Saarland

Beignet is a type of deep-fried pastry of French origin. It is commonly made from pâte à choux, but can also be made using rice flour (rice beignets) or yeast-leavened batters. Beignets can be served in a variety of preparations, the most common being dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The pastry is popular in French, Italian, and American cuisines. A traditional way beignets are prepared is using choux pastry dough. Otherwise known as the French-style beignet, this type of dough is typically made using butter, milk or water, sugar, flour, and salt. Choux pastry is versatile and is prepared differently by culture. The pâte à choux method is also the style of beignets that were introduced to New Orleans by French immigrants in the 1700s. Variations often include banana or plantain – popular fruits in the port city – or berries. Other variations include savory fillings such as meat and cheese fillings.

Butterkuchen or Zuckerkuchen is a simple German butter cake baked on a tray. Flakes of butter are distributed on the dough which, after baking, form the characteristic holes. The whole cake is sprinkled with sugar or streusel. After further kneading the Butterkuchen is baked. As a variation the dough can be sprinkled with roasted almond flakes. Butterkuchen is a favourite element of Westphalian and North German coffee tables. It is also served at weddings and funerals and, as a result, is sometimes called Freud-und-Leid-Kuchen or Beerdigungskuchen ("funeral cake"). A regional variation is to sprinkle the Butterkuchen with a sugar-cinnamon mixture rather than with sugar alone. This is very similar to Moravian Sugar Cake.

Fasnacht is a fried doughnut of German origin in Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, served traditionally in the days of Carnival and Fastnacht or on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent starts. Fasnachts were made as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally fasted from during Lent. The Pennsylvania Dutch in the area surrounding Lancaster, York, Lebanon, Berks and other PA Dutch counties in Pennsylvania, celebrate Fastnacht. Most chain supermarkets in eastern Pennsylvania offer fasnachts. A similar culinary treat is the Polish Pączki. Pączki are traditionally eaten in Poland on the Thursday prior to Fasnacht Day, although in Polish communities of the US, the tradition is more commonly celebrated on Fasnacht Day. Commonly pączki are round, rather than having straight sides, and they are filled with jelly, or creme filling. In parts of Maryland, the treats are called Kinklings, or "Kuechles" (not to be confused with kichel) and are only sold in bakeries on Shrove Tuesday. The German version is made from a yeast dough, deep fried, and coated or dusted in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar; they may be plain or filled with fruit jam. Pennsylvania Dutch fasnachts can often be potato doughnuts, and may be uncoated, dusted with table sugar, or powdered with confectioner's sugar. Some purists insist that the uncoated pastry be eaten drizzled with honey.

The Frankfurter Kranz is a cake specialty of Frankfurt, Germany. Preparation starts with the baking of a firm sponge cake in a ring-shaped baking tin. The cake is then sliced horizontally to divide it into two or three rings, and thick layers of buttercream icing are placed between the rings, usually with a layer of red jam (typically strawberry, blackcurrant or cherry jam). The outside of the cake is then thickly coated with more buttercream and topped with caramel-covered brittle nuts, called Krokant, toasted almond flakes and/or ground hazelnuts. Krokant is a signature ingredient in the dish. The Frankfurter Kranz is considered reminiscent of Frankfurt as the coronation city of the Holy Roman Emperors. Its round shape and the sheath of brittle are intended to represent a golden crown, and the cherries are reminiscent of rubies.

Kirschenmichel is a traditional dessert of German cuisine, especially popular in the regions Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, South Bavaria, Franconia and the southern part of Hesse. It is kind of a pudding and similar to bread pudding and bread and butter pudding. The dessert consists of bread that is a few days old which is kneaded into a dough with butter, milk, egg and sugar. Sour cherries or sweet cherries are folded into the dough and the mixture is baked in a casserole dish. Prior to serving the dessert is topped with vanilla, cinnamon, almonds and clove and is then served hot with vanilla sauce custard. Although traditionally a dessert, it can also be found as main dish after an appetizer soup.

A marble cake , or Marmor ( German: [ˈmaʁmoːɐ̯] ⓘlit. 'marble')) is a cake with a streaked or mottled appearance (like marble) achieved by very lightly blending light and dark batter. Due to its zebra-striped pattern, it is also called zebra cake. It can be a mixture of vanilla and chocolate cake, in which case it is mainly vanilla, with streaks of chocolate. Other possibilities are strawberry or other fruit flavors, or (particularly in marbled coffee cakes) cinnamon or other spices. Marmor is the German word for marble. The idea of marble cake seems to have originated in early nineteenth century Germany. The earliest version of marble cake consisted of a kugelhopf (sweet yeast bread), one half of which was colored with molasses and spices to achieve a dark colored batter. Bakers next began to do the same thing with sponge cake batter. The usage of chocolate in the Rhein-Ruhr area in the twentieth century has now made this a common version of marble cake across Germany and Austria.[citation needed] The cake was brought to America shortly before the Civil War, and the term marble cake was first recorded in English in September 29, 1859 issue of Illinois State Chronicle (Decatur). One popular variation of this recipe during Victorian times was “Harlequin cake,” which was baked with checkerboard patterns.[citation needed]

Prinzregententorte is a Bavarian torte consisting of at least six, usually seven, thin layers of sponge cake interlaid with chocolate buttercream. The exterior is covered in a dark chocolate glaze. Prinzregententorte is very popular in Bavaria, Germany, and available in cake shops all year round. The cake is named after Luitpold, prince regent of Bavaria from 1886. The cake's exact origin remains in dispute; among those claimed as its creators are the prince regent's cook, Johann Rottenhoeffer, the baker Anton Seidl, and the baking firm of Heinrich Georg Erbshäuser. A Prinzregententorte originally had eight layers of both cake and cream, so as to represent the eight districts the Kingdom of Bavaria once had. Since one of those regions, the Palatinate, was split off from Bavaria and merged with surrounding lands to form the new federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate by the American Military Government after World War II, which the locals later confirmed in a plebiscite, the double-layers were subsequently reduced to seven.

A Schneeball or Schneeballen (plural: Schneebälle ( German: [ˈʃneːˌbɛlə] ⓘ) and Schneeballen respectively), snowball in English, is a deep-fried pastry made from shortcrust pastry especially popular in the area of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Its name derives from its round, ball-like shape, its diameter of about eight to ten centimeters, and its traditional decoration with white confectioner's sugar. It is also known as a Storchennest ( pronounced [ˈʃtɔʁçn̩ˌnɛst] ⓘstork's nest). This kind of pastry has been known for at least 400 years in the regions of Franconia and Hohenlohe (northeast of Baden-Württemberg) where it is very popular. Served only on special occasions such as weddings in the past; they are nowadays available throughout the year and can be found around Rothenburg ob der Tauber in bakeries, pastry shops, and cafes. In the town itself there are even companies that specialize in the pastry, constantly coming out with new variations. Beside the classical ones dusted with confectioner's sugar, there are recipes glazed with chocolate and nuts or filled with marzipan. As the pastry is considered the signature dish of the town, it is a very common souvenir.

Spritzgebäck , also called a spritz cookie in the United States, is a type biscuit or cookie of German and Alsatian-Mosellan origin made of a rich shortcrust pastry. When made correctly, the cookies are crisp, fragile, somewhat dry, and buttery. The German root verb spritzen ( German: [ˌʃpʁɪt͡sn̩] ⓘ) is cognate with the English to spurt. As the name implies, these cookies are made by squeezing, or "spritzing", the dough through a cookie press fitted with patterned holes (or extruded through a cake decorator or pastry forcing bag to which a variety of nozzles may be fitted).

A profiterole , chou à la crème ( French: [ʃu a la kʁɛm]), also known alternatively as a cream puff (US), is a filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be embellished or left plain or garnished with chocolate sauce, caramel, or a dusting of powdered sugar. Savory profiterole are also made, filled with pureed meats, cheese, and so on. These were formerly common garnishes for soups. The various names may be associated with particular variants of filling or sauce in different places. Choux pastry dough is piped through a pastry bag or dropped with a pair of spoons into small balls and baked to form largely hollow puffs. After cooling, the baked profiteroles are injected with filling using a pastry bag and narrow piping tip, or by slicing off the top, filling them, and reassembling. For sweet profiteroles, additional glazes or decorations may then be added.

Oettinger Brauerei is a brewery group in Germany. Oettinger was Germany's best selling beer brand between 2004 and 2013 with an annual output of 6.21 million hectolitres in 2011. Oettinger's headquarters are in Oettingen in Bayern but they also have breweries in Mönchengladbach and Braunschweig. They had a brewery in Gotha however this was closed in late 2022. Oettinger bought the brewery producing "5,0 Original" beer in Braunschweig, a competitor in the same market segment. Oettinger is rarely found on tap in pubs and bars – most of it is sold bottled in supermarkets.

Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German Weizenbier and Belgian witbier; other types include Lambic , Berliner Weisse (a cloudy, sour beer), and Gose (a sour, salty beer). Weißbier (German – "white beer") uses at least 52% wheat to barley malt to make a light-coloured top-fermenting beer. Witbier (Dutch – "white beer") uses flavorings such as coriander and orange peel. Belgian white beers are often made with raw unmalted wheat.[citation needed]

A Dampfnudel is a dumpling eaten as a meal or as a dessert in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and in France (Alsace-Moselle). It is a typical dish in southern Germany. There are Dampfnudel city gates in Freckenfeld and Kandel, two towns in the Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany, very near the border with French Alsace.[citation needed] It is reputed that, during the Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops arrived at Freckenfeld and demanded ransom. Master baker Johannes Muck, with his wife and apprentice, made 1,286 Dampfnudeln to feed the soldiers, who then spared the village from further extortion and pillage. The Dampfnudeltor (Dampfnudel gate) even features on the coat of arms of the municipality of Freckenfeld. Dampfnudeln are made from a dough composed of white flour, water, yeast, salt, butter or margarine, and sometimes also eggs and a little sugar. The dough is formed into balls about the size of an egg, left to rise and then cooked in a covered pot, preferably a high-rimmed iron pan with a lid, either in a mixture of milk and butter (the Bavarian style) or salt water and fat (the Rhineland-Palatinate style) until a golden-brown crust forms at the bottom after the liquid has evaporated. The tops remain white.

Potato hash, potatoes with bacon, onions, leeks, nutmeg

Käsespätzle is a traditional dish of the German regions of Swabia, Baden and Allgäu, and also in the Austrian regions Vorarlberg and Tyrol, as well as Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Hot spätzle and grated cheese such as Emmentaler or granular cheese are layered alternately and finally topped with fried onions. After adding each layer, the käsespätzle is baked until all the cheese is melted. Accompanying side dishes are green salads or potato salad. In some parts of Vorarlberg and also Liechtenstein käsespätzle is usually served with apple sauce. Leftovers of käsespätzle can be pan-fried with butter.

Leberknödel is a traditional dish of German, Austrian and Czech cuisines. Leberknödel are usually composed of beef liver, though in the German Palatinate region pork is used as an alternative. The meat is ground and mixed with bread, eggs, parsley and various spices, often nutmeg or marjoram. In Austria spleen is often mixed with the liver in a 1/3 ratio. Using 2 moistened tablespoons, the batter is formed into dumplings and boiled in beef broth or fried in lard.

Saumagen is a German dish popular in the Palatinate. The dish is similar to a sausage in that it consists of a stuffed casing; however, the stomach itself is integral to the dish. It is not as thin as a typical sausage casing (intestines or artificial casing). Rather it is meat-like, being a strong muscular organ, and when the dish is finished by being pan-fried or roasted in the oven, it becomes crisp. Saumagen stuffing consists of potatoes and pork, usually spiced with onions, marjoram, nutmeg and white pepper; various recipes also mention cloves, coriander, thyme, garlic, bay leaf, cardamom, basil, caraway, allspice, and parsley. Sometimes beef is also used; a variant popular in autumn replaces some or all of the potatoes with chestnuts. The larger ingredients are diced finely. After that, the saumagen is cooked in hot water, slightly below boiling temperature to prevent rupture of the stomach. It is either served directly with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes or stored in the refrigerator for later use. To warm it again, the saumagen is cut into slices approximately 1⁄2 to 1 inch thick (1.3 to 2.5 cm), which are then fried in an open pan. The typical accompanying drink in the wine region of the Palatinate is usually a dry white wine, and in the Palatinate forest to the west, preferably a local beer.[citation needed] There is controversy regarding the origin of the dish: one theory claims that saumagen was created in the 18th century by Palatinate farmers to make use of slaughtering residues (schlachtreste). Another theory insists that saumagen has always been the highlight of each local Schlachtfest in the Palatinate region, a festival that involved the ceremonial slaughter of a pig and that is still celebrated in some wine-growing districts when the vintage is finished and when winter is near. Today the saumagen offered by German butchers and restaurants uses high-quality ingredients. Luise Wilhelmine Henninger (1871–1951), cook and landlady at the Weinhaus Henninger in Kallstadt, is said to have saved the largely forgotten saumagen recipe and to have elevated it to a culinary delight, eventually. The dish lends its name to a Riesling vineyard in Kallstadt as "Saumagen Kallstadt".

Schwenker is a local term from the German state of Saarland, the Mosel Valley and big parts of Rheinland Pfalz and is used in three ways, all relating to the same grilled meat: Grilling is done over an open beech wood fire. Charcoal is sometimes used, but that is regarded as sub-standard because the beech smoke is considered to be an important part of the process. Gas-fueled grills are never used (except in commercial snack bars). Beside the Schwenker, sausages (German bratwurst and French merguez), different vegetables (such as bell peppers), Brötchen (German bread rolls, in Saarland preferably Doppelweck, see German cuisine), baguette (French type of bread) with garlic butter, potatoes and feta cheese (the latter three protected in aluminium foil) may be grilled.

Kebab with spiced ground meat

Married, a dish with potatoes, flour dumplings, bacon and a cream sauce

Small spelt flour rolls sprinkled with salt and caraway seeds