I’m excited to share with you one of my dad’s favorites that he grew up with. Homemade cherry kuchen is flaky, delicious and tastes like pie without the skills of making a pie crust. I made this after finding the recipe deep in my recipe box from my aunt. It was a surprise for my dad on our family dinner night – and he said it tasted just like he remembered. That’s the best compliment ever!
Are you ready to make some kuchen?
To make this cherry kuchen you will need:
Kuchen Pastry
2 TB warm water
1 1/8 tsp yeast
1 TB sugar, divided (1 tsp + 2tsp)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup flour
Kuchen Filling – Cherry
1 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup flour
2 Cans (15 oz each) pitted, red tart cherries in water, drained
The first thing I did was to drain the cans of red tart cherries. Make sure when you’re purchasing the canned cherries for this recipe that you purchase the pitted cherries in water. You do not want the cherry pie filling. We’re making our own. You can find the pitted cherries with the canned fruits – and not with the baking pie fillings in some grocery stores.
While the cherries are draining, mix the water and yeast together. Add 1 tsp of sugar and mix well. After the mixture has risen for 5 minutes, add the remaining sugar, vanilla, salt and beaten egg.
In a seperate bowl, cut the butter into the flour. I did this step while I waited for the yeast to rise. Add the yeast mixture and mix well. The dough with be soft. Divide it into two balls.
Roll one of the dough balls to fit the bottom half of a 6×10 glass pan. It needs to cover the bottom and half way up the sides.
Now it’s time to make the filling! Take the drained cherries and add the sugar and flour. Toss to fully cover. So pretty!
Add the filling to the pie crust that’s already in your pan.
Roll the top crust (the last dough ball) to make the topper. Cut four slits into the pastry and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. You will want to cover the pastry loosely with foil the last 10 – 20 minutes of baking time to avoid the crust getting to dark.
Let it a cool a bit and dig in! The flaky crust and tart cherries are delicious with a cold scoop of ice cream! It’s a unique dessert that….
makes a mess in your kitchen! But it’s soooo worth it if you’re looking for something different and delicious!
Enjoy!
Cherry Kuchen
Ingredients
Kuchen Pastry
- 2 Tablespoon warm water
- 1 1/8 teaspoon yeast
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar divided (1 tsp + 2tsp)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 small egg beaten
- 1/2 Cup butter
- 1 Cup all-purpose flour
Kuchen Filling - Cherry
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
- 30 oz red tart cherries in water drained
Instructions
Kuchen Pastry
- Mix water and yeast. Add 1 tsp sugar. Mix well. Let mixture rise for 5 minutes. Add remaining sugar, vanilla, salt, and beaten egg.
- Cut butter into flour in a separate bowl. Add yeast mixture and mix well.
- Divide the soft dough into two balls. Roll one ball to fit the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 6x10 glass pan.
Kuchen Filling
- Make kuchen filling by mixing the flour and sugar. Add the drained cherries and mix well.
- Add the kuchen filling to the dough in the pan. Roll the second ball of dough to fit the top of the kuchen pan.
- Bake at 350˚ F for 45 minutes covering the top loosely with foil during the last 10 - 20 minutes of baking
Nutrition
Comments & Reviews
Kuchen is a custard dessert! You can add fruit or not. But yours looks good its not a Kuchen.
The dough did not roll easily, Too sticky had to pat it into the pan. And had to pat out of the topping. It was hard to put onto top of pan. Will not make again
So glad that you emphasized using tart or sour cherries. This was amazing spot on and your Dad had very good taste!!! Now to check out the rest of your recipes as I can tell that you have good taste!!! Definitely a keeper folks.
I let the yeast water rise for about 15 minutes as men are not real good at multi tasking. I always place my butter in the freezer for 20 minutes prior to cutting in with flour and use a grater to do my grating of butter. Have found this makes a better crust and do not overwork the crust mixture. It really makes a difference in crust.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Cliff! It’s a family favorite. 🙂
Hi Lynette, you’re cherry kuchen recipe sounds delicious. I am very anxious to make it. After you add yeast and form the dough into balls, should I let it rise for some time before rolling it? Also, May I use fresh cherries instead of canned ones? Thank you very much.
Marta
Hi Marta. You do not need to let the dough rise with this recipe. The yeast gives a bit of rise as it bakes, but it is not necessary to let it rise before rolling it out. As for fresh cherries, they can definitely be used for this recipe once pitted. You may find that you need more fresh cherries because the canned ones are somewhat “crushed” in the can. Fresh cherries will also give off more juice which may alter the end result as well. I would lit your fresh cherries sit for a bit after pitting to let them drain any extra juice. Also, if using fresh, make sure to use a tart cherry and not the sweet cherries you find in your produce section at the grocery store. Tart cherries have the best taste for baking a recipe like this one. Let me know how it goes!