Pretzels, or brezel or brezen in German, are the most iconic German food. Ornaments of pretzels adorn every bakery, and images of them can be found on medieval church windows in Freiburg, where I come from,” says former contestant on The Great British Bake Off, Jurgen Krauss. “Often, a pretzel works better as a soother for an upset baby than a dummy. They are a part of my upbringing and heritage. And still, there is no better snack after a long shopping spree through my hometown of Freiburg than a brezel from the bakery at the tram stop. “Disclaimer about lye: I am giving two options for the finish. One is using lye, which involves a very dangerous chemical, solid sodium hydroxide. The other option uses baking soda, which is bicarbonate of soda, and is not dangerous at all. The results are different in colour and taste, but without a direct comparison, the bicarbonate of soda pretzel can stand its ground. If you intend to use lye, I’d recommend baking a few batches of pretzels with bicarbonate of soda, but treat it as if it was lye, to practise the handling and have everything in the right place before starting.” Soft pretzel Makes: 8-10 Ingredients: For the starter: 100g bread flour 2g salt 1⁄8 tsp instant yeast 65ml water For the dough: 400g bread flour 9g salt 20g honey 5g instant yeast 25g unsalted butter, room temperature 180ml water Coarse salt crystals, for sprinkling For the lye or bicarb dipping solution: 2L water 8g salt 80g bicarbonate of soda or 80g sodium hydroxide pellets Method: 1. Prepare the starter the day before baking. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hand or a spatula until all the flour is incorporated. Cover with clingfilm and leave to stand at room temperature for about two hours. Then put the starter in the fridge overnight until you need it – it will be good to use for up to three days. 2. About one hour before making the main dough, take the starter out of the fridge. 3. To make the main dough, combine all the ingredients except the salt crystals and the starter in a bowl and mix with your hand or a spatula. The resulting dough will be very stiff. Knead the dough on a work surface for about 10 minutes. Don’t use any additional flour, you won’t need it anyway. The resulting dough should be smooth and a bit elastic. Put the dough into a bowl, cover and prove at room temperature for about two hours. Fold the dough once after one hour. 4. Meanwhile, prepare the dipping solution. Use a big stainless-steel pan and stainless-steel spoons for dipping. Cover your normal work surfaces in case the lye spills. When dipping, keep the baking sheets very close to the lye pan and the oven. Always wear protective gloves and goggles when working with sodium hydroxide and lye. Never ever touch sodium hydroxide pellets with your skin. 5. If using bicarbonate of soda, bring the water to boil. Switch off the heat, add the salt and stir. Then add the bicarbonate of soda – there will be a bit of frothing and splashing, so be careful. Leave to cool. 6. If using sodium hydroxide, put the water in the pan and then add the sodium hydroxide pellets. Sodium hydroxide creates a lot of heat when it dissolves. 7. Once the dough has proved, divide it into pieces weighing 85 grams each. Roll each piece of dough into a cylinder. Once all the pieces have been rolled, start again with the first piece, to roll it into a long strand with thin ends and a belly in the middle. Aim for a length of 60 centimetres. Make sure you don’t tear your strands – if there is too much resistance in the dough, move on to the next strand. You will need several cycles to reach the length required. 8. Now shape the pretzels – the bakers use a slinging method, but there is a simpler, slower way to do this. Make sure the ends of the little arms are well attached to the middle bit. 9. Place the pretzels onto lined baking trays, cover and leave to prove at room temperature for about 45 minutes. Uncover the pretzels and put them in the fridge for 30 minutes, so that a skin can form. Preheat the oven to 230C fan/gas mark 9. 10. Take the pretzels out of the fridge. Dip each pretzel in lye or sodium carbonate solution for about five seconds. Transfer the pretzel back onto the lined baking sheet. One sheet will hold four to five pretzels. Once the sheet is full, slash the thickest part of the pretzels with a sharp serrated knife and sprinkle with salt crystals. Transfer to the oven immediately and bake for 12–15 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining pretzels. 11. Because of the salt, these pretzels are best eaten fresh. ‘German Baking: Cakes, Tarts, Traybakes And Breads From The Black Forest And Beyond’ by Jurgen Krauss (published by Kyle Books on 31 August, £26). 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Ryan Gosling has revealed that his daughters, who he shares with longtime partner Eva Mendes, were a “huge inspiration” for his role as Ken in the upcoming Barbie movie. The 42-year-old spoke about his children, Esmeralda, eight, and Amada, seven, during an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Sunday, while attending the premiere of Barbie in Los Angeles. During the conversation, he shared his daughters’ candid thoughts about his role in the film, which features Margot Robbie as the titular Barbie. “It was, I think, weird enough for them that I played Ken anyway,” he said. “That I might just hold off on them seeing the full Ken-ergy.” However, according to Gosling, his children have not only seen some of Barbie, but they also “helped” him create his character. “They’ve seen a lot pieces of [the film], and helped me a lot with it,” he said. “They were a huge inspiration for me.” When asked if his daughters thought the new movie was funny, the Notebook star quipped: “Yeah, unless it wasn’t. And then I worked on it…They’re brilliant comedians.” While at the Barbie premiere on Sunday, Gosling also gave a subtle shoutout to Mendes with his outfit. The actor walked the pink carpet in a pink Gucci suit, which he accessorised with a chain necklace that had the letter “E”, which stood for Eva, dangling from it. The typeface on the necklace was used for the film. While Mendes wasn’t at the premiere on Sunday, she has previously revealed that she would rather avoid doing press to spend time with her children. “What people don’t know about me is that I love being home,” she said in an interview with Shape in 2017. “Instead of hitting the red carpet, I’d rather be with our girls.” In April, Mendes also revealed why she would not be joining Gosling on the pink carpet, with the Hitch star explaining that she and her partner “don’t do those things together”. Last month, Gosling, who’s been dating Mendes since 2011, shared some rare comments about fatherhood. During his cover story interview with GQ, he revealed that, prior to his relationship with Mendes, he didn’t think much about becoming a father. However, he confessed that this all changed when Mendes told him she was pregnant. “Eva said she was pregnant,” he recalled. “I would never want to go back, you know? I’m glad I didn’t have control over my destiny in that way, because it was so much better than I ever had dreamed for myself.” Elsewhere in the interview, Gosling clarified previous comments he made about the moment Mendes learned she was pregnant. While he maintained that he “wasn’t thinking about kids” before they met, Gosling said: “After I met Eva, I realised that I just didn’t want to have kids without her.” “I was looking for her, you know?” he added. When asked if he was aware that he was searching all his life for his current partner, Gosling replied: “No. But it all makes sense now.” While they have been more open about their relationship in recent years, Gosling and Mendes have still kept their children and family life largely out of the spotlight. Read More Ryan Gosling fans praise actor’s subtle nod to wife Eva Mendes at Barbie premiere Margot Robbie hits Barbie red carpet in 1960s Mattel-inspired gown Margot Robbie, an Australian, briefly forgets what ‘barbie’ means in Australia Margot Robbie hits Barbie red carpet in 1960s Mattel-inspired gown Ryan Gosling fans praise actor’s subtle nod to wife Eva Mendes at Barbie premiere All of the best looks from the Barbie world premiere

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Max Verstappen believes his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez crashed out of the Mexican Grand Prix because he was overexcited by the prospect of finishing on the podium at his home race. Perez tried to brake last as he arrived on the inside of the first bend alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the centre and Verstappen on the outside. His Red Bull slammed into Leclerc and leapt into the air before coming down in the run-off area. He managed to crawl round to the pitlane, and Red Bull mechanics soon had him back on the road, but they threw in the towel after only five more laps. Verstappen went on to win his 51st race as Perez watched on from the garage. “I mean, I understand because it’s his home Grand Prix,” Verstappen said, assessing the crash. “You want to be on the podium, I fully understand that. “He went around the outside, and he tried. Looking at the footage, I think he could have left a little bit more space, but at the other end if it would have worked, you know, you look amazing. And of course, I think it’s just more like that excitement of wanting to be on the podium and this time it didn’t work out, unfortunately.” Verstappen added: “At the time, I didn’t really see a lot. At one point, I just saw that a car was a bit flying in the air, but then I saw the footage after the race and then you can comment on it. But while driving it’s a bit hard because I was mainly focusing on Charles, because I couldn’t see what was happening on the outside.” Perez’s position at Red Bull has come under scrutiny in recent weeks and his performance in Mexico will only have added to speculation that his seat may be going to Daniel Ricciardo next season. Perez last won a race in Azerbaijan on 30 April, and his failure to finish at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez leaves his second place in the championship under threat from Hamilton. Indeed, the seven-time world champion reduced the gap from 39 points to 20 with his strong display. TOP-10 - MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX 1) Max Verstappen 2) Lewis Hamilton (+ fastest lap) 3) Charles Leclerc 4) Carlos Sainz 5) Lando Norris 6) George Russell 7) Daniel Ricciardo 8) Oscar Piastri 9) Alex Albon 10) Esteban Ocon Perez told DAZN after the race: “I’m sad without a doubt because today was my opportunity. I had a very good start and I was only thinking of winning the race. I didn’t want to be on the podium. I’ve been on the podium two years in a row. “I saw the opportunity and I went for it. In hindsight, I took a risk, but if I had pulled it off I would have come out of Turn 1 in the lead. I didn’t expect Charles to brake so late since he was the car in the middle. He had a lot less margin than Max, who was on the inside, and I was the one who could brake the latest because I was on the outside.” Read More Christian Horner drops Daniel Ricciardo hint as pressure mounts on Sergio Perez Kevin Magnussen’s car catches fire after high-speed crash in Mexico F1 fan banned for life after attacking Ferrari supporters in Mexico

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