Spoonfuls of Germany

Tag Archives: cooking


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Girlie beer

berliner-weisse-mit-schuss-rot

2016 is a big year for German beer. It marks the 500th anniversary of the German Purity Law for Beer (Deutsches Reinheitsgebot für Bier) which established that only water, hops, malt and yeast and no artificial ingredients, enzymes or preservatives may be used in beer-brewing. For a quick, fun intro, I recommend the video 500 Years in 50 Seconds by the German Brewers Association (in English).

So why am I writing about beer only now? No, I have not been waiting around for Oktoberfest. Continue reading →


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It’s the flour: the challenges of baking German bread abroad

pumpkin-seed-bread-1

This Pumpkin Seed Bread put my patience and persistence to the test. It took me at least three times before I was satisfied with it. The result is an adaptation from a recipe by Lutz Geißler, popular German bread blogger and book author whom I interviewed for a recent blog post.

What makes baking German breads in the United States America so tricky is that you don’t have the same huge variety of flours and grains as in Germany. Continue reading →


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German baking in America

Dresdner Eierschecke

Practice makes perfect, or, as you say in German, “Übung macht den Meister”. Well I wouldn’t dare to say that my baking is perfect but baking several times a week, and having baked hundreds of different recipes from the classic German baking repertoire in my almost 19 years in America, I have a pretty good handle on how to bake authentic German cakes, cookies and other pastries, and with readily available ingredients. Continue reading →