Rhubarb sour cream cake

As children, in spring we held the huge rhubarb leaves from Grandmother’s garden like elephant ears and found it hilarious. At some point, our kids had the same fun on the giant leaves with the red stalk. And so are the photos from childhood days similar from generation to generation

Pastéis de Belém

Admittedly, the original we tried during our shore leave in Lisbon tasted even better. This certainly has atmospheric reasons. Anyhow, I’ve tried many recipes for Portugal enthusiasts – and here’s one that really works, is simple, and comes very close to the original.

Madeira: Kebabs, Poncha and Bolo de CACO

We ate the best Bolo de Caco on the village square in Monte above Funchal on Madeira island. The atmosphere there was special. It was lunch time, we were – away from the hustle and bustle of basket sled tours and cableway – alone in the square, apart from some mangy dogs hanging around and taking sometimes a sluggish effort to chase a pigeon. And there we discovered BOLO DE CACO.

Hamburg Franzbrötchen

Hamburg without Franzbrötchen? Unthinkable! 1,000 secret recipes and each tastes a little different. But they all taste like Hamburg. Shore leave without Franzbrötchen is no shoreleave. For those who do not have Hamburg in their schedules, here you get the best Franzbrötchen recipe ever.

Hamburg Brown Biscuits for 3rd Advent

The advent dream of my childhood: the original Hamburg Brown Biscuits. In my grandma’s recipe book in grain and lot, today it is more feasible in grams and teaspoons – my favourite pastries for Christmas! The photo is some years old. Then, our children stamped names on the cookies – a nice idea as a small Christmas gift.

The Christmas Stollen Project

Christmas Stollen never played a role in my childhood. We rather preferred Hamburg brown cookies or spekulatius for our Christmas baking. Anyway, without Christmas Stollen Christmas in some places of Germany is not even imaginable…That’s the reason, why I found it always exciting. A heavy yeast dough with candied fruit, raisins and a dash of good rum. The Stollen must traverse several weeks (minimum two weeks) before you eat it – if you do manage to defend it against the family. Attention: This weekend is your last chance to bake a Stollen, which can be served “well matured” at Christmas on your coffee table. Otherwise, you must wait another year…

All cookies already eaten up? Bull’s-eye poppy seed biscuits

This year’s first advent coffee party and all cookies already eaten up? Now rescue is at hand: Bull’s-eye poppy seed biscuits are good looking and can be filled with various red jellies – just what you find in your store: currant or grape jelly for example. My personal favourite is elderberry jelly to fill them.

Finally it’s pre-Christmas season again: Vanilla Crescents

A German classic among the Christmas cookies. Vanilla crescents is a must on every plate of Christmas goodies. The crescents taste even better with homemade vanilla sugar. And it’s easy!