Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Eggnog, a yummy treat for Christmas

At home we have the tradition to decorate the Christmas tree on the night of the 23rd of December and drink Glühwein (mulled wine) while we're doing so.

Since it's very hard to find Glühwein in Australia we opted for a change of tradition and made some eggnog last night while we were decorating the tree. 
Super creamy and yummy and tastes Christmassy! 


Sunday, December 22, 2013

Gingerbread Men Garland - an edible Christmas decoration

This year is going way too fast... When I arrived in Australia in October I thought I had a lot of time before Christmas but now it seems like the last two months just passed in a blur...

I'm mostly giving away home-made gifts this year, when I found this cute idea in the current Donna Hay magazine I thought it's worth giving it a go since I had never made gingerbread before and they worked out reallly well! 


Thursday, November 21, 2013

From the other side of the world with scrumptious scones

Oh dear, I feel really bad. My last post was written months ago and maybe some of you thought I had lost interest, but no! I'm back! Over the last few months I have been busy sorting through my apartment and packing boxes to move to the other side of the world.


I arrived in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia) about a month ago and I'm settling in well. For those of you who don't know where Tassie is, I found a little map for you.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

A parcel from my kitchen for a fellow blogger...

Once upon a time, three German bloggers came up with the idea how lovely it would be if all the bloggers and kitchen goddesses in Germany would create a parcel every few months and exchanged that with one another - Post aus meiner Küche (A Parcel from my kitchen) was born. It's always a different theme and this time it was "It tastes better when eaten together" since the 30th July was the International Friendship Day and I met my lovely exchange partner exactly on that day to not just swap parcels, but to actually eat them together.




I had packed different little things in my parcel for Gesa and her little daughter.
It consisted of antipasti, redcurrant cupcakes,creamy rice pudding with cherries and lemon curd.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Chocolate Malheur with a caramel centre - A quick and easy way to get a chocolate fix... maybe too easy!

It's been a while since my last post even though I have been baking, cooking and trying some delicious things in the past weeks! But I had a special visitor from Down Under and was on holidays, so the posts are coming in a bit delayed now! 



As I said, my boyfriend visited from Australia, we met in Paris and came back to Germany so I could show him my country. In Paris we did try some delicious food, but being back in Hamburg meant we could cook together again. He was in charge of the main course (Salat and chicken, perfect summer meal) and I was making dessert, which meant I could finally try the book (sorry, seems it's only available in German) Zum Dahinschmelzen - Kleine Kuchen mit flüssigem Kern which has been standing in my bookshelf for a while but I never had the chance to make anything.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Green, green, green - Chocolate Espresso Cake with Salted Caramel Filling

I wrote a post about lots of green cupcakes with a bit of glitter the other day and I've been wanting to write another post that is about something green. To quickly tell the story again, my friend had invited me to her birthday party which was themed "green" and I had offered to bring something. 


She took me up on that offer and asked if I could make cupcakes. As a suprise for her and her flatmate I decided to make this cake, which I had found on "The Culinary Trial", which looked soooo delicious that I had been waiting to find a good occasion. Maike from the Culinary Trial got the recipe from Steph of "Kleiner Kuriositätenladen" and changed it a bit and I changed it a little bit again. (Unfortunately both blogs are in German...).

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Delicious, little strawberry tartlettes with vanilla custard - Sarah Wiener


Different reasons have led to this post:

1. I had a punnet of strawberries that needed to be eaten
2. I haven't baked in over a week! 
3. A friend from France, who used to sit in the same office as us, is visiting our office and she doesn't get to try my baking too often but I know she likes my cakes
5. Since I'm moving to Australia in October I've made the decision to only take those cook books, that I actually use. 



Now that I've listed my very plausible reasons for this cake I have to admit that I only bought this book about two weeks ago but again I had a reason for buying this. Sarah Wiener, a chef from Vienna, now based in Berlin, used to be our neighbour and I think therefore she is a bit of a must-be-idol for me. And when I flicked through the book the food looked very yummy! So this one is definitely moving down under with me! Unfortunately, I think the book is only available in German so far.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Strawberry Meringue Cake - perfect for a hot summer day

The temperatures in Hamburg reached almost Australian levels today, I'm loving the heat! Finally a little bit of summer! This strawberry meringue cake is perfect for a hot summer's day. The combination of strawberry and cream is nothing new, but this cake always tastes really, really good!


My mother makes this cake for my sister's birthday every year, for some reason my sister usually manages to visit my parents shortly after her birthday to get her cake! I need to remember to do that for my next birthday too...

Monday, June 17, 2013

Green, green, green - Vanilla Cupcakes with green topping

This weekend I was invited to some friends' party which was themed "A hint of green". Thankfully Saint Peter was in a good mood and the weather was fairly good, as the party was supposed to happen in my friends' backyard and they were expecting over 100 guests! I offered my help to my friend H. who said cupcakes would be great as they always look so cute and are easy enough to eat.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Elbe Flood Cake Part 2: Cherry Cup-Cake

Since I did a post about the Elbe Flood Cake Part 1, there obvisouly had to be a part 2. And not only that, but the helpers also needed feeding on the second day, Sunday. 


This time there was also an extra little challenge, a power box located in our front yard was starting to get flooded too and a guy from the electricity company was on his way to my parents place to check it out. Usually they turn the power off pretty quickly in a situation like this, so we needed to act quick! 

This time I made a cup-cake, a recipe my mother used to make quite a lot when I was growing up. It's quick, easy and yummy. We changed it a little bit this time, added cherries and crumble instead of a layer of almonds and honey. 

Monday, June 10, 2013

Elbe Flood Cake Part 1: Apricot Crumble Cake

Some of you international people might have heard that parts of Europe, including 
Germany have been suffering under severe floods. I'm based in Hamburg but my parents live on a farm directly next to the Elbe river. 



The water level was rising for several days, until it reached its peak on Friday. All week we had all kept an eye on the levels and my parents seemed to be doing ok, given that they had the help of lots of people, firemen, army, SES, etc. However on Friday my parents said every helping hand would be good as it started to look critical. I arrived at my parents and it looked, well, wet. The backyard was flooded, there was a huge "lake" behind our house and the fields were flooded as well. On Saturday the groundwater had reached our basement which meant regular shoveling of water. 

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Donna Hay's Rhubarb Dumplings

If you're looking for a quick and easy weeknight dessert then this will be perfect! This recipe combines two great things: A Donna Hay recipe and rhubarb. Rhubarb season is coming to an end in Germany but I still had a bunch of it lying in my fridge and I wanted to try something new. Last night I was looking through "Seasons" by Donna Hay and I came across this recipe.


It's part of Donna's winter section, as Australians seem to prefer to eat rhubarb in winter, anyway, I thought this can also be eaten in summer. Maybe not on a thirty degree hot day, but certainly on a German summer day. The vanilla dumpling tastes devine in combination with the rhubarb compote, you could probably also add some cream or ice cream but it tastes awesome just by itself!

Sunday, June 02, 2013

Chocolate Caramel Tartlettes with Salt Flakes

My birthday was over a month ago and as I've told you before I made a big birthday spread at the office. One of my colleagues wasn' there and when she looked through my photos she suggested I should make the chocolate caramel tartlettes again.


Since I hadn't baked anything this weekend, I thought it was a great idea, plus this particular colleague deserves a treat! Another reason for making these is that I did promise to post recipes of the things I made for my birthday.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Donna Hay's Sticky Cinnamon Buns

I have mentioned before that my best friend in Australia gave me an iPad subscription for the Donna Hay Magazine, so every two months I now get a fresh copy of it! I love it, the actual copy usually only comes out a lot later (if at all) in Germany and not even every other month.


This issue is all about autumn and winter as it's getting colder in Australia, but since it's still kind of cool in Germany I thought I might as well try something that I would usually make in autumn.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

My first ever cheesecake... Raspberry Cheesecake

It was pretty late that I found out about my love of cheesecake, I reckon one of the best is still the first one I had at boarding school in Ireland, creamy goodness on a layer of cookie crumbs. In any case, I've liked cheesecake ever since but I've never actually tried making one... 



The other day I was flicking through a German cooking magazine (essen & trinken 3/2013) that I have a monthly subscription for and came across a recipe that Lufthansa serve in their Business Class. For those of you who've been following me for a while might have noticed that I love raspberries so when I saw this cake I thought it was pretty perfect for a first attempt cake.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Rhubarb and raspberry crumble with a hint of rose water and almonds

Usually I associate crumbles with winter, when the delicious smells of apples and cinnamon waft through my apartment and you can snuggle up on the couch with a bowl of crumble.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

World Baking Day - Bake Brave - Crunchy Strawberry Cake


Today is World Baking Day and luckily enough it fell on a weekend and even on a long weekend which meant I could go home to see my folks and have enough people to polish off a cake like this one!



When I saw Marcus' Crunchy Strawberry Chocolate Cake for the first time a few weeks ago I knew I had to make it! I love strawberries, I love chocolate cake and I love whipped cream so this cake fit my preferences almost perfectly! 
Banner World Baking Day 2013

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Australian Blogevent: Sausage Rolls & Party Pies


Tonight I had to do some speed cooking: a few days ago I stumpled upon a (German) blogevent on the topic of Australian cooking. For those of you who know me will know that Australia plays a very big role in my life! 









For those of you who don't know me so well, I had the chance to live down under for three and a half years due to my job. I spent the first year and a half in Hobart, Tasmania and then moved to Melbourne, where I spent another two years. As Tasmania only has very few Germans I made a lot of great Australian friends who showed the Australian way of live! The friends I made down there are some of the closest I have, even though they are to far away! But I still try to fly down for a visit once a year.

8 Jahre Blog-Event - Down Under im kochtopf plus Verlosung (Einsendeschluss 15. Mai 2013)

Sunday, May 12, 2013

A Leprechaun says Happy Birthday

I have to say, I'm a little proud of how this cake has turned out. My friend Katharina asked me if I could make a cake for her mother's birthday this weekend. Her mom is Irish so she wanted something typically Irish. Katharina and I have known each other since boarding school in Ireland so of course I said yes. She had already a cake in mind that she had seen on the internet (here) and for some reason she must have had a lot of confidence in me. Thank you Katzi for that, without your optimism I would never have attempted something like this! 

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Banoffee Pie

For those of you who have never tried a banoffee pie before - you have definitely missed out on something divine!!


I was inspired to make this cake after I had a slice of it during my recet trip to Ireland. Banoffee pie was what we used to have during our afternoons off when I used to go to school in Ireland.

Friday, May 03, 2013

Cupcakes with raspberry buttercream

I did promise to post the recipes I made for my big birthday spread and I thought I'd start with an easy one: Cupcakes with raspberry buttercream.




It's not for someone counting calories but hey, they taste great!

Ingredients for 24 cupcakes:
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 dash of vanilla extract
1 cup milk 

abt 48 frozen (or fresh) raspberries

Sunday, April 28, 2013

French Apple Tart



This is probably one of my favourite cakes, it's simple but it never fails to amaze with it's sweet and comforting taste of apples and vanilla.
I learned how to make it in a cooking class with the amazing Diane Holuigue in Melbourne.


The pastry:
100g butter, softened
200g plain flour
1 egg yolk
2,3, or 4 tablespoons sugar, the more sugar you add the crunchier the pastry will become, but it also gets harder to roll out.
Approx. 3 tablespoons water (less or non if you make the pastry in a food processor)


The filling:
2-3 apples (e.g Granny Smith)
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons caster sugar
1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
300ml cream at 35% milk fat
a solid dash of vanilla extract


Food processor method: (Never the electric mixer, which toughens terribly). Process the dry ingredients in the bowl first, then add the egg yolk and butter. On a hot day, with soft butter, you may succeed without water, but a little water makes it easier to roll. Add the water (less than in the usual recipe) slowly down the funnel until the pastry balls above the blades of the processor. Processor pastry needs longer resting in the fridge to roll successfully. It is possible to increase the butter content up to 120g.

When ready to bake, roll out and line a tart mold with the rolled pastry, poke a few times with a fork. No need to blind bake though.


The Filling:
Cut the apples into thick segments (each apple in about 8 pieces). Lay these in the base of the tart mold. In a bowl mix together the egg yolks and sugar, then the flour, then whisk in the cream and pour over the apples. Bake the tart in a 180°C oven until set and golden coloured (about 25-30 minutes), then remove and cool on a cake rack.

Serve at room temperature, sprinkled with icing sugar at the last moment.



Friday, April 26, 2013

The big birthday spread


It was my birthday this week and since my colleagues are used to me baking every now and then I feel like I have to go all out for my birthday. I spent the two nights prior to my birthday baking and preparing.

I had prepared :

- Brownies with raspberry
- Cupcakes with raspberry buttercream, 
- three different kinds of cakepops, 
- "Mini-Gugl" with almond and honey that I had read about on Backbube
- Chocolate and caramel tartelettes with fleur de sel that Maike from The Culinary Trial blogged about 
- a vegetarian quiche with sundried tomatoes, feta and basil 
- and a quiche with ham and chives.


Monday, April 22, 2013

Breakfast at Kilkenny Café and Restaurant, Dublin


Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting my old school in Ireland again. It was the first time I had been back since 2002 and it was so great to still see some familiar faces around and especially to see that not too much has changed. But don’t worry; this post won’t be about school food!

We were staying in Dublin and were looking for a place to have breakfast at. Not knowing where to go we consulted tripadvisor and came across a café called “Kilkenny”. It’s located near the prestigious Trinity College on Nassau Street.

View of Trinity College from the Café

Monday, April 15, 2013

Pop-up sales event

This weekend I had a stall at a pop-up sales event that a friend had organised.


I decided on two different cakes, chocolate and vanilla, and five different toppings: chocolate, cappuccino, tiramisu, raspberry and mascarpone and cream with blueberries.



Friday, April 12, 2013

Our Easter Breakfast

Usually, all of us kids come home for Easter, just like Christmas it's one of the few times in the year, where we all get together. Unfortunately this year, one of my sisters was missing as she was lucky enough to be traveling! We had a long great breakfast, with a "Quark - Horseradish -Terrine", lots of eggs, Champagne, sugar cookies and cakepops!








... and another Easter cake!

This is the last Easter cake for this year, I promise!, whereas the other two were presents, this one was actually for my family. My parents live in the country side and even though we don't have chickens I thoght it ought to make an apperance on the cake (we actually used to own some sheep though). I wanted to surprise my family with our three dogs on the cake, my sister helped me make them. And to my mothers disgust we hid some fondant-dog poo in between the carrots... 

The cake was a dark chocolate mudcake filled with vanilla buttercream.





Veggie Patch Easter cake

I didn't actually bake this cake, my mum did, but my sister and I got to make the decorations.

The cake was a carrot cake with a lemon filling. Very nice!!



Raspberry Cupcakes

My very first attempt of making a topping that looks like a rose. I used just plain vanilla cupcakes and the topping was buttercreme with raspberry puree. 

To make the rose like topping I used a Wilton #1M nozil and worked my way from the inside out of the cupcake.

At the end I sprinkled a little bit of glitter on top, just to make them look even more girly! 





Easter cookies

I've always wanted to try Royal Icing so I used Easter as an excuse to make these little cuties







Wednesday, April 03, 2013

My first Easter cake

This year Easter feels more like Christmas, but maybe that's because the last Christmas felt more like Easter, at least if you look at the temperatures... I think for Christmas we got up to 12°C whereas for Easter this year we got snow every day! It's a bit crazy, but I actually didn't mind the weather, at least it's not raining...

I went home for Easter, but my grandmother who lives too far away from my parents home couldn't make it and spend Easter at home. So I decided I should make her a little cake that is easy enough to send by post.

I made a chocolate mud cake and added some cognac for some flavouring. The cake was filled with buttercream mixed with lemon curd.

My sister helped me decorate, I think she never used to understand why I like baking so much, but now she really enjoyed clouring fondant and making flowers!


I wrapped the cake tightly in aluminium foil and it actually arrived in one piece with everything in place!!