Why It Works
- Utilizing cake flour within the cookies produces the perfect tender, cakey cookie.
- Including Dutch course of cocoa powder to the fudge frosting provides the topping its signature darkish look and an extra-deep chocolate taste.
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 outlets, he most likely could not have dreamed that over 150 years later his legacy would dwell on by way of the Berger cookie—a cakey, flippantly candy vanilla cookie base with a thick layer of fudgy chocolate frosting perched on prime. Though Berger’s bakery was offered and have become DeBaufre Bakeries in 1969, the Berger cookie continues to be offered on the bakery and has a passionate regional following. Copycat “Baltimore-Type” or “Berger-Type” cookies may 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 now not an finish in themselves. They now make their method 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 sturdy 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 keep in mind the trays stuffed with treats, dwell bands enjoying, and the glow from all the 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 all the time just a few individuals 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 enchantment. And whereas there are different bakery and grocery store replicas on the market, nothing else hits fairly the correct 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 beneath for individuals who wish to recreate the unique of their dwelling kitchens. Learn on for tips about perfecting the sunshine, cakey cookie and dense, candy fudge topping and to get the total recipe.
Historical past of the Berger Cookie
Baltimore’s historical past of German immigration is woven all through the town’s culinary panorama, from the ever-present shakers of Outdated 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 properly.
“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 dwelling, and small family-owned bakeries helped to form the tradition of Baltimore and its numerous neighborhoods.”
Francis Beirne devoted a complete 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 strategy to Baltimore they started to play an essential half in offering food and drinks to the general public, and so they proceed to predominate within the subject,” Beirne wrote. An 1884 metropolis listing lists 4 Bergers who have been bakers.
Visually, Berger cookies bear a resemblance to an virtually utterly forgotten pastry often known as Kossuth truffles, a kind of chocolate-covered cream puff. Kossuth truffles have been a well-liked specialty in Baltimore bakeries after the Hungarian Revolutionary Lajos Kossuth visited the town in 1851. Tales fluctuate on whether or not the truffles have been merely named in Kossuth’s honor or impressed immediately by his description of the same 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, gentle, 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 an extended historical past of fudge. Many Nineteenth-century recipes for fudge go beneath the identify “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 good.
Skip the yolks. The softer, cake-like texture of Berger cookies had me tempted to go away 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 gentle texture even when simply utilizing egg whites.
Begin with softened butter. A significant component 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 gentle. 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. Once 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 embrace two teaspoons of vanilla extract in my recipe. For a taste that’s nearer to the true factor, you could 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 may be essentially the most difficult a part of the recipe. The cookies ought to be coated in a dense fudge layer that’s clean 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—at the very least a stable 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 mentioned. Outdated Baltimore fudge recipes concerned loads of the very factor that we now keep away from—stirring. The satisfying chew atop a Berger cookie could properly be all ears to this older formulation. Once you take a chunk right into a Berger cookie, your tooth marks ought to be clearly outlined in that fudge.
However making fudge at dwelling is usually a little bit of a frightening process. It requires temperature management and precise visible cues so you find yourself with the right fudgy texture reasonably than a hardened sugary mess. I’ve seen copycat Berger cookie recipes that keep away from the problem of constructing 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 may 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 wished. Taking the time to make a thick, dense fudge topping is the easiest way to supply a real Baltimore Berger-style cookie.
The excellent news is that I’ve developed a fudge recipe that’s approachable at dwelling. Persistence, a superb sweet thermometer, and just a little confidence are all you want to 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 preserve your eye on the thermometer. The temperature for the sugar combination ought to rise to someplace between 235 to 240℉, however it wants to achieve this temperature slowly, over the course of a stable 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. When you discover the temperature rising too rapidly, decrease the warmth.
For many do-it-yourself fudge, the purpose 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 may 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 finest 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 checks it was more durable to cease the warmth from rising too excessive as soon as I reached the mandatory 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 true Berger cookie topping. Make sure to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder reasonably 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 gentle sufficient to unfold onto the cookies. In my checks, 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 after I tried to dunk the cookies immediately into the fudge.
My principal departure from the traditional Berger cookie is the dimensions. I went a bit smaller than the true factor, as a result of these cookies went rapidly, and folks wished extra. When you want a much bigger cookie, the recipe will nonetheless work in the identical timeframe so long as the batter is unfold out to a good thickness.
For these exterior the area, DeBaufre Bakery will ship their cookies of their common packaging or ornamental tins. For many who cannot wait or preferring a private contact, this do-it-yourself model thrilled my Baltimore-native tasters and had them sharing nostalgic recollections. I believe they are a tempting sufficient deal with to persuade even the Berger naysayers.
Make Baltimore’s Iconic Fudge-Topped Cookies With This Actual-Deal Recipe From a Meals Historian
Prepare dinner Mode
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For the Cookies:
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226g bleached cake flour reminiscent of Swans Down ( 8 ounces; about 2 cups)
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon (2g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity or the identical weight
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113g unsalted butter (4 ounces; 8 tablespoons), room temperature
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135g sugar (4 3/4 ounces; 2/3 cup)
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1 giant egg white
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2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
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1/4 cup (120ml) evaporated milk
For the Fudge Topping:
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400g sugar (14 ounces; 2 cups)
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1/4 cup (60ml) evaporated milk
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28g unsalted butter (1 ounce; 2 tablespoons), softened
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2 tablespoons (30ml) corn syrup
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284g (10 ounces) semi-sweet (about 60%) chocolate, finely chopped
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28gDutch processed cocoa powder (1 ounce; 1/4 cup), sifted
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2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
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1/2 teaspoon (2g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use half as a lot by quantity or use the identical weight
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For the Cookies: Modify oven rack to center place and preheat oven to 325°F (160℃). In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt till properly mixed; put aside.
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Within the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium velocity till completely combined, lightened in colour, and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl and paddle as wanted, about 5 minutes. Add egg white and vanilla and blend till totally included. Cut back mixer velocity to low, and with mixer working, add half of the flour combination, and blend till included, then return to medium velocity. With mixer nonetheless working, slowly pour in evaporated milk. Once more, cut back mixer velocity to low and add the remaining flour combination, then return to medium velocity and blend till simply mixed and a thick batter is fashioned.
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Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, then scoop out 1 rounded tablespoon parts of batter, swirling to flatten into 2-inch discs, spaced about 1 1/2 inches aside (12 cookies per sheet tray). Utilizing moist fingers, gently press to clean. (You wish to keep away from a tail, because the tops will turn into the bottoms as soon as baked.)
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Bake one sheet tray at a time till mild brown on edges, 10 to fifteen minutes. Let sit on baking sheets till utterly cool, about half-hour. As soon as cooled, flip cookies flat aspect up on baking sheets, making certain house between them for fudge to overflow.
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For the Fudge Topping: In a medium saucepan (ideally nonstick), mix sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and corn syrup and prepare dinner over low warmth, stirring steadily, till butter and sugar are melted and elements mix, about 8 minutes. Enhance warmth to medium and prepare dinner till combination begins to bubble, monitoring temperature with a sweet thermometer. Watch to make sure the temperature rises slowly and that the combination heats evenly, with out stirring, for about 15 to twenty minutes. When temperature reaches simply between 235℉ (113℃) to 240℉ (115℃), flip off warmth.
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Enable to chill to 210°F (100℃), then add chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. Stir till thick and shiny, including very small quantities, ½ teaspoon water at a time, if wanted, to maintain the fudge shiny and pourable. It ought to have the consistency of cake batter and drop to about 115℉ (46℃).
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Working with 1 cookie at a time, spoon 1 tablespoon fudge onto every cookie, and unfold over your entire floor of the cookie. It is OK if it spills over the aspect a bit. (If fudge begins to harden whereas topping cookies, warmth saucepan on very low and stir to melt and guarantee a thick however pourable texture. You could want so as to add very small drizzles of water (about 1/2 teaspoon at a time) to maintain fudge shiny and spreadable. Let fudge topping cool to room temperature and consistency of thick ganache, at the very least half-hour or let agency as much as fudge-like consistency in a single day. Serve.
Particular Tools
Stand mixer with paddle attachment, sweet thermometer, medium saucepan
Make-Forward and Storage
Retailer in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as 5 days or freeze for as much as six months.