Guys, are you always happy to bake, regardless the reason? You finally told your boss that you need a salary raise? Let’s celebrate that with some cake. You passed the Statistics exam after the third try? Cake it is. It is just a regular Sunday, nothing special? Well, of course we want to have the German “Kaffee und Kuchen” (coffee and cake), so I need to bake a cake. In my opinion there is always a reason to celebrate, a reason to bake some cake. Today’s reason is pretty big, I am celebrating my third anniversay of the bike accident with no permanent damage.
Today I am going to introduce the best Belgian waffles, thick and yummy! These are overnight waffles, the batter is prepared the night before and you basically need to heat your waffle iron the next morning to make this deliciousness. Perfect for any brunch plans, for a weekend breakfast or for anything fancy you wish to make for beloved family and/or friends. I love the crisp outside (you will get lots of tips for that below) of these waffles, yet their interior is nice and soft. Whisk together the ingredients the night before and let the yeast make its magic overnight. So simple, yet so yummy.
Today I am introducing you to a German treat with a Latin American twist: tree cake with the caramel dulce de leche. You may wonder why it is called tree cake. All the layers are supposed to represent the rings you see when you cut through the stem of a tree. If you buy this cake at a fair, the layers are not shown horizontally, but vertically. This makes it look even more like the real tree rings and hence the name. However, since you need a special construction with the cake roating on it to bake layer after layer, I decided to go for a simple version you can prepare with your oven at home.

Finally an American recipe again: Apple Pie! This one has an all-butter pie crust, lots of apples, and caramel sauce. I do already have an apple cranberry pie on this blog as well as apple pie with a cream cheese crust. The one you see here is an apple pie with caramel, not only as an extra drizzle, but mixed with the filling. And for that reason I didn’t add any further sugar to the filling, the caramel sweetens the apples enough. I should have known that my husband would finish off this pie in a second, he loves pies and it basically was gone once I put it down on the plate. But hey, no problem, just make another one! What’s not to like about apples, and caramel?

Leche asada, which translates as “toasted or roasted milk” is probably one of the easiest custards there is. Melt sugar, mix together remaining ingredients, pour into ramekins, and bake. I have made this dessert in under ten minutes. If you happen to have sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla at home, you can make this Latin American custard in a jiffy. As is often the case, this leche asada is originally from Spain and was brought to Latin America during colonization. Famous among the Canary Islands, leche asada is enjoyed all throughout Latin America. Peru and Chile in particular fight over who has the best leche asada, but I will keep out of this discussion, because if you ask me, neither as it stems from Spain. Regardless of who makes the best, let’s look at what leche asada actually is
Chocolate and caramel are the perfect combination, don’t you think? I at least find that they are the dream team. And for that reason I am offering something from my birth country Uruguay, namely empanadas. These can be filled with about anything and everything. I have posted the classic beef empanada recipe beforehand, but today I wanted something sweet instead. I went for dulce de leche. Never heard of it? This is basically a caramel made from sweetened condensed milk, it is eaten throughout Latin America and is probably as important as peanut butter is in the U.S. Of course you will find the recipe on this blog as well. You basically need to cover a can of sweetened condensed milk for two and a half hours. All tricks and tips can be found here.
Today I am introducing you to super moist apple cupcakes with caramel frosting and some extra drizzles of caramel. If you are on the lookout for moist cupcakes that are easy to prepare and you love caramel, these are perfect for you! This cupcake is moist and has a very creamy and light frosting as a topping. Perfect for any season.
Is it a wise thing to publish such a decadent brownie recipe with extra caramel in January? Probably not, but I still love the idea that my blogger colleague Anna started 2018 with her chocolate Mondays (in German). That’s the spirit! If you want to be healthier, want to get into shape, and have a lot of resolutions, I personally think it does not matter if you have them in January or in December. For example, the four weeks prior to Christmas I did intermittent fasting and didn’t eat after 4pm and really did my workout regularly. Once Christmas came, I didn’t feel guilty at all when I indulged myself in all the goodness available during the season. I’m a strong believer in eating with pleasure, to enjoy it and to eat everything in moderation. So yeah, I believe that I am allowed to eat a decadent brownie with caramel even in January. Especially in January.
It is time for alfajores. Alfa what you ask? Alfajores are sandwich cookies that first were popular in Spain and later on brought to the colonies in Latin America. Traditionally alfajores are filled with the caramel cream called dulce de leche. Today I brought along some with strong coffee flavor and caramel as the filling. If you want to go extra crazy, you may also use some flaky sea salt as a nice contrast. We are in the middle of my cookie week and since I am posting seven cookie recipes from my birth country Uruguay on seven consecutive days, you get coffee alfajores today.
Today I have something exciting to share. I am doing a cookie week. Yes, you read right, cookie week means I will publish seven cookie recipes on seven consecutive days starting today. I decided to start with meringue alfajores or in Spanish alfajores de nieve, which are chocolate sandwich cookies filled with caramel made from sweetened condensed milk and are dunked in dried meringue. They are my favorite cookie from Uruguay after the chocolate alfajores. I thought it was about time to introduce another variety of alfajores. You can also find classic alfajores, which is a shortbread sandwich cookie with cornstarch, double chocolate alfajores, and today finally alfajores with a thick layer of dried meringue: Alfajores de Nieve. Let’s get started on Uruguayan cookie week!