Did anyone say you can’t bake cookies in summer? Ha, I would like to disagree with that statement, these raspberry chocolate cookies are prefect for summer. Raspberries, seriously, fresh raspberries scream summer all over. So here you go. I love raspberries with chocolate, in my opinion one of the best flavor combinations. If you don’t want to bake this, go ahead and look for something else, but I am in love with these chocolate raspberry cookies!
Today I brought along the cutest strawberry pie with roses and a little heart. Below you will find step-by-step instructions so that your roses just look the same. This time I thought I would make a simple cake for Mother’s Day. If you want to have something more festive, try this chocolate strawberry layer cake or this strawberry tiramisu cake. But today I thought a very simple pie would be perfect. I mean, simple doesn’t necessarily mean bad, does this? I think I put as much love into this pie as into that layer cake.
As you can see from the pictures, this is a pie full of strawberries, in total it contains 800 grams of strawberries. Mind you, after having hulled them. Strawberry pies can be ticky, you don’t want the filling to be mushy. So for that reason I went with tapioca starch, which works better than cornstarch. But in case you don’t have tapioca close by, cornstarch will do.
Aren’t these sheep cupcakes the cutest? I am telling you, these are definitely a show-stopper, for Easter, but probably also for a baby shower. You get a super delicious vanilla cupcake with Italian buttercream, which serves as the fur, yum! This is a simple and plain cupcake dressed up to be all fancy for Easter. I’d say, you are all set, aren’t you?
Guys, these are the most delicious carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! I know, I know, yet another carrot cupcake recipe? Yes, indeed. First of all, carrot cupcakes are not as common in Germany as in the U.S., so I thought I could give it a go. In case you didn’t know, this blog is bilingual and I also post each recipe also in German, just click on the flag to switch languages. And I did try a lot of recipes before I was happy. I should have known that my favorite American blogger Sally would have the best recipe, super moist, with a creamy frosting and just perfect. Mind you, of course I had to reduce the amount of sugar by a lot, American recipes are way too sweet and I had to tweak it a bit, but boy, are these good!
These simple and delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are perfect for any and every occaison. They contain a lot of oatmeal, are chewy, with a nice buttery flavor, and contain a lot of chocolate chips. I love cookies this way. Apparently I am not the only one who loves these cookies. I invited a whole bunch of girls for coffee the other day and these cookies were gone so quickly, I was really surprised. Several asked for the recipe. That is always a good sign.
You need to know that baking cookies is something only reserved for the holidays in Germany. Baking cookies throughout the year is something that is only starting. Finally it is possible to find cookies in bakeries, but usually only a few different ones. I am so glad that this is finally changing. Funnily enough, if you offer a cookie to anyone, young or old, people will not decline. But for some reason we still don’t bake as many cookies as Americans. Hopefully that will change soon. Especially since I am a huge cookie monster and love cookies any time of the year. Especially such a classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie like this one.
Update 2019: improved recipe, more tips and better pictures!
Are there any oreo fans out there? Then I got something for you! Since I promised to present more cookies during my second year of blogging, I decided to give oreos a try. And alas, homemade ones are so much better than bought ones!
I want spring! How about you? Can I interested you in a bluberry lemon cupcake with lemon frosting? I can assure you, with this cupcake you will invite the colors and scent of spring onto your plate. These lemon cupcakes are moist, tart, and have blueberries as an extra bonus. You can omit the blueberries, but I just love the combination of lemon with blueberries. The frosting is prepared with cream cheese and flavored with lemon zest and lemon juice. This cupcake is perfect for any occasion, be it for a birthday, coffee invte, or for Sunday guests. They can be prepared beforehand, but also don’t take that much time to prepare fresh.
Have you every heard of Nanaimo bars? These translate to a no-bake bar with a nutty base, which is mixed with graham crackers and melted butter, a vanilla custard in the middle layer, and then topped off with delicious chocolate. I’m telling you, you are going to love this Canadian treat, at least I fell in love with it and I don’t even like coconut that much, but in this nutty base combined with walnuts, it is a dream come true. Ah, just look at this deliciousness!
I was fortunate enough to spend a gap year in Canada after high school. Don’t ask me why, but Germans LOVE Canada. And there is a lot to love. So much untouched nature, such friendly people, and in general a very wonderful place to be in. Canadians are in general extremely polite and friendly, but if you tell them they are basically the same as Americans, they get offended and will talk about all the differences, such as Tim Hortons (the “Starbuck/Dunkin Donuts” version of Canada), their beloved queen, and, of course, the fact that they have public health insurance.
Be it as it may, conversations you are definitely going to have is about food. Canadians love their food. I don’t think I have ever eaten more salmon than during my gap year in British Columbia, it was sold EVERYWHERE. And the famous maple syrup, yes, I have actually seen Canadian pour it on their bacon, mashed potatos as well as into their coffee. So needless to say that of course I had to try Nanaimo bars. Nanaimo bars are originally from British Columbia, from Vancouver Island. The base usually contains coconut flakes, graham crackers and melted butter. Since I live in Germany and pecans are a little harder to find, I went with walnuts, but I believe you can use any nut as a wonderful addition to this mix.
Have you ever eaten pumpkin waffles? I hadn’t, I know, shame on me. But this year I somehow got into the pumpkin haze. So I cecked out Pinterest and found a lot of different recipes. Finally I encountered the recipe below and bam, I was hooked. These pumpkin waffles are super fluffy, I love that they are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and tall and thick. I think they can be served either for breakfast, but also as a nice dessert.
Pumpkin roll with apple buttercream? Pumpkin doesn’t play a very important role in baking here in Germany. At least until recently. No, we have not yet discovered its use for cheesecake and the like.
Can I confess something? I have never been a big fan of pumpkin pie. I know, kill me know. But I just don’t like the flavor that much. I have tried my share of pumpkin pies, but still. That’s why I have ignored pumpkin mainly in baking.
But then I met my hubby and hubby is a big fan of pumpkin pie. So I started looking for good recipes. This recipe is currently his favorite. If you like pumpkin pie, try it, it is great. But as stated, I didn’t get excited. Because I don’t like such a dominant pumpkin flavor.
