As you might have noticed we have a weakness for cake – especially if it is as rich and tasty as the cakes of Cynthia Barcomi. And I know a lot of people will agree on that. She has been baking cakes for her roastery Barcomi’s since 1994, and all those coffee lovers and cake addicts of Kreuzberg have helped to make it a great success.
Now, over two decades later, she not only runs a roastery in Kreuzberg but also a deli in the heart of Mitte. A few years ago her cakes even helped her to become popular outside of Berlin when she released her first and very own baking book in which she shares some of her special Barcomi’s recipes. Recently she also came out with her own line of baking forms. We met the American in Berlin for a piece of carrot cake and a chat about Berlin, books and baking goods.
Why Berlin?
I moved to Berlin in 1985 after receiving my diploma. I was 21 years old and
wanted to explore the world. I did not want to live the life of a starving
dancer in NYC. I had considered other European cities: Parisians are too
anti-american, Romans a bit too lax….I suppose at the time it was a
process of elimination.
What is your favourite place in Berlin and why?
I love shopping in the Mulackstrasse but most of all, I love being at home
with my husband and my 4 children. I work very hard and feel like I can’t
spend enough time with them!
Would you like to live in another city?
I am so embedded in Berlin it is hard for me to imagine living any where
else.
What is your personal favorite baking recipe?
Oh, there are so many! If I have to choose, well then… chocolate chip
cookies. I ‘ve been baking them since I was a small child. They are like a
peace pipe, bandaid and aphrodisiac all wrapped into one.
Whose idea was it to write a book about baking and how did it all come
together?
I had been thinking about writing a book for quite some time. It was Ulf
Meyer zu Küingdorf who finally approached me and really got it off the
ground. I was fortunate to have Random House as a publisher and they were
very supportive of the whole process. The photographers – Maja Smend for
the food & Paul Schirnhofer for people were fantastic to work with. I was
pregnant with my 4th child at the time of writing the book. It was so much
work I couldn’t believe it. But it was a GREAT experience. I just feel
very lucky that everything went so well. The book turned out exactly the
way I imagined it to be, even better! Being able to work with such great
people – for props (Maria Grossmann) and food styling (Christiane Wenzel)
really brought out the best of each pastry. I hope my next books turn out
as well as the first one.
Do you like German baking goods from bakeries like Kamps?
I do not eat industrial produced baked goods, especially from places like
Kamps. They have nothing to do with REAL german baked goods. I don’t go
near it.
Can we expect a TV show about baking with you any time soon?
I am working on many different projects right now…who knows what the
future has in store… I was just baking a cheesecake on TV for WDR in
Düsseldorf last week!
Any big plans in the near future?
I am currently working on my 2nd book about celebration foods. I have no
interest in opening more stores and I would never want Barcomi’s to turn
into a chain! No corporate take-overs here. Everything we make is done
from hand and I never want Barcomi’s to lose that credo or our high quality.
If you don’t have quality, you have nothing.
Besides baking goods Cynthia’s second specialty is delicious home roasted coffee from all parts of the world that you can not only get in her stores in Kreuzberg and Mitte, but also online in her Barcomi’s webshop.
You can order her books and baking tools also in her stores and webshop or here.
Barcomi’s Kaffeerösterei
Bergmannstr. 21
10961 Berlin
Barcomi’s Deli
Sophienstr. 21
10178 Berlin
