Totally unexpected we woke up to a white Christmas morning. Inspired by the magic of the snow I prepared some Bratäpfel in grandma’s copper snail pot ( this pot has 12 small dents to fit the snail shells, but we weren’t planning to use it for the original purpose any time soon). Quick recipe: remove centre of apple with the seeds and stem, fill with almond butter, plum jam and pistachios, sprinkle with cinnamon. No […]
When two people marry it usually involves a fusion of traditions. Especially in the time of Advent and Christmas I love to go back to a recipe that I learned from my family in law: The Thuringian Stollen! My family used to bake basketfuls of Christmas cookies, but no Stollen at all, so I adopted the Thuringian version as my own. Now, of course, Dresden is the hometown of the world’s most famous Stollen. I […]
I’m always keen to find new quince recipes, because every autumn my quince tree heaps basketfuls of this wonderful, old-fashioned fruit on me. My classic is the double reduced, deep coral red, jelly. Besides pure muscle strength (which is always necessary to cut a quince in pieces) it takes many steps and a lot of time to prepare. Although I really love the classic jelly I have been looking for something easier, quicker, but nevertheless […]
Potato-cucumber soup is a true summer classic in our family. The secret behind this savoury soup is to first stir-fry the potatoes with the onions and to add the fresh cucumbers only in the last minutes. So two irresistible flavours melt together. potato-cucumber soup 1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee 1kg potatoes, peeled and diced 1 large, fresh cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and diced 1 onion, chopped 1 spring onion, thinly sliced vegetable stock, enough […]
When Grandma cooks jam, she will make her choice of fruit dependent on what special fruits are in season, the lushest offers at the farmer’s market, and on cases of uncontrollable fruit abundance in the neighbours’ gardens. She quickly cooks 2 or 3 jars between her usual cooking, gardening and housework. The black fruit jam however is one of her true classics. The fruit/ sugar ratio is always the same: fruit to sugar, 2:1. […]
I always remember my mother and my grandmother, who were living very close, making this braided bread at Easter when I was a child. My mother continues baking it until today for her Easter brunch. It’s one of the traditions that pass on through generations. How Grandma makes a braided Easter bread 500g flour 1 sachet dry yeast 50g sugar 1 pinch of salt 2 eggs 1/8 l milk 50g butter 1 egg yolk to […]
A good cheesecake is the pride of every German housewife and apart from the famous NewYork Cheesecake (which is made of cream cheese instead of fromage frais) it seems to be a signature cake of Germany. The recipe in the cookbook requests 7 (SEVEN!?!) eggs for the filling. “No no no, that can’t be true” I thought to myself, numbers and exclamation marks filling my head. The perfect cheesecake, one that satisfies the tastebuds and […]
My dear friend Mela sent me a recipe of her grandmother and a picture of herself (cute!) as an extra feature for this blog! I was so excited about the submission so I felt rather guilty for taking so long with the actualization of the blog post! Mela, I finally baked the terrace heart biscuits, so what do you think? I must say, they were fingerlicking good! The recipe (as seen above): 120g sugar […]
Another delicacy is Weincreme . Life in a wine growing region ( Grandma is from Heidelberg ) requires a well stocked fridge with open bottles of wine, and desserts like “Weincreme” belong to the traditional repertoire of any housewife. In very special occasions (baptism, wedding, famous guests) Grandma even replaces Chantilly by Weincreme to accompany her homemade apple cake. Weincreme (Sabayon) yields 4 servings 8 tbs sugar ( Grandma takes 4-6) 4 whole eggs 1 […]
Today I’m going to introduce a new feature: Grandma’s Classics. Grandma does not experiment in the kitchen. No potions, no asian, no magic ingredients. No no… she is most fond of the traditional German recipes, which have been passed on for centuries and never fail to please. The lady in fire engine red is Grandma. #1 Schinkenhörnchen The tiny croissants hold a lot of butter, the ham gives the right amount of saltiness. Grandma loves […]