Merry Christmas!

This is just to wish you guys a merry Christmas.

Baking-wise, I haven't been as productive as in other years.

No extensive cookie-session. But, as you know,

there's a good reason for that. The little girl growing inside

my belly urges me to rest much more than usual.

But that's alright. Taking better care of myself

is something I have to learn anyway and a 

pregnancy teaches you just that. 

Wow, what a year this has been...

I sort of felt at the beginning of 2014 that something "big"

would be happening, but I still find myself overwhelmed

with how everything turned out. 

I wonder what the next year will bring. And although

I'm a bit nervous, too, I have no doubt that 

everything is going to be just fine.

And that's what I hope for all of you as well.

A huge thank you goes out to my friends and family

who where there for me during this exciting year.

I wouldn't know what to do without you.

Love, Katrin

Merry Christmas!

No more cookie recipes today - just a thank you to all my readers, to my friends and my family. Your support means a lot to me. It's been quite a year, hasn't it?! Many people I talk to confirm that, for them, too, 2013 has been rather intense. It's been about figuring out where you stand, where you want to go - probably also what you have to leave behind in order to be able to move forward. I very much look forward to 2014 and to whatever it might bring. One thing, however, I know for sure: There's going to be cake! But first, I wish you guys a very merry Christmas and all the best for the new year! Lots of love, Katrin

Hot Chocolate

As promised lately, I've got this wonderful hot chocolate recipe for you. Of course, you can adjust the quantity of spices according to your own taste... or add a pinch of chilli, for instance. Just the thing to warm you up these days.

Recipe

(from my friend Andrea)

for a 2.5dl mug

1 large pinch of ground cinnamon

1 large pinch of ground ginger

1 large pinch of ground cardamom

1/4 vanilla pod and scraped out seeds

about 20g dark chocolate, that's about 5-6 pieces of a 100g-bar (I like to use 72%)

Together with all the ingredients, heat up the milk (you can also use soy or rice milk of course), stir until the chocolate has melted and then bring it to a boil twice (if you stir the milk well with a whisk while it is heating up, you get a bit of froth). Pour into your mug. Enjoy! 

Muffins for the Bride

I can't believe Daniela is getting married next month! We've been talking about this for, what, more than a year now?! Yesterday was all about the bride. The motto of our hen party: the 50s. Dresscode: At least one piece of clothing had to be polka-dotted... Turns out: I don't have a single item with polka dots on it and I had absolutely no time for shopping in the past few weeks. But, as you can see, at least my muffins and mini-cakes totally conformed with the dresscode! Each of us girls had to bring homemade pastries so that our bride could sell them and make some money to cover our expenses. Actually, Daniela did a good job, we made quite a lot of cash! However, the bride struggled a bit with our "love test" (see pictures below), but, of course, we're letting her get married anyway ;-) Can't wait for the big day, Danny!

Pineapple, Coconut, Lime and Macadamia Muffins

(slightly adapted from Leila Lindholm's Backen mit Leila)

100g butter

200ml milk

2 eggs

120g sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or vanilla extract

240g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 pinch of salt

1/2 fresh pineapple or canned pineapple, cut into pieces

100g desiccated coconut

grated zest of 3 limes

about 70g of macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Makes about twelve muffins. I doubled this recipe and made 12 muffins and 12 mini-cakes.

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Roast the desiccated coconut in a large pan. Pay attention here, it doesn't take long. Only roast until lightly brown.

Melt butter in a small pan. Then, mix with the milk and set aside. In a bowl, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla sugar. Mix with the butter-milk mixture. In another bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Mix with the wet ingredients. Add half of the desiccated coconut, the pineapple pieces, lime zest and half of the nuts. Mix until well combined. 

Fill the dough into the prepared paper cases. Sprinkle with the rest of the coconut and the nuts. Bake for about 25 minutes. Test whether they are done with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean, take the muffins out of the oven. Let cool in the tray for a few minutes, then, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

A big big THANK YOU goes to Sandy for organizing a wonderful day!

Test: failed ;-)

Merry Christmas

This is just to wish you all a merry merry Christmas.

And to say thank you to all my friends who have been there

for me - especially in the past 4 weeks. 

I am so lucky to have you.

Lots of love

Katrin

I'm still here...

My dear followers… it’s February already and I feel bad for leaving you alone for such a long time… I haven’t had much time to cook and bake recently because I was extremely busy with my final paper for university. I’m almost done now… a few days are left and after that, I will celebrate with a huuuuge cake or something :-D

Come spring, I definitely want to feed you with new, delicious recipes and photos… bear with me for a little longer…

Winter Wonderland

First snow came down last week... I'm not a particular fan of winter but still, as a cake and cookie lover, you got to love this time of the year... I have already made a list of cookies I want to bake and I can't wait to bake "Grittibänz" and gingerbread!

Yesterday morning, while the sun was still shining, I went for a walk in the Irchelpark. Look how beautiful it was...

I know, I know, these photos don't have much to do with cake but I liked them so much that I wanted to share them with you!

And no worries guys, I baked an amazing chocolate cake this weekend and of course, I will not deprive you of the recipe! Soon to come...

World turned upside-down

What is going on?! Lately it seems that everyone is baking but me...

Yesterday, I was at a birthday party and our birthday girl and style expert Giorgia handed out homemade muffins as a give-away... (they were delicious by the way...)

Today, my friend Daniela happily announced that tonight, she's going to bake a cheesecake... Up until recently, all Daniela baked - if she baked at all - was convenience blend brownies from Migros...

Don't get me wrong, I am glad that my pals finally discovered the joy of baking but still... I am a little jealous :-)

Happy to report though that my wrist is getting better day by day. I hardly ever have to wear the brace anymore... and I am already thinking about what I could bake next weekend...

What if...

...your doctor forbids you to bake...?!?! Really, he asked me "Your boyfriend, can't he cook and bake?" ... "Excuse me??!!!"

Ok, from the beginning: First of all, I apologize for being quiet over such a long time. But there were some things that had to be sorted out first and sometimes, you have to prioritize. We settled down in Zurich almost three weeks ago and guys, I liked Zurich before, but now, I am truly in love with this city! Each day I leave the house I see something new. I've already walked from our place all to the central station instead of taking the tram (Mauro's comment: "What?! Are you crazy?!" But you know, Mauro will not walk a step too much if he doesn't have to...).

Our new flat is so cute, I really feel at home. The only problem is that it is not as well lit as our old one which means I still try to figure out the best way to fotograph my food in order to get nice pictures... This turned out to be a tricky task because I don't have a professional camera... Most of the photos are too blurred because of the bad lighting and the flash light is also not a good idea most of the time... But I'm working on it.

The other rather big problem is the nasty strain injury on my right wrist. I guess the moving, yoga, baking, cooking and a lot of typing on the computer turned out to be a bit too much. I will have to give it time to really heal up in order to avoid a repetitive strain injury. But let me tell you, it's not easy... You know how much I love to cook and bake. Last weekend, Mauro and I made Flammkuchen, or rather, Mauro followed my instructions... It was annoying! Mauro actually did a great job but still, I wanted to do it myself! This must be what cold turkey feels like :-) No, seriously, I hope I'm back in the game as soon as christmas cookie season starts!

I hope I can still provide you with a few recipes and photos until then! So, keep in touch.

Katrin

Zurich, Baby!

Hey guys!

I know I haven't been that chatty lately... But I have news to share with you! We're moving to Zurich! Actually, it's been quite a spur-of-the-moment thing. I know, I know, how can moving to Zurich be a spur-of-the-moment thing?! Well, Mauro and I have been discussing this option for quite some time and about a month or two ago, we decided to try and look for an affordable appartment in the city. Who would have thought that we get the first one we applied for?! We still can't believe it!

And there we go... the kitchen is almost packed. From next Saturday on, I will be a city-girl ;-)

Give me some time to get used to my new oven... I'll be back in a bit...

Katrin

Bella Sicilia!

Let me tell about my holidays in Sicily!

I usually like to come home again after being away for a while, but with Sicily it was different. I would have loved to stay a little longer. I have never been there before and now I am totally in love! I had at least one gelato every day, ate the best pasta ever and met the nicest people! The beach was beautiful and I even felt comfortable with the hot temperature. I think the sun and the sea water really did me good.

We stayed in a little village near Palermo where a part of Mauro's family lives. Our holidays where a nice mix of excursions (Palermo, Cefalù, Catania and Taormina), days at the beach and family dinners and let me tell you, these dinners where a real delight! I was really overwhelmed with the warm-heartedness of these people and of course, with the way they cook. Everything is really simple but just delicious. I think it has something to do with the joy and devotion they make their food with. And of course with the fact that they grow practically everything they cook in their own garden. Really, the vegetables and the herbs taste more intense... I got a glass of oregano as a farewell present and everytime I open it, the scent reminds me of Sicily... I can't wait to go there again...

I want share some photos with you just to show you what I am talking about. I got a lot of inspiration for cooking of course and I want to try so many things!!!

























Mmmmh... that lovely crostata di ricotta... I still dream about that one! The best thing is, I got the recipe for it :-) I celebrated my birthday in Sicily and I wished for the recipe as a present and of course, they were happy to share it with me. I think, this is one of the best presents I've ever gotten ;-)

My Herb Garden...

Look what a wonderful job my mum did!

My first post...

Hello, my name is Katrin and I have a baking addiction...

Originally, I forbade myself to have a blog because it would cost me too much time to maintain it, considering that I should write my final thesis at university. But I simply can’t resist.

I love cooking and I love baking even more. I spend so much time looking for recipes on other foodblogs and I take my cookbooks to bed in order to look at them before I fall asleep. The kitchen is my favourite room in my appartment. I photograph my food all the time and I might as well spend a little more time putting it all together on a blog.

So, here it is, my very own Kitchen Diary… I hope you’ll enjoy.


this is me in my kitchen... last christmas... :-)