Classic German Baking The Very Best Recipes for Traditional Favorites, from Pfeffernüsse to Streuselkuchen

From her cheerful Berlin kitchen, Luisa Weiss shares more than 100 rigorously researched and tested recipes, gathered from expert bakers, friends, family, and time-honored sources throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. 

German baking has influenced baking traditions around the world for generations and is a source of great nostalgia for those of German and Central European heritage. Yet the very best recipes for Germany’s cookies, cakes, tortes, and breads, passed down through generations, have never before been collected and perfected for contemporary American home bakers. Enter Luisa Weiss, the Berlin-based creator of the adored Wednesday Chef blog and self-taught ambassador of the German baking canon.

Whether you’re in the mood for the simple yet emblematic Streuselkuchen, crisp and flaky Strudel, or classic breakfast Brötchen, every recipe you’re looking for is here, along with detailed advice to ensure success plus delightful storytelling about the origins, meaning, and rituals behind the recipes. Paired with more than 100 photographs of Berlin and delectable baked goods, such as Elisenlebkuchen, Marmorierter Mohnkuchen, and Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, this book will encourage home bakers of all skill levels to delve into the charm of Germany’s rich baking tradition.

Classic German Baking is an authoritative collection of recipes that provides delicious inspiration for any time of day, whether it’s for a special breakfast, a celebration with friends and family, or just a regular afternoon coffee-and-cake break, an important part of everyday German life.

LUISA WEISS is a Berlin-born, American-Italian food writer who grew up eating warm Streuselschnecken on her way to school and believes dark winter days are best enjoyed whilst sharing Lebkuchen and Zimtsterne with family and friends. Luisa is the creator of the blog The Wednesday Chef and author of the lauded memoir, My Berlin Kitchen. Her work has been featured on Design*Sponge and National Public Radio and in Food&Wine, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, and Harper’s Bazaar Germany, among many others. She lives in Berlin with her husband and son.

CONTENTS 


COOKIES 12 

BUTTERKEKSE 14 
Simplest Butter Cookies 

HEIDESAND 15 
Sandy Almond Sugar Cookies 

SCHWARZ-WEISS GEBÄCK 16 
Checkerboard Cookies 

BLITZKUCHEN 19 
Almond-Sugar Cookies 

MANDELHÖRNCHEN 20 
Chocolate-Dipped Almond Crescents 

KNERKEN 22 
Cardamom Snap Cookies 

ZIMTBREZELN 23 
Cinnamon Pretzels 

WALNUSS-ZWIEBACK 25 
Twice-Baked Walnut Crisps 

RUSSISCH BROT 26 
Cocoa-Meringue Alphabet Cookies 

LÖFFELBISKUIT 27 
Ladyfingers 

NUSSECKEN 28 
Chocolate-Hazelnut Cookie Bars 

EISENBAHNSCHNITTEN 31 
Almond Cream Jam Bars 

PRASSELKUCHEN MIT BLÄTTERTEIG 33 
Saxonian Glazed Streusel Slices 

SCHWÄBISCHER PRASSELKUCHEN 34 
Swabian Streusel-Jam Slices 

AMERIKANER 36 
Lemon-Glazed Cakelets 

CAKES 38 

ANISBROT 40 
Aniseed Sponge Cake 

NUSSKUCHEN 42 
Toasted Hazelnut Loaf Cake 

VERSUNKENER APFELKUCHEN 43 
Sunken Apple Cake 

APFEL-MARZIPAN-KUCHEN 44 
Apple-Almond Cake 

GEDECKTER APFELKUCHEN 46 
Glazed Apple Cake 

KÄSEKUCHEN 48 
Classic Quark Cheesecake 

KÄSEKUCHEN OHNE BODEN 50 
Crustless Quark Cheesecake 

QUARKKUCHEN MIT MANDARINEN 52 
Mandarin Orange Cheesecake 

RUSSISCHER ZUPFKUCHEN 54 
Chocolate Quark Cheesecake 

LOTTCHEN’S KIRSCHKUCHEN 57 
Sunken Lemon-Cherry Cake 

DUNKLER KIRSCHKUCHEN 58 
Spiced Chocolate-Cherry Cake 

KIRSCHSTREUSELKUCHEN 61 
Sour Cherry Streusel Cake 

ERDBEER-SAHNE BISKUITROLLE 63 
Strawberry Cream Roll 

ZITRONENBISKUITROLLE 66 
Lemon Cream Roll 

MARILLENFLECK 69 
Austrian Apricot Sheet Cake 

RHABARBERKUCHEN 70 
Simple Rhubarb Cake 

MARMORKUCHEN 72 
Marble Cake 

MARMORIERTER MOHNKUCHEN 74 
Marbleized Poppy-Seed Cake 

YEASTED CAKES 78 

ZUCKERKUCHEN 81 
Sugar Cake 

BUTTERKUCHEN 82 
Butter-Almond Cake 

STREUSELKUCHEN 84 
Yeasted Streusel Cake 

APFELKUCHEN 86 
Yeasted Apple Cake 

PFLAUMENSTREUSELKUCHEN 88 
Yeasted Plum Cake with Streusel 

BIENENSTICH 90 
Honey-Almond Caramel Cake 

MOHNSTREUSELKUCHEN 93 
Poppy-Seed Streusel Cake 

GUGELHUPF 95 
Yeasted Cake with Rum-Soaked Raisins 

SCHOKOLADEN-GUGELHUPF 97 
Chocolate-Stuffed Yeasted Cake 

SCHLESISCHE MOHNROLLE 99 
Silesian Poppy-Seed Roll 

ROSENKUCHEN 102 
Spiced Cocoa Pinwheel Cake 

KRANZKUCHEN 104 
Braided Almond-Cream Wreath 

NUSSZOPF 107 
Glazed Nut Braid 

MOHNZOPF 109 
Poppy-Seed Braid 

TORTES AND STRUDELS 112 

RÜBLITORTE 114 
Carrot-Nut Torte 

HANNCHEN-JENSEN-TORTE 117 
Meringue Cream Cake 

HEIDJERTORTE 119 
Lingonberry Buckwheat Cream Torte 

FRIESENTORTE 122 
Plum Cream Torte 

SCHWARZWÄLDER KIRSCHTORTE 123 
Black Forest Cake 

MOHNTORTE 126 
Flourless Poppy-Seed Torte 

SACHERTORTE 128 
Glazed Chocolate Torte 

NUSSTORTE VON HAMMERSTEIN 132 
Glazed Hazelnut Torte 

LINZERTORTE 134 
Spiced Almond Jam Tart 

TRÄUBELESTORTE 136 
Redcurrant Meringue Torte 

PFLAUMENSTRUDEL 138 
Plum Strudel 

APFELSTRUDEL 141 
Apple Strudel 

TOPFENSTRUDEL 145 
Quark Strudel

SAVORIES 148 

SÜDDEUTSCHE LAUCHTORTE 150 
Creamy Leek Tart 

PETERLINGSKUCHEN 151 
Swabian Parsley Cake 

ZWIEBELKUCHEN 152 
Savory Onion Cake 

GRÜNER KUCHEN 154 
Savory Green Onion and Bacon Cake 

SALZEKUCHEN 156 
Hessian Potato Cake 

HERZHAFTER KÄSEKUCHEN 158 
Savory Cheesecake 

KARTOFFELSTRUDEL 161 
Potato Strudel 

KRAUTSTRUDEL 163 
Cabbage Strudel 

KARTOFFEL-KÄSE DINNEDE 166 
Swabian Potato-Cheese Flat Bread 

SPECK-WALNUSS GUGELHUPF 168 
Bacon-Walnut Gugelhupf 

BREADS AND ROLLS 170 

BRÖTCHEN 172 
Classic Breakfast Rolls 

MOHNHÖRNCHEN 175 
Poppy-Seed Crescent Rolls 

SEELEN 177 
Swabian Spelt Caraway Rolls 

HEISSWECKEN 179 
Raisin-Spice Buns 

ROGGENBRÖTCHEN 182 
Rye Rolls 

ROSINENBRÖTCHEN 184 
Whole Wheat Raisin Buns 

KÄSE-KÜMMEL-BRÖTCHEN 186 
Caraway-Cheese Rye Rolls 

QUARKBRÖTCHEN 188 
Sweet Quark Rolls 

QUARK-OSTERHASEN 190 
Soft Quark Bunny Rolls 

SCHWARZWÄLDER KARTOFFELBRÖTCHEN 192 
Potato Rolls with Bacon and Caraway 

BREZELN 194 
Soft Pretzels 

FRANZBRÖTCHEN 197 
Cinnamon-Sugar Buns 

ROSINENSCHNECKEN 202 
Raisin-Frangipane Spiral Buns 

BREMER KÜRBISBROT 204 
Roasted Squash Bread 

AACHENER POSCHWECK 206 
Easter Bread with Raisins and Sugar Cubes 

SCHWEIZER ZOPF 209 
Swiss Braid 

ROSINENZOPF 213 
Sweet Raisin Bread 

CHRISTMAS FAVORITES 216 

LEBKUCHEN 218 
Old-Fashioned German Gingerbread 

ELISENLEBKUCHEN 220 
Glazed Flourless Nuremberg Lebkuchen 

HONIGLEBKUCHEN 222 
Honeyed Lebkuchen Squares with Caramelized Almonds 

LEBKUCHEN-POWIDLTATSCHKERLN 224 
Plum-Filled Gingerbread Pockets 

BIBERLE 226 
Gingerbread Almond Nuggets 

PFEFFERNÜSSE 228 
Iced Spice Cookies 

BASLER LECKERLI 229 
Swiss Spice Squares 

SPRINGERLE 231 
Swabian Anise Cookies 

SPEKULATIUS 234 
Almond Spice Cookies 

BETHMÄNNCHEN 236 
Almond Domes 

ZEDERNBROT 237 
Lemon-Almond Crescent Cookies 

NUSSSTANGEN 238 
Hazelnut-Almond Batons 

ZIMTSTERNE 241 
Cinnamon-Almond Meringue Stars 

MAKRONENSCHNITTEN 242 
Walnut Macaroon Slices with Jam 

BASLER BRUNSLI 243 
Swiss Almond-Chocolate Cookies 

HASELNUSS-HIMBEER MAKRONEN 244 
Hazelnut-Raspberry Macaroons 

WEIHNACHTSPLÄTZCHEN 246 
Simple Christmas Cookies 

VANILLEKIPFERL 248 
Melting Vanilla-Almond Crescents 

GEFÜLLTE ORANGENTALER 249 
Candied Orange Sandwich Cookies 

FRÜCHTEBROT 250 
Austrian Fruit Bread 

CHRISTBROT 252 
Sweet Christmas Bread 

QUARKSTOLLEN 256 
Quark-Almond Sweet Bread 

STOLLENKONFEKT 257 
Bite-Size Stollen 

BAUMKUCHEN 259 
Chocolate-Glazed Tree Cake 

BASICS 262 

QUARK 264 
Sour Fresh Cheese 

MARZIPANROHMASSE 264 
Almond Paste 

PFLAUMENMUS 265 
Spiced Plum Butter 

LEBKUCHENGEWÜRZ 265 
Lebkuchen Spice Mix 

STREUSEL 266 
Basic Streusel 

MANDELSTREUSEL 266 
Almond Streusel 

VANILLEZUCKER 267 
Vanilla Sugar 

SCHLAGSAHNE 267 
Lightly Sweetened Whipped Cream