HAMBURG (dpa): A German bakery chain has set the world record for making the longest-ever Franzbrötchen, a cinnamon-roll-like local pastry that is popular across northern Germany, officials said on Monday.
"Never before has a record contender attempted to make the world's longest Franzbrötchen. We are excited to see whether the 10-metre mark can be surpassed," said judge Olaf Kuchenbecker - whose last name, fittingly, translates as cake baker.
Franzbrötchen is a pastry made from yeast that contains generous amounts of sugar, butter and cinnamon that is said to have originated in the northern port city of Hamburg.
According to the city website, it resulted from a failed attempt at making croissants.
The record-long pastry was made on Sunday at Hamburg's Hagenbeck wildlife park by bakers from Junge Die Bäckerei, a chain that operates outlets across northern Germany, including in Hamburg, Rostock and Berlin.
Once the record was officially established, onlookers were handed toothpicks and allowed to go to town on the pastry.
Kuchenbecker, representing the Record Institute Germany (RID), hailed the taste of the pastry, noting that when it comes to world records, it's not only size that matters.
Bakers had to make sure the Franzbrötchen tasted like the much smaller original while also getting the consistency right, he explained.
The RID is considered the German-language equivalent of Guinness World Records. Across Germany, around half a dozen judges are on the road to verify records. - dpa
