You don´t win friends with salad, you don´t win friends with salaaaad….I must admit, I have to disagree with Bart. I mean sure, if somebody makes me pancakes or chocolate cake I might have to marry that person. But I do love a good Salad. I eat salads on an almost daily basis and I´m always on a lookout for new recipes. And then I found this one.
Continue reading “Chickpea salad with spinach and sweet potatoes”
I know, I know, the trend to make your own nut milk has been overly exhausted by now. There are probably a billion recipes out there, so why should mine be any different? Well, to anyone who says “geez Ineke, get creative, I´ve already done it a thousand times”, I hope you´ll accept me into the nut-milk-lover-club. To anyone else: You have to try this recipe!! Continue reading “Homemade almond-hazelnut milk”
Finally, strawberries are back in season again. It felt like winter would never end this year. Not because this winter was particularly harsh (it snowed only two days) but because the dark, grey and rainy days seemed to last longer than usual. Which might be the reason why I am over sensitive for everything spring related lately. The longer days, the sun, the flowers and trees that bloom and blossom and most of all, the food that is back in season. Rhubarb, strawberries, asparagus, just to name a few. Spring is back y´all. Continue reading “Strawberry cream roll”
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you, the fastest rhubarb recipe ever.
Remember the green asparagus tarte I posted last year? Well I thought, if it works with asparagus, it should also work with rhubarb and decided to make a sweet version. It turned out pretty tasty and the best part is, it only takes 5 minutes to prepare.
It´s been awfully quiet on this blog this last three weeks. You could basically hear a pin drop and see tumbleweeds flying by. Don´t worry, I am not planning on quitting this whole blog thing. I just caught up doing so much other stuff (university, work, chilling on the balcony) that I didn’t have time to focus on the important things. Aka cake. But here I am and I brought rhubarb-streusel cake with me.This cake is pretty much spring on a plate. It´s one of my favorites and very very typical for Germany. Which goes great with my cake-challenge. You can use any other fruit that it is in season but I love to make this cake during spring time. Rhubarb is just one of my favorites, mostly because it once rhubarb is in season, summer is not far away. Which means long nights, lots of sunshine and so much fruit. Continue reading “Rhubarb cake with streusel”
My favorite excuse to ignore my university duties is „if I edit the pictures and write the blogpost today, I´ll have more time to completely focus on my essay tomorrow”. Yeaaaah…like that´s going to work. Anyone who knows me knows that tomorrow I´ll find another excuse to procrastinate. Like cleaning the bathroom, watering my herbs, cleaning out my closet or taking out the trash. All very important things that definitely need to be done, because then I can concentrate better. So this blogpost is brought to you by my politics essay which as of now is still unfinished. I´ll get to it tomorrow, I´ll promise. Continue reading “German Easter challah bread with cranberries and marzipan”
I really try to eat as healthy as possible. Most of the times that is not very difficult for me, since I am a big fan of healthy food anyway. I love my veggies, legumes and quinoa and summer is my favorite time because of all the fruit that is in season. I make my own granola and always buy that rye bread but there is one thing where I am really not making any compromises. No matter how many times Hollywood stars and nutritionists are trying to tell me that carbs are the devil, I can´t live without pasta. It´s just too damn tasty. Tagliatelle, ravioli, lasagna or gnocchi, with fancy sauce or just sautéed in butter, pasta is definitely my food soulmate. Ever since I got a pasta machine, my love for pasta has grown even stronger. For daily purposes or when it has to be quick I use store bought pasta but every couple of weeks I get this urge to make pasta the good old fashioned way. It´s like meditation for me, I just love it. Continue reading “Tortellini filled with goat cheese and chard”
A couple of weeks ago I talked about my fast food cravings. I´m usually not the burger person, instead I will almost always opt for falafel instead (unless we are talking homemade burgers of course). I´m not quite sure why, maybe it´s because the Turkish or oriental cuisine is more vegetarian friendly or maybe it has to do with my weird relationship with cabbage. I hate cabbage when it is cooked but love raw coleslaw. Does that make any sense? It´s almost as weird as the fact that I make basically all my recipes with tomatoes but I don’t like tomato soup. Continue reading “Homemade pita bread with falafel and coleslaw”
Developing new recipes for this blog kind of goes like this: I might be standing in the supermarket or sitting in class when out of the blue an idea hits me. Sometimes I see the whole recipe, sometimes it is just a flavor, color or ingredient to start with which ends up being the key factor in coming up with something new. From this point on I am obsessed and won´t rest until I have tried the recipe at least once…which might slightly annoy the people around me when I decide that Sunday morning or Wednesday evening is the perfect time to make cookies. Mostly I already have a set up in my head on how to style and design the recipe for the photos. The thing is that as awesome it can be in my head, it´s no guarantee that it will turn out that way. Something might go wrong with the recipe, the lightning might be dull or something just might be off with the overall taste and feeling of the cake/cookie/dish in question. It´s kind of like the first-pancake-phenomenon, you always have to throw out the first one before the good stuff happens. Continue reading “Chocolate-mascarpone-cake with pomegranate”
I am baaaack! Finally, Exams are over and I got time again to get baking. You can´t imagine how I´ve been itching to get back in my kitchen and behind my camera. If you are a fellow blogger and ever faced with that phase where you feel like you just can´t think of something creative, just take a break for a couple of days/weeks and you will realize how much you miss it. Continue reading “Chocolate cake”
Since this is a guestpost, it is only available in German. If you like the recipe, feel free to contact me and I´ll translate it for you. Continue reading “Coconut-berry-cake – Guestpost by Herznah”
Since this is a guestpost, it is only available in German at the moment. But if you wish to have the recipe, feel free to contact me and I´ll translate it for you. Continue reading “Qrichlat harin – Guestpost by Zuckerbäckerei”
Soooo…how are your New Year’s resolution going? Have you been to the gym three times this week, eating only salad and green smoothies, cleaned out your closet, organized your desk and filed your tax return? No? Well, I´m not surprised. Most New Year’s resolutions are made known fully well that they are never to be kept anyway. Although sometimes having a goal can really motivate you, other times too many resolutions are just frustrating. You know, like when you got so much stuff to do, you decide to take a nap instead? I hear you!
Don´t worry, I am not here today to make you feel bad. Instead, I am here to tell you that you can have your (pan)cake and eat it too! Continue reading “Pancakes with yoghurt and pomegranate seeds”
Ah, the good old Fast Food. I´m guessing nobody can resist the temptation that comes from the local burger restaurant. Especially not when it´s 6 in the morning and you are on your way home from a night out dancing. We have all been there! While I love French fries I usually ignore the burger and instead order some falafel and bread. It´s just that the regular fast food restaurants never seem to satisfy my cravings for a good burger. The first bite seems right but half an hour after you have eaten the burger all you feel is full and slightly nauseated. But fear not my friends, I´ve got just the thing for you. Continue reading “Veggie Burger with sweet potato fries”
Happy New Year everybody! Did you have a good New Year´s Eve? I hope everyone had a great holiday, awesome New Year’s Eve party and can now start 2015 with a full belly, happy thoughts and without any stress. And without too many New Year’s resolution please!
I am not the biggest fan of New Year´s resolutions. Mostly due to the fact that I can never keep them. Just look at all the times I decided to get my lazy butt of the couch and start working out. The times I actually did go to the gym in 2014 are rather rare. So before I can get frustrated, I usually never make any resolutions.
This year however I do have one resolution regarding this blog. I´ve been thinking about this for quite a while now. It has to do with this blog, what inspires me and what I want to communicate and convey with it. Continue reading “New Year´s resolutions and my grandma´s Mohnstriezel”
Sunday evening we got to enjoy an impromptu jam session. Four guitars and one cajón made for some lovely moments in front of the chimney. It wasn´t long before a small fan club gathered to listen. It was during this moment that we decided to record the Christmas spirit and made a little video for you to enjoy.
I wish everyone a lovely holiday, filled with joy, laughter, loved ones and good food. For those who might not be celebrating Christmas, I nonetheless hope you have some relaxing days with your loved ones. I Hope everyone has a great start into the New Year, I will see you all in 2015. Continue reading “Merry Christmas!”
Christmas is almost here. Most of you are probably busy with the last preparations, buying groceries, packing presents and at least in our case, the tree still needs to be decorated as well. But once all the preparations are done, once the food is ready, the presents unpacked and the candles lit, then I hope everyone can find some time to relax and just enjoy the holidays. Let´s be honest, Christmas I never as cozy and peaceful as one would wish but actually…it would probably be pretty boring if it was. Continue reading “Hot chocolate with a twist…”
It´s Christmas time again. Which means it´s time to relax, calm down, spend time with your family, drink Glühwein and eat tons of cookies. Or in my case, it means that you are totally stressed out while trying to combine work, university, Christmas shopping and baking all at once. I might need to work on my relaxation technique I guess. But I did manage to bake my favorite Christmas cookies already. I Also made baked apples and Feuerzangenbowle, so you could say my Christmas spirit is rocking! Continue reading “German Spitzbuben”
It´s that time of the year again. The Christmas lights are up, Christmas markets all over Germany are open and everybody is getting busy baking cookies, or as we call them Plätzchen. I made my first batch of cookies already but this post is more about the difficult situation I am facing each year: what kind of presents should I get for my loved ones? If you are anything like me, you either have an idea right away or you will be stuck thinking about finding something the whole December. And then get busy at the last possible moment and try to get all the presents two days before Christmas. Well, worry no more, because I got an idea for you. How about homemade chocolate bars? Continue reading “Homemade chocolate bars with nuts, dried fruits and pistachios”
The last couple of weeks I didn´t really get to blogging, mostly because I just didn´t have the time, due to University, being sick and other things that just piled up. I became really restless during those weeks, I just couldn´t wait to get back in my kitchen and behind my camera again. This week, I finally had some time so I whipped up this batch of homemade granola for you.
Yes, I know that Christmas is around the corner, especially since the first Advent is this Sunday. And I did make the first Christmas cookies already but the recipe for this granola is rather un-christmassy. But then again I thought, a balanced breakfast is the most important start in the day and this is true all year round, so here we are. If you are looking for Christmas cookie inspiration, you can find the world’s best Vanillekipferl recipe here, and my grandmas Zimtsterne and an explanation as to why Germans go crazy during Christmas time here. Continue reading “Homemade granola with vanilla, cranberries and nuts”
I wouldn´t think of myself as the person who makes the fanciest cakes. I´ve made quite a few in my life which turned out not too bad but the things I am really good at are the good old basics. Like grandmas apple cake. Zwetschgendatschi or muffins in endless variations. I´m not too bad at desserts either. Crème brûlée? Mousse ou chocolat? Panna cotta? No problem. But when it comes to cakes and frosting and decoration, I get a little nervous. Nevertheless, sometimes I feel the urge to get in the kitchen and make one of those fancy-shmancy cakes that gets everybody’s attention. Frosting included! Continue reading “Vanilla-chocolate-marzipan cake”
Waffles!! WAFFLEEES! Are you as excited as I am? If not, wait until you have tried this recipe! Continue reading “The secret to crispy waffles”
I´m a big fan of the different seasons. It wasn´t always that way or at least I never really noticed it until I spend time in two countries where the weather is mainly hot and sunny. In Costa Rica the temperature is 25°C the whole year round, the only difference is that it rains one half of the year. And it gets a little colder during the winter in Barcelona (at least that´s how the Spanish feel) but it doesn´t snow and if it ever does, the whole city loses it. I´m not complaining about daily sunshine but once I got back from my studies in Spain, I realized how beautiful fall can be. The colors, the weather, the apple-picking and pumpkin carving…Fall is pretty. Continue reading “Pumpkin risotto with goat cheese and parsley”
A couple of weeks ago, I raided my boyfriend’s parent’s garden and picked all the plums and apples I could. The plums were immediately used for Zwetschgendatschi but the apples have been waiting for their turn ever since. That is, until my boyfriend’s parents came to visit me at my new flat and I finally got around making my grandma´s apple cake. Continue reading “Grandma´s apple cake recipe”
It´s official. I moved! My new apartment is all set up and now it´s time to get to know life in the new city. Although I´m still bummed that I had to move at all, my new apartment kind of tries to make up for it. For starters I know finally have my own oven!! I know, it´s amazing. In my old apartment, I had to use the common kitchen for baking, which involved me running up and down all the time, panicking about whether I will get the timing right or everything might burn. I also have those huge windows that face west which means that I have a lot of light. I´m really excited to get behind my camera and experiment with all that light but until then I have a recipe for you that has been in put on hold for quite a while. I think it fit´s this October just right: carrot cake muffins! Continue reading “Healthy breakfast carrot-cake muffins”
Hi folks, I got another recipe in remembrance of my time in Barcelona for you. This is the last one though; the next weeks will fully be dedicated to fall again.
After learning how to make Spanish tortilla and arroz negro, it is now time for crema catalana. What better way to honor Catalonia?
Crema Catalana is similar to Créme Brulée, the only difference is that the Catalans are a bit lazier and use corn starch instead of putting it in the oven for hours. All you need for this dessert is milk, eggs, sugar and lemon zest. It is easily prepared, which is great if you are hosting a dinner party. All you need to do is prepare the dessert in the morning, let it rest in the fridge and then you can surprise your guests with a perfect dessert at the end of the evening. Continue reading “Crema Catalana”
What´s your first thought that comes to mind when talking about Spain? Paella right? The fact that there exists a – lesser known – little brother of the traditional paella is often forgotten. Hands up, who has ever heard of arroz negro?
Arroz negro translates to black rice and that is exactly what you are getting. Don’t let the appearance scare you, it is actually really delicious. In fact, I think I might like arroz negro even more than paella. You don´t really taste the ink of the calamari, instead the rice is very aromatic with a hint of lemon and tastes like summer, vacation and the sea. So the next time you are in Spain, you should definitely go ahead and try an arroz negro. It´s worth it. Continue reading “Arroz negro – black paella”
Everyone who´s been to Spain or has ever eaten Tapas should know Tortilla de patatas. The Spanish specialty, made from eggs and potatoes is one of the most typical dishes you can make. The Spanish eat it all the time, lunch, dinner, tapas…you can serve it to anything. I am not saying that I make the perfect Tortilla but I know who does and I was able to get some secrets.
Continue reading “How to make the perfect Tortilla de patatas”
Today’s post is kind of personal and (at least for me) rather emotional. It´s about the love of my life, the city of my dreams and the most beautiful place on earth: Barcelona. People that know me know that I spend my first four years living in Spain, in a city close to Barcelona. Ever since, I´ve been in love with the city and the region. Even when we went back to Germany, we tried to keep and integrate the culture into our lives. I grew up with Spanish Tortilla, Els Pets, Castells, Cacaolat and Shin Chan. We had a Spanish Au pair for two years and we made sure to go back and visit the region and our friends at least once a year. I grew up speaking three languages; unfortunately I lost all my Spanish and Catalan when we went back. But ever since I was little, I was determined to live in Barcelona again and learn how to speak Spanish.
Well, sometimes dreams do come true. When I went to University, it was part of my study program to spend one year abroad and I knew that I wanted to spend it in Barcelona. After the most stressful organization of all times, I finally made it to Barcelona last August. And all I can say is that it was the best thing ever! I fell in love even more with the city and I enjoyed every day that I got to live there. (Well, the whole studying-thing could have been a little less stressful but hey, at least I was in Barcelona) Continue reading “My Barcelona”
Fall is here! The days are getting shorter, the evenings colder, the first leaves are changing their color and there are apples everywhere. Summer is slowly saying goodbye and I am not quite sure yet if I am happy about it or not. I didn’t get to enjoy this summer as much, since I spend most time locked up behind my laptop writing my bachelor thesis. I do like what fall brings though. Apples and plums and pumpkins…I guess you just got to make the best of each season and I very much intend to do so this fall.
My blog turns one! And that (and also the fact that I turned one year older as well and sucessfully completed my academic studies) calls for a celebration. And cake. And chocolate…well you know what I am getting at. Continue reading “On the blog turning one…”
Do you know that feeling, when you got something carefully planned and then you end up doing something completely different? My original plan was to try this blueberry-peach galette recipe that I´ve been thinking about for a while. So I went to the famers market to get some fresh fruit and that’s when I saw those red currants. Red, juicy, beautiful red currants that were just waiting to be bought. Of course I couldn´t say no so I found myself buying them without a big recipe in mind. It was the first time I had them this year and they are not my typical go-to fruit but you got to admit that red currants are some of the sexiest fruit out there. Just look at them all cute and delicious. I ended up making the galette as well, while I was thinking about recipes that could use some red currants. The muffin recipe was a spontaneous idea, which turned out be even greater than the galette and deserves to be shown first.
Investing in popsicle molds was the best idea of this summer! We used to have some when I was little, filling them with orange juice or yoghurt but it wasn´t until I bought some for myself that I realized just how much fun you can have with them. There are so many different ways and flavors, it´s awesome. The only problem I am having is that my craving for new recipes kind of contradicts with the amount of ice cream one can eat. My freezer is full but I still have so many ideas. Yeah, the life of a foodblogger, it´s tough.
Just around the corner of my apartment is farmers market. Every Saturday I take some time to stroll around, listen to people chit chat, the salesperson praising their fresh fruit, children playing and enjoy the smell of flowers and fresh coffee. I love it! During summertime it is especially wonderful, people just seem to be happier, take their time and enjoy life a little more. And all the fresh fruit is just amazing. I really have to contain myself every time I go there, so I don´t buy all of it. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or peaches are becoming cheaper and more delicious every week. Last time I just couldn´t help myself and bought a whole bunch of delicious looking raspberries, took them home and made this tart.
I´m a breakfast type of person. I do love dinner though. Actually, I think food is always great, regardless the time of day. But breakfast is very important to me. My Spanish roommates would always make fun of me when they saw me in the morning, eating my bread, eggs and orange juice. Then again, breakfast is not that big of a deal in Spain, typically consisting of coffee and a cookie. But here in Germany and in so many other places in the world breakfast is really important. I just can´t leave the house in the morning without a good foundation for the day. And I absolutely loooove me a good brunch. 
Continue reading “Baked oatmeal with rhubarb and strawberries”
Since I like to combine my travel reports with some recipes of the typical cuisine I present you: quinoa salad with spinach, pomegranate and feta cheese. A lot of you might be thinking now – what does that have to do with Canada? You are right; Quinoa and pomegranates are not the first thing you might think of when it comes to typical Canadian food. Still, it is the food-experiences I made during our trip that results in this recipe. Local, fresh, organic – those were the keywords, that followed us everywhere, restaurants, supermarkets, farmers markets, you name it. This new trend, that people are developing a higher interest in a healthy lifestyle, nutrition and regional products can also be seen in Europe but in Canada (and I guess also in the USA) it is huge. My last trip to the states was 7 years ago and I remember eating pancakes, pancakes, burger and even more pancakes during my stay. This time it was much easier to find rather healthy recipes, no matter if we stayed in big cities like Seattle or Vancouver or had breakfast in a tiny town on the way. Continue reading “Quinoa salad with fresh spinach, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese”
Part two of our Canada Roadtrip starts with our way to Ucluelet. After leaving Seattle, our next stop was Victoria/ Vancouver Island and from there we were off to Ucluelet, a small town at the pacific coast. The distance between those two towns is not that far but with the speed limit, lunch and several stops to admire the scenery it took us a couple of hours to get there. Vancouver Island is exactly how everyone pictures Canada – very green, very beautiful and with amazing views. I am still convinced that I saw a bear on our way. At least there was something dark and very large standing down by the river, I am sure it was a bear eating his lunch. We were too fast though too double check.
Oh Canada, you were just wonderful to us. Last Sunday, when the plane landed back in Germany we were all extremly tired but also really happy and overwhelmed by all the amazing impressions. Ten days power-traveling through Canada was hard at times but it was absolutely worth it. I didn´t want to present all the 5000 pictures I took in one huge post so I decided to spilt them up in two posts. So here we go…
The first stop was Penticton, a lovely little town about 4 hours from Vancouver, where my little brother spent his year as an exchange student. I think there are far worse places you can end up for a year, the town is located between two huge lakes in the middle of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It´s absolutely beautiful there. The climate has its upsides too, we were told that it is extremely mild for Canada. The region is also known for its wine and its orchards. Fresh fruit everywhere! We had one day to get an impression of the town and the scenery and get to know the host family before it was time to say goodbye. Heartbreaking! Continue reading “Best of Canada – Part 1”
As a blogger, I often find myself facing a difficult situation: who is going to eat all of the cake I am making? If it was up to me, I would be baking every day. But my understanding of a balanced diet tells me that this might not exactly be supporting a healthy lifestyle. That´s why I am often stuck between doing the thing I want and doing the thing I should. Life is tough I guess.
Anyway, by now I have developed some technics to get rid of all the tasty stuff I am making without gaining 5 pounds per blog entry. A very important part is played by the freezer. It´s awesome, I´ll just freeze those muffins and get one whenever I need. Another important factor is my family (whenever I am spending time at my parents), my friendly neighbours, my boyfriend and his roommates and my sister who is always there for me when it comes to eating cake and sweets. But by far my favorite way to make use of what I am baking is inviting friends to come over for coffee and cake.
With all the rhubarb and strawberry recipes I´ve been making lately I almost forgot about my favorite vegetable that is in season right now: asparagus. In Germany, people go crazy during the asparagus season. It is those three months, between the end of march or the beginning of april until the 24th of June were you can find asparagus everywhere. The white asparagus is typically prepared with potatoes, ham and sauce hollandaise. My family eats it with thin pancakes (kind of like crepes), béchamel sauce and boiled ham, which is the southern way to eat it. Green asparagus is perfect for salad, pasta, quiche or tarts. However you prepare it, I absolutely love asparagus season.
I told you, we are going to need the strawberry syrup again. It is the not-so-secret-ingredient for these strawberry popsicles! Just two ingredients, strawberries and syrup, is all you need for this quick and easy recipe!
The summer fruit season is beginning and that means that strawberries are getting cheaper and more delicious each day. I love it! Of course I couldn’t say no, when I saw these babies at the farmers market. They looked so tiny and cute and tempting. So I bought a whole batch, went home and made some popsicles. And now my freezer is full of them. Good thing we are getting up to 30°C this weekend, I don´t think they will last very long to be honest.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can adapt it according to your taste and the season. Just switch strawberries for raspberries, blackberries, blueberries or a mix of different fruits. Add some syrup and you are good to go. Continue reading “Very berry strawberry popsicles”
My internship is over and that means that I am back home, enjoying the lazy life of a college student. It also means that I have a lot of free time at my hands and this time needs to be filled with cake and ice cream. Since the rhubarb season is almost over I knew that I had to get a hold of the last ones at the farmers market. There are probably a billion delicious rhubarb recipes out there but I wanted to make some syrup. That way I can enjoy rhubarb even when the season is over. I´ll just make myself a summer drink. With some syrup, soda or sparkling wine. And fresh mint and strawberries. Also essential: the balcony or the garden and sunshine! Did I mention that I absolutely love summer??
I know, I know, there have been quite a few muffin recipes on this blog lately. But I just had to share this one with you. We are talking about breakfast muffins. That´s right: dessert for breakfast. Plus, these are guilt-free healthy muffins. Meaning they are made without wheat flour and sugar. Say whaaat? It´s a crazy world we are living in.
Usually, I am a bit skeptical when it comes to super healthy vegan, gluten-, sugar- and fat free desserts. Don´t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of eating healthy. I have at least 5 different types of flour in my kitchen, I love whole grain bread more than anything and I can´t go to the farmers market without buying tons of fresh fruit and vegetables. But when it comes to dessert I was always more of a “the more the better” kind of person. Life is too short to not eat dessert. And the best cakes are just the ones made with tons of butter, cream and chocolate. Also most of the super-healthy-low-carb-sugar-free recipes require a lot of ingredients that are (a) hard to get and (b) kind of expensive. That being said, I was very interested when I saw the recipe for breakfast muffins over at Green Kitchen Stories. They are made of things you usually have at home or can easily find at the supermarket, like walnuts, oats, bananas and dates. And the combination sounded really great. So I decided to give this whole healthy-baking thing a try.
The result was AMAZING. The muffins are soft and fluffy and surprisingly very sweet. They taste like a mixture between granola, oatmeal and pancakes. So they really are perfect for breakfast. The original recipe is with turmeric and blueberries. I adapted it a little by using cinnamon instead of turmeric and adding raspberries. I also altered the granola topping by adding some caramelized walnuts. Because things are always better when caramelized!
Makes about 18 muffins:
100 g walnuts
85 g rolled oats
130 g buckwheat flour, spelt flour or whole grain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp freshly ground cardamom
½ tsp sea salt
160 ml buttermilk or plant yogurt
80 ml oil or butter
2 ripe bananas, mashed
5 fresh dates, mashed
3 large eggs
Raspberries, frozen or fresh
For the granola topping:
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp runny honey
1) Using a food processor or a blender, mix walnuts and oats into a coarse flour. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and mix with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. With a blender or a food processor, mix buttermilk, oil, bananas and dates. Mix with the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl for a minute before carefully adding them to the batter. Add raspberries.
2) Divide the batter among the muffin tins. For the granola topping, mix all the ingredients and let them caramelize in a pan. Add on top of the muffins. Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes at 180°C.
Yay for rhubarb! You might have noticed that I really really like rhubarb. Which is why it should be no surprise that I am presenting you another rhubarb-recipe today. I mean, you gotta take advantage of the season. Soon enough it´ll be time for strawberries, blackberries, raspberries…Gosh I love the fruits of summer!
I started my baking career with muffins. When I was younger I would get together with friends and we would get baking. And anytime there was a birthday, fundraiser or any other occasion that required sweet treats, I would make some muffins. The good thing about muffins is that you can adapt them according to season. All you need is a basic batter and from there you can add whatever you like best. The batter is important though. Over the years I learned from a lot of mistakes and by now I know some tricks to make the fluffiest muffins. First of all, prepare the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder…) and the wet ingredients (eggs, butter, milk…) separate from another before mixing them all together. Use buttermilk or yoghurt instead of milk, it makes the batter softer. Stir only until the ingredients are well mixed, don´t keep stirring, otherwise the muffins will become dry. You can also put a little bit of water into one muffin cup. This will cause more humidity while baking and the muffins will turn out soft and fluffy.
Using rhubarb for muffins is kind of a genius idea. To make the whole thing even better, I mixed some mascarpone, yoghurt and vanilla bean and added that as a topping. With just a hint of homemade jam, each one of these muffins tastes like heaven. Seriously!
Makes about 12 muffins:
200 g rhubarb
275 g flour
3 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. cinnamon
150 g sugar
1 egg
250 ml plain yoghurt or buttermilk
80 g butter
For the vanilla-frosting:
200 g plain yoghurt
200 g mascarpone
1 vanilla bean
50 g sugar
1) Wash the rhubarb and cut into little pieces. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix the egg, yoghurt and the melted butter. Add the flour mixture and rhubarb and mix well.
2) Place the batter into the muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven at 175° C for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely.
3) For the topping, mix yoghurt, mascarpone, sugar and the core of the vanilla bean using an electric mixer or a kitchen aid. Spread the topping generously on the muffins using a knife or a piping bag.
There are some dishes that just don´t taste right when using a different recipes or ordering them in a restaurant. For me, that is true for my mom’s lasagna, my dad´s pasta and this cheesecake. They are just such typical family recipes. I´ve tried different recipes but with what I knew from home in mind, I always ended up being disappointed. Therefore, when it comes to making any of these recipes, I just trust in the ones I have. They are foolproof. At least for me.
Holidays are great. I never really appreciated them, If you are a lazy college student like me, it doesn´t really make a difference if it´s Tuesday or Sunday. But since I have to get up early every day to get to my internship I am really thankful for weekends and days off. I am using this long weekend to sleep in and get busy in the kitchen. We are having a big brunch with the family and I wanted to make an Easter recipe. I wasn´t exactly sure what to make though, I am no expert when it comes to traditional Easter recipes. I did however had a huge craving for carrotcake-cupcakes. And if carrots are good enough for the Easter bunny, they sure are good enough for cupcakes. So here we go!
Technically I am kind of cheating with this recipe because I have posted it before. But I love it so much and didn´t want to try a different recipe and be disappointed afterwards. Plus, the cream cheese topping is perfect. I have to admit, I think cupcakes are super cute but sometimes they are just to sweet and sugary. I am not a huge fan of the traditional topping made with butter and sugar but everybody is different. Feel free to try a different topping with this recipe and let me know how it goes.
Makes about 24 cupcakes:
375 g carrots (about 4-5)
250 g flour
3 TL baking powder
275 g sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Salt
250 g butter
1/2 TL cinnamon
4 eggs
100 g chopped almonds
100 g ground almonds
1) First, peel the carrots and grate them finely on a grater. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter and the eggs. Finally add carrots and almonds. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
2) Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven at 175° for about 25 minutes. Let the cool completely before adding the topping.
For the topping:
200 g cream cheese
2 tbsp. cream
100 g powdered sugar
1) Mix cream cheese with the cream. Add powdered sugar and mix well with a mixer until you get a fluffy topping. Spread the topping generously on the cupcakes using a knife or a piping bag.
Continue reading “Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese topping”
Spring is here. The weather was so great last week, warm and sunny; it almost felt like the beginning of summer. Everything is blooming and blossoming, there are just so many colors everywhere. And I did manage to get a light sunburn just from a picnic in the park. Today was the first day where the weather was grey and rainy so I decided to get me some spring in a jar. With rhubarb-strawberry jam!
I love when rhubarb come in season. It´s a reminder that winter is really over and it means that all the other wonderful summer-fruits are soon in season. I knew I wanted to make something with rhubarb this weekend but I wasn´t quite sure what. The idea to make jam was pretty spontaneous and since rhubarb itself tends to be a bit sour, I decided to add some strawberries as well. Continue reading “Rhubarb-strawberry jam”
At the moment I am finding out what it means to be an adult. I´m doing an internship and that means getting up early. And being gone for most of the day. And not having that much time left for baking and even less desire to make something complex and fancy once I get home. Seriously, kudos to everyone who is blogging on top of their full time job! How do you manage that? I am already looking forward to the free time and flexibility college life offers.
In college I already noticed that I am not a huge canteen fan. Most of the ones at college do offer a great variety and try to be as fresh and organic as possible. And the one at my Internship is not bad either. I just prefer to cook at home or bring my own stuff to work. Before I started this internship I was imagining all the yummy things I would take to work but reality is me frantically searching for stuff to throw together the night before. Maybe I should reconsider the whole grown-up-responsibility-thing.
Sooo, here comes the birthday cake number two. Because March is the month where I get to live out all my cake making dreams. This one is a delicious strawberry cake with a lot of white chocolate and whipped cream. Oh, and a vanilla bean. Because vanilla beans make everything better. I know that strawberries are not really in season right now but what am I supposed to do when my sister dearly wants strawberries for her birthday? But if you wait until summer to make this cake, you won´t regret it. It´s delicious!
The recipe is a mixture of combining two recipes and adding my own ideas. I´ve tried both recipes before and both were really good. But each felt like there was a small thing missing. So I decided to take the best from both recipes and create something new. The result was perfect! I used the dough from the German recipe because I love sponge cake (is that really the correct translation?). Anyway, here in Germany, cakes are usually made with a dough called “Biskuit” which is really soft and fluffy. I´ve tried other recipes that used a rather normal cake dough for the layering and they were good but just a bit to firm and stiff for me. Then I added a lot of strawberries, mascarpone, whipped cream and white chocolate. The best thing about the white chocolate decoration is that you don´t have to worry about messing up the frosting of the cake. Just add little pieces of white chocolate and everybody will think you´re a cake-decorating expert.
March is a good month. Mostly because three out of the six family members celebrate their birthday in March and you know what that means right? Cake! Lots of it. When I was younger, my mom would always make our traditional birthday cake with lots of chocolate and M&Ms on top. But when my baking addiction kicked in it was my responsibility to make something special for each birthday boy or girl. And since my brother loves Oreo cookies, it was obvious that I had to make something involving chocolate and Oreos.
I´ve tried different recipes for Oreo cakes before. If found this recipe in the new edition of Sweet Paul and I knew I just had to try it. It was similar to the recipes I´ve made before but just a little bit fancier. And as you can see, the result was stunning. Doesn´t it look beautiful? Well, I have to admit that the cake only lasted that way for 10 Minutes. Then, as I was trying to get a good picture, the background collapsed and smashed half of the cake. It was a bit cricked afterwards and since I didn´t have much frosting left, the end result looked a bit different from what I am presenting to you. Oh well, nobody´s perfect. It still tasted great!
I think there are two very different persons living inside me. One is the inner fat kid that is constantly craving for cookies, cake and ice cream. The other one is a health-junkie, obsessed with fresh and healthy food. If I eat to much cake, bread and pizza, my body desperetaly longs for salad and vegetables. If I try to stick to an all-healthy diet, my body wants cake. The two balance each other out I guess. The health junkie in me makes sure I eat well and take care of myself. The inner fat kid helps me not to take everything to seriously and enjoy life and sugar every once in a while. Maybe it´s not the worst system after all.
So since I can´t be living off of cookies and cupcakes, my daily cooking consists of a lot of salad (technically speaking…is that even cooking?) Anyway, I love salad. I tried a bunch of different recipes and ingredients throughout the years and at the moment, my all time favourite ingredients for salad are avocado, tomatoes, green onion and feta cheese. These are the basics for almost all of my salads and from there I start adding things I like, like nuts, chickpeas, cucumber or corn.
There is an old German fairytale about the “Schlaraffenland” which, according to my dictionary, can be translated into the land of milk and honey. It´s a land where laziness and relaxation are the biggest virtues. Nobody works, the food falls from the sky or grows on trees and instead of water, the rivers carry milk and honey. When I was a kid I always wanted to got there. Not because I was so lazy or obsessed with food (well actually…I always loved food) but because, in order to get there you have to eat your way through a mountain of semolina pudding. A whole mountain! of semolina pudding!!!. I love semolina. Unfortunately, my family was more into rice pudding and I´ve never met someone who is as crazy about semolina as I am. To be honest, I don´t even know if the concept of semolina pudding is known outside of Germany. I know about Polenta in Italy but that is not the same. And of all the countries I have lived in, none had a huge tradition or even knew about semolina pudding. So I´d love to get some feedback…any other countries out there who experiment with different semolina recipes? In Germany it is well known and a typical dish from your childhood. I´ve always loved it more than rice pudding and when a couple of years ago someone introduced me to semolina mousse I was hooked! Since then it has been my all time favourite dessert!
Anybody who might be a bit skeptical about this recipe now…try it! It´s so fluffy and sweet and creamy and just…amazing. Trust me on this one.
Do you know Churros? Of course you do, they are the best. They are fried, sugared deliciousness dipped in chocolate sauce. Kind of like the best idea ever!
I know that churros are not exclusively Mexican. I´ve had them in Spain (which I think is where they originally come from but correct me when I´m wrong) and I know that many countries in Latin America have them. But you can get them pretty much everywhere in Mexico so this recipe will mark the end of our little virtual trip.
I really don´t know anyone who doesn´t like churros. How could you not? They are fried (!) and dipped in sugar (!!) and hot chocolate (!!!)! Well you get the point! I´ve bought them in the streets of Mexico or in a little Spanish Café and they could instantly put me in a better mood. It is actually quite easy to make homemade churros. All you need is some flour, oil, water and chocolate and you are good to go. So let´s do this!
I am back! Sorry it took so long but you know…finals and stuff. But now I finally got time for some cooking and we are continuing with the Mexican theme. It´s time for Tacos! I love Tacos and they are even better if you make everything yourself. What I like so much about them is that it´s really fun to prepare them with friends or family. Just get your favourite people together, get everybody busy in the kitchen and in the end everybody is full and happy. And because you can prepare them however you like, there is enough freedom of choice for everyone. It´s a win-win-situation. (Especially when your visitors will help you clean up the mess later).
Like I promised, this post is all about Mexican food. We are starting our Mexican weeks with tortilla soup. Which can be seen as an equivalent to the noodle soup we know here in Germany. I love soups, but eating the same recipes over and over again can be a bit tiring. That is why I am always excited to try something different. Like coconut soup. But back to our little trip to Mexico. This soup contains basically most of the important ingredients of the Mexican cuisine – garlic, tomatoes, chili, avocado, tortillas and cilantro. The combination might sound a bit weird but I promise, it tastes great. And it is also very filling. Perfect for dinner after a long, stressful day.
The recipe itself is not very complicated and the true definition of soulfood. The onions are steamed for at least 10 minutes before adding garlic and polenta and even after adding canned tomatoes the soup needs to cook for another 15 minutes. It is one of those recipes that take time but at the same time it is very relaxing. And besides, is there anything better than the smell of steamed onions and garlic? I love it. No matter how bad of a mood I might be in, as soon as I come home and start cooking, this smell makes everything better.
The New Year starts with reminiscence of the past: my trip to Mexico in summer 2010. My sister spent one year there as an exchange student and at the end of it my family and I went to pick her up. I did get to visit here before in December 2009 but that didn´t stop me from going again. And thanks to my travel experiences made in Costa Rica it was my job to organize the trip (not always met with huge enthusiasm on part of my family, when once again I woke them up before dawn so that we could visit the pyramids at sunrise and without millions of tourists around us – totally worth it!).
Mexico is a great country! My sister and I had the privilege to spend some time living in Central America (she in Mexico, I in Costa Rica) but even though some things regarding culture and climate are quite similar, a lot of things are very different as well. Mexico is a lot bigger and offers much when it comes to nature and cultural sites. Especially the pyramids which you can find almost anywhere in Mexico – good luck finding one in Costa Rica. Continue reading “Mexico 2010”
Christmas is over, the New Year is just beginning and I am still full from all the food I ate. But it was all worth it, it was just so good. And once a year it is perfectly okay to eat until you can´t move no more. We can start counting calories again when summer starts. If it was up to me, I would still try to avoid any cookies, cake or other sweets but since I am taking part in a baking challenge, I had no other choice but to get back in the kitchen and start getting creative.
The challenge consists of me going to the Metro Warehouse and picking up the ingredients they provided for me. I have to use everything they gave me, leaving something out is strictly forbidden. I can however add anything I like and I don´t have to use all the ingredients in only one recipe. The Ingredients were whole grain flour, cane sugar, olive oil, butter, soft cheese, cranberries, marzipan, mango puree, cream cheese, pretzel sticks, chocolate-espresso-spread and mustard.
Finally, it´s Christmas time. Like almost everybody, I am spending Christmas with my family at my parents house and everybody is busy preparing. When it comes to Christmas dinner, we are very traditional, it´s usually the same every year. But I am responsible for the dessert so technically, I can get creative. In reality, there is always this huge demand for panna cotta. But since it´s about giving joy and making other people happy, this years (and last years aswell) dessert is panna cotta. And because it is winter, I am making it with pomegranates. Yumm!
I found the inspiration for this recipe on this wonderful blog. Just the colourful combination makes the dessert look spectacular. So I decided to combine the idea with my own favourite panna cotta recipe, add some homemade pomegranate syrup and voilá…there you have the perfect Christmas dessert.
If you are in any way like me, you´re probably buying your Christmas presents on the 24th. If I don´t have an idea right away it just takes me forever to come up with something good for a present. Procrastinators unite! Besides, Christmas always happens so suddenly. Who has time to prepare??
This year I am kind of proud of myself. I at least have ideas for everyone. And most of these ideas come out of my kitchen. I think homemade presents are the best and I found a couple recipes that I think are just great. So for anyone who is still searching for the perfect Christmas gift: Here are three cool and easy things you could make for your loved ones.
The first one includes alcohol. Vodka to be exact. I am more of a tequila person but I just had to try this recipe. Pomegranate-vanilla-vodka. Sounds good right? It´s really easy to make, you just have to be patient because the vodka needs to be stored in a cool place for about 2 weeks, so the sugar can dissolve properly. Well…you still got a week until Christmas eve…you might make it.
Continue reading “Do it yourself presents for your loved ones”
It feels more and more like Christmas. It´s getting colder every day, the Christmas lights are up, everybody is decorating and I´ve already had my first stroll over the Christmas Market. It hasn´t really snown yet (at least the snow is not staysing) but I am ceeping my fingers crossed. Untill then I am passing the time in my little kitchen, whipping up more Christmas cookies. This time: Vanillekipfer. After Zimtsterne, these are my favourites. I tried a different recipe this time, instead of the one I usually use. And they came out absolutely delicious. I should have known though, after reading that the dough requires four vanilla beans. Yummie!
