Founded in 15 BC by the Romans, Ausburg is one of Germany's oldest cities. It was a free city for much of its history, and became a powerhouse on textile production and on banking, with its industries becoming heavily monopolistic. The city's wealth, however, attracted migrants, including artists seeking patrons, and Ausburg became a cultural center in the 16th century. Its population declined by 3/4th during the 17th century Thirty Year Wars, as epidemics ravaged the city while it was under siege. Ausburg rose again during the 19th century, as a textile and industrial center.

Ausburger cuisine is very much the cuisine of its region, but it has some specialties. Above all:

Zwetschgenkuchen mit Streuseln

Plum Cake with Streusel

I wasn't looking to make an Ausburger dish, as much as I was looking to make a plum dish. Plums were in season, and it felt a shame not to use them in some dish. Plum cake is a prized specialty of Ausburg, and it looked delicious in the photos.

My recipe, unfortunately, was a failure. We felt there weren't enough plums, and the cake itself was too dry - that might have been my fault for not choosing a smaller baking sheet (go for a quarter sized sheet or smaller). But the cake needed more than a pinch of salt to brighten it up and the streusel needed less flour. As it was, there was probably three times as much streusel as needed.

I'd look for another recipe if I wanted to make it again.

Plum Cake with Streusel Ingredients For the cake base 2 1/2 cups cake flour 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast 1/3 cup milk, lukewarm 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup (5 1/3 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing 1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional) pinch of salt For the topping 2/3 cups (10 1/2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted 2 cups cake flour 2/3 cups sugar pinch of salt pinch of ground cinnamon 2 lbs plums, washed, pitted and halved or sliced Directions Make the cake dough Sift the flour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast. Make a well in the center and pour the milk in it. Mix together into a thick paste. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes. Add the sugar, butter, egg, vanilla extract, if using and salt. Using the hook attachment of your electric mixer, knead this for 4-5 minutes. Cover the dough and allow to rise at room temperature for one hour. Prepare the topping In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon into a bread crumbs mixture. Set aside Prepare the cake Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a baking sheet. Lightly flour a working surface. Roll out the cake dough to the approximate size of your baking sheet and transfer it to the sheet. Layer the plums on the cake, slightly overlapping on each other. Crumble the topping evenly on the plums. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool and cut into slices.

Adapted from Susann Kreihe's recipe at Gerichte Werkstatt

Germanic cuisines I've cooked so far: Alsatian, Austrian, Bavarian, Central German, Belgian, Dutch, East German, Frisian, Friulian, German, German-American, Imperial Austro-Hungarian, Liechesteiner, Luxembourger, Medieval Geman

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