Today you will get a “how to” article. The main question this article answers is how to bake many different cookies for a cookie box. The short answer is, best is if you have a large freezer. If you don’t, you will need a lot of cookie boxes to store them airtight. It also helps to pick cookie recipes that keep for a while. If you want to ship a cookie box, check out this article, but that aside, let’s get started.
Have you every tried to stamp your cookies or use fancy cookies cutters? I know that many don’t go through the hassle because it doesn’t work. But look no further, with below tips I am sure your cookies will look amazing. Pictured here are speculoos cookies, however, this is only one option. Below I give you the basic recipe that works really well for cookies with intricate designs, or a stamp. And as I have been asked, I got the cookie cutters from here. So let’s get started.
I am going to teach you all things gingerbread today. This means a lot of tips to make your gingerbread dough a success, and of course lots of tips on royal icing and how to successfully glue the gingerbread pieces together as well as decorate them. By the way, gingerbread that is only used for decoration can be stored for several years, check number 6 below for my success tips. Finally, there are various recipes with gingerbread, I hope there is something for you. Let’s get started right away and see how to go about this!
You are wondering how you can manage to make delicious cheesecake without the dreaded cracks? Look no further, below I list twelve tips for perfect cheesecake. The main takeaways are that you bake it in a waterbath even if the recipe doesn’t call for it (I have a super simple method, see point number 7) and that you are patient when cooling it. Remember: cheesecake hates sudden changes of temperature. This holds true for baking as well as for cooling it off. It all should be done slowly and delicately. The best is if you prepare cheesecake the day before as it gives you time to chill and put in the fridge. After providing my tips for perfect cheesecake, you will find 15 recipes for delicious cheesecakes, including some with German quark, some with sour cream, heavy cream, etc. I also include the recipe for Japanese cheesecake and the one from Spain.
You see here a simple sour cream cake with cinnamon topping Continue Reading…
I have been asked over and over again if I could do a post on how to make an even and tall cake, so I finally gave in. For that reason I made videos (yes, plural), to help you practice making a tall and very even cake. If I managed to learn it, you will too. I can tell you, I was scared of cutting a cake in more than half (you know like cutting one big cake layer into three) and my cakes were loop-sided. But I promise you, practice makes perfect, so if I can make a nice even cake, so can you. I mean the below three-tiered wedding cake I made does show that it is possible, right? Yes, this wedding cake was prepared by me and yes, I did overcome my fear.
For wedding cakes it is extremely important that they are even as you are going to stack one on the other and even if you have the proper support, you want to be sure the weight is distributed evenly. You will find the recipes for this wedding cake here.
You don’t have a heart-shaped cake pan, but you would like to make a heart-shaped cake either for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day? I got you covered. How you can make a round cake into a heart-shaped cake with minimal loss of cake is explained in this blog post. We are going to cut the cake and cover everything with buttercream. I will show this process with photos. In addition, I will list 14 different cake recipes, which may serve as the base of your heart. The recipe for the pictured raspberry chocolate heart is also part of this article.
How to transform a round cake into a heart-shape cake without a heart-shaped cake form
I am going to teach you about empanadas today, these are the famous turnovers from Latin America. Empanadas are, I dare say, THE snack of Latin America. Empanadas do require quite a bit of work, first you have to prepare the dough and then the filling, then you need to fill and seal each empanada before it is baked or fried. As many dishes, empanadas are originally from Spain. However, Spanish empanadas have little resemblance with the empanadas from Latin America. Spanish empanadas are similar to a pie. The empanada from Galicia for example is big and round, like a pie, usually filled with chicken and champignons. Often the pie topping has some braided elements and is decorated in some kind of way. This is very different from the empanadas from Latin America. In this article we will have a look at how empanadas are made in Latin America. Of course I will give a lot of recipes at the end of this article.
Continue Reading…
Since I have been asked by several people now whether I could publish the recipes for this very fruity and fresh wedding cake (each tier had a different flavor combo), I decided to give in and finally let you have the recipes. You can also see a summary in my highlights in Instagram. Yes, just making the cake base requires 43 eggs already (because I used sponge cake as the base) and yes, we need 18 more egg whites for the Swiss meringue buttercream and almost two kilos of butter, but hey, this is for a large crowd. Since I am frequently asked about some further details, let me first give you the most important facts. The wedding cake consisted of:
You can also check some details on my Instagram highlights on how I made this wedding cake. In this reel you can see how big the wedding cake actually is.
Are you also such a big fan of picnics? I just love the idea of sitting on a blanket, enjoying a few treats I prepared beforehand and breathing some fresh air in nature. A picnic to me is the best way to relax. Below you will find two recipes perfect for a picnic. One is a berry salad infused with lavender honey, the other is homemade pesto, which I used on a sandwich as a spread, but which may be used as a dip or with some cooked pasta. All of below tips are also from my first-hand experience as a huge picnic lover.
This is going to be a slightly different coffee date to the previous ones. I decided to show you a few pictures of the second wedding cake I had the honor of making in August this year. I will try to keep it short, but I will let you know the few lessons I learned along the way. If you are interested in the recipes, please check this blog post. For more details on the process, check out my highlights on Instagram.
Lesson #1: A three-tiered cake requires much more work than a two-tiered cake. For that reason I made the cake layers at home in Munich and decided to freeze them. As you can see, I wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap and also used a plastic bag to keep them fresh. I decided to do this as the wedding was 600km away and I was simply too scared to carry a cake long-distance for such a long amount of time. I am glad I went this route, I ended up 7 1/2 hours on the road.
You can see that I wrapped the cake layers in plastic wrap and a bag in order to freeze them
Lesson #2: Cooling boxes are my new favorite toy. I carried the frozen cake layers for 7 1/2 hours in this box, wrapped in ice and it was not problem at all to continue freezing the cake layers in a freezer. Yes!
Yes, it used a seatbelt for the box
Lesson #3: I finished the wedding cake in an Airbnb. Obviously, I carried with me a lot of the tools, including my KitchenAid. But it was very convenient to have an empty fridge for the cakes at hand.
You will see the three cake layers in the semi-naked style here
Lesson #4: Unfortunately, larger cakes tend to look smaller and bulkier than they actually are. I made 4 cake layers for the top tiers, but decided to use five cake layers (as you can see below) for the bottom tier. Reason for this being that the bottom layer somehow looked smaller otherwise. This is something you should keep in mind when you calculate your sizes, I had to add one extra layer to my bottom tier!
You see that the bottom tier of 30xm had five cake layers to get it to look a bit taller
Lesson #5: If the bride tears up when she sees the cake, I feel you have done a good job. And let me tell you, making a three-tiered cake requires a lot of work. I think I spent about 20 hours on this cake, let alone the many hours I did research, tried different cake recipes, checked many flavors, etc. Many of the guests came to me thanking me that this was the first wedding cake ever tasting fresh and fruity and was not so overly sweet. Of course each layer had a different flavor combo and as requested by the couple, I had used very little buttercream, but cream cheese, etc. for the filling. Below you can see how popular the wedding cake was, coffee time was not over yet when I snapped that picture.
I snapped this picture during coffee time, I think barely anything was left
If you are interested in further details or would like to know the recipes, feel free to leave me a comment. Update: I finally gave in and posted the recipes for the three-tiered wedding cake here. Also, I did do a whole series on the first wedding cake I made, you can check it out here:
Part I How to bake a wedding cake at home
Part II How to schedule a plan when making a wedding cake at home
