Träubleskuchen (Red Currant Meringue Cake)

This delicious red currant cake with meringue topping looks impressive, but it is easier to make than you think. Consisting of a simple sponge base, topped with sour red currants that are perfectly balanced with the sweet meringue layer.

This recipe comes from Swabia and the historic cultural area that lies in part of Baden-Würtenberg and Bavaria. The Swabian kitchen is famous for its humble but delicious dishes, such as Spätzle (egg dumplings) Swabian Potato Salad, and Onion Cake. However, this Swabian Red Currant Cake is everything but humble, a real showstopper cake- yet so easy to make.

What is Träubleskuchen

Träubleskuchen is a German red currant cake, which originates from Swabia. "Träubles" is the Swabian word for "red currant". "Kuchen" is the German word for "Cake". The name is derived from the word "Traube" which translates as "grape" but also is used to call a bunch of berries that are grown on one vine. The more widespread name for red currants in Germany is Johannisbeere.

"Johannis" is the German term for "John." And the berry is called Johannisbeere because the because red currants are generally ripe around St. Johns day, which is the 24th of June.

The characteristic feature of Träublekuchen is the meringue topping. Outside of Swabia, this cake is also known as "Johannisbeerkuchen mir Baiser Haube". "Baiser" is the German name for Merengue. I have written about the history of this name in more detail in my article about Baiser Cookies.

Another feature of this German Red Current Meringue cake is that the meringue is often mixed with nuts, either ground hazelnuts (affiliate link) or almonds.

How to make Träubleskuchen

Ingredients:

500 g red currants

• butter
• egg 
• sugar
• vanilla extract
• lemon juice
• salt
• baking powder
•  flour
• milk
• breadcrumbs

For the meringue

• egg whites
• sugar
• ground almonds (affiliate link)

Träublekuchen recipe (Step by Step)

1. Start by lining the bottom of a 9-inch spring form with baking parchment. Grease the sides with butter. Preheat your oven to 180°C/356°F top-to-bottom heat or 160°C /320° circulated heat.

2. For the cake base, using a hand or stand mixer, whisk the butter until creamy. Add in the egg, sugar, vanilla extract (affiliate link), lemon juice, and salt, and mix until combined. Now add the flour, baking powder (affiliate link), and milk, and mix to a rather thick dough.
3. Pour and spread the dough into the prepared form. Then sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top. This will ensure that the bottom does not get soggy with the red currant juice.

4. Prepare a clean mixing bowl. Ensure there is no grease left in it. You can wipe the bowl with white vinegar to be sure. Whisk the egg whites and salt on high speed until it starts to stiffen. Add the sugar bit by bit. Once the egg white is very stiff, carefully fold in the ground almonds (affiliate link). You do not want to mix too much, as you don't want the egg whites to deflate again.

4. Divide the egg white mass into two portions. In one portion fold in the red currants and spread it on the cake base.
5. Use the remaining portion to cover the cake. Place in the preheated oven, on the medium rack.

4. After 10 minutes you can see the top browning (see pictures). Now cover the cake with a sheet of baking parchement to avoid the cake from getting too brown.
5. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool. If you want you can sprinkle the cake with icing sugar /powdered sugar before serving.

Tips for making stiff egg whites

• Choose fresh ingredients - All you need is sugar and egg whites. However, double-check that the sugar does not have any lumps and that the egg whites are fresh and have not been spoiled with egg yolk
• Keep eggs whites at room temperature
• Clean up - A bowl and a whisk are the essential equipment. However, make sure that the bowl is clean. There should be no traces of grease. I suggest giving the bowl and whisk a quick wipe with some white vinegar to make sure. Is it best to use a steel bowl, as sometimes grease sticks to plastic.
• Choose the easy way - you can off course whisk the egg whites with a manual whisk. It takes a long time and lots of arm muscle. Give yourself a break and use an electric hand or stand mixer.
• Add a pinch of salt. This will also help stabilize the egg whites. You can also use some crème of tartar if you have some handy.

Recipe Variations

There are many different recipes for this Swabian Red Currant Cake with Meringue topping. This recipe has worked for me, time and time again. Here are some suggestions on how you can alter it.

• replace the ground almonds (affiliate link) with ground hazelnuts (affiliate link). This work just as well.
• add a little cornstarch to your red currants before adding them to the stiff egg whites. This will thicken them up, but I found it not necessary in this recipe.
• add a few teaspoons of breadcrumbs to the red currants, this will soak up some of the moisture and make the cake less soggy.

How to serve

Serve this cake with a cup of coffee or lemonade. In Germany, we would enjoy it during the traditional Kaffee und Kuchenzeit (coffee in tea time at 3 pm).

Storage

This cake tastes best, the day it is made. However, leftovers can be kept in the fridge up to three days. I advise against freezing it as meringue does not freeze well.

Recipe