Kirsch Wähe (Cherry-Custard Tart) & Mandeln Hefezopf (Almond Yeast Braid)

As today is Father's Day in Germany, I baked two different bakes using the same yeast bread recipe.  I used to have reservations whenever I handle fresh yeast dough but not anymore.  The most important thing to remember is that your yeast must be fresh (not old or expired).  If you wish to bake only the Cherry-Custard Tart, the dough recipe can be found at the end of this post.  Why not make both to please your family?

Ingredients:
600 g flour (type 550) or plain flour (type 405)
80 g fine sugar
1 egg white
1 tsp salt
40 g butter, to be gently melted
250 ml warm water (straight from the tap)
1 cube à 42 g fresh yeast, to be crumbled

Method:
In a mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, egg white, salt and melted butter.  In a small jug, mix warm water and crumbled yeast together.  Stir until yeast is dissolved and add to mixing bowl.  Knead dough until it leaves the sides of bowl.  Cover bowl with a damp cloth and leave aside to let dough rise to double its volume.

Take away a portion and weigh it to 350 g.  Through my experience, I will get a total of about 1040 to 1050 g.  Leave the rest in the bowl and cover.

Filling Ingredients for Cherry-Custard Tart:
400 g pitted fresh cherries (or preserved)
4 eggs
250 ml fresh cream
4 tbsp castor sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Method:
Preheat fan oven to a temperature of 170° C.  Grease a 28 cm diameter pie pan.  Roll out dough and bring the sides up a little.  Make sure that the edges are not too thick. Arrange pitted cherries on dough evenly as shown.

In a bowl, whisk eggs, fresh cream, castor sugar and cinnamon together.  Pour half of cream into pie pan.  Place pie pan on middle rack of hot oven and then, pour the remaining cream mixture.  This is to avoid unnecessary spilling when transporting the pie pan to the oven.  Bake for about 40 minutes.

Once done, sprinkle with icing sugar passed through a small sieve.  Below is a cross-section of the tart when cut.

Dough Ingredients (if you want to bake the tart only):

250 g plain flour

½ cube fresh yeast (ca. 20 g)

125 ml warm water (straight from the tap)

40 g fine sugar

a pinch of salt

70 g soft butter
Note:  Follow the same method as above.

Almond Hefezopf

Extra Ingredients for Almond Hefezopf:
10 g almond slices
1 egg yolk, to be mixed with 1 tbsp fresh cream

Glaze Ingredients (to be mixed together) for Almond Hefezopf:
100 g icing sugar
about 1-2 tbsp water

Method:
Divide remaining dough into 3 portions.  Roll each portion to a long shape of about 35 cm long.

Arrange each portion as shown below:

Place on a greased baking tray.  Brush with water and leave aside for about 30 minutes.

Then, brush with egg yolk/cream mixture and sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake in a preheated fan oven at a temperature of 170° C for about 25 minutes.  Once done, glaze with icing sugar/water mixture while it is still hot.

Bon Appetit!