Welcome to the baking section of my website! Here you can find all of my posts related to bread and other baked goods like strudel, flammkuchen, and cakes. In the top section, you can find posts about the theory and technology of baked goods along with some posts discussing the cultural significance and history of bread in Germany. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you can find all of my baking recipes. These range from sweet goods like doughnuts and apple strudel to rustic bread like spelt bread and Swabian specialties like pretzels. My blog focuses mainly on savory baked goods. A lot of blogs on German food already feature a ton of traditional cake recipes but the baked goods you might find in a German bakery are only rarely featured on them. I want to fill in that gap because, for me, it is much more fun to bake savory goods.
Check out my new book on how to bake bread the German way:
This book covers the how’s and why’s of bread-making. It is a comprehensive guide on bread ingredients, techniques, and the general bread-making process. It helps you to gain a deeper understanding and enables you to bake bread without a recipe.
Are you new to bread-baking? Start here:
Deep dives in baking technology for advanced bakers:
Bread from a cultural point of view:
Browse my collection of bread recipes:
German Bread Dumplings (‘Semmelknödel’)
We Germans are a nation of gravy lovers. That’s especially true for the Southern parts. The people here love to have gravy with every dish. And when I say gravy, I mean gravy. Not these super-far reduced French sauces which get served in tiny proportions. In Germany, there’s a lot of gravy on the table. The gravy is most often…
Pan-fried potatoes with bacon and onion (‘Bratkartoffeln’)
Pan-fried potatoes are a home cooking favorite all across Germany. They’re simple to make and so much more flavorful than French fries. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, but also surprisingly light. The potatoes are typically fried together with bacon, onions, and chives. And if that doesn’t sound good enough by itself, let me tell you the secret…
German Sourdough Steamed Buns (‘Sauerteig Dampfnudeln’)
Steamed buns are a staple of Southern German cuisine yet they are most often prepared from a sweet yeast dough. This version with sourdough is a bit different from the sweet version that you eat with vanilla sauce. The reason that I make these buns with sourdough is that I want to enjoy them as a side dish for goulash…
Pork Head Cheese (‘Schweinekopfsülze’)
First of all, Merry Christmas to all my loyal followers who are reading this post on its day of publishing. Of course, I have a little present for you. In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to make your own pork head cheese. Yummy! I know, gelatinized sausages might’ve fallen a bit out of fashion but that doesn’t…
What does alpha-amylase do in bread making?
Alpha-amylase is an enzymatic bread improver that helps to increase the loaf volume, lowers the crumb firmness, and keeps bread fresh for longer. The technological function of amylase enzymes is to cleave starch molecules into small sugar subunits (dextrins) that the yeast can metabolize. The alpha- and beta-amylases, typically in combination with amyloglucosidase, are the most popular enzymes used in…
