Zwiebelkuchen

Zwiebelkuchen, literally ‘onion cake’ in German, is a delicious dish of onions, bacon, cream, and caraway seeds on a base of leavened dough. Fantastic hot from the oven on a chilly winter’s day.

Ingredients:

For the dough:
375 grams plain four
60 grams unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 packet active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon Salt
120 millilitres lukewarm milk
Pinch of sugar

For the Topping:
2 lbs onions, peeled and sliced
6 slices of bacon, chopped
2 teaspoons oil
240 millilitres cream
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon paprika

In a small bowl, combine the yeast and half of the milk. Mix in 1 tablespoon of the flour and the pinch of sugar. Allow this mixture to sit in a warm place for 1 hour. Combine the remaining dough ingredients then add the yeast mixture. Mix until a smooth dough forms, then knead by hand. Allow dough to sit in a warm place until it doubles in volume.

Add oil to a large frying pan. Cook bacon in the oil. Remove the bacon from the pan, but keep the bacon fat in the pan. Add onions to the pan and cook onions in the bacon fat until onions become translucent; do not brown.

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).

Grease a large baking sheet or square pizza pan. Roll out the dough to fit the size of the baking sheet. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet. Spread the onions and bacon evenly over the dough. Combine cream, eggs, salt, pepper, caraway seeds, and paprika. Pour the cream mixture evenly over the onions. Allow to sit and rise for another 30 minutes.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a golden crust develops. Remove from oven. Before serving, cut into squares and serve warm.