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Quarkbällchen, meaning quark balls, is a traditional snack that is typically made by combining quark, flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar, and baking powder. Milk, melted butter, cinnamon, lemon zest, and corn or potato starch are also sometimes added to the combination.
The quark mixture is shaped into small balls which are deep-fried until golden brown on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Once done, the fried balls are usually coated in powdered or granulated sugar or a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Thought to hail from Bavaria, this sweet treat is generally enjoyed as an afternoon snack alongside a cup of tea or coffee.
This rich, silky egg custard is thickened with gelatin and combined with whipped cream. It is traditionally served cold, and is usually garnished with pieces of fresh fruit or drizzled over with sweet sauces. Although its origins are quite unclear, it is known that Bavarian cream hails from either Germany or France.
Many French chefs worked in Bavaria during the 17th and 18th century, so it is believed that they learned the recipe there. Some believe that the dish was invented by a famous French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, who wrote a recipe for it in the early 18th century.
Black Forest cherry cake is a popular German dessert consisting of chocolate sponges that are coated in whipped cream and dotted with kirschwasser-infused cherries. Some varieties use the kirschwasser brandy to soak the chocolate layers or to lightly flavor the whipped cream.
When assembled, the cake is lavishly decorated with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and cherries. Among the numerous theories about its invention, it is still debated whether the cake was created by confectioner Josef Keller or pastry chef Erwin Hildenbrand.
MOST ICONIC Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte
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The history of Nuremberg's gingerbread is closely tied to the city's role as a crossroad of several European trade routes, a position that bestowed the city with spices from distant countries. Nürnberger Lebkuchen are typically large, round gingerbread wafers with icing that can either be chocolate-coated (schokoliert) or plain (natural).
These gingerbread cookies are often decorated with almonds and candied lemon peel. Nürnberger Lebkuchen are produced by virtually all bakers in Nuremberg. They should contain at least 25% almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts, and no more than 10% flour or starch, while the manufacturers must produce these cookies exclusively within the city limits of Nuremberg.
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Spaghettieis is a traditional ice cream that’s made to look like a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese. This dessert was invented in Mannheim, Germany in 1969 by Dario Fontanella, the son of an ice cream making Italian immigrant.
In order to prepare it, he pushed vanilla gelato through a spaetzle press on a dollop of whipped cream, then topped it with strawberry syrup and white chocolate shavings. A cookie or wafer is often placed on the side to mimic a piece of Italian bread.
MOST ICONIC Spaghettieis
This traditional bread pudding comes from Swabia and is made with pieces of stale bread and apples, drenched in a custard-like mixture of milk, sugar, eggs, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla sugar. Everything is combined into a greased baking dish and baked until nicely colored and slightly crispy on top.
Ofenschlupfer is often enhanced with raisins and flaked almonds, and it is usually finished with icing sugar after baking. In Swabia, this simple dessert is typically savored warm with vanilla sauce and fresh cream on the side, but it also pairs well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
MOST ICONIC Ofenschlupfer
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Wibele is a tiny, sweet biscuits made by combining flour, powdered sugar, egg whites, vanilla sugar, and vanilla flavorings. The biscuits or cookies are baked until golden in color and are recognized for their distinctive shape of a figure-eight or a shoe sole.
These tiny pastries are believed to date back to 1763, in Langenburg, and they are most commonly attributed to Jakob Christian Carl Wibel, who is thought to have been a court confectioner to the Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and created wibele in the Prince’s honor.
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Flädle is a German pancake consisting of basic ingredients such as flour, eggs, milk or water, sugar, and salt. The thin batter is poured into a lightly greased pan and cooked on both sides, yielding thin and round pancakes which can be both savory and sweet.
The former version usually calls for the addition of finely chopped herbs such as parsley, chives, and chervil, while the batter is seasoned with salt, pepper, and sometimes ground nutmeg. Thin strips of these savory pancakes are added to a rich beef or vegetable broth to make the classic Swabian soup called flädlesuppe.
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A Bavarian specialty dessert called prinzregententorte is a smooth, chocolate-covered layer cake with a chocolate buttercream filling. The cake is comprised of thin cake layers that are smeared with chocolate buttercream and then finished off with a satin-like chocolate coating.
It is sometimes enhanced with apricot or raspberry preserves and is usually adorned with whipped cream or chocolate cream and chocolate shavings on top. Originally, the cake had eight layers which represented the eight districts of Bavaria, but since there are only seven Bavarian districts today, the cake nowadays typically features seven layers.
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A signature specialty of the Krönner Confectionery and Café, Agnes Bernauer torte is a Bavarian almond meringue layer cake filled with coffee buttercream. The cake is comprised of several light and airy almond meringue discs that are layered with coffee buttercream filling and roasted almond flakes, then finished off with a thin layer of cream coating and some more roasted almonds on top.
This original delicacy was created to honor a young lady called Agnes Bernauer, Duke Albert III of Bavaria’s beloved one, who was condemned to death by drowning in the Danube River by Albert’s father, Duke Ernst. Apart from this special dessert, the tragic history of Agnes Bernauer had also been the inspiration of renowned Friedrich Hebbel’s eponymous tragedy, as well as Carl Orff’s folk musical Die Bernauerin.
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