Flammkuchen

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 3 tbspoil
• about 200 ml warm water

Topping

• 300 gcrème fraîche or fromage blanc
• 100 mldouble cream
• a pinch of nutmeg
• salt and pepper

Also

• 250 gsmoked bacon lardons or speck
• 2onions, very thinly sliced

To serve

• cut into pieces, eaten with the hands
• with a glass of Alsatian white or new wine

Directions

1. Mix it into a smooth dough and knead it for five minutes. Rest it, covered, for an hour. Resting relaxes the gluten so it rolls out extremely thin without springing back. Roll it out as thin as you possibly can, thinner than seems sensible. It should be almost translucent, one or two millimetres.
2. Roll it directly onto baking paper, which makes it possible to transfer without tearing. Now the shape that it should take. Mix crème fraîche with a little double cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. It should be thick and spreadable rather than runny.
3. Spread it thinly, right to the edges. Thinly is the operative word: a thick layer weighs the dough down and stops it crisping. Use smoked bacon lardons or diced speck, scattered raw over the cream. It goes on raw, since it cooks in the fierce oven heat in the two minutes the tart takes.
4. Slice it as thinly as you can, ideally on a mandoline. Thin slices soften and colour in the short bake, where thick ones stay raw and harsh. Scatter it sparingly rather than heaping it on. Cream, bacon and onion is the classic and it should stay that.
5. Preheat the oven as hot as it goes, at least 250°C, with a baking stone or heavy tray inside. Preheat the stone for a full forty-five minutes. Now the baking in a very hot oven.
6. Bake for eight to twelve minutes in a domestic oven, or two to three in a wood oven. Now judging when the tart is done. Lift an edge and check the base is crisp rather than pale and soft. Serve it immediately, straight from the oven onto a board.
7. Cut it into rough squares with a knife or scissors. In Alsace they are served one at a time as they come out of the oven, and people keep eating until they stop ordering.

Technique

• It was used to test wood oven heat before baking bread.
• There is no yeast, and it is not a pizza.
• Roll it almost translucent, since the crispness depends on thinness.

Substitutions

• Crème fraîche in place of fromage blanc.
• Any smoked bacon in place of speck.

Variations

• Gratinée, with grated cheese added.
• Forestière, with mushrooms.
• The sweet apple and Calvados version.

History

Bakers in Alsace and Baden tested their wood oven’s heat with a thin dough topped with cream, bacon and onion before baking bread.

Frequently asked questions

What is Flammkuchen?

Flammkuchen is a main from Germany: wafer-thin crust with crème fraîche, onions, and bacon. Bakers in Alsace and Baden tested their wood oven’s heat with a thin dough topped with cream, bacon and onion before baking bread.

How long does Flammkuchen take to make?

Flammkuchen takes 25 min plus 1 hr resting of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 tarts. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Flammkuchen?

Yes, within limits. Crème fraîche in place of fromage blanc. Any smoked bacon in place of speck.

What is the most important thing to get right in Flammkuchen?

Roll it directly onto baking paper, which makes it possible to transfer without tearing. Now the shape that it should take. Mix crème fraîche with a little double cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. It should be thick and spreadable rather than runny.