ein Kuchen, durch den die Sonne dreimal scheint

Lately my favorite treat is grabbing a Butterbrezel on my way to the library. This is a big soft pretzel, cut horizontally and filled (generously) with sweet European butter (yes, it's different). YUM! The Butterbrezel is more of a Southern German thing, and it took me a long time to discover it. And we have this really great bakery/café around the block, Brezel Bar that has the best pretzels. They also make Brötchen (rolls) out of the same dough, and make Laugencroissants, plain or drizzled with white and milk chocolate. (Is your mouth watering yet?)  I came here with Jessica, too, and she got little mini-pretzel pieces rolled in different seeds (sunflower seed, poppyseed, etc).

If you're in Berlin, they also have a good breakfast option, and it's a nice (but quite small) place to sit and read or have coffee.

Legend of the origin of the Brezel: A baker was challenged to bake a cake through which the sun shines three times: „Back einen Kuchen lieber Freund, durch den die Sonne dreimal scheint, dann wirst du nicht gehenkt, dein Leben sei dir frei geschenkt.“

http://brezelbar.de/

"the Ferrari of bread": Soluna Brot und Öl

 Today Jessica helped me check off quite a few places on my list of places to buy food at or eat food at.

This morning, we went to Soluna Brot und Öl. It's on Gneisenaustr. in Kreuzberg, less than a mile from my apartment but somehow it took me four months to get there.  As we entered, we noticed that the big front windows were all fogged over, and we entered the steamy warm, delicious-smelling bakery. The big clay oven is front and center, and the rack of bread is off to the left with a small case of other products (salamis, cheeses, house made pesto). We got some Brötchen, which we had for lunch, two half-loaves of bread for later, and some walnut-tomato pesto.

They had a review from the New York Times in their window, link here. Chef Michael Hoffmann has called the place, "the Ferrari of bread". :) I hope to become a regular!

Merry Second Christmas Day

From New York Times

In Germany they have First Christmas Day, and Second Christmas Day. So MERRY MERRY all over again! :)

Today I just wanted to share this link from the New York Times, German Baking, From Almond Paste to Zimtsterne. Elisabeth and I attempted Zimtsterne, post here.  It was difficult. Kudos to these bakers, bringing German baked goods to the U.S.! We can always use more good Stollen, and Schwarzbrot and any other non-squishy bread! (The article has a hilarious bit about how Americans think "rye" = "caraway seeds".) Also interesting that the article title mentions "almond paste"...do Americans not know what "marzipan" is?

My sister also recommended I read The Master Butcher's Singing Club (Louise Erdrich) ...which is okay so far. I really laughed at this one part at the beginning of the book, where someone brings American bread into this German village, around 1919 or so: "This man held something white and square in his hand that Fidelis took at first to be a picture of some sort, but it was blank. When he saw that it was bread, shaped with a precision that could only be the work of fanatics, Fidelis entered the circle of men to examine it. The thing was sent in a package from distant relatives...Machines had kneaded and baked and then sliced it. Or were these everyday American bakers? That was the argument. Fidelis inspected the bread when, passed hand to hand, it came around to him. He noted the fine texture and wondered at the treatment of the yeast...It seemed an impossible thing to him, an artifact from some place that must adhere to an impossibly rigid order."

Brot backen

This weekend I visited my friend in Hamburg and we did a lot of baking...so I finally felt brave enough to try some conversions and make bread. There are lots of variables...because the flour is different, the oven is different (convection ovens are very common here to save energy), and of course I had to find gram measurements or use a German recipe. At home, I use the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes method (the authors/bakers are from Minneapolis!) and I found a German blogger who converted the measurements and gave tips on how to do it successfully in Germany. The results:

Bio-Markt Chamissoplatz

 On Saturdays there is an organic market right around the corner from my apartment. Today I got to check it out for the first time. There was some really beautiful produce, cheese, and bread.