Other Countries Archives - Jenny is baking

Kanelbullar -Swedish Cardamom Cinnamon Knots for World Bread Day

Kanelbullar, this is the Swedish version of cinnamon rolls. The main difference? They are made with cinnamon and cardamom and usually remain plain. They contain coarse sugar and are brushed with a sugar syrup. I made these for World Bread Day! When my Swedish colleague gifted me a Swedish cookbook, the first recipe was kanelbullar. They are so famous in Sweden, they made it to page 1. There even is a “kanelbullar dag”. On October 4th Swedes celebrate this pastry, which has become famous. I hadn’t tried it yet, so I knew immediately that I wanted to make them for World Bread Day. Yes, this is a sweet bread made with an enriched yeast dough. Continue Reading…

16/10/2025

Gâteau Opéra or French Opera Cake

Gâteau Opéra or French opera cake is the French answer to an Italian tiramisu. It is a classic of elegant French patisserie. It consists of an almond sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup, coffee buttercream, and chocolate ganache layered into a seven-layer dish. Traditionally, the decadent cake slices are cut into small rectangles, and decorated with the word “opéra,” but I opted for a treble clef instead. The inventor of this elegant cake, the French Cyriaque Gavillon aimed to provide the whole experience in one small bite. Once his wife tried his concoction, she claimed that this cake reminded her of the Parisian opera house Palais Garnier. Voilá the French opera cake was born. The pastry shop Dalloyau where Gavillon was employed, has been serving this cake since 1955. This is as French as it gets. But I will warn you, it does have many components and takes its amount of time to prepare. But slices can be frozen and components made in advance. You will be rewarded with the most delicious cake that so nicely combines the coffee and chocolate flavor. Maybe you will give this a try?

10/10/2025

Russian Honey Layer Cake – Medovik

Today I am introducing the cousing of the famous Russian Napoleon cake: Medovik. Just as Napoleon is a layer cake of twelve layers, so is Medovik. The main difference is the dough, Medovik does contain honey, but Napoleon does not. Just as there are several options for the filling for Napoleon, I opted for the traditional sour cream filling. This cake also as a crumb crust, which is leftover and baked dough that was processed into crumbs and then patted on the outside of the cake. Since you need to bake 12 layers of dough, this is a warning that this recipe requires time. I definitely believe it is worth all the effort. Usually I prefer fruity cakes with fresh fillings, however, once I tried Medovik, I secretly went for a second helping, it tastes amazing. Below you will see the recipe for a cake slightly smaller in diameter. I purposely went for a 18cm cake as it is rather filling and there is only the two of us. You can definitely cut into rather small pieces. Continue Reading…

22/08/2025

Tarta de Santiago – Gluten-Free Cake from Spain

The “tarta de Santiago” or “tarta de Compostela” stems from the Spanish city Santiago de Compostela in the north west in the provence Galicia. It is a gluten-free almond cake, which was already served by Don Pedro de Portocarrero in 1577 when professors were ordained in the university of Santiago de Compostela. This means this cake dates back centuries, originally it only contained almonds, sugar, and eggs. It was only later that additional ingredients were added. in 2006 the cake was geographically protected, it had to be made in the provence Galicia for it to deserve the name tarta de Santiago. Moreover, it needed to have a certain amount of almonds, sugar, and eggs and had to be dusted with icing sugar, leaving out the Jacob’s cross. Otherwise it is not a tarta de Santiago, see details here. When we had the chance to visit the city in summer 2025, we tried this cake right there and then, obviously. I immediately decided to make the cake while still on holiday. My brother-in-law (Spanish), declared this cake his new favorite. Today, Santiago’s name day, which is on July 25, I decided to publish the recipe for this delicious cake.

25/07/2025

Strawberries and Cream for Wimbledon

Strawberries and cream are THE dessert when it comes to Wimbledon. For that reason I decided to introduce the “recipe” here, it is pretty straight forward, you whip the cream with sugar and vanilla, you also mix the strawberries with sugar and vanilla (so four ingredients in total) and this is then layered into a dessert. According to Wimbledon more than 140,000 portions are served during the two-week tournament. Serving strawberries with cream dates back to Victorian times, it was often served for banquets, picnics, and other summer festivities. As Wimbledon traditionally takes place during the high season of British strawberries, it comes as no surprise why it has been popular for a long time. Wimbledon was established in 1877 and has since then kept this tradition.

13/07/2025

Pavlova with Macerated Strawberries (Gluten-Free)

Have you heard of pavlova? This is a famous dessert from Australia and New Zealand. Essentially fresh fruit, whipped cream and meringue are the dream combination for this gluten-free dessert. It has become famous all around the world. In today’s version I prepared the pavlova with strawberries, which is probably the most classic combination. In my opinion there can never be too many recipes with strawberries, right? You will find fifteen recipes with strawberries in this blog post if you are looking for more inspiration.

04/07/2025

Sticky Toffee Pudding from the UK – We need to celebrate

It is the seventh anniversary of my bike accident today. I had brain bleeding, a concussion, and lost a tooth. Despite all of these symptoms, I did not get any permanent damage, which I am extremely grateful for. If you want to read about the details of my accident, check the details here. Obviously I have to celebrate this special day with a decadent cake, obviously. Today I decided for British sticky toffee pudding. I have mentioned it before, we were in Scotland last fall for the first time and at some point I ate sticky toffee pudding. This is a sticky date cake that is served with a toffee sauce. It is a dream come true if you ask me. You can do single servings, but I decided for the more traditional route and went with a cake you can cut into slices. The warmth and cozyness of this cake is to die for, can I interest you in making it?

23/04/2025

Classic Shepherd’s Pie

Have you heard of shepherd’s pie? This dish originates from Great Britain. It contains two layers, originally lamb (hence the reference to the shepherd) mixed with a few veggies and a layer of mashed potatoes. This is then baked in the oven and some cheddar melted and browned on the top. This is definitely comfort food and not only delicious in winter. We ate this pie for Easter, I did use minced lamb and mixed it with a bit of minced beef. However, if you make the pie entirely with beef, this would be considered a cottage pie. This pie can easily be made in advance and also freezes nicely. If you freeze it, it will need much longer when baked. I truely enjoy making this in advance all stress-free.

18/04/2025

British Scones for an Afternoon Tea with Step-by-Step Instructions

In fall last year I was fortunate enough to visit Scotland for the first time. Guess what, of course I had to book an afternoon tea in Edingburgh. I am not sure if you are familiar with an afternoon tea in Britain. You usually start with some savory sandwiches, which is followed by scones served with clotted cream and jam, and the final “course” is something sweet, usually a slice of cake, cookies or similar. I was not paid to say this, but I can highly recommend the Willow Teamrooms in Edinbourgh. They have a stunning view of the castle, but also delicious afternoon tea. I was immensely impressed with their scones. They were made fresh, you could tell, they were tall, and they were flaky. All things I look for in a proper scone. Of course they were served with clotted cream and jam. So obviously I went back to Germany and wanted to reproduce this at home.

31/01/2025

Tyrolean Leftovers

Tyrolean fried leftovers or in German “Tiroler Geröstl” is something we came across by accident. He had ordered something on one of these alpine huts, he was served, it didn’t look like the dish he had ordered, he ate anyway and then he ate and ate and stated it was so much better than what he had ordered. So we inquired what it actually was and learned about this dish. The hut we were at definitely saw this as an opportunity for leftovers, the version of my hubby also had some cut dumplings included. My husband wouldn’t stop talking about this dish, so I knew what I wanted to make for him soon: Tiroler Gröstl.

24/01/2025

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