What is sour cream called in Germany?

The only products labelled "sour cream" on the supermarket shelves here in Germany have herbs in them, meant to be paired with baked potatoes or eaten as a dip with chips. But no worries, fellow bakesters and bakestresses! One can choose from many different dairy products that can work as substitutes for the North American version of sour cream. In the baking world, saure Sahne, Schmand, Crème Fraîche or Sauerrahm could all be substituted for sour cream (but be aware that the outcome of your baked good will vary, depending on the product you choose to use).



I used Schmand to replace sour cream in my coffee cake pictured here, and it turned out marvellously! Schmand is verrrrry thick though, thicker than sour cream. The next time I bake this classic recipe, just to experiment and see how the cake turns out, I'll use Sauerrahm instead (Sauerrahm is not as thick as Schmand; it is closer in consistency to sour cream). Saure Sahne, on the other hand, is more similar in consistency to plain yogurt. I suggest substituting sour cream with any of the above dairy products mentioned at a ratio of 1 : 1 (e.g. 1 cup sour cream = 1 cup Schmand).

Rhabarberkuchen von Jane

Isn't this the most rustic/beautiful slice of homemade cake you've ever seen? I was one lucky girl for having it all to myself the other day. And I'm so inspired to try making it sometime soon! This lovely Rhubarb Cake was baked by Jane, the girlfriend of Andreas (one of my Sprachentandem partners). Much love for saving a piece for me, guys!

The bottom layer had a familiar cake-y texture to it. I tasted chunks of cooked rhubarb in a vanilla-flavoured sort of custard in the middle layer. And the top layer seemed to me like light and fluffy, sweetened and baked egg whites. Mmm. The three layers fused excellently together, resulting in a wunderbar cake. On that note, German cakes are so under the radar! I stumbled upon a superb local Konditorei the other day, omfg. Blog post on the scrumptious cakes at Café Haertle coming real soon.