berry coconut tarte

it’s amazing how much it already feels like summer. just a bit ago it was still pretty cold and now practically summer is here. awesome 🙂 the terrace is already all set up and thanks to my nice neighbors i now also have a jacuzzi, life at its best (especially since there are so many public holidays in may, i have vacation feeling right at my doorstep). yesterday i put my tomatoes and paprikas in pots outside. they were growing so fast and urgently needed more space to spread their roots. so cross your fingers that it won’t be freezing during the night anymore so they flourish and bear lots of fruits.

a perfect fit for this weather are fruity cakes. everywhere you see recipes with berries these days. also on my blog you find some like blueberry chocolate dessert, strawberry chocolate oreo tarte, strawberry mascarpone ice cream, strawberry pralines, strawberry panna cotta or blueberry ice cream to name just a few. i saw the recipe for this berry coconut tarte in the “frisch gekocht”. without baking you don’t have to sweat in the kitchen and the combination of coconut and almonds with berries and lime give you this fruity, fresh, zesty and light flavor. originally the cream is a mixture of blueberries and blackberries, but since the latter weren’t available i substituted them with raspberries. what a delight!

chocolate nut knots

it’s been quite her for a while – sorry! every once in a while i am not in the mood to write and have to wait until inspiration strikes again. that doesn’t mean though that i haven’t been thinking about what i could share with you. i think about the same time last year there’s also been a short break, seems to be a spring thing. i did make a lot of things (especially bread, more on that in the coming weeks) in the kitchen of course and also got my vegetable plants for the terrace. i can practically watch the tomatoes grow, one of them doubled its size in one week – mother nature is just fascinating! after the frost saints mid of may, before it could still be freezing during the night, i will be planting them in their pots outside.

as you know i love kanelbuller, swedish cinnamon knots. so far i hadn’t found the perfect recipe for me. my tries so far of cinnamon rolls, nutella bun and raspberry mascarpone knots have been good, but especially with the last ones they usually turned out quite flat. the other day i finally was rewarded for my efforts (inspired by dinner with julie) and i got these perfect knots. also the taste was heavenly (based on the chocolate hazelnut brioche from starbucks) 🙂 if you want you can also choose different fillings of course eg a mixture of butter, cinnamon and sugar or also savory with pesto (but then don’t add sugar to the dough, just 1 teaspoon for the yeast). there are plenty of varieties.

peanut toffee bars

i like to always have something small to snack at home. usually i prefer something savory (a piece of bread will do just fine), but it can also be something sweet. i really like the super chewy muesli bars, but since i do need to change it up every once in a while, i made peanut toffee bars (recipe from deli). they don’t contain sugar per se, as they are sweetned by the bananas, but don’t get your hopes up too soon, they still aren’t too healthy. toffee isn’t made out of nothing and in this case soft toffee candies are used. nonetheless they are still rather on the “good side” 🙂

tiramisu

todays post is a classic italian dessert – tiramius. probably everyone knows it and has eaten it in differing qualities. on the blog you can already find some versions – the fruity passion fruit tiramisu or a cherry tiramisu and a more winterly gingerbread tiramisu. however i also have to give you the classic.

when i was still a child there was this huge discussion about salmonella and thereupon this classic dessert was frowned upno. the eggs were substituted by eg heavy cream, to still get a fluffy texture. for me eggs have to be a part of the cream, not only for the color but also for the taste, which is distinguishly different. besides the fat content of mascarpone alone is already high enough without adding heavy cream. as long as you’re using really fresh eggs, nothing should happen. i’ve eaten so much raw dough in my life without taking any damage from it.

orange chocolate muffins

on the last weekends i always was in the mood for baking, but it had to be something quick, ideally without the use of machinery. and what is more suitable than american sweets? it fits the stereotype: little effort, loads of calories, but really yummy. just thinking about how many ready-mixes there are in an american supermarket – crazy! however at least mostly you don’t have to use a kitchen machine or handmixer, just stir everything together with a wooden spoon. austrian recipes usually can’t do without, just thinking about whipping egg whites into stiff peaks i couldn’t forgo my kitchen machine. also for a fluffy light sponge it is invaluble to use a machine for whisking the eggs until light yellow and creamy.

macadamia toffees

today’s recipe is the last one for my homemade presents from the kitchen that my family got for christmas. besides things like savory cantuccini, chocolate almonds deluxe, tomato spice and winterly pralines i also made macadamia toffees. also known as fudge, this mixture of sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate, butter and suger is not for the faint hearted, however one or two pieces won’t kill you 😉 the salted macadamias give the otherwise creamy candies a nice crunch and sweet and salty taste. so hurry into the kitchen, mix everything together and savour the toffees.

savory cantuccini

the christmas holidays were already a while ago, but i still haven’t given you all the recipes from my homemade gift baskets. of course there wasn’t only sweet stuff, but also some salty snacks. i liked the savory cantuccini best – hearty mediterranean. i love to have some small savory snacks at home – this can be a piece of bread or nuts, but these cantuccini with sundried tomatoes (and if you like olives), rosmary and parmesan are a favorite too. quickly made and stored airthight they keep a bit. either you snack them yourself or give them as a present for a dinner invite.

ginger lemon cake

winter in vienna mostly means drab, wet weather and you’ve got snow for about a half day before it turns into mush. so not the best time of year. that’s way i have to at least get something sunny, fresh on my plate. this ginger lemon cake is perfect for that – strong yellow colour, sweet sour due to the lemon and ginger for the prevention of colds and the flue (and also fires up your digestion so basically you immediately burn through the calories of the cake 😉 ). the lemon cake is being soaked with a lemon ginger syrup, so you have these pockets with very intense flavor. since i found the cake, despite the syrup, too dry, i changed the dough to the one of my grandma’s marble cake. nothing can go wrong with that.

brownie cherry cheesecake bites

i think there mustn’t be said much – the combination of my favorites brownies, cheesecake while also fruit due to the cherries. what more do you want? you can either cut the cake into small bites or in mid-sized pieces (believe me you don’t need more 😉 ). especially with the bite version it looks nice to drizzle the chocolate finish separately on top of every piece. however you can also pour the chocolate cream on top of the whole cake and cut after it firmed up. i use philadelphia as my choice of cream cheese. although i normally buy organic, the organic ones usually are a bit salted and thus don’t give the right flavor. philadelphia seems to be the most neutral one.

since i made those brownies for a birthday party and transporting them bite sized wouldn’t have been such a good idea, i don’t have great pictures. but rest assured, you really should try this recipe!!

chocolate almonds deluxe

for christmas my family, as is a tradition by now, got gift baskets with homemade little somethings from my kitchen. per popular demand i made the tomato pasta spice and the fruit energy balls. besides i also made the winterly pralines and caramelized almonds (which are also in high demand with you guys according to the blog stats). of course i also made some new things like these chocolate almonds deluxe. we used to make them alongside our “normal” christmas cookies – just through some almond slivers in with melted chocolate and form small heaps out of it. for this deluxe version the almonds are first being roasted in the oven, then caramelized with some sugar syrup and then seasond with cinnamon and sea salt. the result is a heavenly small bite from which i just can’t get enough. as usual it doesn’t take much to make them, but is a very nice present from the kitchen.

of course there are quite a few more ideas for presents from the kitchen on the blog if you want to give away homemade joy.