Lime Krummeltorte

 

Lime Krummeltorte with whipped cream

Krummeltorte is a deliciously type of soft, sweet short pastry used to make soft layered desserts.  Its German name translated literally means Krümel (crumb) + Torte (cake/tart) - so ‘crumb cake’ or ‘crumb tart' - which fits the rustic character of this dessert - a soft bottom with a layer of lime curd in the middle and a loose crumbly or 'nubbly' streusel top with the curd peeking out.

The dessert is easy to make and not super sweet, which makes it a great carrier for a variety of filling ideas. This is an imperfect forgiving dessert suitable for beginners or seasoned cooks alike, tastes delicious, can be made ahead, chills beautifully, and is endlessly versatile.

Other ideas for fillings include drained tinned peaches, pitted plums, apples, pears or dark/black cherries.  Stewed fruit such as plums, apples, sweetened rhubarb, quinces, pears.  Or try fresh, peeled, and very thinly sliced apples or pears, or other fresh stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines etc.

At its heart, Krummeltorte pastry is just a simple mix of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. I've used lime curd in this recipe simply because they're seasonal in a New Zealand winter and I had Bears Limes on hand in my home garden.

Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup white granulated or caster sugar

100gms butter, chopped and softened to room temperature

2 eggs, whisked

1 - 1.5 cups of lime curd (get my easy microwave lime curd recipe here)

Watch me make it in this short YouTube clip:  

Method:

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar.  Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour and sugar. Add the whisked eggs and combine with a bread and butter knife to form a crumbly dough. Do not knead.

* If you prefer using a food processor, pulse the ingredients until the mixture is crumbly.

If you’re serving the dessert warm straight from the dish, lightly butter a baking dish and press half to two‑thirds of the dough evenly across the base. Spread the lime curd over top, then scatter nubbly crumbly bits of the remaining dough over the filling to create a rustic crumble-style top. Lightly dust with powdered sugar when still slightly warm and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side with a little lime zest for decoration.

If you want to serve it cold as more of a tart, line a 22-24 cm springform pan baking paper - across the base and up the sides - to make lifting the Krummeltorte out clean and easy once cooled. Once cooled, lightly dust the top with powdered or icing sugar to serve.  A side of whipped cream is nice, but not essential.

Bake 30 minutes at 180c fan or until the top is a very light golden brown.  Err on the side of undercooked rather than overcooked.

Lime Krummeltorte in a baking dish sprinkled with icing sugar