Junior boarder Luise will intern at a bakery in Germany

Chocolates, marzipans, cakes and petit fours decorate the interior of Konditorei Lindtner, a quaint bakery shop known for its sweet confections around Hamburg, Germany. One of the few traditional pastry cafés left in the country, the bakery provides customers with the traditional experience with its anachronistic decorations that bring the sophistication and elegance of “Old English” tea parties to present-day Germany, recalls junior boarder Luise, the Hockadaisy-turned-baking intern for Lindtner.

For Luise, baking has been a long-term hobby and her acceptance as an intern is only the most recent manifestation of her passion for sweets.

“I started liking [baking] because my dad loves to cook,” the German boarder said.

As Luise baked alongside her father, she learned to love baking as a bonding experience. “I don’t like cooking alone,” she said, “I like to bake with somebody else.”

And baking acts as a stress reliever for Luise as well, a habit she acquired from her father. “[My dad] bakes after he is stressed. We both have stress, so I help him bake,” she said.

But beyond the liberating effects of cooking, Luise has a love for food decoration and presentation. “Baking, especially…can [be] decorated, and I love the optical part,” Luise said, “and eating it also.”

Rather than cook competitively, Luise bakes as a hobby, creating treats for her friends. Lott advisory has been the recipient of her sweet confections, as Luise has made her fellow advisees gingerbread cookies and German cheesecake this year. “I really enjoyed how different her baked goods were from the typical American sweets,” junior Courtney said. “For instance, she used ricotta in her cheesecake instead of cream cheese which gave it a very interesting and delicious texture.”

Having a fellow baker in their advisory has allowed Luise and Courtney to compare their baked goods. “It’s been really fun to try the different things [Luise] makes and compare them to the flavors in my own baked goods,” said Courtney. This very passion for baking led Luise to seek a baking internship for this upcoming summer.

Originally, “I was thinking of getting an internship in Vienna, Austria since we take many vacations there,” said Luise, “but it didn’t work out.” But that did not stop Luise from finding an internship closer to home. “I have always wanted to do an internship…and my mom was just brave enough to ask [Lindtner] for one…and after a few days, I got accepted.”

Her internship will take up the last few weeks of her summer break in Hamburg, Germany, and Luise hopes not only to polish her baking skills but to also learn some secret recipes from the famed bakery.

Kathy