A German Biscuit name.

[The Old Foodie]

I have yet another query relating to a name on a historic menu ("Bovin and Potatoes" from the Titanic menu still escapes me).

In Lesley Blanch's "From Wilder Shores" she gives a menu from Mad King Ludwig II. The final dish is translated as " 'Troubled Thoughts' (A sugar-iced biscuit)"

Can any one tell me the name of this biscuit in German?

Janet

edited to try to link to the Titanic Potatoes thread, but the link wont link!

Edited October 6, 2007 by The Old Foodie (log)

[Cadbury]

Here's a link to the Titanic potatoes thread. I can't help you with the biscuit name though, sounds interesting.

[andiesenji]

Please define "biscuit" - Bavarian sweets of the era included Lebkuchen, which might be termed a shortbread type and which was and is commonly sugar-iced.

Kaiserschaum are yeast "dumplings" sprinkled with sugar and often served in a bowl of milk.

As Ludwig had severe problems with his teeth, many of the dishes served to him were done this way.

The following is from epinions: epinions Bavarian

Popular in Prussia, Austria, Bavaria (or Germany) are the types of Pfannkuchen or doughnuts:

Also called "Berliners"

and also called "Bismarks" as they were a favorite of Otto von-

Here is a authentic recipe for Pfannkuchen.

I lived in a mostly German community in Wisconsin in the '50s, many of the older people still spoke German, at least at home, and in my mom's bakery we made these and always dusted with powdered sugar, just on the top.

Edited October 8, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[The Old Foodie]

Thanks andiesenji. I am particularly interested in a biscuit whose name might translate as "Troubled Thoughts". I guess it is more of a German language question than a culinary one.

The author of the book is English, so presumably she was thinking of the English "Biscuit" (American "Cookie"). A "sugar iced biscuit" to me would indicate something like a shortbread or other crisp sweet "cookie" - but this may not be a German reality.

I do love the story of 'Kings Chaos"!

[andiesenji]

Then it is probably Lebkuchen which has numerous names, depending on the city, the region and even the baker's guild that made it.

There is a book about Lebkuchen, only available in German, with photos of the thousands of designs, molds, forms and stamps which were used to form and decorate these "cakes."

The brief Wikipedia article notes that it was a cure for winter depression, possibly this is the origin of the "troubled thoughts" nomenclature.

lebkuchen

Edited October 8, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[The Old Foodie]

Then it is probably Lebkuchen which has numerous names, depending on the city, the region and even the baker's guild that made it. 

There is a book about Lebkuchen, only available in German, with photos of the thousands of designs, molds, forms and stamps which were used to form and decorate these "cakes."

The brief Wikipedia article notes that it was a cure for winter depression, possibly this is the origin of the "troubled thoughts" nomenclature.

lebkuchen

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thanks andiesenji - this sounds like it is on the right track. Not speaking German, I might have a problem with this, but I'll let you know if I come up with something.

[heidih]

Dialect is such a factor. No idea where your mad king came from, but you may want to try the website of an association in that area. I recently learned that there is almost always an "association" (as in organized society) for every strange thing one wants to learn about. Good luck.

[Jensen]

Then it is probably Lebkuchen which has numerous names, depending on the city, the region and even the baker's guild that made it. 

There is a book about Lebkuchen, only available in German, with photos of the thousands of designs, molds, forms and stamps which were used to form and decorate these "cakes."

The brief Wikipedia article notes that it was a cure for winter depression, possibly this is the origin of the "troubled thoughts" nomenclature.

lebkuchen

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thanks andiesenji - this sounds like it is on the right track. Not speaking German, I might have a problem with this, but I'll let you know if I come up with something.

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I have passable German for reading and, if all else fails, I have German friends (either from Bavaria/Franconia or the Cologne area). Let me know if you need anything in that regard.

In the meantime, I've sent a note to my Bavarian friends to see if they know anything of this "troubled thoughts" cookie.

cheers,

jen

[The Old Foodie]

Thanks jen, that is good of you. I hope the "troubled thoughts" is not just creative translating in the original book. Seems a strange name for a cookie/biscuit/cake, doesnt it?

[Jensen]

Thanks jen, that is good of you. I hope the "troubled thoughts" is not just creative translating in the original book. Seems a strange name for a cookie/biscuit/cake, doesnt it?

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It does and it doesn't. On the one hand, it's a lot tamer than spotted dick or some other English nursery food.

On the other hand, I can see that it could be a mistranslation or even some sort of dialect difference, as Heidih said.

Just while writing this I did remember that I have another friend in the Frankfurt area that really likes to cook. I don't know how she is about historical foods but maybe it'd be worth contacting her as well.

[andiesenji]

Dialect is such a factor. No idea where your mad king came from, but you may want to try the website of an association in that area. I recently learned that there is almost always an "association" (as in organized society)  for every strange thing one wants to learn about. Good luck.

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He was Bavarian and ordered the construction of the most famous and most picturesque of the Bavarian castles, pictured here.

He was a handsome young man who developed into an excessively corpulant man, secretive and obsessed with foods. He had a chamber, with a table that could be lowered into the kitchen and then raised into his chamber so his servants could not see him while he was eating.

He just about bankrupted his country with building fantastic castles.

book, Mad King Ludwig

P.S. My great-grandmother, born in 1844 and died in 1949, (almost 105) when I was ten, lived in England but travelled a great deal in Europe (and other places) and she kept journals, most of which are in the custody of two of my aunts. She wrote a great deal about foods, recipes she collected on her travels, and I have reconstructed some of the dishes she mentioned, with the help of my aunts.

We have delved mostly into her trips to France, Italy, Spain and the middle east but I will see if my aunt can locate the journals that describe her trips to Bavaria and especially to Württemberg, to buy horses as my g-gma was an avid horse fancier, as well as a lover of foods and collector of ethnic recipes.

Edited October 8, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[racheld]

Thanks jen, that is good of you. I hope the "troubled thoughts" is not just creative translating in the original book. Seems a strange name for a cookie/biscuit/cake, doesnt it?

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I've been wandering for a long time amongst translations, recipes, and all sorts of arcanities about Lebkuchen. If they are the Nurnberg Lebkuchen, there's a recipe for "Punch Icing," made with wine and powdered sugar---THAT should cure any unhappy thoughts.