Berlin Reified

Cake at Ludwigskirchplatz

When I walked into Oliv for the first time, the crumbles in the Weck jars were the first thing I noticed. When a woman walked in bearing a tray of these beauties I had to know who she was. It turned out Alexandra Kruse doesn't just supply Oliv, nibs and Einstein with delectable baked goods, she also has a spun-sugar coffee shop of her own. Sweet 2 Go is tucked into a quiet corner of Ludiwgskirchplatz and I walked through yesterday's snow, I couldn't resist a half-hour in the bright interior. I settled on a simple slice of Saftkuchen and watched the children pick their way over the ice on their way from school. For those in a less modest mood, the shelves are crowded with crumbles, cupcakes, and a freezer full of flavors from buttermilk-sesame to coffee and cassis.

Sweet 2 Go, Pfalzburger Straße 79 (map)
Open daily 11am-6pm
Tel. (030) 34 62 03 26

January light 2011

There's this moment every January where the light shifts and makes me inhale in excitement. (Here's last year's.)

A little twinkle

If you'd told me as a child that I'd watch my fireworks from bed! And there's the festive season over. Sweet highlights included Delia Smith's recipe for tea bread (freeze in slices, then toast and butter for unexpected guests), Chocolate & Zucchini's pain d'épice (perfect for using up all those darling amber jars you've amassed over the previous year) and the most deconstructed of deconstructed Mont Blancs, sweet chestnut puree in a white ramekin with unhomogenized cream stirred in, eaten with a little spoon.