german onion cake

hey guys! :) how have you been?
so today i'm very excited to share my second recipe with you.
THE GERMAN ONION CAKE

i just made it for lunch today and i had to make two this time because my family simply adores this recipe and even my grandparents, my uncle and my cousin came over for a piece!

it kind of is an old-fashioned meal that poor farmers used to cook back then because you basically just need onions, eggs and some dairy products which they usually had on their farms for their own needs anyway...
in these days you will find it in fancy restaurants around summer/fall because people like to drink a special white wine with it that you can only find in stores around the grape gathering time...
but i like to eat it at any time of the year and i'm sure it tastes really good with any kind of white wine... ;)

so i got this recipe from my cooking grams (i've got a teddy bear grams and a cooking grams hahaha... but they both like to cook or bake all those old-fashioned, very rich but havenly good grandma meals!)...
she probably got it from her mom or a friend of hers, however it is one of our traditional home recipes...
and since my grams kind of gave her golden cooking spoon into my hands now, i feel like i have to keep all these traditions up and carry them on for our descendents... ;)

so, here it is, first published just for you:

the german onion cake (recipe for 8 servings)

• 400-450g or 6 sheets phyllo pastry (if you use a springform pan like i did; you can also use a regular baking sheet, then you might need some more and your cake will be larger but flatter)
• 4-5 peeled onions, chopped or cut in little rings
• 200g (~2 2/3 cups) grated cheese (i used gouda)
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 250g (~1 cup) heavy cream
• 6 eggs
• butter
• pepper and salt
• caraway (optional)

1
preheat your convection oven to 190°C (375°F). set phyllo pastry aside and let defrost while cooking.

2
heat some butter in a pan. add the onion rings (or dice) and braise lightly.

in a bowl, mix heavy cream, eggs and chopped parsley. 

beat until smooth (you might want to use an electric beater). 

add a few pinches of salt and pepper (since the eggs kind of take the salty taste from your mixture you might need to add a little bit more than just a pinch of each).
now add the grated cheese and whisk well.

3
add the heavy-cream-egg-cheese-mix to the onions in your pan and heat slightly while stirring. if you think there is not enough liquid, add some milk or some more heavy cream and whisk.

4
take a springform pan (or a baking sheet) and grease with butter. add the slighly defrosted phyllo pastry sheets to cover the bottom of your pan (don't worry if it doesn't fit exactly, some overlapping pastry is okay). mine looked like this:

5
now pour in your slightly heated cream-cheese-onion-mixture. bake at 190°C (375°F) for about 45-55 min. test with a toothpick, if it's light brown and not sticky anymore remove from heat, let cool for a few minutes, take a glass of your favorite white wine and enjoy your german onion cake! 

hope you guys like it! don't forget to ask all the questions you might have and comment and click the little 'pin it' button. ;)

xoxo, vanessa.