Yay, I finally found a pumpkin pie recipe I like and I am happy to publish it here. I don’t know if you are going to kill me, but I made it with butternut squash. Somehow this is classified as a pumpkin in Germany. I decided to roast the squash in the oven. This gives it extra flavor and makes it so much easier to work with. I like butternut squash much better than hokkaido pumpkin, which is basically the main pumpkin here in Germany used for cooking and baking. I find the flavor milder, nuttier, and with a touch of caramel. I also like the fact that the color is so much brighter. It makes it more fun to take pictures of the pie. So finally I got to introduce the traditional pumpkin pie here on my blog!
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Today you get a classic: American apple pie, this one, however, with caramel. We will use the caramel in the filling, but have enough to also serve some on the side. This is an updated version of my apple pie recipe I published five years ago. I simplified the recipe a bit and finally am a proud owner of a pie form. Finally my pies look how they are supposed to look. Obviously they are delicious, anything made from scratch is always so much better!
In the U.S. you will find desserts that contain a layer of fruit covered with some type of crumbs. They are called cobbler, crumble, or crisp. I brought today a rhubarb crisp and wanted to explain briefly what the similarities are and what are the differences. They all need relatively few ingredients and can easily be made by beginners. Would you like to give this dessert a try? I am sure it will miraculously disappear as quickly and easily as possible, there is only the two of us, however, it was gone so quickly. It really is addictive!
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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!
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.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I need a lot of comfort food and soul food. Hence I felt like making brownies. I feel brownies taste great any time of the year. The best thing is, they are rather easy to make and don’t take too long. The below recipe is made with melted chocolate and cocoa powder. This makes them extra fudy. I usually reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe as I feel that the sugar can easily overpower the chocolate flavor. Below version contains chopped walnuts and coarse sea salt, but you can omit these two ingredients.
Today I have pumpkin cookies with browned butter for you. At least here in Germany pumpkin is normally only used in savory dishes, which is a pity! So I am following the North American tradition of using all things pumpkin in sweets and the like. I already have a few pumpkin cookies on the blog, so I will add this one to my small list. What I like about these is that you do not need to chill them and if you have canned pumpkin at hand, these are really easy to make. The only extra step is browning the butter, which will give a nutty and caramelized extra flavor. The icing also contains browned butter, so how about you try these?
Are cinnamon rolls comfort food for you? For a cozy afternoon with a nice cup of tea or coffee? I at least find them perfect for a rainy and windy day. These are not just regular cinnamon rolls, no, they are filled with apple pieces that were steamed with some butter and sugar. So delicious! I hope you are interested in cinnamon rolls with apple filling!
Today you get a super chocolatey chocolate muffin. It has melted chocolate in the dough, loads of chocolate chunks and a gooey filling in the middle containing chocolate. These chocolate muffins are my version of the famous olympic chocolate muffins. Calling all chocoholics, if you have a craving for chocolate, this muffin is for you.
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.


















