Can I confess something? I am not a huge fan of German cheesecake known as Käsekuchen and usually prepared with a large part of quark. American cheesecake, on the other hand? Say no more, happy to have a large helping or even two. Confessing this as a German is close to committing a crime. But I can’t help myself. Probably because I don’t like quark. I mean, I do like quark in many things, but not necessarily in a cheesecake. I think I like the creaminess of cream cheese, quark on the other hand? Not so sure. I also like the fact that cheesecake is often served with a sauce. Well, as a huge fan of anything fruity, I am all in!
Are you in the mood for super fluffy buns that are big and bold and taste like brioche kissed by chocolate chips? Then look no further, these chocolate chip buns are for you. They can be served as they are, but will also taste amazing with some butter. I am sure that this will be a huge hit for any breakfast table.
Wow, guys, really? 85% of you said on Insta that you want another pan de bono recipe on the blog. So I will happily oblige. Below version is made with Russian tvorog, which is a cream cheese also available here in Germany. My Colombian hubby says this is the closest I have gotten to the Colombian original, so I will take this as a huge win. Believe me, I have made probably thousands of pan de bonos by now, I have tried so many different cheeses, I have used mozzarella, and feta, I used queso de Burgos in Spain and a cheese called “Schichtkäse” here in Germany. Now we will turn to tvorog as this seems to be pretty close to the Colombian “queso costeño”, which is used originally.
If you know me, it won’t come as a surprise that I am a huge fan of any type of chocolate chip cookie. I tried so many different recipes before I finally settled on this recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The below recipe contains whisky or bourbon, and also includes rye flour and rolled oats. It is only a distant relative of the original, but be it as it may, these cookies are extremely delicious. You will definitely taste the whisky flavor, but it is not too dominant. The only downside is that you definitely need to chill these cookies as otherwise you will not get a lot of whisky flavor. Best is 24 hours or overnight.
Have you every heard of “alfajores”? These are sandwich cookies that are usually filled with the caramel cream called dulce de leche. They originally stem from Andalucia in Spain, but have become extremely popular in Uruguay and Argentina. Supposedly about 10 million (!) alfajores are sold each day in Argentina in 2023. The “original” is usually made with flour and cornstarch and creates this nice crunchy texture, however, my version below contains flour and almonds instead. The classic alfajor is usually rolled in coconut flakes, however, I will used chopped almonds for this version.
If it were for me, we could skip Halloween all together and dive right into Christmas season. Do you also feel that way? For me fall is perfect for a nice cookie, they are simply comfort food for me, cozy and simple. I remembered that I have a wonderful chocolate cookie on the blog with a caramel center. So I decided to revisit the recipe and tweak it a little bit. I mean, I originally published the recipe in 2017 and I do have a bit more baking experience under my belt. You won’t believe how many cookies I have baked in the last seven years as a pronounced cookie monster. The below recipe has a slightly lower amount of butter and chocolate chunks and I also decided to make them a bit smaller. Also, I decided to sprinkle the cookies with sea salt after baking. Seriously, it took nothing for the cookies to disappear and I need to make more again…
This is a German recipe from the south, this is a simple sour cream cake. It was passed down by a reader, I didn’t even know of its existence and had to do some research. I learned that this can be classified as a cheesecake. It is made with sour cream containing 10% fat and heavy cream. What I like about this cake is several things. Number 1 being, it does not need a waterbath. Number 2: despite the fact that it is baked at a relatively high temperature, it does not crack easily. Number 3: as it uses this mild sour cream, it is not a tangy as some other German cheesecakes, it is slightly milder in taste. So will these reasons mean that you give it a try?
Finally I got to make one iconic dish from the US, cinnamon rolls or cinnamon buns. Yes, I have made them before, but not the classic and traditional version with cream cheese frosting. But finally I got round to it and made the full deal, no extras, but also no substitutions. These are very moist and fluffy cinnamon rolls, we will need to make a tangzhong, which means boiling flour, water and milk, so that the flour can gelatinize. This will help for the rolls to stay extra fresh. Yes, you will add five more minutes of work, but I believe it is so worth it.
During Covid and lockdown times, everybody seemed to have baked banana bread. I never published a recipe because I didn’t feel like following a trend. There are sooo many recipes out there, healthier ones, vegan, classic recipes, and some that sound like a decadent cake and have names such as “death by chocolate banana bread”. I finally caved and this has to do with the fact that this banana bread is prepared with plantains instead of bananas. Traditionally Peru and also Chile like to use plantains to make the bread, so I dared to declare this a Peruvian recipe. But I know that there are heated and emotional discussions as to which recipe belongs to which Latin American country. I will just keep out of it and call this queque de platano Peruvian. Please don’t kill me.
Have I mentioned that my hubby is a huge fan of citrus fruits? I will admit, I don’t mind them either. It probably comes as no surprise then that I have tons of recipes on my blog with a citrus touch. I love any fresh and yellow, especially in winter. I also don’t mind the vitamins (yeah, I know, we are still talking about cake). I learned not that long ago that lemons, limes and the like are usually harvested in winter, sometimes in January or February. For that reason I thought it might be a good time to share 16 recipes with these fruits, I hope you find something you enjoy!
#1 Lemon Mousse or Lemon Posset
This dessert comes together in minutes and just looks great in the lemons!