Mennonite Girls Can Cook is a collection of recipes which were posted daily for a period of ten years from 2008 to 2018. We have over 3,000 delicious recipes that we invite you to try. The recipes can be accessed in our recipe file by category or you can use the search engine.

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Anything Fruit Squares (Easy Platz)


This platz is quick and easy with very little fuss and whips up in no time. My mom makes us so much apple pie filling that I find all kinds of recipes to use it in, and this is one of my personal favorites.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 cup of hard margarine or butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  1. Mix all the ingredients together making coarse crumbs.
  2. Pat 1/2 of the crumbs down firmly in a 9x9 inch pan.
  3. Fill with a your favorite pie filling, fresh or frozen fruit, or jam if you prefer.
  4. Top with remaining crumbs.
  5. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes and the crumbs on top are a golden brown color.
  6. That is how easy it is. No fuss, and you have a nice treat for the fasba table or evening dessert with some friends.
  7. It is best to store this cake uncovered, otherwise the crumbs tend to get soggy.
  8. I have never frozen this either, this is the kind of thing, I prefer freshly made, but am certain that it could be frozen. Just thaw it without being covered, again so the crumbs hopefully stay crunchy.




32 comments:

  1. I love easy to fix recipes, and I love fruit, so this is perfect!! I bet it smells great coming out of the oven!

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  2. Oh I cant wait to make up a batch!

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  3. What is a Fasba Table? This recipe looks delish!!

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  4. Like I said on Facebook, I'm going to try this recipe using a jar of cantaloupe jam my mother made. I'll let you know how it turns out...

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  5. My mouth is watering...I may have to make this very soon!

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  6. I'm making this over the weekend to bring to a party. Simple, yes, but I know it will be simply delicious, too.

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  7. I must admit that I've never made a platz with a crumb base before. My favourite platz recipe (out of the Mennonite Treasury cookbook) has a gooey, cake-like batter for the bottom and it's always a pain to try and get it spread evenly on the bottom of the pan. This recipe looks like an easy solution. Thanks!

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  8. Linda......
    Fasba (low german)
    Vesper (High German)
    Is just a term of a light lunch that is traditionally served early Sunday Evenings instead of supper.
    Often I would find that Fasba would be more work than a full Turkey Dinner if you think about the way my mother and her generation did it.
    Homemade preserves....homemade bread, bun, homemade pickles, homemade sweets.....the works.
    The idea about fasba is to have all these things made already, and all you have to do is set the table and sit and enjoy everything from the harvest that had been canned...baking that had been done the day before...just a relaxing Sunday.....a day of rest, the way it should be :)

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  9. I am now in Virginia, but grew up in Sask. Fasba, is low German for lunch. I love when I can connect with my German language. I do remember my mother making platz, usually it was with rhubarb, that grows very well in Sask. Love to see all you recipies on your blogs. Betty in Virginia

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  10. Yummy platz Char.
    We call it faspa in Low German..I guess different areas pronounce it differently.

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  11. my Mom's side of the family were Mennonite and German and we grew up eating lots of the Mennonite dishes, but I never heard the term Fasba or Platz before. We had Abendbrod and Streussel Kuchen. I guess that's the German side of things. I heard a lot of low German while growing up, but these terms are new to me. My Mom and Oma were from the Ukraine.

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  12. Now this is a keeper recipe. You could whip this up on a moments notice. Thanks for sharing it today!
    AMY

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  13. I have always heard or read the term as Faspa not Fasba. Zwieback, soft little rolls with a topknot, were served with jam.

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  14. Mmm, faspa:) This recipe would be delicious with rhubarb, I will definitely be trying this one! LOVE your site and all the delicious recipes, by the way!!

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  15. fasba/faspa....
    i just spelled it wrong....but i am glad you got the picture :)

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  16. Have this ready to go in the oven now. I tried to print the recipe so I wouldn't have to keep running back and forth, and so I could have it for later, but it won't come up properly on the print screen.

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  17. Ohhh my... i made this today as a spur of the moment kind of treat for the family... it was gone within minutes with everyone asking for MORE MORE MORE this is so good, i can see making this a lot, as it comes together so quickly! thank you so much for sharing

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  18. I have not had faspa in for ever. I am 40 and my generation does not do it. I think I need to bring it back. Although I don't make my own pickles and rarely make jam. But I do make bread from time to time. Our faspa's included cold meat usually farmer sausage, pickles, cheese, bread, jam and I don't remember what was served for dessert. We usually ate it at around 5pm or something like that.

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    1. We had faspa all the time growing up. We served many of the same things that you mentioned. I might have to start that tradition again with my husband.

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  19. I made this with a cooked lemon pie filling; my family LOVED it!
    Irma F.

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  20. I replaced half the butter with peanut butter and filled with strawberry jam.

    Soon after went for a run.
    When I returned, my husband had eaten the whole ting.

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  21. anon....peanut butter and jam, not that is a twist to platz that i had never heard of. that is a very good idea though, i think i must try that.

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  22. I made these tonight with some of the strawberry jam I made last weekend. All I can say is super easy and yum! Thank you for sharing.

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  23. Just popped this one in the oven now and wow ... it IS easy! I like the idea that it's in a 9x9 pan. My Mom always makes platz on a cookie sheet and that's a lotta platz. I'm single so this is a great size.

    I used fresh apricots that were quite ripe so I'll let you know how it turned out. Thanks for making this easy to understand.

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  24. Turned out great! Thanks again.

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  25. I just made a double batch of this with a lot of fresh rhubarb and a few tired apples. It was wonderful!! It's so great that one dough makes the crust and the crumble.

    I am a fan of your blog -- first off, I know that you have tried out and perfected the recipes you post -- each and every one a winner. And, your recipes bring back my German grandmother. She was not Mennonite, but was a great farm cook.

    I'm looking forward to getting your cookbook from Amazon. I'm sure it's of the same high quality as this blog.

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  26. Oh, and I wanted to ask -- is it called platz because you cut it into squares?

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    1. Oh dear, hmmm, why is it called platz? Now that is the million dollar question.....is the right answer because that is what my Oma called it? :-D I am so sorry but I really don't know why it is named platz, it is just what we grew up knowing it to be. If any of the other girls know I will certainly reply here again. Good question though.

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  27. Just guessing--but we call flat cakes "squares" and platz in German means "the town square" or place.
    Mennonite girl in Chilliwack.

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  28. i have this baking in the oven. I used partially thawed nectarines.

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  29. I make this with frozen blueberries. It is wonderful!! I sprinkle on a bit of tapioca starch because the blues are so juicy and then the topping. For gf I simply use the gf pastry recipe for the base (make enough for the topping as well) and add white sugar, brown sugar and rice flour or tapioca starch to the extra crust dough to make the crumbles. Works out beautifully! They are all gone in a flash.

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  30. Had this in TN. Miriam, the Mennonite lady who made it could make just about anything - all delicious. I miss her and Lobelville.

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