# German bakers... help me out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352 "2015-12-25T22:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/1 "2015-12-25T22:33:29Z")
My wife’s family is very German, but by now a few generations removed. The holiday season brings out the bakers in the family. Everyone seems to have taken one recipe that has been handed down. My daughter seems to be the only one who can make frozen wreath which is a stollen. My wife makes the schaum torte, and my sister in law makes the “moss” torte. The problem is I don’t think “moss torte” is the correct term. It is a light and fluffy spice cake with a spice icing and it is very good. There is no actual moss in the recipe as far as I can tell. All of the relatives who could have probably clarified are long past, but it would be nice to know what it is really called. I tried Mause Torte and just got pictures of cakes that looked like Mickey. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/2 "2015-12-25T22:44:26Z")
Wrong forum… I’ve requested a move. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/3 "2015-12-25T22:50:09Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Wrong forum… I’ve requested a move. There you go, Merry Christmas! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/4 "2015-12-25T23:01:27Z")
How light and fluffy? Could it be corrupted from Mousse torte? ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/5 "2015-12-25T23:15:02Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > How light and fluffy? Could it be corrupted from Mousse torte? I considered that but it doesn’t resemble any kind of Mousse that I’m familiar with. I actually just got the recipe, and it contains a bunch of egg yolks, a bunch of egg whites, sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves. The frosting is sugar, cocoa, and whipping cream. There are also very specific instructions on how everything is to be combined and how long to rest etc. (yes, they were Germans). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/6 "2015-12-26T00:06:09Z")
That’s a _moos_kuchen; moos does indeed mean “moss”, though I couldn’t tell you why it’s called that. ETA: Actually, if you google image search you can see why it has that name. However, I don’t see any recipes for mooskuchen that sound like yours. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/7 "2015-12-26T00:28:47Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > That’s a _moos_kuchen; moos does indeed mean “moss”, though I couldn’t tell you why it’s called that. That doesn’t look the same… picture a typical ginger bread, but about half as dense and then add a cream frosting. For all I know there was a woman named Moss who made a spice cake and this is her recipe. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-bakers-help-me-out/741352/8 "2015-12-26T13:18:31Z")
Do you know what region of Germany your wife’s family originates from? That might help to narrow down the specialties of that area.