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German Bakery

Zimt Bakery ships Christmas Plätzchen in California

December 12, 2020 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

No time to bake “Weihnachtsplätzchen”? No problem. Let Zimt Bakery take care of it this year!

The love for baking and fond memories of her Oma Doris from Stuttgart made Alina Tompert launch Zimt Bakery in 2020 during the pandemic. Growing up in California she happily joined her mom in the yearly family tradition of backing “Plätzchen” during Christmas season from an early age on. However, she was particularly impressed by the package of Christmas Cookies that her Oma Doris sent from Germany each year for the holidays. It contained an assortment of about 20 beautiful, unique, lovingly crafted “Guadsle” (the Swabian expression for cookies).

Alina Trompert - Zimt Bakery

After her grandma’s passing, Alina turned to baking from the recipes that she inherited from Oma Doris: “I am thrilled to present the lineup of Zimt Guadsle for the traditional holiday baking, and my own mash-up of modern flavors in our seasonal line up of Plätzchen”.

Zimt Bakery specializes in Plätzchen and Guadsle, the former being Zimt’s modern seasonal take and the latter being Zimt’s traditional holiday cookies rooted in Oma Doris’ recipes. Over the holidays, Zimt Bakery will offer also homemade Lebkuchen Hearts which are customizable with a name or message. And even our furry friends can join in the delight of freshly baked cookies. Zimt Bakery also makes Plätzchen for Paws! 

[Read more…] about Zimt Bakery ships Christmas Plätzchen in California

Filed Under: German Foods & Markets, Life in California, News Tagged With: Alina Trompert, California, Christmas and holiday season, Christmas cookies, German Bakery, holiday baking, Zimt Bakery

Cake Disaster Part Three

August 30, 2017 by Anne-Kathrin Leave a Comment

wedding-2560160_1920

CAKE DISASTER PART THREE

When I first decided to share my cake disaster, I didn’t intend to make a three part series out of it.  But when I started writing down this disastrous memory (I know I am a tad bit overly dramatic here), I realized that it would turn into a novel if I wouldn’t break it up.

Since my attention span doesn’t last too long and I personally get discouraged reading an article that is more than about half a page, I figured it would be best to split this story up (oh how I wish this really was just a fictional event and not a real-life experience.)  But anyways, let’s continue where I left of last time.

Luckily, my boss was very understanding of the situation and tried to calm my crying self down.  After all, I still had to go face the wedding planner and her entourage, trying to deliver a broken cake to them.  In that moment, I wish I was still a little kid whom it would be easily forgiven if it would have dropped a cake (maybe not a wedding cake, point taken, but who would give a wedding cake into a child’s hand anyways.)

I still had some driving time ahead of me before arriving at the venue, and I kept telling myself that somehow, the wedding staff would be empathetic and able to fix the cake.  Eventually, my tears had dried and I turned onto the windy road up to the Malibu Mountains.

The scenery was really beautiful: deserted windy roads, surrounded by meadows, the mountains, and wineries.  It took me a little to figure out the way to the venue, which made me arrive even later.  But that was the least problem I encountered that day.

Once I had securely parked my car I somehow managed to step out, still trying to convince myself that “everything would be fine.”  I carried the cake over to a table close by, where I then called the wedding planner.  She soon came walking over to me and spotted the disaster.  I explained the situation to her, hoping for the best.

It was no surprise that she wasn’t too thrilled about the situation.  She asked me in all seriousness if I could “just drive back, get the cake fixed, and bring it back.” I am sorry, lady, but it took me almost three hours to get there, and the cake would obviously not make it back in time.

So that option was crossed out quickly. I then suggested to her that maybe the florist would be able to do something about it.  The wedding planner was ok with that and directed me and the cake towards the main venue.

Unfortunately, it was very windy on this given day.  I had to walk really careful and slow, but I still felt the cake moving a tiny bit from the gust whirling around us.  I did manage to carry the cake over to the florist with no further incidents (thanks God.)

She inspected it and was not too happy about what she saw, but she wanted to give it a shot and sent me up to a small cottage with a kitchen where the cake was supposed to be stowed.

Again, I fought the gusty winds, balancing the cake on my hands.  Once I had reached the cottage and put the cake on a table, I let out a sigh of relief.  Relief that I didn’t drop it again, and relief that I was about to get out of this uncomfortable situation failry soon.

While waiting for the florist to make her way up, I looked around the room.  I saw wooden signs with the name of the bride and groom.  I felt horrible just imagining if it was my special day and I had to hear the news of a broken cake. I was quickly ripped away from that thought when the florist entered the room.

She kneeled in front of the cake, inspecting it while she bombarded me with questions and comments: “Why did you not bring cake tools?” “Aren’t you a baker?” “THIS is the cake they wanted? Looks so simple, you can barely see the colors,” and so on and so on.  I patiently and uncomfortably answered her everything, stating that I am just a coordinator and neither a delivery person or baker.  She eventually set me free by saying that she got this and that I could leave.

I wanted to scream my relief out, but instead I just walked quietly and fast down the meadow towards my car, jumped in it and drove off.  I called my boss and gave her the rundown of what just happened at the venue.  We both put it down as a learning experience and moved on from it.  I couldn’t wait to be back in Orange County, join my friends for my girlfriend’s birthday and get a drink in my hand.

The whole trip took me seven hours.  Seven hours!  That was a clear turning point for me.  From that moment on I did not fulfill any more deliveries.  And, to be honest, I think my boss liked it that way, too.

Images: pixabay.com
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Anne-KathrinAnne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Filed Under: Expat Stories, Life in California Tagged With: Column writing, Creative Writing, German Bakery, Germans in California, Germans in Los Angeles, Germans in Orange County, Life experience, Self discovery, Writer-to-be

The Tale of the Traveling Cake Continues

August 23, 2017 by Anne-Kathrin Leave a Comment

wedding-cake-1704427_1920

THE TALE OF THE TRAVELING CAKE CONTINUES

It was a beautiful Saturday in April of 2017, when one particular wedding cake and I started the journey from Redondo Beach into the deep Malibu Canyon.  My boss and I figured that if I left the bakery with the cake at 9 a.m. it would give me plenty of time to arrive at the venue at the appointed 11 a.m.

As we all know, traveling through the LA area usually consists of sitting in traffic at least at some point, if not more.   But since it was a Saturday, I had high hopes that the traffic Gods were on my side.

Unfortunately, they were not.  In fact, they wanted to test my patience extra hard that day with a three-lane-closure at LAX due to a crash that involved a burned-out vehicle.  My hopes of a punctual arrival diminished from minute to minute, and while the cars in front of me still weren’t moving, I decided to give the wedding planner a heads-up about my delay.

Thankfully, she was not too stressed about it (or she was just good at hiding her real feelings). It felt like an eternity, but eventually cars started moving again, and slowly but surely I was ready to continue my route while the cake was still peacefully sitting in its box.

Now is probably a good time to tell you a little bit about the “transport box,” just for an overall better understanding of the situation.  This particular box was actually a bigger paper carton with no lid.  The cake was securely fastened onto a round shaped cake board, and then just pushed into the box, the open side facing my dashboard.  To my defense, it was not my idea to position the cake like this on my passenger seat.  You might know now where this story is going.

I was finally able to get out of the whole traffic mess and to speed up to a decent pace; wanting to make sure I hopefully don’t encounter anymore delays. I kept driving on the 405 north for a while before my GPS told me to merge onto the US 101.

I merged onto the outer right lane, slowing down a bit but still holding a steady speed, about to approach the loop towards the 101 freeway.  Unsuspecting, I made my way around it, when suddenly the car in front of me hit the brakes hard, resulting me into doing the same thing.

I knew right away what terrible maneuver I just had done.  While pushing my foot the hardest I could onto my breaks, I heard a swoosh sound.  I looked over to my right side, and in a matter of seconds, I witnessed the precious 12-piece cake slipping out of the box and straight onto the floor.

I will not be able to tell you verbatim what I was exactly yelling out at the moment since it consists of a series of swear words.  What I can tell you is that I started to cry hysterically.

I couldn’t contemplate what was worse: the fact that the cake actually dropped on the floor or that I had to call my boss and tell her about it. Well, since there was no way around it, I picked up my phone and anxiously dialed her number.

When she heard that I was crying, she instantly knew that something really bad must have happened. To my relief, she was very understanding and tried to calm me down, which made me sob even more.

Unfortunately, I still had to deliver the cake, hoping that the florist would be able to cover up the damages. “At least the cake wasn’t supposed to be the one eaten,” is what I kept telling myself to calm me down and to prepare me from having to face a pretty uncomfortable situation, but more on that next time. As for now, feel free to enjoy a graphic image of the described disaster.

IMG_0010

 

Images: pixabay.com, Anne-Kathrin Schulte
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Anne-KathrinAnne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.


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Filed Under: Expat Stories, Life in California, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cake, food, German Bakery, Germans in California, Germans in Orange County

A Little Bit of Germany in the Heart of Berkeley

August 21, 2011 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

Dropping of my son at Cal Berkeley and helping him “move in” was a great way for me to get acquainted with the Berkeley neighborhood. My heart did a happy leap when I found German Brezen (Pretzels) right on University Ave. ! The quaint little bakery “OctoberFeast” has much more to offer then just to make Pretzel lovers content. One can find a wonderful, delicious selection of different gourmet breads, tempting croissants and of course tasty pretzels. But that’s not all. If one prefers to bake their own bread, OctoberFeast has an assortment of organic flours to choose from.

Should you not find yourself in the area of Berkeley’s University Ave., OctoberFeast is also present at farmer’s markets in Northern California. To find out more, check out their website and definitely pay them a visit, when in the area.

Open:  Monday – Friday: 8am – 6pm, and Saturday: 9am – 3pm

OctoberFeast Bakery – German, Bavarian Breads        

1954 University Ave
Berkeley, CA
94701
(510) 926-3004

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Filed Under: German Foods & Markets, Life in California, LifeStyle Tagged With: Berkeley, Deutsches Essen in Kalifornien, Food for German ex-pats, German Bakery, German food, German foods in California, Germans in California, OctoberFeast Bakery, United States

Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt…

December 4, 2010 by Cornelia 1 Comment

Advent, Advent,
ein Lichtlein brennt!
Erst eins, dann zwei, dann drei, dann vier,
dann steht das Christkind vor der Tür!

Christmas – the favorite season of the year, is here! The first Advent happened already last week and children started opening their advent calendars on December 1st. As the little folk poem says “…First one (candle) then two, then three, then four – then Christmas is in front of your door” and with that the end of the year is very fast approaching.

Before I even want to go into New Year’s solutions , are you prepared for Christmas? Well, I certainly am not and it frankly scares me to hear if someone says they have already bought all their Christmas presents and are ready to go! But presents are just one part of the whole Christmas experience. What about Christmas cookies? Should you be a baking expert then I am sure you are right in the middle of it now. If you are not into baking or just bake a few traditional cookies, and still would like to enjoy a greater variety of German Christmas delicacies,  GermanDeli.com is a great way to start Christmas shopping for German Christmas cookies ,cakes and much more.

Every year when I put in my order online it always has been a great experience from the moment I send off the online order to receiving the package. It is a pleasure to see how this company knows what customer service means. From the time the online order is sent of, GermanDeli.com is in communication with you per email, letting you know the progress of your order. When the package arrives, one will find the order packed into a climate box that’s attractively covered by a black cardboard with a German flag ribbon. Upon opening the box one will find the products all separately wrapped or packed and kept at a certain temperature level with the help of cooling ice packs (which by arrival have become watery but did definitely do their job). Everything is perfectly kept and all cookies are still in one and not partly broken, which happened before when I used a different online store to get my German Christmas goodies.

The GermanDeli online store is a great alternative to having family and friends send  stuff over from Germany or even to finding a German store in your vicinity. They have a great Christmas selection, which unfortunately does sell out quickly the closer Christmas approaches. So get your order in quickly before it’s too late and remember to start your Christmas cookie shopping early next year. Otherwise there is no other way around baking them all yourself …

Schoene Vorweihnachtszeit!

 

Related Articles
  • Top 10 Facts About Advent (cantuar.blogspot.com)

Filed Under: Culture, German Festivals, German Foods & Markets Tagged With: advent, AdventCalendar, Christmas, Christmas cookies, German Bakery, German Christmas cookies, Germany

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