A Duchesse being dipped into milk chocolate by hand

The Manufactory

We really do still work with our hands.

Since 2007, every piece in my manufactory in Hannover has been made by hand, from the finest ingredients we can find.

Since 2007

biscuits made with our own hands

Six pastry chefs

and me in the bakehouse

Hägenstraße

our home in Hannover since 2021

Johan von Ilten in the bakehouse, pouring tempered chocolate through a sieve

My Craft

I learned by trying things out.

I did not learn my craft through an apprenticeship, but through many years of trying things out. I always knew how a new variety ought to taste – just not how to get there. So I experimented with ingredients, baking temperatures, doughs and methods until I was happy with the result.

Every failed batch of dough, every bar of chocolate that bloomed white and every cream that ran took me a step further. Today I work with six pastry chefs who learned their craft from the ground up. Together, we make every biscuit by hand.

Ingredients

Nothing good comes from poor ingredients.

Expensive does not automatically mean good. But nothing wonderful can be made from cheap ingredients. That is why I choose every ingredient for its flavour, and for many years I have worked with partners who take their craft as seriously as we take ours.