In God's Country: South Dakota

50 weeks, 50 states, 50 desserts

The seventh state is South Carolina, having ratified the Constitution on May 23, 1788.
However, since I didn't play too close to the details when I was looking for recipes, I got my South states mixed up and ended up making South Dakota instead of South Carolina. So....

The fortieth state is South Dakota, having ratified the Constitution on November 2, 1899.
South Dakota does have a state dessert, Kuchen.

Kuchen celebrates the rich cultural heritage and traditional food of the State's German ancestors. Kuchen is derived from an Old German word for "cake". The word originated in the 1800's, and it describes various types of coffee cakes made from a sweet dough and a wide variety of fillings.

The recipe that I used for Kuchen came out much more "new-world" than how I thought Wikipedia presented Kuchen. My Kuchen end-product was almost like a fruit pizza, if you are familiar with that. I was expecting some old school, thick, pastry, crusty thing. Wasn't even close, but it ended up very tasty! There are three parts to this Kuchen, bottom crust layer, middle filling, and topped with apples and sugar. On to the recipe, The Official State Recipe for Apple Kuchen from South Dakota.

Ingredients:
For the crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

For the filling:
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, at room temperature

For the topping:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, if desired, cored, and thinly sliced

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Lightly grease and flour a 9x13-inch pan.
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl or food processor fitted with a steel blade and mix to combine.

Using the Ninja to mix things up is the easiest possible way to go about it.

Add the vanilla and butter, a little at a time.

You want your mixture to be a little crumbly, not smooth, so that it can be pressed together. You aren't looking for a smooth batter, but something that looks like it can be pressed together, kind of like a pie crust consistency.

Press into the baking pan and bake in oven until slightly golden but not brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.

See, it needs to have a little bit of texture to it.

Let crust cool.
Because I am always in a hurry, I didn't let it cool completely. It only cooled the amount of time it took me to finish the next steps.

Lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Or turn it off... it will probably still be at 400 when you are ready to put the crust back in. Just don't forget to turn the oven back on if you turn it off.

To make the filling:
Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in mixer (preferably with a paddle) and beat until creamy.
Add the egg, mix to combine, and pour over the cooled crust.

To make the topping:
Place the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to combine.
If you haven't already, peeled, if desired, core and thinly sliced 3 Granny Smith apples.

If you wait until now to slice the apples it will give your crust extra time to cool. I never peeled the apples. If you do, it will make cutting into the Kuchen easier.

Place the apples on top of the filling in two or three columns.

If you want to get fancy, you can make designs with your apples and how they are laid out.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar and transfer to the oven.