Welfenspeise

Welfenspeise is a two-tone dessert known in Hanover, Germany. A white, vanilla-flavored milk cream is chilled and topped with a yellow wine foam. In a clear glass, the boundary between the white and the yellow is visible.

A white milk layer and a yellow foam

In the method presented by the City of Hanover, milk is cooked with sugar, vanilla and starch, and beaten egg whites are folded into the hot cream. The starch thickens the milk, and the egg-white foam adds lightness. The mixture is divided among glasses and left to cool.

For the top layer, white wine, egg yolks, lemon juice or zest and a little starch are whisked over a water bath until foamy. This airy wine foam, thickened with egg yolk, is placed on the white layer and chilled. Using the egg whites and yolks separately creates a contrast not only in color but also between the mellowness of the milk and the aromas of wine and lemon. The city’s method also suggests finishing with chocolate pieces, almonds or pistachios.

A method recorded in cookbooks

Food-culture material from Lower Saxony presents a method from the “Bremen Cookbook,” published in 1949. For the white layer, starch is added to milk and vanilla, beaten egg whites are folded in, and the mixture is placed in a glass dish. For the yellow layer, gelatin is added to eggs, white wine, sugar and lemon, and the mixture is whisked over a water bath until thickened and layered on top. The dessert is two-toned like the version the city presents today, but the ingredient that sets the yellow layer differs.

The same material also includes an example recorded as “Welf pudding” in a handwritten recipe book from the 1960s. In this method, a generous amount of egg white is mixed into the milk layer, and a cream of white wine, sugar and egg yolks whisked together is added on top. The combination of milk, eggs and wine was also written down in household recipe books.

The origin of the white and yellow

The name Welf refers to the House of Welf, which once ruled Hanover. The City of Hanover links the white and yellow of this dessert to the flag of the kingdom and the colors of the house. Hanover’s rulers were also monarchs of Britain from 1714 to 1837, and the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866.

The city’s account also includes a story that a cook devised the dessert for a banquet celebrating the 200th anniversary of the House of Welf’s accession. This explanation conveys the origin of the two-tone dessert’s name, but no contemporary menus or records showing who created it and when have been made clear. The white-and-yellow dessert is spoken of as a dish that recalls the history of Hanover’s ruling house.

Glossary