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This should be the week things gear up for Deutschesfest in Odessa. Sadly, like most area towns, traditional festivities have been canceled due to the corona virus.

Normally, the enticing smell of apple strudel, baking in the community center kitchen would waft through the air this week. Workers setting up the Biergarten would enjoy the aroma of pickles and sauerkraut fermenting. Sausage, kraut ranza, kuchen and many other German delicacies would be tucked away in freezers awaiting the big weekend.

But 2020 is a different year. This is an opportunity to prepare some of these dishes at home. Kuchen is a good dish to start with. There are many recipes worldwide, but if you are aiming for authentic German, the recipe must include yeast in the dough and cream in the filling. The following dough recipe is attributed to the late Agnes Knott.

Kuchen dough

1 1/2 cups milk, heated to 200 degrees.

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 package or 2 1/4 tsp regular yeast

2 eggs, beaten and at room temperature

6 cups all-purpose flour

Place salt, sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Pour the heated milk over the ingredients in the bowl and stir to melt butter. Cool to lukewarm (110 degrees).

Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let soften about five minutes. Stir in yeast. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Stir in half the flour, then stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft but not sticky dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface and let rise until double in bulk.

Divide raised dough into 3 equal portions and flatten or roll each into a round large enough to completely line 9 inch round cake pan. Fill with fruit and cream topping. Yield: 3 kuchen.

Cream topping for kuchen

1 quart heavy whipping cream

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

3 eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients and mix well until sugar dissolves. Yield: about 5 cups filling.

Classic German Kuchen is cream filled with a Streusel Topping and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Streusel topping

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients using a pastry blender or fork. Yield: 2 cups topping.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Assemble kuchen by dividing the cream topping evenly between the three dough-lined pans. Sprinkle 2/3 cup Streusel topping over each kuchen and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool in pans 5 minutes, then carefully remove to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 3 kuchen.

To make fruit kuchen, you will need about 2 cups fruit for each. Sliced peaches, or apples, apricot or plum halves, sweet cherries or berries are good choices. Arrange fruit on kuchen dough before adding cream filling. If fruit is tart, sprinkle with additional sugar before adding the cream filling. Sprinkle with streusel and cinnamon before baking. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until filling is set and fruit cooked through. Cool 10 minutes in pans before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Note: Dough may be refrigerated for several days before raising. Filling maybe refrigerated for several days as well, so you may bake kuchen one at a time.

Local Odessa cooks would normally be baking German breads and pastries for the Odessa Historical Museum benefit bake sale. Breads, kuchen, pies, rolls, cookies and bars would fill a 40-foot long table to overflowing with a backlog in the kitchen to refill the tables as they are emptied after the 10 a.m. starting time.

Carol Bell shared a recipe for Peach Crumb Bars, that she got from her sister Jean Starkel. Jean found the recipe on the Taste of Home website and it is attributed to Amy Burns of Newman, Illinois. This recipe would be great for bake sales.

Peach crumb bars

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Dash ground cinnamon

1 cup shortening

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

9 medium peaches, peeled and chopped

1 tsp almond extract

4 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, 1 cup of the sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until crumbly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together, egg and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and stir with a fork until crumbly.

Reserve 2 1/2 cups of the mixture and press the remaining mixture into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

Toss peaches with almond extract. In another bowl, combine cornstarch and remaining sugar. Add to peaches and toss gently to evenly distribute sugar mixture. Spread over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs.

Bake until lightly browned and filling is bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Cut into bars. Yield: 2 dozen.

Note: I used 5 cups well-drained canned, unsweetened peaches with good results.

Follow us on Facebook at Welcome to My Kitchen for more German Deutschesfest recipes. Odessa Drug Store and the Odessa Memorial Hospital Gift Case have copies of “Unser Tagelich Brot, The Staff of Life V Cookbook” for sale. These have all the Fest recipes plus many more.

Share your favorite Deutschesfest baking and fall recipes by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa WA 99159, email them to therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record office. Keep watering yard and garden as we go into the fall so plants and trees go into winter dormancy strong.