sophisticated german home baking

Anyone who watched the 2021 season of The Great British Bake Off will remember the humble, mild-mannered Jurgen Krauss, who stole our hearts as he made his breads and biscuits and his famous Black Forest Cake. As someone who actually grew up in the Black Forest, he knew those flavors well. And now he offers us that recipe along with many other of his German baking recipes in The German Baking Book.

Krauss is a technical baker, careful with his measurements and exacting with his creations. But as he explains in his cookbook, his love of baking started when he was a child, in the small kitchen with his mother and his brother. And while he could find many of his favorite German baked goods in local bakeries when he was still living in Germany, when he moved to the UK, he could no longer find his favorite breads and treats in the local bakeries. So he learned to bake them himself.

The German Baking Book is a celebration of the flavors of Krauss’s childhood, from the Linzer Torte that he asked his mother to make for his wedding to the butter cookies and gingerbread they made for Christmas cookies, from the Apple Fritters that he and his brothers sometimes got after school to the Flame Cake he discovered at university, from the Passion Fruit and Mango Charlotte Royale like he saw in the department store displays when he was a kid to the giant pretzel they eat for breakfast on New Year’s, these recipes are filled with the warmth of family memories as much as they are filled with flavor and a passion for baking.

There is a range of recipes here, from simple Funnel Cakes or Milk Rolls or Lemon Cake to the complex braided breads like a Swiss Sunday Bread or the Triple Charlotte Rousse with homemade ladyfingers. There are traditional German recipes, like the Simple Streusel Cake, an Almost Sacher Torte (although he adds orange, a taste he acquired in the UK), Butter Cake, Gugelhupf, and Fastenwahe. There are some amazing surprises, like his Cheesecake with Raisins, Butter Crescents, or The Waves of the Danube (a sheet cake that when cut creates the look of waves with its layers).

But he also includes some basic recipes that bakers can take and make into their own personal creations, like his Luxury Marzipan, Streusel, Basic Sponge Cake, Rich Yeasted Sweet Dough, or Basic White Bread. In his chapter on Sweet and Savory Breads and Rolls, there are illustrations to help guide you as you work with the dough. Throughout the book are beautiful photographs of the bakes, to inspire baking and eating (they look amazing!), as well some photos of Krauss’s childhood home and memories. Not all of the recipes are photographed, which I found a little disappointing since the photography was so gorgeous and refined, but that is my only criticism of this beautiful cookbook. The German Baking Book will be an amazing addition to any baker’s library, and it could even inspire other bakers to try a competition with their own family flavors and inspiration.

I was a big fan of Krauss on The Great British Bake Off. He was one of my favorite bakers and on my favorite season. I have been waiting literally years for him to craft a cookbook for us, and The German Baking Book was worth the weight. All I need now is some time to bake a a lot of flour.

Egalleys for The German Baking Book were provided by Weldon Owen, with many thanks.