My Heidelberg: Café Gundel’s Christmas cookies (Weihnachtsgebäck)
A short sensory list
• Sights of the Weihnachtsmarkt: bright lights; Christmas pyramid; red and yellow stars; unveiling of the Backwaren (backed goods) made especially for the holiday season.
• Sounds of the Christmas market: the klang of full mugs distributed and empty ones collected, shouts of laughter from conversations scattered throughout the area.
• Smells and tastes of the Christmas market: candied almonds, cashews, and peanuts; roasted chestnuts; balls of fried dough with powdered sugar; mugs of hot mulled wine, available in several fruit flavours; grilled bratwurst; fried potato pancakes with apple sauce.
When the Christmas season brings out special baked goods, it’s time to pay attention. In Heidelberg, my favourite café in the university town doesn’t hold back as photos of the “Backwaren” (baked goods) show. There’s something for everybody at Café Gundel.
And on it goes: small lifetimes can be spent, seeing, smelling, and sampling the entire collection.
A short exchange
“Noch einen Wünsch?”
“Something more?“, asks the lady behind the counter when I’ve ordered a few of this and a few more of that.
“Das war’s leider. Komm ich wieder morgen …”
“Unfortunately, that’s all. I’ll come back tomorrow …” I reply, with the sound of hope and promise in my voice. I’m sure she’s heard it all before. And yet, she humours me with a smile and a chuckle.
“Wir sind noch für Sie da …”
“We’ll still be here …”
Window, 1 of 3
Window, 2 of 3
Window, 3 of 3
Frücht-Brot | fruit-bread w/ nuts, almonds, raisins, and fruit pieces (including lemon, orange); and a shot of rum
Hildabrötchen | little Hilda cookies, with raspberry-currant jelly
Hönig-Nussminten | honey-nut chunks
Butterspritzgebäck
Heidelberger Kurfürstenkugel | “Electors’ balls”, small cream cake spheres with a core of nougat creme, surrounded by a mantle of marzipan and a chcoolate crust
Gluten- and lactose-free Basler Bruns, made with chocolate, hazelnuts, almonds
Buttersterne | butter stars
Malteser, topped with chocolate and filled with raspberry-currant jelly
Zimtsterne | Flour-free cinnamon stars filled with almonds
Mandel Florentiner | gluten-free almond florentines
Husarenkrapen | Husars’ cookies filled with raspberry-currant jelly
Nussecken | Nut wedges
Basler Lackerli | Baselers’ tasties, spiced mini-Lebkuchen with almonds
Heidelberger Pflasterstein | “Heidelberg cobblestone: fine small almond sponge cake with chocolate flakes, nougat cream filling, and a delicate layer of marizpan under a milk chocolate coating with an extra thin slice of chocolate on top”
Schwäbisches Buttergebäck | Schwäbisch-style butter cookies
Mandel-Hörnchen | gluten-free almond crescents
Flammendes Herz | flaming heart with nougat cream
Vanillekipferl | vanilla crescents
Schokladierte Mandelplätzchen | chocolate-covered almond cookies
Apfel-Strudel: the “never go wrong stand-by”
Liebesknochen | Éclairs, with generous portions of nougat creme
Café Gundel is located at the eastern end of the Hauptstrasse near Karlsplatz, site of one of the Christmas markets in Heidelberg.
I made the photos above on 25 and 26 November 2014. I wrote about Café Gundel as one of my first ever experiences in Germany. City and regional public transport was provided by the city of Heidelberg. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-6eL.
2 Responses to “My Heidelberg: Café Gundel’s Christmas cookies (Weihnachtsgebäck)”
Great article, Henry! I miss those Heidelberg bakeries. Viel Spaß am Weihnachtsmärkte!
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Danke, Ramin! A complete inventory through Gundel’s Christmas selections (or similarly at a neighbourhood Bäckerei) must be considered a worthy resident’s “life-long” project. I even miss the “chain” bakeries so ubiquitous at any Bahnhof. 😉 Thanks for reading and for your comment!
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