Sydney Rodriguez whips up traditional Mexican desserts such as flan and sweet tamales at her San Luis Obispo home during the holidays. However, once she hits the road for work at Cambria Pines Lodge‘s annual Christmas Market, she channels German culinary customs.
The well-traveled and versatile chef creates sweet delicacies aboard cruise lines seven months out of the year, but during the off season she devotes her talents to traditional German desserts at Cambria’s annual “Weihnachtsmarkt,” or open-air Christmas market.
“I’ve been traveling all around the world as a pastry chef, but every year when I come back to work [in Cambria] I feel like I’m coming home,” Rodriguez said.
Born in Hanford, California, Rodriguez studied culinary arts at nearby West Hills College in Lemoore, then embarked on an eight-year career in hospitality.
She relocated to the foodie town of SLO in 2017 and said she relishes the opportunity to explore new cultures via their ethnic specialties.
“I was introduced to German-style food three years ago after being retained by the Cambria Christmas Market as a temporary hire,” she said.
The position complemented her primary career as a pastry chef aboard American and National Geographic cruise lines. Now the market’s lead pastry chef, Rodriguez says she has bonded with her co-workers and loves her seasonal job.
“As a Mexican American, I grew up making traditional cuisines and desserts,” Rodriguez said. “Being given the opportunity to mix my own [culinary heritage] with a new one has been amazing.”
Market coordinator Mike Arnold is thrilled with Rodriguez’s diverseāand deliciousārepertoire.
“We look forward to seeing what she comes up with each year,” he said.
However, one of her pastries is the highlight of the market’s sweet shop.
“The German heart cookies, called lebkuchen in Germany, are a very traditional Christmas market item,” Arnold said. “We have worked with several bakers throughout the years, but Sydney’s version is by far our favorite.”
Arnold added that traditionally, lebkuchens are very hard.
“Chef Rodriguez’s version is both sturdy enough to be worn around your neck and still soft enough to eat and enjoy,” he said. “Add the beautiful frosting work, and each one is really a work of art.”
Rodriguez said the recipe is a Cambria Christmas market original with minor changes.
Arnold gives her free rein to “create anything for the market, and I’m very honored to work with him and his team,” she added. “Like I said, we’re a family.”
Additional market sweets include apfelkuchen mit streusel (apple streusel cake) and stollen (German Christmas bread). Rodriguez usually bakes the stollen herself, but this year she’s enlisting the services of another baker.
“We support local businesses,” Rodriguez explained, whether it’s sourcing for ingredients or partnering with a vendor to produce the best product possible.
The pastry team works its magic at Cambria Pines Lodge Restaurant, led by executive chef Dave Byrnes, who will be orchestrating the market’s full-blown German feast.
Savory standouts include bratwurst, chicken schnitzel fingers, bratkartoffeln (fries with bacon and onions), currywurst, senfgurken (homemade pickles), and eintopf (lentil) stew.
The liquid lineup features hot chocolate and cider, holiday specialties such as gluhwein (mulled wine), and, of course, a biergarten.
The Cambria Christmas Market launched in 2011, when Moonstone Hotel Properties owner Dirk Winter fulfilled his dream of bringing a German-style Christmas market to Cambria Pines Lodge, which he purchased in 1990 and expanded to include Cambria Nursery and Florist.
The combined grounds host the elaborate affairāslated for Nov. 25 to Dec. 23. This year’s guests will enjoy 1.25 miles of Christmas decorations and interactive displays illuminated by a staggering 2 million lights, plus artisan vendors, visits from Santa, a train ride, fire pits, live musicians and carolers on two stages, and more.
Lebkuchen (German Gingerbread Hearts)
Yields 6 to 8 cookies sized 6 to 8 inches
ā¢ 14 tablespoons (1.75 stick) butter
ā¢ 1 1ā2 cups honey
ā¢ 1 1ā4 cups sugar
ā¢ 5 tablespoons (1ā3 cup) cocoa powder
ā¢ 2 tablespoons gingerbread spice mix
ā¢ 3 teaspoons baking powder
ā¢ 10 cups flour
ā¢ 1ā2 teaspoon salt
ā¢ 2 eggs
Make the dough
Bring butter, honey, sugar, cocoa powder, and gingerbread spice mix to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Boil until the sugar dissolves, then remove from heat and cool slightly. Sift flour with baking powder and salt into a bowl. Make a depression in the bowl and add eggs, then pour the honey mixture over the flour and mix on low speed until a ball of dough can be formed. The dough might still be shaggy (lumpy) but will become smooth as it cools, so don’t add extra flour. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for 4 to 48 hours. For best results, the dough should rest at least overnight.
Bake the cookies
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out half the dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured board. Use large, heart-shaped cookie cutters to cut out cookies. To hang these hearts from a ribbon, create one or two holes about 3ā4 inch below the rim of the cookie. Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough. Place the cookie on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cookies are set in the middle and lightly browned on the bottom. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet.
Glaze with royal icing
ā¢ 4 cups (480 grams) confectioners’ sugar
ā¢ 3 tablespoons egg white powder
ā¢ 9 to 10 tablespoons room temperature water
Pour confectioners’ sugar, egg white powder, and water into a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients on high speed for up to 2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5 to 10 seconds. If it’s too thick, beat in more water 1 tablespoon at a time. The longer you beat the icing, the thicker it becomes. If your icing is too thin, keep beating to introduce more air, or you can add more confectioners’ sugar. When applied to cookies in a thin layer, icing completely dries in about two hours at room temperature. If icing is too thin or runny, or applied too thickly, it will take longer to dry. Ī
Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte can’t wait to hit the market for a brat, lebkuchen, and splash of gluhwein. Reach her at cwhyte@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Holiday Guide 2022.