Donauwelle Cake with the Thermomix® makes 16 slices in 90 minutes including baking time and chilling. Three layers make this classic: marbled sponge with pale and dark stripes, a layer of sour cherries and a vanilla buttercream topping with dark chocolate glaze. In the Thermomix® we mix the batter in 5 minutes, cook the cream in 8 minutes, all in the same mixing bowl.
We bake the Donauwelle for family birthdays, Sunday coffee with the grandparents and any occasion that calls for a classic German bakery cake. 16 slices are enough for 8 people with 2 slices each, the typical portion at a coffee table.
Donauwelle Cake with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 16 ✓
- 2 jars sour cherries
- 6 eggs
- 220 g sugar
- 1 sachet vanilla sugar
- 250 g butter at room temperature
- 370 g flour
- 1 sachet baking powder
- 5 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder (sweetened)
- 480 g milk
- 1 sachet vanilla pudding mix
- 60 g sugar
- 250 g butter
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp Nutella
- 20 g sunflower oil
Instructions 0 / 8
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1
Drain the cherries.
Drain the cherries in a sieve. Preheat the oven to 180°C top and bottom heat and line a baking tray with baking paper.
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2
Whip the eggs.
Add the eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar to the mixing bowl and whip for 1 minute / speed 4. Add the butter in pieces together with the flour, baking powder and 3 tbsp milk, and mix for 20 seconds / speed 4. Spread half of the batter onto the baking tray.
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3
Mix in the cocoa.
Add the cocoa and 2 tbsp milk to the mixing bowl and mix for 10 seconds / speed 4. Drop the dark batter in spoonfuls onto the pale batter and spread it out.
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4
Arrange the cherries and bake.
Distribute the cherries over the batter. Bake the cake on the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 30 minutes and leave to cool.
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5
Cook the pudding.
Meanwhile, add the milk, vanilla pudding mix and sugar to the mixing bowl, mix for 3 seconds / speed 5 and cook for 9 minutes / 100°C / speed 3. Set the pudding aside, cover with cling film and leave to cool for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Rinse the mixing bowl.
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6
Mix the buttercream.
Add the room-temperature butter in pieces to the mixing bowl and whip for 10 seconds / speed 4. Run the mixing bowl for 1 minute 20 seconds / speed 2.5 and spoon the pudding through the measuring cup opening onto the blade. The pudding and butter must both be at room temperature so the buttercream comes together. Spread the cream over the cooled cake and chill for approximately 2 hours. Rinse the mixing bowl.
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7
Melt the chocolate.
Add the chocolate in pieces to the mixing bowl and chop for 6 seconds / speed 8. Add the Nutella and oil and melt for 2 minutes / 60°C / speed 2.
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8
Coat the cake.
Spread the glaze over the cake, use a fork to draw wave patterns, and leave to set in the fridge for approximately 1 hour.
Tip: Instead of butter for the cream, you can mix the pudding with mascarpone. This mixture does not set as firmly in the fridge.
Video
Nutrition per serving
The marbled sponge needs patience
Mix the base batter from 300 g flour, 200 g butter, 200 g sugar, 4 eggs and 1 sachet of baking powder, divide it in half, and stir 30 g cocoa and 30 ml milk into one half. Then spread the pale batter onto the tray, drop the dark batter on top in spoonfuls and draw a wave pattern through both with a fork. Important: do not drag too long, otherwise the colours blend completely and the characteristic wave effect is lost.
Many recipes give only a brief marbling tip. We recommend 3 to 5 wave strokes with the fork and no spirals. Spirals give a piped icing look rather than a true wave.
Sour cherries, not sweet
The authentic Donauwelle uses sour cherries from a jar (Morello variety). Sweet cherries make the overall flavour too sweet; the tartness of sour cherries is part of this cake’s identity. Drain 1 large jar of sour cherries (350 g drained weight) well, otherwise the juice makes the sponge soggy. Collect the juice and use it separately as a cocktail syrup or sorbet.
Press the cherries gently into the batter by hand, otherwise they will not sink in during baking. Bake at 180°C top and bottom heat for 25 minutes, skewer test (wooden skewer into the centre, must come out clean).
The pudding buttercream is essential
For the cream we cook vanilla pudding from 500 ml milk and 1 sachet of vanilla pudding powder, then leave it to cool (to prevent a skin forming, press cling film directly onto the surface). Then whip 250 g room-temperature butter and stir in the cold pudding one tablespoon at a time. Important: the pudding and butter must be at the SAME temperature (both at room temperature), otherwise the cream will curdle into lumps. This is the most common mistake with Donauwelle.
Spread 2 cm thick over the cooled cake and smooth with a palette knife. Draw light waves across it with a fork to create the characteristic Donauwelle surface beneath the glaze.
The chocolate glaze as the finishing touch
Melt 200 g dark chocolate with 50 g coconut fat (or Palmin) in the Thermomix® at 50°C on speed 2 for 5 minutes. Coconut fat makes the glaze firmer so it does not crumble when sliced. Spread evenly over the pudding cream, leave to set briefly, then use a cake slice to add wave texture. Refrigerate for 2 hours before slicing so the glaze firms up.
Five wave variations to mix things up
With advocaat (50 ml Verpoorten stirred into the buttercream), berry Donauwelle (swap sour cherries for raspberries), white version (white chocolate glaze instead of dark), nut Donauwelle (50 g ground almonds in the batter), vegan (vegan butter and plant-based pudding and aquafaba instead of eggs).
What goes well with Donauwelle
At the coffee table with a dollop of our whipped cream. As part of a cake spread alongside our Black Forest gateau or cherry crumble cake. Find more sheet cakes in our sheet cake collection and more classics in our classics category.
Goes well with: Vanilla ice cream and icing sugar.
