Roopa A stollen is a traditional German bread filled with nuts, spices, and candied fruit. Apparently this stollen is the gem of this German pastry course, and we were advised not to share it with anybody. The overall appearance of the stollen is supposed to represent the baby Jesus wrapped in blankets. While I would … More Dresdner Christmas Stollen
Roopa Spekulatius (or ‘Speculoos’ or ‘Speculaas’) are a spiced shortcrust biscuit from …Europe? It would seem that there is a lot of debate over where these cookies originate from. They are thin, crunchy cookies, and are typically made in a hand carved wooden mold. I was more than a little bit excited to make these! … More Spekulatius Cookies
Roopa The kipferl cookie is similar to a sugar cookie, and is an Austrian cookie that means “crescent”. They are allegedly supposed to represent the first snowfall on the rooftops of Vienna.
Roopa These cookies originated in the city of Aachen. While they were traditionally sweetened with honey, they began sweetening them with sugar beets when Napoleon issued a trade embargo affecting the availability of honey.
Roopa This directly translates to “pepper nuts” and are a traditional European spice cookie. Black pepper used to be very rare and expensive, so this was a special ingredient in a cookie.
Roopa Lebkuchen is a type of Christmas cookie. While they are commonly translated as being gingerbread, this is a misconception as they do not actually contain ginger! The Elisen lebkuchen originated in Nuremberg around 1500, and must contain at least 25% nuts.
Roopa The Eierschecke originates from Saxony and Thuringia. Apparently, the name originates from a men’s article of clothing called ‘schecke’ that was comprised of a tunic with hip belt. The cake was named after the schecke because of the three distinct layers.
Roopa This is less of a dessert cake, and more of a breakfast cake to be enjoyed with tea or coffee. This one doesn’t stay fresh for more than a few days, which is a good excuse to eat lots of it quickly!
Roopa An obstkuchen is a cake that layers a pie like crust, custard, and fruits. It’s more of a spring/summer cake that uses seasonal fruits and flavours. I definitely want to remake this next summer with locally grown berries!
Roopa The next German cake we made in pastry school was the Frankfurter Kranz or “Crown of Frankfurt”. It is a super rich modified pound cake with German buttercream, jam, and almond nougatine.
Chateau Gateau 