough stretched over a floured tablecloth until it's paper thin, brushed with butter, layered with hazelnut breadcrumbs fried in butter, sliced apples, rum-soaked raisins, cinnamon and cloves, rolled up and baked at 350°F until golden.
Versunkener Apfelkuchen (German Sunken Apple Cake)
A buttery vanilla and lemon batter spread in a springform, topped with a ring of peeled apple quarters scored on top so they fan open and sink as the cake rises around them, baked at 350°F for about 45 minutes and brushed hot with apricot jam.
Sharlotka (Russian Apple Sponge Cake)
Four eggs and a cup of sugar beaten until thick and airy, a cup of flour folded in with diced apples, baked in one pan at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes, then topped while hot with sour cream stirred with orange marmalade.
Gammeldags Æblekage (Danish Old-Fashioned Apple Cake)
Not a cake at all: tart apples cooked with vanilla and lemon into a chunky sauce and chilled, breadcrumbs toasted golden in butter and sugar, and lightly whipped cream, layered in glasses just before serving.
Appeltaart (Dutch Apple Pie)
A tall springform pie with a cookie-like brown sugar crust pressed in by hand, packed with precooked Golden Delicious apples, golden raisins and speculaas-style spices, topped with a crisscross of dough strips and baked at 375°F for about 75 minutes. Served "met slagroom", with whipped cream.
Tarte Tatin (French Upside-Down Apple Tart)
Apple quarters packed in a skillet and softened in butter, covered with a light amber caramel cooked to 355°F, topped with a chilled disk of butter pastry, baked at 350°F until the edges bubble thick and syrupy, then flipped onto a platter.
🍰 Cheesecakes of the world
Quark, ricotta, cream cheese and a Japanese soufflé.
Sernik Krakowski (Polish Lattice-Top Cheesecake)
A rich filling of triple-ground full-fat twaróg, butter, powdered sugar, egg yolks and orange zest with raisins and candied orange peel, lightened with beaten whites, baked in a sweet shortcrust under a pastry lattice at 350°F and finished with a lemon glaze.
Käsekuchen (German Quark Cheesecake)
A buttery shortcrust base and rim filled with low-fat quark, lemon juice and cornstarch, lightened with whipped egg whites and whipped cream, baked low and long at 320°F and cooled in the turned-off oven so it stays tall, pale and tangy.
Crostata di Ricotta (Italian Ricotta Cheesecake Tart)
A lemon-scented shortcrust shell filled with drained whole-milk ricotta, sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, a pinch of cinnamon and dark chocolate chips, closed with a second sheet of pastry and baked low on the rack at 350°F for 70 minutes until deep golden.
Japanese Soufflé Cheesecake (Cotton Cheesecake)
Cream cheese, butter and cream melted together, enriched with yolks and cake flour, folded into a firm meringue and baked slowly in a water bath at 320°F, then cooled in the oven so the tall, wobbly, cottony cake doesn't crack, with an apricot glaze.
New York Cheesecake (Lindy's-Style, Graham Crust)
Two and a half pounds of cream cheese beaten with sugar, sour cream, lemon, vanilla and eight eggs over a graham cracker crust, blasted at 500°F for 10 minutes, then baked low at 200°F until the center reads 150°F for a tall, dense, creamy cake.
Basque Burnt Cheesecake (San Sebastián Style)
No crust and no water bath: cream cheese, eggs, sugar, a spoonful of flour and cream stirred together by hand, poured into a crumpled parchment-lined pan and baked hot at 410°F until the top is nearly black and the center still trembles.
☕ Holiday morning
Breakfasts that come out of one pan or the oven while everyone opens presents.
The Dutch Baby (Seattle Oven Pancake)
A blender batter of eggs, milk and flour poured into a skillet of sizzling butter and baked at 425°F until it puffs up high around the edges, served the original way with lemon and powdered sugar.
Sheet-Pan Pancakes
One big buttermilk-style pancake batter spread in a sheet pan and baked at 375°F for about 20 minutes, then cut into squares so everyone eats hot pancakes at the same time.
Pain Perdu (French "Lost Bread")
Thick slices of day-old brioche soaked in vanilla milk, eggs and sugar, browned in butter, then sugared and finished in a hot oven until the tops caramelize, served as a dessert the French way.
Swedish Pancakes (Pannkakor) with Lingonberry Jam and Cream
Thin, crisp-edged Swedish pancakes made from a simple milk, egg and flour batter, rolled or folded and served with lingonberry jam and whipped cream, Thursday-style.
American Diner French Toast
Day-old challah dipped in a light vanilla batter with a little flour, browned in butter in a cast-iron skillet, and served the American way with butter, powdered sugar and maple syrup.