Baking In Bavaria

Being a foreigner in any country presents new challenges, and requires creative ways of approaching problems. Baking in a foreign country is no exception. As an American expat in Munich, Germany I have confronted many challenges (both frustrating and funny) in the kitchen. This article is to help you make sense of some of the differences so that you don’t have to get bogged down in the details and can get onto baking.

1) Baking Soda: While the texture of the baking soda produced in Germany appears to be somewhat more granular and less cakey, there seems to be no noticeable effect on baking. With some effort, the traditional orange-boxed Arm & Hammer baking soda can be found. Otherwise look for “Natron” in either a 50 g packet, or a box- usually found in the baking isle of grocery stores, or in the wellness/vitamin /mineral area of drugstores such as DM.

Common brands of German baking soda. From left to right, 200g box, 50g packet, 5x50g box of packets.

2) Butter:

a. Package & measuring: If you haven’t already noticed, butter in Germany is sold in a 250g block instead of in 4oz (113g) sticks. This makes measuring tablespoons a chore, but not impossible. If you’ve got a new block of German butter you could try this trick. Cut the block lengthwise. Half of the block is between 8-9 tablespoons- slightly larger than 1 stick of U.S. butter and you could measure off from there. If a more precise measurement is needed, using a measuring spoon or getting a hold of a food scale may be necessary.

b. Texture: German butter tends to be a little softer and seems to melt more quickly than typical U.S. butter -- nice for spreading on a Bretz’n… but we wonder—does it negatively affect the ability to make a nice flaky croissant? Jury is still out on this one, although serious (german) pastry bakers report that products “come out very well”. You be the judge, and get that butter nice and cold before you start working with it.

3) Chocolate Chips: rather than a common baking ingredient, “Schokotropfen” are more of a novelty and are often found in small cardboard boxes (100-200g or 3.5-7oz ea) with a big price tag. As a substitution, you might try breaking up a nice chocolate bar and using “chocolate chunks” in place of chocolate chips. Or, you may just want to ask the next American visitor to stow a few bags in their suitcase for you.

4) Corn Syrup: In most common grocery stores, neither light nor dark corn syrup is available. We have used a product called zuckerrubensirup (sugar beet syrup) which is a substitution in a pinch for dark corn syrup. Otherwise karo corn syrup can be found at some Asian grocery stores and online at www.foodfromhome.de.

Zuckerrubensirup is found not in the baking isle but near the jams and jellies in REWE supermarkt (among others).

5) Cream: To a non-native, figuring out what product is “cream” can be confusing. German grocery stores often offer “cream” under two different German names: schlagrahm and schlagsahne. Both are “cream” in the American sense but check the fat content to confirm that you are getting the right product. The German equivalent of heavy cream typically runs between 30-34% fat. German cream also often seem to contain some sort of “stabilizer” such as carrageen (helpful when making whipping cream, but not necessarily useful in baking scones or cinnamon rolls). To find a product without a stabilizer added, trying seeking out a “Bio” product.

6) Eggs: While some U.S./German egg differences are pretty straight-forward (eggs do not need to be refrigerated and come in packs of 6 or 10 in Germany), others aren’t as obvious. Egg size is an important factor which may be easy to overlook. Often the eggs found on the shelf in Germany are size M, and often recipes from back home call for size L eggs. In small recipes calling for only one or two eggs you can adjust for this by slightly reducing the non-egg portions of the recipe. For recipes/double recipes that call for more eggs, a handy rule of thumb is that 6 medium eggs= 5 large eggs. As far as egg storage- eggs maintained at room temp, may be kept at room temp until the expiration shown on the box. If you want to extend the shelf-life of your eggs, you may refrigerate them, but then you must keep them refrigerated (as the cold air damages the protective coating around the shell which keeps eggs safe for storage at room temp).

7) Nuts: Many of your standard baking nuts including almonds, walnuts, peanuts and cashews are in plentiful supply here in Germany. Pecans, pistachios, and macadamia nuts however are less common and relatively expensive. On the flip side, hazelnuts (not so commonly found in the U.S.) are readily available at a reasonable price.

8) Sugar:

a. Granulated sugar (Zucker) and powdered sugar (Puder Zucker) is sold just as it is in the U.S. You will find some differences however with other types of sugar.

b. Brown sugar comes in one main variety here called “brauner zucker” and it has a coarse texture closer to granulated sugar than brown sugar back in the States. For recipes like “sticky buns” or “fudge” the difference can be noticeable. In this case it may be worth seeking out the softer brown sugar that we know from back home. I was able to find a British brand of “soft brown sugar” at the second Asian grocery store I visited. It is also reported to be carried in some Bio organic grocery stores, and American/british grocery stores.

"Soft" American and British style brown sugar. This one was found in an Asian grocery store across from the Gasteig, Rosenheimerlandstr. S-bahn stop (outside of ped mall), Munich.

c. “Caster sugar” or “superfine sugar” is an ingredient not commonly used in American recipes, but I ran across it when working on a German “lebkuchen” recipe and had to hunt it down. It is known as “Feinster Sugar” in Germany and is not the same as powdered sugar (which has corn starch added as an ingredient to obtain a smooth consistency).

9) Vanilla Extract: you are not likely to find “pure vanilla extract” in a bottle like in the U.S. Judging by availability, vanilla flavored sugar is much more popular (and seemingly less potent).

Some stores sell natural vanilla aroma (Natürliches Bourbon-Vanille Aroma) but you will find it in a small, rectangular, 5gram plastic pouch and it is probably the closest substitute in a recipe that calls for “vanilla extract.”

10) Yeast: Packages in Germany do not specify how much yeast is inside, but rather specify how much flour the bread will leaven. Most packets of dry “Hefe” leaven 500g of white flour (or 4.5 cups) which is equivalent to what a U.S. package of dry instant yeast will leaven.