Beulah Levy Ledner

{{short description|New Orleans dessert and pastry chef}}

File:Doberge cake slices.JPG

Beulah Levy Ledner (January 5, 1894 – March 30, 1988) was a dessert and pastry chef in New Orleans, Louisiana, who was most noted for her invention of Doberge cakes, which were an adaptation for Louisiana tastes of the Hungarian/Austrian dish dobos torte.New Orleans Times-Picayune obituary, April 1, 1988.

Ledner was born in St. Rose, Louisiana, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish immigrant bakers. She started her own bakery business in New Orleans in 1931. The Ledner bakery was initially known as "Mrs. Charles Ledner's Superior Home Baking," operating out of the family's home. The bakery relocated several times subsequently as it grew. She sold her bakery business to Gambino's Bakery as a result of the hardships of World War II but subsequently opened a new bakery in Metairie, Louisiana, following the war's end.Leanne Myers Boone, [http://www.countryroadsmagazine.com/ Country Roads Magazine], 31 July 2013. Ledner's recipes reflected the German and Jewish influence on New Orleans cuisine in the mid-20th century.{{cite journal|last=Kolb|first=Carolyn|title=Sweet Story|journal=New Orleans Magazine|date=June 2008|url=http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/June-2008/Sweet-Story/|accessdate=21 April 2014|archive-date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413155616/http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/June-2008/Sweet-Story/|url-status=dead}}

Ledner's recipes have been collected and published,{{cite book|last=Wolchansky|first=Maxine|title="Let's Bake" with Beulah Ledner: A Legendary New Orleans Lady|date=1987|publisher=Southern Graphics}} and various versions of the Doberge recipe are available on-line, including a photograph of the traditional multiple thin layers used in the authentic Doberge recipe.{{cite journal|last=Curry|first=Dale|title=Lavishly Layered|journal=New Orleans Magazine|date=September 2009|url=http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/September-2009/Lavishly-Layered/|accessdate=22 April 2014|archive-date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142705/http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/September-2009/Lavishly-Layered/|url-status=dead}} A video narrative of the preparation of Doberge cakes in the tradition of Ledner is available on-line.Ryan McNamara, [http://www.countryroadsmagazine.com/ Country Roads Magazine], 24 July 2013. Ledner has at times been referred to as the "Doberge Queen of New Orleans".{{cite news |last1=Lind |first1=Angus |title=His Structured Life: Architect Albert Ledner's Story is Icing on the Doberge Cake |agency=New Orleans Times-Picayune |date=November 9, 2008}}

Ledner's son Albert C. Ledner was a noted architect.{{cite news |last1=Genzlinger |first1=Neil |title=Albert Ledner, Architect With a Quirky Sense, Dies at 93 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/obituaries/albert-ledner-architect-with-a-quirky-sense-dies-at-93.html |accessdate=18 October 2019 |agency=New York Times |date=November 21, 2017}}

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| image1 = [https://www.myneworleans.com/sweet-story Ledner in a kitchen], image from myneworleans.com}}