Johannisbeer-Streusel-Kuchen (redcurrant streusel cake)
A shortcrust base holding whole redcurrants tossed with a little cornstarch, which thickens their considerable juice into the crumb as it bakes instead of letting it pool under the streusel. Redcurrants are sharply tart on their own; the streusel's sweetness is what balances the whole cake.
Prep30 min
Cook40 min
Oven180°C
Servings12
Christoph's redcurrant streusel cake, tossing the fruit with cornstarch first so the considerable juice thickens into the crumb rather than pooling under the streusel.
Ingredients
Written for a 26 cm round tin
Units
Temperature
Servings
Base
- 220 g flour rounded
- 70 g sugar rounded
- 6 g baking powder rounded
- 1 g fine salt rounded
- 110 g cold butter, cubed rounded
- 1 egg rounded
Redcurrants
- 500 g redcurrants, stripped from the stalks rounded
- 70 g sugar rounded
- 20 g cornstarch rounded
Streusel
- 200 g flour rounded
- 120 g sugar rounded
- 110 g cold butter, cubed rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Rub the cold butter into the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until it looks like coarse crumbs, then work in the egg just until a dough forms. Press into the base of a 26 cm springform, about 2 cm up the sides, and chill for 20 minutes.
- Make the streusel: rub the cold butter into the flour and sugar with your fingertips until it forms coarse, pea-sized crumbs. Chill until needed.
- Toss the redcurrants with the sugar and cornstarch until evenly coated.
- Scatter the redcurrants evenly over the chilled base, then scatter the streusel over the top in an even, generous layer.
- Bake at 180°C for 35 to 40 minutes, until the streusel is solidly golden and the juice bubbling up looks thickened rather than watery.
- Cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then release the sides and cool completely on a rack before slicing.
Notes
- The cornstarch on the fruit is not optional in spirit. Redcurrants release a lot of juice, and without something to thicken it, the cake ends up wet in the middle no matter how long it bakes.
- Do not skip the second, colder chill on the streusel. Warm butter melts into a sheet instead of baking into distinct crumbs.
- Redcurrants are genuinely sharp on their own; do not reduce the sugar in the fruit layer expecting a less sweet result, or the tartness overwhelms the rest of the cake.
- It keeps for 3 days at room temperature under a cake dome, or 5 days in the fridge, though the streusel softens somewhat once refrigerated.
Ingredient substitutions
- Redcurrants can be a mix of red and blackcurrants, though blackcurrants alone are more intensely flavoured and may need slightly more sugar.
- For a version with less prep, frozen, already-stripped redcurrants work well straight from the freezer, tossed with the cornstarch while still frozen.
- A dusting of ground cardamom in the streusel is an unusual but good pairing with the sharpness of the fruit.
- For a nuttier streusel, replace 30 g of the flour with 30 g of finely chopped almonds.
From Christoph Mayer