That Sweet Dough is very versatile and you can make,
unlimited pastries with it. In our busy lives are there
any ways we can wing it a bit so it doesn't seem complicated?

Maybe some "Rules of Thumb"?

My grandma's all purpose sweet dough
that she used this to make CInnamon rolls,
Stollen, and of course the base for her Kuchens

The nice thing about a Kuchen made with a sweet dough,
is that pleasant yeasty flavor, sweet and rich with buttery
light texture, the eggs making it tender, and a hint of lemon peel,
that harmonizes with the sweetness.

then you bake the fruit with a custard, so that dough
absorbs all the good flavors and keeps nice and moist
and gets better as it sits.

So she would make it in a rectangular baking dish so it would be good
for a few days.

Grandma's Rules of Thumb,

I have had so many conversations with folks about how,
uncomplicated their grandma made magic with flour, some eggs, butter and a
few other things.

I love that era, and as a chef I have cooked that way most of my life.
Either memorizing a few ingredients or making "rule of thumb".
type measurements to make large or small batches.

By the way ....what does "Rule of Thumb" mean...

The thumb-nail use to be a good approximation of an inch ....so women would
measure fabric that way,

A Miller would rub the flour between his thumb and forefinger to determine if it should be
ground again

A Brewer would stick his thumb in the vat to determine the right brewing temperature.

Also,
Cups and Spoons
were really cups and spoons....

a handful or two of nuts, or chocolate chips,
a pinch of salt or knife point of cinnamon.

Butter the size of a small potato.

The important thing I like is keeping things straight and easy in your mind.

When making my grandma's Sweet Dough for Kuchen I think,

Separating it this way I can see it in my mind easy.

Easy to keep in your mind, so you don't have to run for the recipe.

I keep my go to Rules of Thumb on one of my cabinet doors
for easy reference.

Also develop your favorite measuring devices.
so you can see the measured ingredient clearly
Get extra measuring cups and spoons to keep in your
containers of flour and sugar for quick measuring.

Melt the butter for the dough keeping the 2 TB separate, and let cool,
Mix the rest while the yeast is blooming in the milk and eggs.

Mix the wet and dry and this time I want some lemon peel in it.

Knead the dough and you can either let it rise,
and punch down for bread or roll out for a Kuchen

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Kuchen Recipes

	Probably the one that I remember most is the Plum Kuchen particularly the ZwetschgenKuchen or the one made with what she called Italian Plums
because of WW2 she tried not to talk much German to me, but I still heard it and to this day remember her accent so well.

Grandma had a big Italian Plum tree outside her house so we had this often.
I remember the pits come out of the plum easy and the flesh isn't quite as
juicy.

Plum Kuchen

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Apple Kuchen

Apfelkuchen

This is a German style apple pie, only the crust is got a bit of chew to it, like
a cinnamon roll, and the custard sinks into the crust as well as the apples.

Nicley laid out apples and custard filling.

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Nectarine or Peach Kuchen

Nektarine or Pfirsich Kuchen

I peel the nectarines like you would a tomato,
putting them in boiling water and making an x on the end with a knife.

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Plum Kuchen Pizza

You can use this dough as you would a pizza dough and
use the custard as a base and put any kind of fruit on top
and Streusal. I like to cook it on a pizza stone, and it only takes
10 minutes or so.

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