East German Buttermilk Cake - yum!

This makes a very large amount of very tasty cake, but it also freezes well, so go ahead, it couldn't be easier to make!

Dough: 5 1/2 cups (600 g) flour, 1 3/4 cup (400 g) sugar, 500 ml buttermilk, 2 teaspoons (1 German pack) baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla (or 1 pack vanilla sugar), grated peel of 1/2 lemon.

Topping: 2/3 cup (150 g) sugar, 400 g grated coconut (Kokosnussraspel) (I used the normal, sweetened kind - perfect!), 50 g slivered almonds.

Glaze: 200 g liquid whipping cream, 100 g melted butter.

Directions: Sift flour, mix with the baking powder. Stir together the buttermilk, sugar, vanilla and lemon peel. Slowly add the flour. You will have a rather liquid dough.

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Mix all the ingredients for the topping.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the dough on it (this is the only slightly tricky part, since the dough is a bit sticky and it's hard to keep the paper in place. If you've got a great non-stick baking sheet, I would try to go ahead without the paper). Spread the topping on top (duh!). Bake for approx. 30 minutes (American baking sheets being a bit smaller than German ones, the dough is going to be a bit thicker, therefore it might need an additional 5 minutes or so).

In the meantime, melt the butter for the glaze (microwave is fine). Using a spoon, spread the cream and the butter on the freshly baked cake while it is still hot. It'll melt right in there and make the cake delightfully moist (and unhealthy, but SOO good!). Let cool, cut in squares. Enjoy.