4 Yummy German Christmas Treats!

(Our trip to Berlin was in part sponsored by the VisitBerlin tourism board)

One of the best things to do in Berlin is to walk – aimlessly stroll around without really knowing where you are or where you’re going – that way you get your own impressions of Berlin, and find your own favorite places and interesting spots.

When you decide to take a walk, one thing is for sure: you will never go hungry – there are cafés and bakeries EVERYWHERE, around every single corner of every little street.

We spent the last week tasting many typical German xmas treats – here are a few that we tried…

1) Quarkbällchen

We found these quark balls in a Christmas market, and while we had no idea at the time what we just had bought, we knew just by the alluring smell around the wooden hut that we had to try them.

They are called Quarksbällchen, and are small balls made from flower, egg, sugar and Quark, which are deep fried and then coated with sugar.

Quark is something very typical German, and it’s very hard to explain what it is and what it tastes like, but it’s a type of cheese similar to sour cream.

You can’t have too many of these balls, they’re just SO tasty!

2) Baumkuchen / Tree Cake

Nobody knows exactly when and where this cake was first baked, but a theory is that it was invented in the German town of Salzwedel.

The cake is very dry and almost paper-like, and in my opinion rather tasteless, but you can sense a bit of almond in there.

Our cake was coated in dark chocolate, which made it taste better, and it was good together with a hot cup of tea.

I was more fascinated by all the effort they put into making the cake than the actual taste – it is almost impossible to make one of these cakes in your own home.

Bakeries use a special machine for the Baumkuchen, which is made on a spit by brushing on layers of batter and rotate it around a heat source – you heat it until it turns brown, and then you add another layer.

This method makes the cake look very similar to the tree rings you see on trees which have been cut down, which is why the cake has the nickname ”tree cake”.

3) Christstollen

If there is one thing that the Germans know how to make, it’s bread – they have even come up with a way of making bread into a dessert, with this famous and loved bread-like fruit cake called Christstollen.

The cake is filled with juicy raisins, candied and dried fruits and almonds, and is mixed with different spices like cardamom and cinnamon.

Some even go all the way and put marzipan and rum in the cake – which is then covered in icing sugar.

The recipe for this moist bread dates back to the early 15th century, and has always been a cake you consume during Christmas.

I didn’t think it sounded like a very good idea to mix bread with those ingredients, but once I tried it I absolutely loved it!

4) Lebkuchen

Lebkuchen is a traditional German christmas treat famously known as Gingerbread.

Lebkuchen is a very old cookie, invented in the 13th century by the medieval monks in Franconia, Germany.

The traditional Lebkuchen is very tasty, soft on the inside and often with marzipan and different kinds of nuts inside (walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds).

The more good quality nuts inside the better the cake, and the taste is heavenly.

You see these cookies all over Berlin’s Christmas markets, often decorated with some nice text like “I love you” – but these are of a harder type and not as genuine.

It’s also common to make “witch houses” from that type of gingerbread, which became popular from the story about Hansel and Gretel.

What do you think? Which treat would you like to try?

(Our trip to Berlin was in part sponsored by the VisitBerlin tourism board)