Hausfreunde

Image: Hausfreunde

• Ingredients
  • 500g flour
  • 500g sugar
  • 200g chocolate, chopped into pieces (or chocolate chips)
  • 5-6 eggs
    • Note: If too many eggs are used, the "cakes" don't keep their shape properly and become very flat.
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 200g raisins
  • 400g walnuts, broken into small pieces
• Instructions
  • Mix eggs with sugar.
  • Add flour and baking powder.
  • Optional: Set aside some of this initial dough before adding the remaining ingredients. This allows you to cover the outside of the cakes with a thin layer of dough to prevent the raisins from burning.
  • Add raisins, walnuts, and chocolate. (Image)
  • Form two "cakes" on a tray. If you set aside some of the initial dough, first put a thin layer of that in the places where the cakes will be, then add the "proper" dough, and finally cover that with another thin layer of the initial dough. It helps to wet your fingers and then use those to spread the dough. The cover in the picture isn't very perfect, but it's better than nothing. (Bottom layer) (Without cover) (With cover)
  • Bake at 170 C for ~45-50 minutes.
  • Notes
    • You can also add other types of nuts or dried fruits if you want.
    • I have no idea why these are called "Hausfreunde".
    • It's much easier to just dump the dough onto a tray instead of using the special method to prevent the raisins from burning. The Hausfreunde still taste pretty good even if a few raisins are burnt, so it's probably overkill to go to all that effort.
    • I have made these with just egg yolks (substituting two egg yolks for one egg), and they turned out decently, but maybe a little bit more brittle. Still, it may be a good use for all the egg yolks that are left over when baking macaroons. I suppose you could also replace only some of the eggs with egg yolks to find a good compromise.

Source: Based on a recipe from "Das Kochbuch fürs Leben", 1957.