Onion Cake – A German Favorite

Onion cake is a traditional meal in Germany which has its peak time of popularity in late summer when the first wines of the year get onto the market. You’ll get it nearly everywhere then. Try it, then you’ll know why we love it so! Here’s how I make it.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 375 g flour
• ½ tsp. each salt and ground black pepper
• 1 packet instant yeast (for 500 g flour)
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• ¼ l lukewarm low-fat milk
• 60 g soft margarine (fat reduced), melted and slightly cooled down

For the filling

• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 kg onions, sliced thinly
• 3 eggs
• freshly ground black pepper, salt
• 1 tsp. ground caraway
• 4 tbsp. sour cream
• 150 g lean bacon, diced

Instructions

Firstly, prepare the dough:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and mix it with salt and pepper.
2. Press a hollow into the middle, put yeast and sugar in and mix them with a few spoons of milk to create a pre-dough. Cover the bowl with a wet cloth and let it stand for 15 minutes.
3. Then, add the remaining milk and margarine and work to a smooth dough that’s not sticky any more. Put it back into the bowl, cover it again and allow it to rise for another half an hour.
4. Cover a baking tray with baking paper, roll out the dough on flour and place it onto the tray. Push up the edges.

Whilst the dough rises, you can start preparing the filling:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or pan and stew the onions until tender. Allow them to cool down a bit.
2. Mix the eggs, spices and sour cream with a whisk until you get a smooth mixture.

Now put your onion cake together:

1. Preheat the oven on 190° C.
2. Spread the onions on the dough, pour the egg mixture over and sprinkle the bacon on top.
3. Allow the onion cake to rise for a couple of moments.
4. Bake it for about 30 minutes.

Serves 4.

Tips

• You can replace the caraway with cumin. It gives the onion cake a different, very interesting flavor.
  
• Onion cake tastes great hot and cold. You can prepare it a day or two in advance, keep it in the fridge and then warm it in the microwave.
• It's also great as a starter, but then you will need only half the recipe (or simply feed twice as much people).

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