“The visitors admire the colourful cupcakes, but then they still order a piece of Black Forest gateau”, says Cordula Müller with a laugh. Baking is and always has been her passion and she decorates complex tarts with the patience of a saint. “When I was young, I saw someone on TV making figures out of sugar. That fascinated me so much that I took an apprenticeship as a pastry chef at Café Steinmetz in Freiburg”, she recalls. She then worked as a patissière in Switzerland, gained experience in London and Bermuda, ran a bistro in Schloss Reinach and was a confectioner in the Pinguin ice cream parlour in Waldkirch before she came to Europa-Park in 2012, where she has been creating cakes, tarts and pralines in the “Bell Rock” ever since. “I can really let my hair down here, I like that very much. Everything is hand-made, no packet mixtures, we use real butter for our butter cream, fresh vanilla, expensive chocolate glazes and we avoid preservatives completely”, explains the 45-year-old. At the weekends, 30 to 40 cakes have to be prepared, in the week she bakes up to ten, mostly cheesecakes, apple cakes, Black Forest gateaux and a seasonal fruit tart. “We also sell externally and we cater for events in Europa-Park. We often make wedding or christening cakes to order. When I started, I immediately had the opportunity to make a multi-tiered wedding cake for Thomas Mack, one metre high and beautifully decorated”, she enthuses. In the past cakes were usually completely covered with a coating, but now the trend is towards “naked cake” with visible layers. The expert sticks to her recipes, but things can even go wrong for her sometimes and it’s important not to be discouraged. “You need courage, patience and imagination to bake”, says Müller.