Vegan Apple “kuchen”

Kuchen is a word in German, which means “cake”. In Chile, Kuchen is a synonym of delicious pies and other pastries made mainly in the south of the country.

The influence of German immigrants in our culture is notable, and one of most prominent area where the heritage can be found is in the southern food, not only in those amazing desserts, but in many other sweet and savory dish, that still can be enjoyed when you visit cities like Valdivia, Frutillar or Puerto Varas.

My mom was born in Puerto Varas and of course she is very good at making kuchen, which I used to have very often in our home. Fresh home made kuchen using apples, plums, blackberries and other fruits, mainly in winter.

Vegan Apple kuchen

Servings: about 7 to 8 portions
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Ingredients:

Dough:

2 Cups all purpose flour

1 Tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/3 Cup vegan butter

3 Tbsp apple sauce

10 Tbsp cold water

1 dash of salt

Filling:

4 Peeled and sliced apples

3 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

1/4 Tsp ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Let’s do it:

First we are going to preheat our oven to 350 F.
In a bowl put the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together and mix well.
Incorporate the vegan butter, and with a fork start cutting the butter until you get a coarse mix.
Add the Apple sauce and water, mixing until a ball is formed.
In a flat floured surface, knead the dough for about 3 minutes. This step is only to get the dough well together, it is necessary to knead so vigorously. After that, bring the dough covered into the fridge for about half an hour.
Meanwhile, get your apples ready in a big mixing bowl, getting all the ingredients in the filling list together, stirring well and let them rest for about 15 minutes (or while the dough gets ready)
Take your dough out of the fridge and cut a 1/4 of the ball and reserve. Also have a 9 inch pan pie or a round spring form pan ready.
Roll the big portion of dough into a round sheet of 1/8 to 3/16 inch thick. The final dimension of your dough should be a round sheet of 12 inches. You can also manage to cover the bottom of the pan and with your hands, making a 2 inch deep side of your pie.
Take the rest of your dough and roll it into a 9 by 9 inches.
Fill your pie with the apple mixture, and finish using the last dough you roll. To give it a rustic look on top, I did a classic 6 by 4 “lattice” pie crust. Brush the dough with non-dairy milk to have a nice and gold finish.
Bring to a preheated oven at 350 F for about 45 minutes.
Let cool for about 2 hours at least before cut.

If you can’t wait, and cut the kuchen just 2 hours after baking, it will be juicy and it probably will fall apart, that’s why always is better to let it sit overnight and have it as nice and delicious breakfast.

This can be an ideal gift for mother’s day, a birthday, or just to have it when you have some friends to visit you at home. It could be made in a square baking pan and after let it cool, cut it into little squares, sprinkle some ground cinnamon and confectioners sugar on top to serve in a cute plate as little sweet bites to share with a tea.

If you have any questions, or just want to share your experience doing these Kuchen, please leave a comment below or visit my Instagram or Facebook page, I will be glad to see you there!!!