How about an oldfashioned German chocolate cake....the mixes are pretty good if you don't want to do it from scratch.
Or an apple kuchen...see the kuchen/clafouti thread...
But I am sort of partial to a black forest cake....which is pretty much a chocolate cake, made in 2 layers, with each layer cut in half to make 4, filled with whipped cream, decorated with cherries and nuts.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: black forest cake

I second the motion on Black Forest Cherry cake, but it needs kirshwasser to be a true version. This recipe is dang close:

Someone's in the Kitchen with Moozie
Years ago, when I lived in Germany, my host mothers used to make this dessert. I've prepared several variations of it myself over the years, including as a cheesecake, but I think I still like the traditional Schwarzwälderkirschtorte the best.

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup kirschwasser
1/2 cup butter
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon strong brewed coffee
2 (14 ounce) cans pitted Bing cherries, drained

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon kirschwasser
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round pans with parchment paper circles. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, until combined. Pour into 2 round 8 inch pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Remove paper from the cakes. Cut each layer in half, horizontally, making 4 layers total. Sprinkle layers with the 1/2 cup kirshwasser.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar, pinch of salt, and coffee; beat until smooth. If the consistency is too thick, add a couple teaspoons of cherry juice or milk. Spread first layer of cake with 1/3 of the filling. Top with 1/3 of the cherries. Repeat with the remaining layers.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon kirshwasser. Frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with chocolate curls made by using a potato peeler on semisweet baking chocolate.

My DH's mother came from Germany so we always have a German Christmas dinner. What has been traditional for the Christmas dessert is Chocolate Linzertorte. Here is a recipe that is very close to the one my DH makes.
recipe
Clare

Linda, so German chcooclate and Black Forest cakes really are German in orgin???

I guess I always assumed they originated in the US and more alluded to the Black Forest or Germany in name only.

She'll want to make it from scratch, I'm sure. Desserts are really the only cooking she enjoys. :)

She does like chocolate, so I'll send her this recipe. And I'll go check out that kuchen thread, too.

Thanks!

German Chocolate cake isn't from Germany.... It uses German chocolate which is a product created by and named after Sam German, who was actually an Englishman.

But I believe Black Forest cake is the real deal, as is the Linzertorte aptosca posted.

Historians aren't certain, but believe Black Forest cherry to have originated in Germany. My husband lived there for some time and he said it was always made with cherry liquor (kirschwasser) by the Germans. So even it if isn't from there, they've adopted it! The chocolate cake looks good. Another favorite his family encountered was the traditional Christmas cake, Stollen. When two German physicians visited my lab last year, this was their present. I'd suggest that one if you could find a good recipe.

My German mother taught me how to make Kalter Hund, a really nice no-bake cake that uses cookies dipped in rum, alternating with chocolate, layered in loaf pan. It is a Christmas staple for us.

I can post the recipe in a few days if requested. I'm out of town right now.

Hi beanthere....I hope you find just the right dessert for your table.

Yes the Black Forest Cherry cake (Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte) is from Germany but the American cake called German chocolate cake is not, and as Alku pointed out, that was made from a type of chocolate created by an Englishman called Sam German for the Baker's Chocolate company.

My German DH tells me he doesn't recall any special dessert being served after the main Christmas dinner course of roast goose. He says they ate so many other things that they couldn't eat anything more as a dessert. Perhaps he's just forgotten LOL.

However it certainly is customary to have Dresdner Stollen which is present with coffee at any time during the Christmas season. The Black Forest Cherry Cake is always a favourite coffee table treat as well as a dessert, as are cinnamon stars....a cinnamon and sugar cookie with white icing. Lebkuchen is another Christmas treat.

If you look at the dessert section of the English version of the German website Marions Kochbuch, (there are 2 pages there) you'll see she suggests Rumtopf...a pot of fruit soaked in rum.... as a traditional Christmas dessert. She also has a Black Forest Dessert in glass cups that looks pretty good. She also mentions an Advents Tiramisu.....another pre-Christmas festive dessert.

You can't go wrong if you can make ahead a Dresdner Stollen to have at the end of dinner, with the coffee. I also love mohnstollen - a stollen with a moist poppyseed filling. Here are some recipes for you that look pretty traditional:

Dresdner Stollen

Lebkuchen

More German Christmas Recipes ....the left two columns

SharonCb

Hi Sharon! Unfortunately, it's not for my table. I wish it were after reading some of these reicpes, but I'm cooking for one these days, and certainly don't need to be eating a whole stollen! LOL! I'll pass these one to my friend, though. Maybe she'll be appreciative enough to send me a bit of whatever she decides to make. :)

Susytwo - Thanks for the offer, but I think the alcohol -- especially not cooked off -- is taboo for them. I don't want you to go to the trouble of typing it out when I know up front it's a no-no. I'm thinking if she does the Black Forest cake, she'll have to sub something for the liquor, too, but cherry is easier to imitate than rum.

Here is the recipe I use every year for Dresden Stollen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stollen

I once made the Black Forest Cake for a visiting AFS student to take to an AFS party. It couldn't have any liquor because of AFS rules. I can't remember what I used instead or if I just didn't put anything in, but André thought it was just the best thing he'd had in the US since leaving home.... and his Mother was a pastry chef and so knew what this was suppose to taste like. I used the recipe in Burnbaum's "Cake Bible".

I don't know how this would fly as a Christmas dessert but our local, outstanding German restaurant serves Palatschinken which are crepes filled with apricot or black currant filling and then folded into 4ths. They. are. fabulous. The filling appears to be something like warmed jam & the palatschinken themselves are served warm. I've made them once and they are easy, if time consuming. I'm sure the process could easily be streamlined if you made the crepes in advance.

Nina

German Pancakes/Crepes are often the dessert of choice for many Germans so I second sigh's idea... They're usually jam (or fruit) filled and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Very eay to make. If you have problems finding recipes for Palatschinken, you can try the term Eierkuchen or even just "German Pancakes".

Oh yes Palatschinken is an easy and light dessert. Just make some large crepes and spread them with warm apricot jam, fold into quarters and sprinkle with icing sugar. Sometimes served here in German restaurants with a choice of a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or do it French style and add a bit of Grand Marnier, flaming it with a match or cigarette lighter at the table.
We have these in our local German and Austrian restaurants and they are really good!

SharonCb

Susytwo I'd like that recipe. Sounds easy and I like doing a few German things because my family is. We still open presents on Xmas Eve!

Thanks everyone! I'm forwarding all these to her. She may end up skipping dinner and just have a dessert buffet. :)

Sharon, those pictures are just....*drools*

I think if it were up to me, I'd vote for the crepes. Chritmas dinner is ususally so filling, and that looks like it would be a nice ending.