I don’t remember exactly what made me press the “publish” button exactly nine years ago. The first recipe I ever published, was this French lemon tart. Clearly I had made it on Valentine’s for my husband. We were fortunate enough to eat plenty of lemon tarts during a holiday in France so it was only natural that I would try to bake it at home. I believe that I simply decided to publish the recipe after I had shot a few pictures. I mean, my hubby loves anything citric, I won’t say no to some tangy lemon dessert. If you also like this flavor, check the 18 recipes with citric fruits. As my blog is turning 9 today, I decided to make this lemon cheesecake with lemon curd. Think a cookie crust, creamy cream cheese with a lot of lemon zest and juice, and lemon curd. I mean, I wanted LEMON flavor.
Do I dare say it? For me chili con carne is definitely an American dish, originating somewhere in Texas most likely. I mean, there is a reason why Texas as well as Illinois both claim it to be their state dish, albeit what both consider a chili is fairly different. I understand that Oklahoma and Cincinnati also have their versions. If you are interested in further details, check out this article. I am not going to join the heated discussions, my version, my recipe below does contain crushed tomatoes and beans. If you don’t want that, feel free to check other recipes. You may also include corn, sweet potatoes and pumpkin as other “fillers”.
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!
Berry pie, today it is triple berry day. How to make a pie crust I explain in this blog post. This pie is filled with at least three types of berries. I had a lot of blueberries, some raspberries, and blackberries. You may also use strawberries, or, if you want to go crazy, even cherries. This pie is another summer pie, feel free to check out my cherry pie, peach pie, strawberry pie, or these blueberry hand pies. The trick for a proper set filling is here that you cook half of the berries first with some cornstarch and then add the fresh berries for additional texture. This is so delicious, I promise.
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.
Banana pudding from the south is a layer dessert, you will have vanilla wafers (basically vanilla cookies), custard, bananas, and meringue on top. Usually this dessert is served in a casserole. However, since it is only the two of us and because I had never made this dessert before, I decided to serve this pudding in dessert glasses. I also reduced the amount and ended up liking a recipe for only four dessert glasses. If you like a creamy dessert with bananas, this is a recipe you should try. Of course we are going to make the custard ourselves, it is really not as hard as you may think.
Old-fashioned rhubarb pie! Guys, I am ashamed to say, but this pie was polished within two days and it is only th two of us! If you love rhubarb, this pie is for you. It is a very simple, very plain pie, a buttery pie crust holds together: rhubarb. Yeah, duh, I decided to go for no further adornments, no additional spices, no egg, no custard, no nothing, just loads and loads of rhubarb. It is sweetened with sugar and tapioca starch will serve as the binder, but that’s it. I enjoyed mine with a dollop of whipping cream. Feel free to serve with ice cream or just eat plain!


















