IngredientsBaking
Frische Hefefresh yeast
Live baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, pressed into a pale beige cube. It crumbles between your fingers and smells sour, a little like beer.
German recipes for Hefezopf, Dampfnudeln or plum cake are built around one whole 42 g cube. Dissolve it in lukewarm milk with a little sugar before the flour goes in.
Ersatzwhat to use instead
Dry yeast at one to three: 42 g of fresh yeast is about 14 g of dry.
Dry yeast rises slower and the bread tastes flatter. Give it more time.
Kaufenwhere to buy it
Ask for levadura fresca. Panaderías carry it, so do the bigger supermarkets, always in the chiller.
It is a living product. Keep it cold and bake with it soon.
Vorsichtwatch out
On the coast the kitchen stays warm all day. With the full cube the dough rises too fast, collapses and tastes of yeast.
Use half the cube and keep the dough cool, overnight in the fridge if you can.