“Liebe geht durch den magen.”

Held Saturdays at 10:00am

Starts March 5th, 2022

About:

Looking to indulge yourself in some German cuisine? Want to boost your overall pastry knowledge with a variety of foreign dishes? If so, consider our German Pastry Series. Held over six weeks, students will learn new topical pastries and desserts straight from Deutschland. Each class will focus on an initial classroom portion before everyone heads into the kitchen to try their hands at what they’ve just learned. This series is open to all skill levels.

Chef and Instructor:

Chef – Steven Wagenbach:

After graduating high school in 1978, Chef Steven Wagenbach pursued a career in the culinary field. He accepted an apprenticeship through Triton College in Chicago for three years. The program had rigorous classroom and restaurant experiences to complete his training.

Chef Wagenbach worked in the most prestigious restaurants Chicago had to offer. He worked as a saucier chef for two years at Sinclair’s restaurant, which ranked as a five star establishment located in Lake Forest. Then he decided to work as an assistant pastry chef at the Marriott Lincolnshire resort. Chef Wagenbach had a remarkable mentor who taught him to pull sugar and make elaborate desserts for four years. Finally, the Hyatt Gainey Ranch Scottsdale resort hired him as an assistant pastry chef in 1986. He designed and created wedding cakes, pulled sugar, chocolate truffles, and other delicacies.

Steven Wagenbach had the desire to become a classroom teacher. He received a degree in elementary school training and taught third and fourth grades respectively from 1996 to 2018. Steven worked in the Madison and Paradise Valley Unified School Districts over his career.

Now having settled in Arizona, Chef Wagenbach has a reignited passion to create dishes in the kitchen. 

Curriculum:

Week 1 – Cookies

  • Linzer Cookies
    • Linzer tarts are a sandwich cookie version, topped with a layer of dough with a characteristic circle shaped cut-out exposing the fruit preserves, and dusted with confectioner's sugar.
  • Vannillekipferl
    • Vanillekipferl are crescent-shaped cookies baked traditionally at Christmas time. They are shaped by hand. Once baked and still warm, they are coated in powdered sugar and/or vanilla sugar.
  • Coconut Marzipan Macaroons 
    • Macaroons (Makronen) are a loved and classic Christmas cookie in Germany. Not only are they delicious, moist, and chewy, but they are also so easy and quick to make. They’re also economical. Making a quick batch of macaroons is a great way to use up the left-over egg whites. Traditionally, makronen cookies are baked on wafers (Oblaten).

Week 2 – Breads I

  • Pretzels
    • The ideal pretzel, as served in Germany, has a dark brown, crispy, salty crust, and inside a soft dough. It has a plump “body” and thin, crispy (but not dry) crossed “arms.”
  • Hefekranz (Hefezopf, Striezel, Yeast Braid)
    • A sweet yeast dough which is divided into 3 or more equal strands, then braided. The ends of the braids are brought together to form a wreath. Hefekranz breads are popular in Germany for Easter breakfast or brunch.

Week 3 – Breads II

  • Date & Almond Stollen
    • A delicious blend of nuts and dates used as a filling. The stollen is popular for brunches or a casual Sunday afternoon with coffee.
  • Buchten
    • Buchteln or Wuchteln – you will hear both expressions in Germany – are a relatively unknown treasure. They are pull-apart style yeasted sweet rolls, filled with apricot jam.

Week 4 – Tortes

  • Sachertorte
    • The Sacher Torte is one of the most well-known specialties of Vienna, Austria. It is a chocolate cake made with a layer of apricot marmalade and chocolate frosting (ganache).
  • Linzertorte
    • The Linzer Torte is a cake with a short dough (a dough that is rolled out) that has a high content of nuts. It is filled with a marmalade (usually raspberry or red current) then topped with a criss-cross design made with dough strips.

Week 5 – Cakes I

  • Bienenstich
    • This is a traditional Blechkuchen made from a yeast dough and topped with a butter-sugar-almond mixture. During baking, this topping caramelizes, giving the cake a shiny appearance. After baking, the cake is often also filled with a vanilla cream.
  • Kasekuchen
    • Käsekuchen is a cheesecake made with Quark or other fresh, unripened cheese. It is not typically made with cream cheese as the American version of the cheesecake is.

Week 6 – Cakes II

  • Apfelkuchen
    • The Apfel-Streuselkuchen is a yeast dough, topped with apples, then topped with sweet, buttery crumbs.
  • Black Forest
    • The Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake) is perhaps the best known specialty from the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) region. This is a cake with multiple (usually 4) layers of chocolate sponge cake, cherries,and whipped cream. It is frosted with whipped cream and covered with chocolate shavings and a few cherries for decoration. Kirschwasser (cherry schnapps) is used to flavor the whipped cream. The bottom layers of sponge cake are also brushed with Kirschwasser (cherry schnaps) to provide moisture and a little extra flavor.

Cost:

The German Pastry Series is $520.00 for all six weeks of classes. Students may not sign up for individual classes. No chef jacket fee is added for this program.

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