Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [390]
What makes your Black Forest cake unique? The original recipe, which I follow religiously. I bake just a couple of Black Forest cakes fresh every morning, as they’re best eaten the same day. I do everything myself, from making the short pastry and chocolate sponge to adding finishing touches like chocolate shavings. Black Forest cake is like a woman – when it looks good, it gives you an appetite!
Any top tips for recreating the cake at home? The bottom layer of sponge should be twice as thick as the other two, so it can support the compote [morello cherries, cherry juice and wheat powder] without collapsing. Buy top-quality Kirschwasser [cherry schnapps] with at least 45% alcohol, then add two shot glasses to the cream (not the sponge), so the alcohol isn’t overpowering. Whip the cream lightly until smooth and silky. Finally, never freeze the cake or you’ll lose the aroma.
Favourite places to work off the cake? Within minutes I can be up in hills, woods and beautiful untouched valleys around Triberg. The Kaiserstühl is glorious in spring when the cherry trees are in full bloom.
Which other Black Forest specialities are worth trying? The fresh trout, smoked ham and Kirchwasser sold by local farmers. Their quality is higher and prices lower than in the supermarkets.
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A glockenspiel bashes out melodies and a cuckoo greets his fans with a hopelessly croaky squawk on the hour at the House of 1000 Clocks ( 963 00; Hauptstrasse 81; 10am-5pm). Inside, the clocks range from classic to funky; the latest quartz models feature a sensor that sends the cuckoo to sleep after dark. Ah…peace at last!
SLEEPING & EATING
DJH hostel ( 4110; www.jugendherberge-triberg.de; Rohrbacher Strasse 35; dm 1st/subsequent night €19.10/15.90) A great base for hikers, this neat-and-tidy hostel sits on a scenic ridge above Triberg, 1.2km uphill from Marktplatz.
Kuckucksnest ( 869 487; Wallfahrtstrasse 15; d €50-56) Escapists flock to this quiet ‘cuckoo nest’ built by master woodcarver Gerald Burger (his shop is downstairs). The snug, pale-wood rooms have flat-screen TVs. The Wurzelsepp fir-tree root sculptures by the entrance supposedly ward off evil spirits.
Parkhotel Wehrle ( 860 20; www.parkhotel-wehrle.de; Gartenstrasse 24; d €129-149; ) A drop of style in Triberg’s ocean of kitsch, this 400-year-old pile won Hemingway’s approval. Rooms fuse Biedermeier or country-cottage romance with contemporary flourishes like sexy transparent showers. The spa is quite something, with a starlit ice chamber, a kidney-shaped pool playing underwater music, and treatments from rhassoul clay wraps to oxygen therapy. Several fine restaurants include the hand-carved Ochsenstube (mains €19 to €22) serving imaginative local cuisine: think hay-stuffed trout on fennel-tomato vegetables.
Café Schäfer ( 4465; www.cafe-schaefer-triberg.de; Hauptstrasse 33; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 11am-6pm Sun, closed Wed) Other Black Forest cakes pale in comparison to Claus Schäfer’s masterpiece: layers of moist sponge, fresh cream and sour cherries, with the merest suggestion of Kirsch (cherry liqueur). So light you can eat another slice (well it would be rude not to), the Kirschtorte at this old-world cafe is baked according to the original recipe.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
The Schwarzwaldbahn railway line loops southeast to Konstanz (€21.50, 1½ hours, hourly), and northwest to Offenburg (€10.30, 40 minutes, hourly).
Bus 7150 travels north through the Gutach and Kinzig valleys to Offenburg; bus 7265 heads south to Villingen via St Georgen. Local buses operate between the Bahnhof and Marktplatz, and to the nearby town of Schonach (hourly).
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Around Triberg
STÖCKLEWALDTURM
Triberg’s waterfall is the trailhead for an attractive 6.5km walk to Stöcklewaldturm (1070m). A steady trudge through spruce forest and pastures brings you to this 19th-century lookout tower (admission €0.50), where the 360-degree