Make Baltimore’s Iconic Fudge-Topped Cookies With This Actual-Deal Recipe From a Meals Historian

When Henry Berger moved from Germany to Baltimore within the mid-1800s and opened a humble bakery in a metropolis already teeming with German bakeries, breweries, and butcher retailers, he in all probability could not have dreamed that over 150 years later his legacy would stay on by the Berger cookie—a cakey, frivolously candy vanilla cookie base with a thick layer of fudgy chocolate frosting perched on prime. Though Berger’s bakery was bought and have become DeBaufre Bakeries in 1969, the Berger cookie remains to be bought on the bakery and has a passionate regional following. Copycat “Baltimore-Fashion” or “Berger-Fashion” cookies will also be discovered at bakeries and supermarkets all through Baltimore, however for a lot of, solely an actual Berger cookie from DeBaufre Bakeries will do. 

In Baltimore, Berger cookies have reached such iconic standing that they’re not an finish in themselves. They now make their manner into different native meals merchandise, such because the Charmery’s Berger Cookies & Cream ice cream and the Baltimore Bomb pie at Dangerously Scrumptious. Like several good hyper-local specialty, Berger cookies elicit some robust opinions. “Berger cookies make me consider my journeys to Lexington Market as a child,” Angel Llewellyn, a lifelong Baltimorean, recollects fondly. “They used to have a complete stall stuffed with cookies and truffles. I can nonetheless bear in mind the trays stuffed with treats, stay bands taking part in, and the glow from the entire indicators.”

Whereas Berger cookies have many ardent followers like Llewellyn, there are some haters among the many locals: When Berger Cookies come up in dialog or in Baltimore-centric Fb teams, there are at all times just a few folks chiming in that they’re “too candy” or “too wealthy.” However for these of us who love the cookies, the sweetness is all a part of the attraction. And whereas there are different bakery and grocery store replicas on the market, nothing else hits fairly the proper notes of a real Berger cookie. I dove into the Berger cookie’s historical past and baked up batch after batch to develop my foolproof copycat recipe under for many who need to recreate the unique of their residence kitchens. Learn on for recommendations on perfecting the sunshine, cakey cookie and dense, candy fudge topping and to get the complete recipe.

Historical past of the Berger Cookie

Baltimore’s historical past of German immigration is woven all through town’s culinary panorama, from the ever-present shakers of Previous Bay (which originated in Baltimore and was created by German immigrant Gustav Brunn) to the sauerkraut served with Thanksgiving turkey. Germans have had a lingering affect on the native candy tooth as effectively.

“Berger was amongst many German names within the baking enterprise,” says Claire Mullins, former advertising and marketing director for the Baltimore Museum of Business. The museum has an exhibit centering on bakeries, together with Berger. She feels that “nothing says Baltimore fairly just like the fudge icing–topped Berger cookie.”

Mullins factors out that Baltimore was a significant level of entry for immigrants from Europe, who introduced with them the recipes for breads and pastries from throughout Europe. “When baked right here [these breads and pastries] supplied a style of residence, and small family-owned bakeries helped to form the tradition of Baltimore and its numerous neighborhoods.” 

Francis Beirne devoted a whole chapter of his 400-page 1950 cultural reflection The Amiable Baltimoreans to the phenomenon. “From the times when individuals of German blood first discovered their option to Baltimore they started to play an necessary half in offering food and drinks to the general public, and so they proceed to predominate within the discipline,” Beirne wrote. An 1884 metropolis listing lists 4 Bergers who had been bakers.

Visually, Berger cookies bear a resemblance to an virtually fully forgotten pastry referred to as Kossuth truffles, a type of chocolate-covered cream puff. Kossuth truffles had been a preferred specialty in Baltimore bakeries after the Hungarian Revolutionary Lajos Kossuth visited town in 1851. Tales range on whether or not the truffles had been merely named in Kossuth’s honor or impressed straight by his description of an analogous pastry. It’s attainable that Berger’s bakery tailored Kossuth truffles for longevity and mass manufacturing, ditching the cream filling within the course of.

Many individuals evaluate Berger cookies to chocolate tops or black and white cookies. All three cookies have a candy, comfortable, cake-like cookie base, however the texture of the Berger cookie topping is extra like a stiff and crystalline fudge than the pourable fondant icing on these different two cookies—and Baltimore has a protracted historical past of fudge. Many Nineteenth-century recipes for fudge go beneath the title “Baltimore Caramels.” By the early 1900s, recipes appeared in regional newspapers for “Baltimore Fudge.”

Ideas for Creating the Excellent Cakey Berger Cookie Base

The cookie a part of a Berger cookie is someplace between cake and a cookie. Listed here are just a few key tricks to getting it excellent.

Skip the yolks. The softer, cake-like texture of Berger cookies had me tempted to depart within the enriching fattiness of an egg yolk, however I discovered in my testing that omitting the yellow yolks creates a satisfyingly white cookie to distinction the darkish fudge. And I used to be nonetheless in a position to obtain the specified comfortable texture even when simply utilizing egg whites. 

Begin with softened butter. A significant factor that may push the cookies too far into the cake zone is utilizing butter that’s too chilly, which causes the dough to tackle an excessive amount of air, rise too excessive, and stay overly comfortable. So be certain that to make use of softened butter that lotions simply within the batter.

Go for evaporated milk. Whereas many cookbook and on-line recipes for Berger-style cookies name for milk and cream, I discovered that the concentrated taste of evaporated milk enhanced each the cookie and the fudge. The nutty caramel notes of evaporated milk pack in taste with out including an excessive amount of moisture or fats. (Evaporated milk additionally makes an look in Maryland’s state dessert, Smith Island Cake, the place it equally enhances each fudge and cake. Its bonus shelf-stability lends itself to island dwelling.)

Be beneficiant with the vanilla. After I separated a Berger cookie from the grocery retailer for inspection, and tasted the cookie alone, with out its fudge topping, I used to be stunned on the vanilla-forward taste of the cookie itself. To imitate this, I embody two teaspoons of vanilla extract in my recipe. For a taste that’s nearer to the actual factor, it’s possible you’ll even go for synthetic vanilla as an alternative of pure vanilla extract.

Perfecting the Berger Cookie’s Fudge Topping

Getting the chocolate topping proper for Berger cookies could be probably the most difficult a part of the recipe. The cookies ought to be coated in a dense fudge layer that’s easy sufficient to unfold simply over every cookie with out tearing the cookie base, however thick sufficient to carry its form. Most significantly, this topping ought to be piled excessive—not less than a strong half-inch thick on prime of every cookie, with a little bit of a crystalline texture (that is really a welcome high quality right here!). In a 2022 article, an worker at Rheb’s, a historic Baltimore chocolatier, referenced an previous fudge recipe of their assortment. “It’s a hard-grained fudge, not just like the creamy fudge we make,” he stated. Previous Baltimore fudge recipes concerned quite a lot of the very factor that we now keep away from—stirring. The satisfying chew atop a Berger cookie could effectively be all ears to this older formulation. Whenever you take a chew right into a Berger cookie, your tooth marks ought to be clearly outlined in that fudge. 

However making fudge at residence could be a little bit of a frightening process. It requires temperature management and actual visible cues so you find yourself with the right fudgy texture somewhat than a hardened sugary mess. I’ve seen copycat Berger cookie recipes that keep away from the problem of creating fudge totally, and as an alternative name for fast no-cook icings that depend on melted chocolate and powdered sugar. Whereas I perceive the justification for attempting to take the shortcut—working with actual fudge will be intimidating—these outcomes constantly fall quick, and simply don’t have the satisfyingly fudgy consistency of an actual Berger cookie proper from the field, which is what I needed. Taking the time to make a thick, dense fudge topping is one of the simplest ways to supply a real Baltimore Berger-style cookie.

The excellent news is that I’ve developed a fudge recipe that’s approachable at residence. Persistence, an excellent sweet thermometer, and slightly confidence are all it is advisable create a fudge topping that may impress a Baltimore native. The important thing to creating this fudge topping at house is to warmth the sugar slowly and evenly, and maintain your eye on the thermometer. The temperature for the sugar combination ought to rise to someplace between 235 to 240℉, however it wants to succeed in this temperature slowly, over the course of a strong 15 to twenty minutes. Don’t rush the method, in any other case the sugar is not going to dissolve correctly, and also you’ll be left with a hardened mess. If you happen to discover the temperature rising too shortly, decrease the warmth.

For many home made fudge, the aim is to maintain the sugar crystals as small as attainable, which normally entails ready for it to chill to 120° earlier than stirring something into the combination. However I discovered that I might toss this common fudge knowledge apart and stir in my chocolate when the sugar had cooled to round 210°F. This created a fudge that retained a little bit of the crystalline chew that is an indicator of the Berger fudge topping.

The fudge cooks greatest in a skinny chrome steel pan that doesn’t retain an excessive amount of warmth. As a lot as I really like my enameled forged iron, in my assessments it was tougher to cease the warmth from rising too excessive as soon as I reached the required temperature within the forged iron, and far simpler in chrome steel. Including a remaining sprint of Dutch-processed cocoa to the fudge enhances the chocolate taste and ensures the fudge has a pleasant darkish colour like the actual Berger cookie topping. Make sure you use Dutch-processed cocoa powder somewhat than pure cocoa powder for a darker colour and extra mellow chocolate taste.

Assembling the Cookies

As soon as the fudge is made, it’s a little bit of a mad sprint to ice the cookies. I purchase myself a while by turning the warmth on very low to maintain the fudge softened whereas assembling the cookies. If it begins to stiffen, I like to recommend stirring in an occasional splash of water to maintain it shiny and comfortable sufficient to unfold onto the cookies. In my assessments, I discovered that spooning the topping onto my cookies allowed me to dole out these famously beneficiant heaps with much less mess and waste than once I tried to dunk the cookies straight into the fudge.

My predominant departure from the traditional Berger cookie is the dimensions. I went a bit smaller than the actual factor, as a result of these cookies went shortly, and other people needed extra. If you happen to favor a much bigger cookie, the recipe will nonetheless work in the identical timeframe so long as the batter is unfold out to a fair thickness. 

For these outdoors the area, DeBaufre Bakery will ship their cookies of their common packaging or ornamental tins. For individuals who cannot wait or preferring a private contact, this home made model thrilled my Baltimore-native tasters and had them sharing nostalgic reminiscences. I feel they are a tempting sufficient deal with to persuade even the Berger naysayers.

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