february-2011

increasingly multicultural
business. Marietta Peter’s
Hungarian pastries pack
hungry Dortmunders into
Kleines Café Budapest every
afternoon. The perennial
favourites include Esterhazy
torte (a walnut torte with
vanilla cream fi lling) and
strong Hungarian espresso.
Peter, who hails from
Budapest, opened her
unassuming coff ee shop eight
years ago with furniture
from her living room. “My
café looks like a grandma’s
apartment,” she says, breaking
into laughter. The earnest
decor has, however, earned
a cult following. Some
customers have even brought
their own furniture to add
to the cosy-chic ambiance.
Let Them Eat
Cupcakes
Kirstin Pollheim and Herre
van der Most left their careers
in journalism behind to pursue
the fi ne art of baking. From
their shop, Royal Cupcakes
in Cologne, the couple create
miniature pastries worthy
of kingly acclamation.
Fergie, named after none
other than the Duchess of
York, contains a tart apricot
heart and comes topped
with proper British crumble;
Grace Kelly is encased in
dainty white chocolate and
elegant pistachio confetti.
Every month, the German-
Dutch duo introduce two new
additions to the Royal Cupcake
court. Their experiments
range from the seasonal
(Frosty, with a marzipan
snowman) to the unusual
(Frog King, with matcha
cream and sugar pearls).
Complementing the
delicate little cakes is strong
Austrian-style coff ee. This
42—GW
B A K E R I E S
little shop might be the fi nest
Anglo-Teutonic hybrid since
the British royal family.
American Cream
“Kaff ee und Kuchen is the
common ground between
German and American
cultures,” Cynthia
Barcomi declares in her
airy, pink-walled café.
In 1994, the former New
Yorker bought a coff ee roaster
and opened Barcomi’s out of
passion for good coff ee. But
it was her American baked
goodies that made the shop
a Berlin institution. On any
given Sunday afternoon,
Germany’s Kaff ee und Kuchen
rush hour, you need more than
just a little luck to land a table.
The modest display
case holds just a few of
the luxurious tortes and
opulently dark brownies that
Barcomi’s staff bake daily.
Everything is made by hand
from scratch – even the café’s
13 diff erent kinds of coff ee
are all roasted on site.
The tasting menu lets
customers order four halfslices
– a blessing for the
indecisive. The perfect
combination might be the
velvety cheesecake, fl avourful
carrot cake and crunchy pecan
pie. But save some room for
the show-stopping raspberry
ganache chocolate torte.
When Barcomi travels with
cakes for TV appearances,
strangers often approach her
and strike up a conversation.
Baking, she says, taps
childhood memories; everyone
attaches great emotional
values to pastries. “Germans
are usually reserved, but with
cake, they just open up.”
Perhaps that’s the magic
of Kaff ee und Kuchen: a good
slice of cake opens hearts.
CAKE WALK
Earn your rich cake with a hearty walk. We recommended these walking
itineraries before sitting down for your Kaffee und Kuchen
DAS NEUE KUBITSCHECK
► Gollierstr. 14, Munich ◄ is in the
thriving, artsy neighbourhood of
Westend, which has many furniture
shops, designer boutiques and
secondhand stores on Parkstrasse
and Schwanthalerstrasse. For a
greener excursion, check out the
Theresienwiese, home to the yearly
Oktoberfest.
KLEINES CAFÉ BUDAPEST
► Chemnitzer Straße 9, Dortmund ◄
is located just outside the inner
city. The nearby Westfalenpark
(An der Buschmühle 3, entry €2.50)
is an expansive oasis of leafy calm
in the otherwise rather industrial
Ruhr region.
ROYAL CUPCAKES
► Alte Wallgasse 5, Cologne ◄
is on the western side of the Rhine
city’s bustling centre. Shops, bars
and restaurants line the lively
Ehrenstrasse and Breite Strasse.
A quick stroll further west will lead
to the crescent-shaped Grüngürtel
(Green Belt) that hugs the city.
BARCOMI’S ► Bergmannstr. 21,
Berlin ◄ may have paved the way for
the neighbourhood’s revitalisation.
Sixteen years later, indy-minded
boutiques, restaurants and shops
pack Bergmannstrasse. Follow
the street westward to the hill of
Kreuzberg at Viktoriapark, which
affords a panoramic view of Berlin.
WARM AND RUNNY
CHOCOLATE CAKE
A recipe from Cynthia Barcomi’s book Celebration Food
At last, the cake of your dreams – easy to bake,
easy to eat and a show-stopper to boot!
Ingredients
200g dark chocolate
180g butter
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
Pinch of salt
200g sugar
4 eggs
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Butter a 24cm spring form pan and set aside.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate (and optional instant espresso powder)
together in a bain marie or carefully in the microwave. Leave to cool.
3. Beat the egg yolks and 100g of sugar together until they thicken to
form a paste. Add the chocolate/butter mixture.
4. In another bowl (completely free of yolk or any other kind of fat)
using a handmixer, beat the egg whites. When they begin to stiffen,
gradually add the rest of the sugar until you have stiff peaks.
5. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it.
Gently fold in the rest but DO NOT OVERMIX!
6. Put the batter into the prepared pan and bake
for about 35 minutes. Eat warm.