Strangely enough, when Sylvia von Nolcken was on duty in the SZ skyscraper in Berg am Laim, you had to come back to her office again and again. There was an urgent need for an envelope, which the editorial assistant kept in her roll cabinet. Or you were looking for a new writing pad, a packet of yellow sticky notes, a pen. Well, and if you were already there, then of course you dared to use the cookie plate provided. Subtle, of course, not a whole handful. Perhaps a nut corner, one of the little chessboards that Sylvia von Nolcken called “Uncle Otto’s Black and White Pastries”, a Baltic gingerbread or a vanilla croissant. One was especially happy when a few “house friends” flashed out. These consist of shortcrust pastry and are refined with three layers of sweet mass. First a layer of jam. Then a layer of marzipan, and to make it more durable, another layer of chocolate. The creation is topped with a walnut.
The works of Sylvia von Nolcken were simply the icing on the cake. While with other cookie plates you often like some and not the others, the same rule applies to the creations she baked: They were all stunning and melted on the tongue. The editorial staff for the district of Munich has to forego this pleasure not only because most of the editors currently work in the home office, but also because Nolcken is now 71 years old and a pensioner. Do you think she’s still baking? A call to her in Gaißach results in: Yes! And she still creates at least 20 different varieties. However, she first has to apologize on the phone. “I’ve only baked six types.” The reason for this delay was the hobby baker’s corona disease. Despite having been vaccinated twice, it got her. There was one good thing about it: the booster vaccination that had already been planned was no longer necessary because it had now built up new immune systems.
I was also very fortunate in the illness that the sense of taste was not impaired. Therefore, after the recovery, nothing stands in the way of further baking. But who is eating the cookies now? You ask a little jealously. The whole family, you learn, and the delicacies are also sent by post to Hamburg.
By the way, Sylvia von Nolcken also became a marathon baker through a newspaper, namely the Rheinzeitung, where she used to work. There was a competition there. Readers should send in their best cookie recipe. Sylvia von Nolcken was supposed to help identify the winner. “But you have to bake that first,” she said. That’s how it all started. Oh yes, should it turn out that there might still be a small package left: we are happy to deliver to the home office.
The steady time is a bland time this year. With this series, the SZ tries to bring at least a little bit of light into Advent every day.