Elbe Flood Cake Part 1: Apricot Crumble Cake

Some of you international people might have heard that parts of Europe, including 
Germany have been suffering under severe floods. I'm based in Hamburg but my parents live on a farm directly next to the Elbe river. 



The water level was rising for several days, until it reached its peak on Friday. All week we had all kept an eye on the levels and my parents seemed to be doing ok, given that they had the help of lots of people, firemen, army, SES, etc. However on Friday my parents said every helping hand would be good as it started to look critical. I arrived at my parents and it looked, well, wet. The backyard was flooded, there was a huge "lake" behind our house and the fields were flooded as well. On Saturday the groundwater had reached our basement which meant regular shoveling of water. 

My mom asked me to make some cake to keep the helpers happy. The requirements were: Quick and easy, no cream/ buttercream, to be eaten with your hands only. I chose to make this apricot crumble cake!

The situation at my parents has now relaxed a little but it wouldn't have been possible without the help of everybody. Thank you!

Apricot Crumble Cake

For the crumble
200g flour
150g brown sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of ground cinnamon
175g softened unsalted butter

For the base
250g softened butter
150g sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
5 eggs
400g flour
1 packet of baking powder (approx 1 tbsp)
75ml milk

1 can of apricots, drained
200g creme fraiche

Mix the ingredients for the crumble shortly until big crumbles form. Cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Line a deep baking tray with non-grease paper. Preheat oven to 180°C.
Mix butter, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated  well. Mix flour with baking powder. Add flour to egg and butter mixture alternating with milk and beating on low speed. 

Spread mixture on the baking tray and top with apricots. Scatter blops of creme fraiche on the cake and sprinkle with 3-4 tablespoons of sugar. Top with crumbles and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.