Apfelkuchen (German Apple Cake) recipe at the bottom.

We have now made a full circle with our Gourmet Dinner Club! Wondering what I’m talking about? Read here. 

Danny and Alicia are the last to host and brought us to his parents house, nestled deep in the woods. The serene setting was perfect for a rustic German meal, and the house has a big porch that was perfect for late night chats complete with a final glass of wine and the guys guitars.

We started the evening with classic German snacks, courtesy of Jenn and Eric: homemade pretzels with cheese sauce, sausages with mustard, pickles, and (my favorite) Reuben toasts.

Big news: I finally managed to get photos of Danny and Alicia’s portion of the meal! I forgot about taking a group photo, but instead I got lots of pictures of their new kitten, Moose. I think that’s a fair trade.

I mean, come on! How adorable is this kitten? Also known as Jenn’s new best friend.

For the main course, Alicia made us a German feast. Potato dumplings (I honestly have never liked white potatoes more), creamy cucumber salad, red cabbage, and beef rouladens. The rouladens were made from flank steak, homemade pickles, and onion.

I like to think this meal was a nutritionist’s dream, we were truly “eating the rainbow.”

At first, the German theme was a bit daunting to me, it’s a cuisine I’m not at all familiar with. But since I was in charge of dessert, I knew I wanted to take advantage of all the fresh, local apples.

I made a super simple apfelkuchen, a German apple cake. I used Golden Delicious apples from the Fruitwood Farms stand at the Collingswood Farmers Market which added a sweet and crisp top layer to the cake.

It may not be traditional, but it’s perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a bit of caramel sauce.

It was so easy, I already know I’m going to make it a few more times this apple season!