South Dakota Kuchen

An online recipe with instructions for making South Dakota Kuchen.

Kuchen is the official state dessert of the U.S. state of South Dakota.

Ingredients

Crust Ingredients
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) of cold unsalted butter cut into pieces

Filling Ingredients

Filling Ingredients
- 1 pound of cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup of sugar

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 egg, at room temperature

Topping Ingredients

Topping Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

Instructions

- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Grease and flour a 9-inch x 13-inch pan.

Crust Instructions:
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt Gradually mix in the vanilla and butter. Press the mixture into the baking pan to make a crust. Bake the crust at 450 degrees until slightly golden but not brown, about 12 to 15 minutes, then let it cool.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Filling Instructions:
Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla and beat until well combined and creamy. Mix in the egg. Pour the filling over the cooled crust.

Topping and Final Instructions:
- In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.
- Place the topping fruit on top of the filling in two or 3 columns
- Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar
- Bake in the 350 degree oven 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and firm
- Cut into 20 to 24 pieces

References:

- skatedancer.com - state symbols of south dakota
- wikipedia.org - kuchen - article