🍰 Donauwelle (Danube wave cake)

Name: Donauwelle (Danube wave cake)
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Germany
Ingredients: 250 g butter, softened, plus 150 g for the buttercream; 200 g sugar and 4 eggs; 350 g wheat flour and 2 tsp baking powder; 2 tbsp cocoa powder; 350 g pitted sour cherries, drained; 300 g ready-made vanilla custard, cooled; 150 g dark chocolate for the glaze

Origin: Germany

354kcal

per serving · 120 g

295kcal

per 100 g

5 gProtein4 g / 100 g

19 gFat16 g / 100 g

38 gCarbs32 g / 100 g

Donauwelle is a German sheet cake of vanilla and chocolate sponge baked together with sour cherries, so the layers form a wavy pattern when sliced. It is topped with a thick layer of vanilla buttercream and a thin chocolate glaze, often marked with a fork. The result is soft, moist and rich, with tart cherry pockets, and it is served in squares with coffee.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: chocolate sponge cake, vanilla sponge cake, buttercream, chocolate glaze

Contains glutenbecause of: chocolate sponge cake, vanilla sponge cake

Contains dairybecause of: buttercream, chocolate glaze

Not keto32 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Eggs ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

chocolate sponge cakevanilla sponge cakecherrybuttercreamchocolate glaze

Recipe

8 servings90 min

Ingredients

250 g butter, softened, plus 150 g for the buttercream
200 g sugar and 4 eggs
350 g wheat flour and 2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
350 g pitted sour cherries, drained
300 g ready-made vanilla custard, cooled
150 g dark chocolate for the glaze

Method

Beat 250 g butter with the sugar until pale, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour and baking powder.
Spread half of the batter in a lined tray. Stir the cocoa into the rest and spread it on top.
Press the cherries into the batter and bake at 180 °C for 35–40 minutes. Cool completely.
Beat 150 g butter until fluffy and gradually beat in the room-temperature custard. Spread over the cake and chill for 1 hour.
Melt the chocolate, pour it over the buttercream, draw wavy lines with a fork and chill until set before cutting.

How to make it lighter

Cut small squares: one 120 g piece of a rich buttercream cake is already a full dessert.
A thinner buttercream layer saves a noticeable amount of fat — 10 g of butter is about 72 kcal.
Pair a slice with unsweetened coffee or tea rather than a sweet drink.

History

The name means “Danube wave”, after the wavy pattern the chocolate and vanilla sponge forms in cross-section. Today it is a fixture of German home baking and bakery counters.

Count it in one photo

Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Donauwelle (Danube wave cake) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.

Download on the App Store

Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →