Donauwellen are simply one of those cakes that everyone loves to reach for. Light and dark sponge, juicy peaches, a creamy vanilla layer and crunchy chocolate on top – there's something for everyone.
It's moist, fruity, creamy and chocolatey all at once, and yet not too heavy.
It's exactly this combination that makes the Donauwelle a true all-rounder – Donauwellen always go down well.
Donauwellen are usually made with cherries – we make ours with peaches. Plus a homemade vanilla custard and a chocolate coating of dark and milk chocolate.
The recipe is designed for a 30 × 30 cm baking pan and makes about 25 pieces.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 250 g soft butter
- 167 g brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 233 g wheat flour
- 11 g baking powder
- 10 g dark cocoa
- 667 g canned peaches, well drained
For the custard
- 500 g whole milk
- 50 g brown sugar
- 42 g cornstarch
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds only
- a little freshly grated tonka bean, to taste
- 125 g soft butter
For the chocolate coating
- 150 g dark couverture chocolate, 70 %
- 100 g milk couverture chocolate, 28.5 %
- 30 g coconut fat
Method
- Preparing the milk: The day before, briefly bring the milk to a boil with the brown sugar, the vanilla seeds and the scraped-out vanilla bean. Remove from the heat and let cool. Then leave it to infuse in the fridge overnight.
- Making the batter: Beat the soft butter with the brown sugar until creamy, then stir in the eggs one at a time. Mix the flour and baking powder and stir in briefly. Spread about half of the batter evenly in a greased 30 × 30 cm baking pan, stir the cocoa into the second half and carefully spread it over the light batter. Distribute the well-drained peaches evenly on top and bake at 175 °C for about 25–30 minutes, checking with a skewer towards the end. Let cool completely.
- Cooking the pudding: The next day, remove the vanilla bean. Take about 100 g of the infused milk and stir it with the cornstarch until smooth. Heat the remaining milk. As soon as it is hot, stir in the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly, and bring the pudding to a boil. Keep cooking while stirring constantly until it is clearly thickened and very firm. Stir in a little freshly grated tonka bean to taste. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap so that the wrap lies directly on the surface, and let it cool until lukewarm.
- The custard: Beat the soft butter until creamy. Stir the lukewarm pudding into the butter a little at a time until you have a smooth, creamy mixture. Spread the custard evenly over the completely cooled cake while still lukewarm and smooth it out. Then chill the cake thoroughly.
- The chocolate coating: Carefully melt the dark and milk couverture together with the coconut fat in a bain-marie. Let the chocolate cool briefly and spread it evenly over the custard. For the typical Donauwellen pattern, carefully draw waves into the still-soft chocolate with a fork or small spatula and let it set.
- Letting it set: Chill the Donauwellen and ideally let them set overnight. Cut into about 25 pieces before serving.
Sabine's Tip
We prepare the milk for the custard the day before. Boiling it with vanilla and sugar and then letting it rest allows the vanilla flavour to infuse wonderfully – making it much more intense. Why not also try adding a little freshly grated tonka bean to the milk along with the vanilla? For me it makes the flavour much fuller and rounder. The tonka bean shouldn't overpower the vanilla, just give it some extra depth.
We deliberately put the custard on the cake while it's lukewarm. That way it bonds especially well with the cake layer and spreads evenly.
For the chocolate coating I deliberately use a mix of 70 % and 28 % chocolate. The 70 % chocolate gives a wonderfully intense, strong chocolate flavour. The 28 % milk chocolate keeps the coating a little softer so it can be cut easily later without the chocolate cracking. For me, this mix is exactly the right balance between intense chocolate flavour and easy cutting.
Donauwellen are wonderful to prepare the day before. And to be honest, I like them best when they've had time to set overnight in the fridge. Then the cake, peaches, custard and chocolate come together into a particularly lovely overall flavour.
One more little tip for cutting: take the cake out of the fridge a few minutes before cutting. That way the chocolate coating is easier to cut without cracking.
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