Black forrest cupcakes

There is no doubt my apatite for sweet things has gone up considerably so I find myself baking quite a lot :- These black forrest cupcakes are delicious and super easy to make. Here's how:

Mix the egg, sugar, oil & milk and in a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix the dry ingredients with the rest. Combine the kakao with half of the dough. Fill cupcake forms half way with the light dough, put 4-5 cherries in the middle and top of with the dark dough. Bake at 200°C for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool before topping with whipped cream, chocolates flakes and a cherrie.

Yes, the belly is definitely growing. This is me at 29 weeks. I promised I would show you one of the maxi skirts I made. With the warmer temperatures I find myself wearing it almost daily.

Tschüss...

The best bread recipe EVER!

Ask any German living in New Zealand what they miss and most will probably say decent bread. Don't get me wrong, New Zealand has come a long way since the only options where either white or wholegrain toast/sandwich slices wrapped in plastic bags to keep it extra soft and squishy. Now there are lots of European-style breads on the market but they do come at a rather steep cost. Paying $7 for a loaf of nice bread is a bit of a luxury even for someone like me who starts every single day with bread and cold meat (while my boys are true kiwis eating weet-bix or porridge).

I have been baking bread for some time now and have always continued to experiment - sourdough takes forever to make and bread from a bread-maker might be quick and easy but doesn't have a nice firm texture & crust. Finally it seems I have discovered THE perfect bread: the best thing - no kneading. It's the simplest thing and comes out with a delicious golden crust - heavenly!

I'll show you how to make one...

You will need four ingedients:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon of instant dry yeast

2 teaspoons of salt

1 3/4 cups of water
Step 1: Combine flour, yeast and salt. Add the water and mix everything with a wooden spoon. The dough will be really sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it for 12 to 18 hours at warm room temperature. I send to do this in the afternoon and bake the bread mid morning so we have nice fresh bread for lunch.

Step 2: This is what the dough will look like the next day, the surface should be dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Step 3: Flour a cotton towel and shape the dough into a ball - seam side down. Cover with another cotton towel and let it rise for a further 2 hours. The dough should be double in size.

Step 4: At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 230 degrees. Put a cast iron (Pyrex or ceramic) pot in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Turn the dough into the pot, seam side up. Bake 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and bake for a further 20 minutes, until the loaf is nice and golden.

Cool it on a rack for a while before cutting into it. Enjoy!

This recipe is from here and there's even a video to help you step by step here

Tschüss...

German "Gemütlichkeit"

Hello friends, thank you for stopping by today. While the northern hemisphere is enjoying the start of spring, down here autumn has definitely arrived. The days are getting shorter and cooler but the air is crisp and clear. I love the mood of autumn - the leaves are turning golden and we can witness the most amazing sunsets and sunrises above the sea. More time is spent indoors than out and while we love wrapping up and bracing the cool winds we love coming home to a hot drink and that lovely feeling of german "Gemütlichkeit".

My long awaited Moroccan plate arrives all the way from Germany. I simply couldn't find one here at a reasonable price and so turned to the wonderful Dagi who sent one all the way around the world for me. I love it and it will no doubt get used in many ways as I decorate my home.

Last week I was invited to my friend Fran's new house. I was very impressed with her little slice of paradise. She spoilt us with the most delicious afternoon tea and after a little search I found the recipe online. I was cutting a few corners and used my bread maker to knead and rise the dough but you can find the full recipe here.

One of my big projects last months was making four little flower girl dresses. I loved the job and was pleased with the way they turned out. Sewing was once a huge part of my life but with two little ones it is tricky - now that they are getting older and one is at kindergarten I am hoping to steal a few hours here and there to get back into it. Who knows where it may lead...

Finally I went on a major hunt for some bedding for the boys. I spent what felt like a whole month searching for something that did not have Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder or any other cartoon figure on it. Bad enough they watch these things on tv they don't have to dream of it at night :-) I wanted something plain and simple that would work with a red roman blind I made for their room. 

I finally found a blue and white striped cover and it works perfectly with their small letter cushions I made for their old room in Germany (here).

The room is tiny but sleeping is all they do in it and they have a large playroom for all their toys.

With one million interruptions by my little one this post has only taken me 3 hours to complete :-) 

See you again soon, I promise.

Tschüss...

Coconut Lemon Cake

Thanks for stopping by today. The boys and I decided to make a welcome home cake for their daddy who's been away for two weeks. We had great fun measuring and mixing everything together and once the cake came out of the oven the boys were so impatient about eating it we didn't end up decorate it.

This is what you'll need:
115g soft butter
175g fine sugar
3 eggs
175g desiccated coconut
115g self-raising flour
85ml sour cream
2 tsp grated lemon rind

Cream butter and sugar, slowly add the eggs one at a time. Mix in all other ingredients and mix well.
Bake at 180 degree celsius for about 1 hour until the top is golden (this depends on the type of baking dish you use and how deep the cake is)

You can eat is as it is or drizzle the hot cake with lemon syrup (heat 30ml lemon juice with 100g sugar and 85ml water in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 min before drizzling the syrup over the warm cake)

Tschüss...

Summer Fruit Tart

Today I want to share a recipe that is super quick if you ever get stuck needing to whip up something at the last minute. I am not a great baker and on a number of occasions had to resort to this as a back-up because the baking I had planned to serve to guests turned out either burnt or undercooked :-)

Tomorrow I will show you a few new things around here that I am really excited about.

Tschüss...

(images: by me)

My baby turns 2

Yesterday my youngest boy turned two. It's excited and a little sad at the same time seeing him grow up so fast. It felt like yesterday that I brought him into this world. He's a very busy little boy, full of energy and just a delight to be around.

I had invited some of his little friends for a "splish splash" paddle pool party. The weather was glorious and the mums were grateful to dip their toes in the water as well. In the evening we had a BBQ with my family - a perfect day!

I didn't want to go overboard with decorations and kept it pretty simple. The blue, red and white party bunting and cupcake toppers are free print templates from here.

The lemon cake was a store bought cake mix and it was fool proof - even for me ;-)

You can find the recipe for the carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing here

The party favour bags (in the background) had some sweets, a small book and a water toy in them.

I used paper bags, string and a label in the same style as the invitations.

I hope you have a great week and thank you so very much for stopping by today. 

(images: Nina Lamb)

Smells like home...

My husband is from New Zealand as you may know and every now and then I bring a little "kiwiana" into the house by making something from his home country: this time Anzac Biscuits.

We are invited to a summer party to celebrate the birth of a friend's baby and I will take what's left of the Anzac Biscuits along. I like stacking them up, tying them together with string and putting them in a white paper box - simple but it looks nice.

You may also remember that I talked about making this skirt using a mustard yellow fabric I had leftover. Well, it's finally done and I am really pleased with it. I think it looks great with my new brown shoes that I brought back from our recent holiday. Here's hoping the boys will behave and I don't have to chase after them in those heels. 

I hope you have a great weekend and if you're keen on a tutorial on how to make a super quick and easy, yet stylish beach bag, come visit me next week ;-)

Tschüss...

German Cherry Crumble Cake

I have just finished making my grandmother's cherry crumble cake (to take to a friend for german Kaffee und Kuchen) and thought I'd use it as a model to try out my new camera lens. If you feel like making one yourself, I have included the recipe below. It is super easy - even for a hopeless baker like me :-)

Here's what you do: Mix the yeast with half the flour (200g) and the warm milk. 

Leave covered for about half an hour. 

Then add the rest of the ingredients and knead 

the dough so it has a nice elastic consistency. 

Leave to rest for another 30 minutes and roll it out on a large tray. 

Cover it with the cherries. 

Now mix the ingredients for the crumble and add on top. 

Leave everything to rise again for 30-60 minutes 

(depending on your room temperature).

Bake at 200 degrees celsius for 30 minutes or until the top has a nice colour.

This same recipe works really well with apples too. Just replace the cherries 

with about 1 1/2 kg of sliced apples.

Best eaten with lots of whipped cream!

Enjoy!

(images: Nina Lamb)