17.05.2019

Meet the “cold dog” Culinary Childhood Memories from Roses Manufaktur

Back when “no bake” hadn’t yet become a foodie trend but was just a typical German way of preparing delicious snacks without an oven, the hedgehog slice was invented. During the years of the so-called German economic miracle, chocolate cream and butter cookies were layered in the shape of a box and cooled in the cellar or refrigerator until it was time to eat the dessert. The highly popular cake had passionate fans, especially at children’s birthday parties. In German, it’s called a kalter Hund(“cold dog”), and its funny name probably comes from the mining industry, because its shape resembles a Hunt,which was the rectangular transport tool used by the miners.

In a small café near DSTRCT, people still pay homage to this unusual dessert today: in Roses Manufaktur, it is made according to an old recipe and offered for sale with coffee and soda – with growing popularity. The most practical part: cold dog, which also has many other names like Lucullus, cold snout, black peter or cellar cake, can be easily transported and stored in the refrigerator, so it’s also a great treat for the office. And you can order it from Roses Manufaktur and have it sent to you as a small gift.

Viola Pantenburg Rose answered several questions from us about her small factory.

How did you come up with the idea of producing and selling “cold dog”?

At the same site where our small factory is now located, we used to operate the Friedrichshainer Fahrradkantine (“Friedrichshain bicycle canteen”). During this time, we discovered there was an opening in the market for cold dog. What makes us really happy is that truly all generations equally love this cake. So it brings back the tradition of a birthday cake from childhood.

But you have also gotten inventive: you also have white and modified varieties of the classic chocolate cold dog.

Yes, we worked on the recipe for the white cold dog for about half a year. Now we offer cold dogs in almost 20 varieties – the dark cold dog with rum, coffee or plum, and the white cold dog with coconut, lime, strawberry, or poppy seed.