Plum Cake: Quetschekuchen

There are all sorts of names for plum cake in German: Pflaumenkuchen is more common in northern Germany, while in Bavaria and Austria it is Zwetschgendatschi/Zwetschkendatschi, " but in Hessen and part of the Rheinland "Quetschekuche(n)" is the name, and in some other areas the word used is "Zwetschgenkuchen," and in Switzerland it is "Zwetschenwähe."  

Some Germans make plum cake with baking powder, some make it with yeast, and I've actually read where some use only eggs to provide some lift. German regions in Europe tend to use Italian plums or damson plums, both of which are "egg shaped," but I'm sure Germans won't hang you out to dry if you use other varieties of plums. "Hey, was machen Sie? Sie brauchen noch ein paar Wäscheklammern mehr!" (Hey, what are you doing? You still need a few more clothes pins!) Further, many Germans add "streusel" on top of the plum cake before baking.* Also, some use a round baking pan or dish for plum cake, while others use a rectangular baking sheet (German: Backblech, or just Blech). Plum cake is often served with whipped cream or powdered sugar on top.

I had "Quetschekuchen" many years ago in Frankfurt, Germany, and I'll tell you about it, once I get these damned clothes pins off of me! Anyway, the bakery and pastry shops (called a "Bäckerei und Konditorei," in German) in Frankfurt just wouldn't leave me alone. All of the great window displays kept beckoning to me, "Randy.... look over here!" It was all too much and I bought a "Quetschekuche" (in Frankfurt they usually do not include the ending "n" in "Kuchen") and it was delicious.     

Ingredients:

8 to 10 plums (I use black plums)
3 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup lukewarm milk, just lukewarm, not hot (more, if needed, later)
1/2 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons (divided use)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tablespoons butter, melted + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil added to the melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
1 teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter, skip this, or use just a pinch)
1 packet of active dry yeast
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon

Wash the plums, then quarter them, but leave the peel on. Put the plum quarters into a bowl and mix in the 2 tablespoons of sugar, set the plums aside. In another bowl, add 2 cups of flour, yeast, salt (if using), and the lukewarm milk. Mix together to form a sticky dough. Cover lightly, put in a warm place and let the dough rise for 30 to 45 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, vanilla and the butter, working these ingredients into the dough as you gradually add the remaining flour. If the dough is too dry, add some milk (doesn't have to be warm), but just a tablespoon at a time, but it's okay if the dough is still somewhat sticky. Let the dough rest and rise a little again for just 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I used a baking sheet of 17 inches by 11 inches, but you can use a little larger sheet and spread the dough thinner. I keep the dough sticky and put it in the middle of the baking sheet and then press and smooth it out by hand and with a spatula. Press each quarter plum into the dough in rows. Pour any juice that has accumulated in the bowl over the plums and sprinkle the cinnamon over the top. If you want to use more plums, you can make the plum cake sort of look like roofing tiles by overlapping the plum quarters. Bake at 350 F until the visible parts of the cake are a bit browned. I baked the one I made for this article for about 40 to 45 minutes, but the baking time will naturally vary by the thickness of the dough.
 
* "Streusel" (actually pronounced like, "stroy-zel") is a common crumbly topping used by Germans for many cakes and pastries. There are some variations, but the basic recipe is sugar (sometimes brown sugar), flour, butter and a spice or two, often including cinnamon. By the way, the word "Streusel" (all nouns in German are capitalized) is closely related to English "strew," as it is "strewn"on top of cakes, and it was formed from the verb "streuen," meaning, "to strew, to scatter (about)." The ending "el" is a diminutive, meaning it "makes it smaller," so the literal meaning of the German noun "Streusel" seems to be, "a little something strewn on top of a cake." German immigrants brought "Streusel" to the U.S. 

A piece of "Quetschekuchen" without whipped cream, then two slightly different views with Quetschekuchen topped with whipped cream and served with a cup of coffee

WORD HISTORY:
Dodder-This is a tough word to research, but there are relatives in the Germanic languages, with other relatives in Indo European. It is distantly related to "dust" and to "dizzy," words from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "dheu," which had the notion of "smoke, haze, dust," and then "dheus," which meant, "whirl, twirl;" thus also, "twist around;" thus also the figurative, "confused, hazy in the mind, dizzy;" thus also, "to shake, to tremble." An unknown form was passed to Old Germanic, which was continued only in the West Germanic branch, and which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the verb "dyderian," meaning "to delude, to confuse," and also the noun, "dydrin," meaning "egg yolk" (apparently, because yolks "shake, quiver"). Then "dad(d)eren" developed, meaning, "to shake, to shake causing the teeth to hit together." This then became "dadder," then "dodder." In the Germanic languages, German still has "Dotter" (egg yolk, or yolks, as the same form is singular and plural), Low German Saxon has "Dodder" (yolk), Dutch has "dooier" (earlier "doder"), West Frisian "djerreblom" (Marigold, the flower, seemingly from the flowers looking like egg yolks?). One of the problems with the history of "dodder" is, its ancestors had a wide range of figurative meanings, including, from the notion of "whirl," "whisk, mix together;" thus also, "murky;" that is, "something mixed together and, thus, unclear or impure."