8FFLFOE MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE
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COURTESY SUZANNE WOO
COURTESY SUZANNE WOO
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For German baker, there’s no slowing down IN HIS LONG CAREER, ERNST RUCKABERLE HAS MADE PASTRIES FOR CRUISE SHIPS, AIRLINES AND CELEBRITIES By Jocelyn Dong
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orking beneath the skylight in an industrial kitchen last week, Ernst Ruckaberle’s gently wrinkled hands deftly molded a lump of marzipan. His movements were quick, efficient, as he transformed the red almond paste into a delicate rose. At 74, with six decades of baking under his belt, Ruckaberle could be traveling around the world, as he did when he worked as the pastry chef on a cruise ship in the early ‘70s. Or, he could be resting on his laurels: He’s made strudel for Arnold Schwarzenegger, petit fours for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and cakes and cookies for hundreds of TV celebrities. Instead, Ruckaberle shows up at 6 a.m. seven days a week to the kitchen on Old Middlefield Way in Mountain View,
MICHELLE LE
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Clockwise from left: Ernst Ruckaberle deftly molds a marzipan rose at Esther’s German Bakery in Mountain View; marzipan creations include bunnies and fruit; Ruckaberle, 74, got his start as a baker’s apprentice in Germany. April 12, 2013 ■ Mountain View Voice ■ MountainViewOnline.com ■
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