Kuchen Round-up

I used to think that "kuchen" was German for cake, and technically it is, but it also seems to be a kind of catch-all term for sweet fruit pastry or cake desserts. So, sometimes apfelkuchen is an apple cake, sometimes it's a straight-up apple pie, and sometimes it's a Frankenkuchenpie. Don't worry, I'm here to do diligent research on the subject. Prenzlauer Berg field notes after the jump:

This is a lovely apricot almond cake (Aprikosenkuchen) I had at Café Liebling on Helmholzplatz (Raumerstrasse 36a). The crust was a bit dry, but the almond/apricot combination was enjoyable. It was nice so we lingered outside for quite awhile here the other day. They also serve fresh herbal teas, meaning fresh sprigs of herbs stuck in a glass of hot water. I opted for mint, which I very much enjoyed.

The taste reminded me of something from my childhood, but I can't quite put my finger on what . . . Pleasant, nonetheless.

Next up is this Apfelkuchen from Café Hilde (Metzer Str. 22):

Now this was pure apple pie, which was a little unexpected as I'd gotten used to some kind of cake-like base + fruit layer in my kuchen. Unexpected, but awesome. Who doesn't love surprise apple pie? LCBF had a tasty brownie and his coffee came with a butter cookie that tasted like the offspring of a ritz cracker and a graham cracker.

The café itself was very comfortable and pleasant. The menu has English translations and seems welcoming of the ex-pat crowd. Our waitresses were both very nice, which is saying something.

Cafés are not the only place for delicious kuchen, of course. We're also surrounded by bakeries (which is reason alone to move to Europe), including Schrippenschuster (Raumerstrasse 9), which also has great bread.

We bought a fantastic loaf of pumpernickel or something here (I just point at things that look nommy in bakeries, then we go home and eat them without really knowing what they are). I also took this apfelstrudel home:

As apple strudel goes, this was tasty with nice flaky layers, but as one might remember from the great strudel vs. streusel contest of April '11, streusel has my heart . . .

Which leads me to this apfelkuchen from Weichardt Brot truck I bought at the Thursday Kollwitzplatz farmer's market:

OMNONOMNOM! Cinnamon base cake beneath a shredded apple-raisin-walnut goodness layer and a subtle, sweet streusel crumble topping. Nomlicious. Also, the guy in the truck was very nice and took pity on me--graciously speaking English and helping me choose between apple and cherry.

And there's the quick and dirty p'berg kuchen round-up.