If you love bread pudding, you'll love Kirschenmichel. It's a German style of bread pudding made with juicy sour cherries! It's also infused with cinnamon, vanilla, and almond flavors to yield a fragrant and delicious dessert perfect for any occasion.
Kirschenmichel (also called Kirschenplotzer, Kirschpfanne and Kirschenmännle) is a traditional German dessert popular in the regions of Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, South Bavaria, Franconia and the southern part of Hesse.
It’s most commonly a type of bread pudding highlighted with cherries and infused with cinnamon, Kirschwasser, vanilla, and almond flavors. A simple flourish of powdered sugar dusts the top, while vanilla custard, whipped cream, or ice cream are excellent accompaniments for this rustic and simple dessert.
There is actually another variety of kirschenmichel worth noting. It uses all-purpose and semolina flours to make a thick cake batter which is folded together with the cherries and then baked. This version doesn’t seem quite as common as the bread pudding version (and besides, bread pudding is one of my favorites so that’s the route we’re taking).
Here is some more detail on the meanings of some of the German names for this dish in addition to a couple other German bread puddings:
- Kirschenmichel: contains cherries and translates as "cherry Michael"
- Kirschenplotzer: contains cherries and translates as "fallen cherries"
- Ofenschlupfer: contains apples and translates as "slide into the oven"
- Semmelauflauf: plain bread pudding and translates as "bread roll casserole"
Ingredient notes
- Bread: You can use an equivalent amount of stale sliced white bread for the rolls. Slices come in all sizes so to estimate a similar amount, use the weight measurements as a general guide. I used Kaiser rolls here but any other firm textured bread or rolls would work. Avoid using super soft sandwich bread, as it will just get mushy when soaking in the milk.
- Milk: The amount of milk you'll need could range a bit depending on how dense or crusty your bread is. Using about 1 ¼ cups warm milk is a good baseline, but you can adjust the amount if you feel that it's not enough to soak into all your bread cubes.
- Cherries: I used Specially Selected Dark Morello Cherries from Aldi and they work perfectly. Aldi carries these jarred Morello cherries from time to time, but may not always have them year round, so stock up if you see them. I also recommend Marco Polo brand Pitted Sour Cherries which I have purchased at Whole Foods in the past.
How to make it
Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish with butter and set aside.
Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and top with warm milk. Let the milk soak in for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, using an electric mixer fitting with the whisk attachment, beat together softened butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth, then beat in kirschwasser, cinnamon, and vanilla and almond extracts. Alternatively, you can beat together all of the ingredients in a blender at high speed until smooth.
Pour the mixture over the soaked bread.
Add drained cherries, and fold to combine.
Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is set.
Cool it slightly if you’d like to serve it warm, or cool completely to room temperature. Dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
Kirschenmichel is typically softer when served warm, and firms up more as it cools. For this reason I prefer to enjoy it warm, but it's still tasty after it cools. You can easily reheat your German bread pudding before serving.
I recommend serving kirschenmichel with vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, or vanilla custard sauce. This is a somewhat drier and less sweet bread pudding than some other varieties because it has less of a custard base and uses less sugar. For this reason, it actually bakes a lot faster but it also benefits from having some creamy and sweet decadence on the side.
Regardless of the brand of jarred cherries you use, check the cherries to ensure there aren't any pits left in them. I almost always find a couple pits left behind. You can and should also warn diners to be careful just in case you miss one.
Other recipes you may like
- Donauwelle Kuchen (Danube Wave Cake / Snow White Cake)
- Rotweinkuchen (German Red Wine Cake)
- Käsekuchen (German Cheesecake)
- Topfenstrudel (Quark Strudel / Cheese Strudel)
- Cremeschnitte (Austrian Cream Slices)
- Zuger Kirschtorte (Swiss Cherry Torte from Zug)
- Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Cardamom Whipped Cream
- S'mores Bread Pudding
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Kirschenmichel (German Bread Pudding with Cherries)
Ingredients
- 4 stale bread rolls cubed into 1-inch pieces (about 220 to 250 grams or 8 to 9 ounces)
- 1 ¼ cups warm milk
- 55 grams (4 tablespoons / 2 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 50 grams (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon Kirschwasser
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups (about 300 grams) drained canned or jarred pitted sour cherries in water or light syrup (One 24-ounce/680 gram jar of sour cherries will yield approximately this much once drained—use paper towels to soak up extra juices)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with the rack in the center. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish with butter and set aside.
- Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and top with warm milk. Let the milk soak in for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, using an electric mixer fitting with the whisk attachment, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth (scraping down the sides as needed), then beat in the kirschwasser, cinnamon, and vanilla and almond extracts. Alternatively, you can beat together all of the ingredients in a blender at high speed.
- Pour the mixture over the soaked bread, add the drained cherries, and fold to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is set.
- Cool it slightly if you’d like to serve it warm, or cool completely to room temperature. Dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
- Bread: You can use an equivalent amount of stale sliced white bread for the rolls. Slices come in all sizes so to estimate a similar amount, use the weight measurements as a general guide. I used Kaiser rolls here but any other firm textured bread or rolls would work. Avoid using super soft sandwich bread, as it will just get mushy when soaking in the milk.
- Milk: The amount of milk you'll need could range a bit depending on how dense or crusty your bread is. Using about 1 ¼ cups warm milk is a good baseline, but you can adjust the amount if you feel that it's not enough to soak into all your bread cubes.
- Cherries: I used Specially Selected Dark Morello Cherries from Aldi and they work perfectly. Aldi carries these jarred Morello cherries from time to time, but may not always have them year round, so stock up if you see them. I also recommend Marco Polo brand Pitted Sour Cherries which I have purchased at Whole Foods in the past.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
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