Ingredients

for the fire brigade cake with a 26 cm springform pan:

For the shortcrust pastry:
300 g wheat flour type 405
1 tsp. baking powder
100 g sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg
175 g cold butter

For the cherry filling:
1.5 glasses of drained sour cherries (morello cherries), approx. 500 g
250 g / 250 ml of collected sour cherry juice
2 tablespoons / 35 g of sugar
1 heaped tablespoon / 25 g of cornstarch, e.g. Mondamin or Gustin

For the nut topping:
200 g roughly chopped hazelnuts
2 heaped tablespoons / 45 g sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
50 g butter

For the whipped cream:
400 g / 2 cups of well chilled whipped cream
2 packets of vanilla sugar
2 packets of cream stiffener
A little cinnamon for sprinkling

preparation

Fire Brigade Cake Shortcrust Pastry
For the shortcrust pastry, mix the flour, baking powder, 100 g sugar and a pinch of salt on the work surface. Add the egg and 175 g cold butter cut into pieces and quickly knead by hand to form a shortcrust pastry. The shortcrust pastry should only be kneaded for as long as necessary so that it does not become hard and brittle. Press the shortcrust pastry flat onto a plate to cool and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Roll out the chilled shortcrust pastry a little larger than a 26 cm springform pan and use the springform ring to cut out a round sheet of dough. Line the base of the springform pan with baking paper and then place the springform pan rim on top. Grease the springform pan rim with butter. Cover the base of the springform pan with the cut-out sheet of dough. Form dough rolls from the leftover dough and use them to line the springform pan rim to a height of around 3 cm.

For the cherry filling,
place the morello cherries in a sieve and collect the cherry juice. Bring 250 ml of cherry juice to the boil in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Mix the cornstarch with a little cold cherry juice, add to the hot cherry juice and bring to the boil while stirring vigorously. Take the pan off the stove and carefully stir in the cherries. Then spread the hot cherry mixture on the shortcrust pastry.

For the nut topping,
mix the roughly chopped hazelnuts or almonds with two heaped tablespoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Heat 50 g butter in a pan, add to the nuts and mix everything well. Spread the nuts over the cherries in the springform pan.

Bake the fire brigade cake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees circulating air or 190 degrees top/bottom heat for about 35 minutes. Allow the fire brigade cake to cool completely in the baking tin before removing it from the tin.

For the whipped cream
, mix the vanilla sugar and cream stiffener. The cream is easier to whip if the cream stiffener is first added to the almost finished whipped cream. Therefore, whip the well-chilled cream with a hand mixer until it is almost ready. Then slowly add the vanilla sugar and cream stiffener to the cream while you finish whipping the whipped cream. Spread the whipped cream in a light dome shape on the fire engine cake. Put some cinnamon in a tea strainer and sprinkle over the fire engine cake. Keep the fire engine cake cool in the fridge until you are ready to eat it.
Have fun baking!