Blog Review of 2024

Yay, it is time to do a blog review. I am participating in the German initiation by Sabrina and Steffen fron the German blog Feedmeupbeforeyougogo. The idea is to answer eight question and to review what you did in 2024 as a food blogger. I already participated in previous years and I am happy to oblige this year again. So let’s get started.

#1 What was your most successful blog post in 2024?

As in previous years, these delicious brownie cookies. Honestly, I am super happy that by now the recipe has been visited more than half a million times, however, it does get a bit boring. For that reason I am more excited about the fact that this simple apricot sheet cake was visited thousands of times within a few days and made it to number 5. I am considering making that recipe with apples for winter. Maybe I will publish a recipe shortly. I am also amazed and happy that a lot of articles giving tips and tricks are among the top 10. One example is 12 tips for perfect sponge batter (ranking as number 4 in 2024). Another is How to make flowers with buttercream (number 9 in 2024). It seems to be apparent that I come from a family of teachers. Parents, sister, cousins, you name it. I seem to have a teaching gene even though I refused to study to become a regular teacher. However, I have to admit that I love teaching and showing people how to improve. I am very motivated to publish further tips on how to improve certain baking areas. That’s what it is all about, right?

Quick and easy apricot sheet cake

#2 Which three of your own blog articles from this year meant the most to you personally?

I will talk about classic apple strudel below, so I will focus on these three:

This simple sour cream cake was a revelation for me, I didn’t even know about its existence. One reader mentioned it, I got curious and asked, and in the end she graciously passed on a recipe to me. Think German cheesecake with a cinnamon crust. It is hard to describe. I loved it. Guess what, apparently everybody loved it, because I was asked to make it for a birthday, which I happily did. I mean, even I enjoy it even though I am not that much into cheesecakes.

Vareniki, dumplings with farmer’s cheese

The second recipe has emotional value for me. I found it in the little recipe booklet my grandma passed on to me. Vareniki are dumplings, which were widely made in the former Soviet Union. My grandma was born in Odessa, Ukraine and often provided these to us, I loved them. I am so grateful she wrote down this recipe. Many recipes were lost because she knew them by heart and didn’t think of writing them down, but this one she did. I feel so blessed.

The third recipe was published on my seventh blog anniversary and is from Argentina: torta Balcarce. This elegant cake contains the caramel dulce de leche, some sponge cakes, whipping cream, meringue and nuts. It looks amazing and tastes even better. I have been asked to make it for several occasions. My hubby declared that this should have been our wedding cake… Well, I think that sums it up nicely.

#3 And which three from other blogs have inspired you the most?

I do follow quite a few blogs, however, I got most inspiration from Instagram this time. Naturally, I follow a few people from Argentina and Uruguay. For example, Osvaldo Gros is an Argentinian pastry maker who shares a lot of traditional Argentinian recipes. I made this Argentinian apple bread cake called tarantella de manzana according to him. Another is Isabel Vermal, also from Argentina who has a lot of different alfajores. From her I made my favorite cookie, which is a chocolate sandwich cookie with caramel filling or alfajores marplatenses. A Uruguayan I follow called Vane Fernandez has a lot of doughs. I made the typical rolls/buns widely eaten in Uruguay named pan marsellés according to her recipe. Maybe this is just my impression, but in Latin America there seem to be many more cooks on Tiktok, Instagram, and Youtube. It is easier to explain recipes orally and by video than to write them down. At least this is my explanation. I find it a wonderful challenge to watch these videos and write them down.

#4 Which of the recipes you published in 2024 have you cooked the most yourself – and why?

#5 What cooking or blogging problem occupied you in 2024? And did you solve it?

I am going to answer number #4 and #5 together this time. I don’t really know why but for some reason strudel dough, homemade strudel dough was on my brain a lot. Yes, I had made a few beforehand, but one day I came accross the account from the Austrian Astrid, which is called Austriancravings. If there is one thing Astrid is good at, it is stretching out strudel dough. This reel  from her has been watched more than 41 (!) million times. She stretched her strudel dough so thin, her gigantic dinner table is covered. Of course I wanted to achieve the same. So you can imagine that I was super happy when I learned that she offers online strudel classes. Since she lives on the west coast in the US, it took a while before I found some matching times. One Saturday I got up at 7am in the morning, still sick, but happy to attend her online class. It definitely was worth the sacrifice, I did manage to stretch out my dough very thin, see the picture. Since taking that class I have made strudel countless times, I had to practice of course. Everybody got strudel from me, colleagues, family, friends, heck, I even made strudel for my parents in law for Christmas. Of course I have the recipe on the blog, you will find classic apple strudel here. What I learned from this experience? That stretching the dough is easier than expected, but that the dough has to rest a million times so be sure to start one or two days in advance. But if you like the ratio of dough vs. filling (in my opinion it does not get any better), then strudel is something for you.

Finally my strudel dough is stretched thin, I am so proud!

The final result, finde the recipe for classic apple strudel here

#6 What was your biggest culinary discovery this year – which food, recipe, kitchen technique, or flavor opened up a completely new world for you?

Can somebody explain to me all the craze about Dubai chocolate? What is it that suddenly anything and everything,  be it croissants, muffins, cinnamon rolls, everything has to be made “Dubai”.  I do like the flavor of pistachios, but come on! The other day I went to the grocerys tore Edeka and saw that one bar of Dubai chocolate cost EUR 19. Seriously? Nah, this is not for me, thanks. You will not find anything Dubai on the blog, sorry and this is not going to change in the forseeable future.

#7 What was the best (or funniest) search term through which visitors found your blog?

I don’t have anything funny or weird to offer, some questions were “can you use white cornmeal for Colombian empanadas?” (Yes, you can, find my recipe for Colombian empanadas here), or “arepa recipe grams” (I have a few arepa recipes on the blog, you will find the basic recipe  with weight measurements here). What I find interesting is that many ask questions, such as “How to make sponge batter?”, or “how to decorate a cake for Christmas“.  This brings me back to the question #1 from above. I have planned articles with further tips and tricks for 2025. Happy to pass on my baking knowledge.

#8 What do you wish for yourself and your blog in 2025?

I guess I sound like a broken record, but I am happy to be in touch with readers. The advantage of a blog is that you can get in contact with people. I am not a cookbook that is silent paper, instead you can reach out to me and fire away with whatever question you have. I will do my very best to answer all the questions you have along the way. Sometimes I wish people would do this more often. On the other hand, I wonder why people need to leave snarky and unwanted comments on the blog. I mean, I am offering recipes for free on the Internet, if the recipe is not to your liking, just go away. I honestly sometimes wonder. I don’t think it helps anyone, you won’t be happy and I won’t be happy if you lecture me on the fact that my recipe is wrong and only you know how it is supposed to be done. Just leave me in peace and don’t return. On the other hand, if you have a genuine question, I am happy to help, leave a comment under the respective recipe, contact me on Instagram, Facebook oder via email. I don’t bite and yes, I also experience failure.

Ok, I am a weirdo, but I decided to add another question to the list, because I would like to share this with you:

#9 Have you experienced anything funny, strange or crazy with your blog in 2024?

My website was down for a few days (I hated it so much and had countless phone calls with my host provider), but what I want to focus on instead is the encounters I had throughout this year. I definitely want to mention the couple that went out of their way to get me a specific Colombian cookbook. It even made a detour through Argentina before it reached me. Funnily enough they live in Munich, not far away, but you can read all the details in this blog post. One reader got all nervous because she made the wedding cake for a friend, I borrowed my cake ring to her and was with her all along the way. Another mom touched my heart when she said that she simply didn’t have time baking Christmas cookies, so I shipped some I had made to her. It melted my heart when she sent pics with the children covered in chocolate cookies. Or a dear friend of mine who revealed that her dad was dying. Man, it hurt so much, but I was glad I had made her a batch of cookies to comfort her just a little bit. As in previous years, I organized a virtual cookie class with my colleagues. I was the teacher and we all made the recipe at the same time at home via Microsoft Teams. It was so funny to watch colleagues in such a different environment, there were a few children taking part and sometimes husbands popping in asking what we were making. One participant thanked me later, she never made cookies from scratch and was so proud she could serve some to her guests shortly after. This is what I am in for, all these encounters and stories. I plan on continuing this blog in 2025, I already have a lot of ideas. The good thing is that this is my hobby, I don’t depend on numbers, hits, and clicks, I can simply do as I please. If you have some ideas as well, feel free to reach out. So long and until 2025!

Cookie plate with the cookies I made during the virtual cookie class with my colleagues