Because it was my birthday week and we were dining in all week, I decided to make my mother's old recipe for Wasser Kuchen. She made this recipe so often, she did it by memory. The recipe card used to hang on the inside of the spice cabinet door in her kitchen. Such few ingredients, I memorized it myself as a young girl.
Mother always baked this sponge-type cake in a 9 x 13 pan. Then added fruit or pudding or chocolate or whatever she felt like. Since this is strawberry season in Florida, I knew I would make a shortcake of sorts.
When we lived in Germany 44 years ago.....can it be that long ago?.... I bought a cake form called a "Torten Boden" which literally means the bottom of the cake. You can buy these ready made in Germany such as our small, round shortcakes. What I love about the pan is that it forms an edge so all the lovely fruit cannot escape.
It is a Dr. Oetker pan and looks its age. The trick is to diligently get shortening into every little ripple and crevice in order for the cake to simply drop out after baking. No rush on this job.
Wasser Kuchen (Water Cake)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup water
Beat the eggs until very foamy. Add sugar and beat to mix. Add baking powder to flour and slowly add alternately to the sugar/egg mixture with the water.
Bake in a greased, sugared and then lightly floured 9 x 13 pan, or if you have a fluted German cake pan, please use it instead.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. How simple is that!!
I mentioned last time that I received this great gift from Debby at
A Feast for the Eyes. One of the items was an envelope of King Arthur "Instant Clearjel Powder." It is a thickening substitute for flour or cornstarch for pies. But this is the best part... I cut up the strawberries and put half the amount of sugar on them and let them sit for a half hour. Into the other half of the sugar, I added 2 tablespoons of this "Instant Clearjel Powder." I mixed the last half of the sugar and gel into the strawberries gently, and it quickly thickened to a perfect texture. No cooking involved. I then spooned the strawberries onto the cake. This worked so slick!!! I know I will use this product often.
