For 4 jars of approx. 200 ml
For me, Scheiterhaufen is pure childhood memory. A dessert I've known since I was little and that always tastes a bit like home to me.
In the past, Scheiterhaufen was a typical poor man's dessert: stale bread wasn't thrown away but turned into something new with apples and a simple egg and cream mixture. Exactly the kind of cooking I love – conjuring up something truly good from simple ingredients.
In my refined version today, though, many people don't recognize it at all. With tart apples, cinnamon, rum raisins, caramelized nuts and vanilla or tonka bean, the simple leftovers dessert becomes a truly fine dessert.
And I always make lots of jars at once. I like to use small preserving jars, because Scheiterhaufen freezes wonderfully in them. That way I always have a dessert at hand when things need to be quick.
Ingredients
For the Scheiterhaufen
- approx. 300–350 g stale, dry bread or pastries
- 3 eggs
- 300 ml cream
- 1 tbsp honey
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ vanilla pod or a little finely grated tonka bean
Which bread? You can use ordinary white bread or rolls. But Scheiterhaufen turns out especially good with stale sweet yeast pastry – it becomes even richer and gets a particularly fine texture.
For the apple mixture
- 3 tart apples
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- Rum raisins to taste
- 80 g chopped nuts
For the caramelized nuts
- 80 g chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds
- 1–2 tbsp brown sugar
- approx. 1 tbsp water
To finish
- 4 small preserving jars of approx. 200 ml
- a little butter for the jars
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Method
- Preparing the flavoured cream: Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks thoroughly with the cream and honey. Briefly heat the cream mixture once with the scraped vanilla pod or the finely grated tonka bean. It's best to prepare the cream the day before: after heating, let it cool a little, leave the vanilla pod in it and let the cream infuse overnight in the fridge. That way the vanilla or tonka bean flavours can really develop.
- Caramelizing the nuts: Put the chopped nuts in a pan. Add brown sugar and about 1 tbsp water and heat while stirring constantly. The water evaporates and the sugar starts to caramelize and coat the nuts. Keep stirring until the nuts are nice and glossy and coated all over in a fine layer of caramel. Then spread them on baking paper and let them cool completely.
- Preparing the bread: Cut the stale, dry bread into small cubes or pieces.
- Preparing the apples: Peel and core the apples and cut the flesh into small cubes. Mix with lemon juice, brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Mixing everything together: Now put the cut bread, the apple mixture, the rum raisins and the caramelized nuts in a large bowl. Mix everything together thoroughly. Pour some of the prepared cream and egg mixture over it and mix well so that the bread is evenly soaked. I don't layer the Scheiterhaufen. Especially with the small jars it doesn't make sense to me. I want the apples, bread, rum raisins and nuts to mix nicely so that every portion has a bit of everything.
- Filling the jars: Grease the small preserving jars with a little butter. Divide the mixture evenly between the 4 jars, leaving about a finger's width of space below the rim. Finally, pour a little of the remaining cream and egg mixture over each jar. This makes the Scheiterhaufen especially moist.
If you bake it fresh
- The meringue topping: Beat the egg whites with the lemon juice and brown sugar into stiff, glossy peaks. Spoon the meringue generously onto the filled jars.
- Baking: Place the jars in the oven preheated to 180 °C fan and bake for about 15–18 minutes. The meringue should rise nicely and turn golden brown on top. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
If you freeze it for later
If you're making several jars to keep, don't add the meringue topping yet. Simply fill the prepared bread and apple mixture into the greased jars, pour the remaining cream and egg mixture over it, again leaving about a finger's width of space below the rim. Close the jars and freeze.
When you want a Scheiterhaufen later, take the frozen jar out of the freezer, remove the lid and put it straight into the preheated hot oven. While the Scheiterhaufen bakes, whip the egg whites fresh into a meringue and only then spoon it onto the frozen Scheiterhaufen. That way you get this wonderfully risen, golden brown topping even from your stock.
Sabine's Tip – Rum Raisins to Keep
I actually always have a jar of rum raisins in the fridge. It's incredibly handy, because that way they're always ready – not just for Scheiterhaufen, but also for Kaiserschmarrn, strudel or other desserts.
Simply mix raisins with brown sugar and enough rum to just cover them. Keep tightly closed in the fridge.
Here in Mexico, though, I make my rum raisins with tequila and piloncillo, the typical Mexican unrefined sugar in little cones.
For this recipe, though, they stay classic rum raisins.
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