Buttergebackenes

Ok, party people. In preparation for Christmas 09 and in response to the request of my poor husband, who has been begging me to bake Weihnachten Plaetzchen for three years now, I have finally baked my first batch of Buttergebackenes! These simple yet oh so buttery butter cookies are the result of my Mother in Law's recipe. She bakes these cookies every Christmas. My first batch tasted almost as good as hers :) but my cookies turned out thicker. I still have to find a balance in the thickness of the dough when I'm rolling it out. And I'd like to find some mini cookie cutters as opposed to the larger ones I picked up at W&S. Overall, I'm very happy with my first try. And I will definitely bake these again - this Christmas and many more to come.

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

If you love the taste of banana pudding but hate the inevitable soggy vanilla wafers that come with making it the old fashioned way (sorry Mama!) - I have a super duper yummy recipe for you. I found this recipe on one of my favorite cooks website, the incomparable, Ms Paula Deen. My Mom and I made it for the first time together, while she was here visiting last month. And on that rare occasion, we both agreed - it was the best banana pudding we have ever tasted. I made another batch last night, because we had a friend over for dinner. G took the rest of the banana pudding to work this morning and I have already received emails thanking me for the afternoon office treat. The recipe is extremely easy - you can not mess it up! Try it out and let me know what you think:)

My Donauwellen

Wow, it's been two years since my first "From Scratch" post. It's funny to think of my life then - living in Munich...planning my wedding...learning German... Well, as I promised in that post, I will continue to post photos of my baked creations - no matter what the end result. This attempt at baking the popular German cake, Donauwellen, is a good example of my honesty! Donauwellen is named after the longest river in Europe, the Donau, that begins in the Black Forest in Germany. It's a marble batter filled with cherries that you bake, allow to cool, and then spread a pudding/creme mixture over the top. You're supposed to add a dusting of cocoa powder as the final touch. As you can see, I forgot the importance of the final touch. I also used the wrong baking form. My cake is double the height of an authentic cake. BUT, G and my nephew loved it. That always makes you feel good when you know you kinda messed up the cake!

Yaaah! Cookies!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies! I have to be honest, this is my second try - the first batch, White Chocolate Oatmeal, didn't turn out right. Who knew that if you put 12 tablespoons of cookie batter on a sheet, the cookies would triple in size, melting into one another, forming one big gooey cookie? But these easy (I already had every ingredient) and moist cookies turned out perfect. I made so many, G had to take the majority to work to get them out of our house!

Applesauce Spice Muffins

I bought two 3 lb jars of chunky applesauce with the intention of temporarily switching my daily breakfast from egg whites to one of my childhood favorites, applesauce and cottage cheese. But when I tasted the applesauce, I was really disappointed - it wasn't sweet enough and it wasn't chunky enough - and I had just purchased 6 lbs of it! So what do you do with 6 lbs of applesauce? Make muffins. I found the perfect recipe. They are so moist and flavorful - G ate 3 last night:)

These muffins take about 15 minutes to prepare and only 20 minutes to bake.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pecans or walnuts (3 1/2 oz), coarsely chopped*
*I don't like nuts so I used raisins.

Preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Grease muffin pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well, then add butter, a little at a time, whisking until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in nuts and divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool slightly.

Servings: Makes 12 muffins.

Mama's Bread Pudding

One of my fondest childhood memories, is running through the house with a square of my Mom's bread pudding in hand, savoring each bite. And if I was really good, I could have a square for breakfast! As an adult, I have tried a lot of different varieties of bread pudding, homemade and in restaurants, but not one has measured up to my Mom's. Before we left for Virginia, my Mom made her bread pudding for G for the first time. She served it straight from the oven with caramel sauce. He loved it. So much that I promised him I would ask her for the recipe so that I could try to bake it. Well, she finally told me the ingredients, the old school way - with no exact measurements. I knew I wouldn't be able to duplicate hers so I added apples to my version and guess what? It turned out awesome! I served my bread pudding after it had cooled, the way my Mom used to serve it to me. And because G was good, I let him have a square for breakfast.

Tiramisu

I've been holding out on you guys.
I have the best (easiest+fastest+tastiest) recipe for Tiramisu. It's G's all time favorite dessert. He was ecstatic when I made it as a surprise for a very special celebration dinner - more on what we were celebrating later:)


I forgot to tell you that my Lieblingslehrerin and I started exchanging recipes. This recipe was the first one of hers I tried. Danke E!

Rezept für Tiramisu
2 Eigelbe mit 150g Zucker und 4 EL Ameretto so lange schlagen, bis sich der Zucker gelöst hat. 500g Mascarpone einrühren. 200ml Schlagsahne steif schlagen und ebenfalls unterheben. 24-28 Löffelbiskuits nur mit dem Rücken in 250ml starken Espresso tauchen. Mit der Hälfte der Biskuits den Boden des Rechteckigen Behälters auslegen. Die Hälfte der Macarponecreme darüber verteilen. Die restlichen Biskuits darauf legen und mit der Creme zustreichen. Verschlossen im Kühlschrank über Nacht ziehen lassen. Vor dem Servieren dick mit Kakaopulver bestäuben.

Traditioneller Käsekuchen

Last week, I made a Himbeer Käsekuchen (raspberry cheese/cake) and G informed me that it wasn't real Käsekuchen. He wanted me to actually bake a traditional Käsekuchen. Hard to please, right? Well, here it is - my first real cheesecake, albeit a Fruchtiger Käsekuchen (fruit cheese/cake)!

Himbeer Käsekuchen

Now that we are back to beautiful summer weather, I decided to try Käsekuchen (cheese/cake). This "no bake" recipe is super easy. It calls for Götterspeise Zitronen-Geschmack or Lemon Jello but I used Himbeer (raspberry). I was a little worried about altering the recipe with Himbeer but considering G is not a fan of lemon flavored desserts and after walking to 3 stores and not finding Zitronen, I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. G and I took our first bite, and both mouthed, "Mmmmmmm!" It's the perfect little dessert on a hot sunny day. And you gotta love a pink cheesecake.

2 Years 2 Cakes!

Yesterday was our two year anniversary. G and I met on July 4, 2005, in Miami. And the rest is history, our history. So, I decided to surprise G with two cakes...oh yeah, I'm on a role. The first cake is called Marmorkuchen (marble/cake). I was a little nervous about trying the recipe when I realized that I had to use a fork to make the marble pattern in the batter....

Well, as you can see, I'm going to need some practice with that part! My Marmorkuchen is missing the marmor. However, the cake tastes terrific. It's very moist and rich, especially the chocolate half. It reminds me of Marble Cake from home.

The next cake is Kokosnusskuchen (coconut/cake). We really liked this cake. I ate four pieces last night! If you like coconut, this is an easy and fast recipe that will knock your socks off. You can sprinkle powdered sugar or coconut flakes on top but we paired it with a big dollop of whipped cream.

And just because it was our anniversary, we didn't forget about Independence Day. No matter where I am in this world, I am patriotic on the 4th of July. We went to Munich's New York Tabledance to celebrate.

Sandkuchen

At G's request, his Mom sent me the recipe for Sandkuchen. G's Grandmother used to bake it when he was a boy...she would always bake a large cake for everyone and a little cake just for him (s-p-o-i-l-e-d!). It's called Sandkuchen, (sand/cake), because the inside of the cake is supposed to look like sand. It reminds me of the taste of yellow sheet cake or birthday cake. Except you don't really need the icing because it's so sweet and buttery - the crunchy outside crust is our favorite part.

What do you think...does the inside look like sand?

Eierlikörkuchen!

This is my first cake baked from scratch! I am very proud of myself considering every other cake I've tried to bake has either burned, fallen apart, or inexplicably resisted turning into a solid form, no matter how long I've kept it in the oven. G's Mom bakes cakes that look like they should be in a Martha Stewart magazine and they taste even better. So with her expertise and my sheer will to learn, I will try to bake a new cake every couple of weeks. And I plan on posting pictures, no matter what happens:) The first time I tasted Eierlikörkuchen, (egg/liquor/cake), I immediately thought - Grandma's Pound Cake! My Grandmother bakes a lemon glazed, moist, and buttery pound cake that literally melts in your mouth. This cake is similar but with a hint of Eierlikör.

And to make my success even sweeter, G surprised me with..

Ein Frohes Neues Jahr!

Happy New Year! So, after rolling out of bed this afternoon and immediately taking pain medication for my schmerzhaft headache, I headed straight for the kitchen and started on my first batch of homemade waffles or Waffeln. I added cinnamon to the original recipe from G's Mother and because I'm a little manic about fat, I scaled down on the butter and eggs. After 20 minutes, G, Robbie, and I had delightfully delicious Waffeln! The color was a little inconsistent but overall, our new tradition of New Year's Day Waffeln was a success!