Growing up, this cake was always in our house. My grandmother would make it for Sundays, for birthdays, and sometimes just because you need a piece of cake while sitting in the garden.
The cake was invented in the 1960s in Thuringia, where I’m from, and you can still sometimes find it in local bakeries there. It owes its super-long name to the Landwirtschaftlicher Produktionsgenossenschaften, collective farms in East Germany, where farmers pooled their land, machinery, and livestock into cooperatives. When LPGs became compulsory in the 60s, my great-grandparents had to hand over their animals, land, and even their tools to the state, never to get them back. Although there certainly was no love lost between my grandmother and the LPGs, she constantly baked the LPG Kuchen.
This cake is quickly thrown together and gives you a burst of energy. That’s probably how it got its name, since it’s the perfect source of energy for long days of farm labour. Before it became a Sunday treat in my family, my great-grandmother would bring this cake with her when working the fields.
Like many East German recipes, this is not a clever dish because fruits or more elaborate ingredients were hard to come by. The original recipe calls for brandy, but I substituted the alcohol with coffee, which gives the cake a nice tiramisu vibe. A little slice of Italy in the Thuringian forest.
This cake is perfect for those with little baking experience. You can either make your own chocolate glaze or buy a premade one for an even easier bake.
It tastes best two days after baking, so make it ahead of time.
