Let146;s go Deutsch

If German pastries mean a velvety Black Forest cake or sweet apple peeping out of thin layers of strudel, then be prepared to reconfigure your fantasies. At the German Bakeshop on one end of the Kishangarh Road in Vasant Kunj, cakes, cookies and pastries seem to be on a low-sugar diet, but Karl-Heinz Vogel assures in halting English that everything on his shelf is truly German.

At the bakery, part of the ITA Group, a Germany-based marketing company, the deacute;cor is hardly cheery save for an artificial Christmas tree and a poster of crusty buns. But if food is what you are looking for, then the wicker baskets are stacked with breads. If you don8217;t want white bread, try walnut bread Rs 200 for a loaf with a chewy crust or golden-brown potato bread Rs 150, soft, fluffy and mashed with potatoes, or the rye bread sauerteig Rs 150 that never fails to bring a whiff of haus to Germans. Even the baguette, the classic French loaf, puts in an appearance. Don8217;t go by its dark, seemingly tasteless looks. At Rs 80, it is crunchy on the outside and delectably velvety inside.

Those with a sweet tooth needn8217;t worry; the stollens and strudels are there. Layered with caramelised raisins, currants and almond flakes and generously topped with butter, the traditional cake stollen is not too sugary but soft and expensive at Rs 1,000 for

1.2 kg. You can also pick up butter cookies Rs 100 for 250 g, while a 25-cm-long apple strudel comes for Rs 300. The bakery will also make Black Forest cake and fruit cakes on order.

Except for the buns, which come at Rs 20 apiece, the bakes are pretty expensive as bread and pastry mixes are sourced from a German company. That has not stopped the nostalgic expatriates at the Swiss Chamber of Commerce, German School, British High Commission, German Embassy and Microsoft from asking for more.

But if nothing works for you, maybe you can pick up one of the fancy cigars kept in a quaint cabinet. Or you can wait till February when the German Centre opens at DLF City, Gurgaon, and a bistro will lay out sausages, potato salad and the German ravioli maultasche.

Contact 26124421 or log on to german-bakeshop.com