Happy News: The Eat In My Kitchen Cookbook & Espresso Chocolate Biscotti

An exciting email from New York changed my life! Holly La Due from Prestel/ Verlagsgruppe Random House asked me if I'd be interested in writing a cookbook filled with my recipes, stories and photographs. I had to read this email twice before I ran to my boyfriend who was still in bed, it was 7 in the morning, I put the laptop on his chest and made him read the email to me again. I screamed and laughed out loud hysterically!

Holly is the most patient and helpful editor any author could ask for, she has been following eat in my kitchen for a while and I felt pretty soon that we're a very good match. So the past few weeks were filled with lots of excitement and many, long Skype calls across the Atlantic. Discussing how we're going to do this together, talking about our ideas and our vision for the book which will be published in English and in German. Prestel is highly renowned for its publications in art, design and architecture so I don't have to worry about the aesthetic development of my book. With a great publisher behind me, I have the wonderful freedom to fill almost 300 pages with many new recipes, some blog classics and my own photography. After working only digitally on the blog, it feels like a natural transition into the physical world, everything you find on my blog, my style of cooking and baking and my photos, will be merged into the pages of the Eat In My Kitchen cookbook. There will be many more of my salads, soups and vegetable creations, meat and seafood recipes, sandwiches, and there will be lots of baking happening as well. The American Eater brought it to a point a few days ago, "comfort food with a Mediterranean palate". My German upbringing, my mother's cooking in particular, my boyfriend's Maltese/ American family, many summers spent in Malta and Gozo, these are my influences in the kitchen, my never ending source of culinary creativity.

And now I can do what I love so much, I can cook and bake even more, write new recipes and take many, many pictures so that all of us can hold this book in our hands next year. I feel so inspired, I have so many recipes on my mind, there's so much energy and happiness that I can already feel coming from these pages.

It must have been around a year ago that some of you started to ask me about an Eat In My Kitchen book, a physical alternative to my blog's online platform. I had never really thought about it before, although there were enough recipes to fill a couple books, it wasn't on my mind. That changed in the past few months, to get so much support from all of you, so many emails from happy food lovers who enjoy my recipes so much, this experience let this idea ripen in my head, so Prestel asked me at the right time, I'm ready!

Although there are still quite a few months of work ahead of us before the big release day, which will be in the Fall of 2016, I know that we'll need the time to create a book that touches and inspires everybody like the blog already does. Thank you for your ongoing support, thank your for your wonderful words and trust in my work!

The happiest regards from Berlin!

Meike xx

This much excitement asked for a kicking taste experience to feel that I'm actually not dreaming: crunchy biscotti, refined with espresso butter, spices, dark chocolate and hazelnuts. These little treats are so good with a cup of tea or a tiny black espresso, they are definitely for adults who need a moment of intense savouring, bittersweet and full of flavour!

You can read the first announcement of my cookbook on Eater here!

Espresso Butter Chocolate Biscotti

For about 45 biscotti you need

• butter, melted, 100g / 3.5oz

• instant espresso powder 2 teaspoons

• plain flour 400g / 14oz

• baking powder 2 teaspoons

• granulated sugar 210g / 7 1/2oz

• salt 1/4 teaspoon

• five-spice powder (fennel seeds, star-anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper) 2 teaspoons

• cardamom 1/4 teaspoon

• organic eggs 3

• bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, 120g / 4 1/4oz

• hazelnuts, roughly chopped, 50g / 1 3/4oz

Set your oven to 180°C / 355°F (fan-assisted oven) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the espresso powder into the warm, melted butter and let it cool for a few minutes.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until creamy and mix in the espresso butter. Add the dry mixture and mix with the dough hooks of your mixer until just combined. Stir in the chocolate and nuts, form a ball and divide into four parts. Form each into a long bread shape (around 5cm / 2″ wide) and place on the baking sheet, bake for 25 minutes. Take them out and let them cool for about 20 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 170°C / 340°F.

For the second round, cut each loaf gently into 1 1/2cm / 1/2″ slices and lay the biscotti flat on the baking sheet, sprinkle each one with a little sugar. Bake for 6 minutes, turn them over and sprinkle the other side with sugar. Bake them for another 6 minutes or until golden brown, put them on a wire rack and let them cool. You can keep the biscotti in an airtight container for days.

meet in your kitchen | Hemsley + Hemsley's Raw Avocado Lime Cheesecake

These two ladies are a true force of nature! If you ever have the chance to be in a room together with the charmingly gorgeous Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, prepare yourself for a wave of energy. I met the two sisters at one of their delicious workshops at The Store Kitchen at Soho House in Berlin and I was equally impressed by their natural beauty and their skills in the kitchen. With infectious smiles and their experienced hands at the chopping block, they prepared one scrumptious treat after the other: smoothies, salads, courgetti with bolognese (the sisters' famous zucchini spaghetti) and a divine raw avocado cheesecake dessert. I sat, listened and savoured!

The Hemsley sisters started their careers in different fields before they took over the food world with their concept of no gluten, no grains and no sugar but with lots of taste and pleasure. While Jasmine worked as a model for over 15 years her younger sister Melissa traveled the world as a fashion consultant. Due to their busy lifestyles both women had a strong interest in a diet that would do their bodies good rather than stressing them even more. Their holistic concept convinced many food lovers, it started off with friends who asked for consultancy and cooking classes before the sister's blog and family business Hemsley + Hemsley was born in 2010. As contributors for Vogue UK and The Guardian, the two recipe developers, cooks and food consultants also became responsible for the catering of several celebrities. Nothing could stop them anymore, their popularity grew rapidly. Their first cookbook, The Art of Eating Well published in fall 2014, is a bestseller packed with lots of inspiring recipes and we chose one of them to share with you: the addictive Avocado Lime Cheesecake, raw, vegan and unbelievably delicious!

The pictures of the Hemsley sisters and the avocado dessert in glasses (served at Soho House Berlin) are by Nick Hopper.

Avocado Lime Cheesecake

Serves 12

For the base

• pecans (or sunflower seeds) 125g /4 1/2oz

• desiccated coconut 45g / 1 1/2oz

• cacao nibs 70g / 2 1/2oz

• pitted dates (approx. 32) 185g / 6 1/2oz

• coconut oil, melted and at room temperature, 3 tablespoons

For the filling

• avocado flesh (from approx. 5 medium-large avocados) 560g / 1 pound 2 1/2oz

• lime juice (roughly 8 to 10 limes) 200ml / 7fl oz (I used 100ml / 3 1/2fl oz)

• coconut oil, melted and at room temperature, 175ml / 6fl oz

• lime zest 1 tsp

• honey 190g / 6 3/4oz (I used 100g / 3 1/2oz)

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2.

Place the pecans and desiccated coconut on a baking-tray lined with baking-paper. Place in the oven for seven to eight minutes, until toasted. Transfer the pecans to a food processor and add the rest of the base ingredients. Blend until the mixture is crumbly (don't let it go completely smooth) and holds together when pinched.

Line the base and sides of an 18cm (7") ( mine was 20cm / 8") round cake tin with baking-paper and tip in the base mixture. Press this down firmly and evenly with the back of a spoon, ensuring it is neat and flat where it meets the tin. Transfer the tin to the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Place all of the ingredients for the filling into the food processor and blend until the mixture is completely smooth and silky. Check for taste – add more lime juice, zest or honey according to preference, but it's best to keep this deliciously tangy. Remove the cake tin from the fridge and pour the filling over the base. Cover the tin, using a plate or cling film, and return it to the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

To serve, run a knife between the tin and the cake and carefully push the base up from the bottom. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

Before you started your family business Hemsley + Hemsley in 2010, you worked as a model and as a fashion/ brand manager. How did this transition into the food business come about? What moved you to make this step?

Jasmine: Yes, I was working full-time as a model from the age of 19. I was fascinated by the many different ideas surrounding health and nutrition, from paleo to low-fat, juice cleansing and many other ideologies, and began to develop and grow the Hemsley + Hemsley way of eating through research, study and self-practice whilst sharing tips and tricks with friends and family. Mel, who worked as a footwear brand manager and later in marketing and promotion for gastropubs and bars, caught the cooking bug and helped spread the word.

Melissa: We didn’t intentionally ‘launch’ the business - it came about organically. As people reached out to us for help with their digestion and relationship with food, we suddenly found ourselves working as wellness coaches and private chefs. Providing a bespoke service for these clients, we’d clear out their cupboards, fill up their fridges and freezers and show them how to cook our recipes. The results where so positive, they felt better - happier, healthier and more energized. Back then we didn’t have a name, so our clients called us their ‘food fairies’ and from the first week we had a waiting list as everybody recommended us to their friends, families and colleagues.

You seem to complement each others strengths perfectly. What are the advantages of working so closely with your sister? What are your roles, how do you deal with disagreements between the two of you when it comes to your business?

Jasmine: We always said it would be great to have a family business, making the food we all want to eat, food that keeps us happy and energised and be able to share it with everybody. The business has evolved naturally and we now work in areas that we love the most. When it comes to recipes, my sweet tooth means I usually mastermind the puddings and desserts, while Mel is the queen of knock-out curries and one pot dishes. My partner Nick is the third wheel to Hemsley + Hemsley - the man behind the scenes taking all the photos and running the back end of the business.

Melissa: As with all small businesses, you have to roll up your sleeves and get involved. Luckily everyday is different at H+H - cooking, meetings, recipe developments, lots of room for creativity and also plenty of time to work alone and remotely from laptops so we aren’t on each others space the whole time. And when it comes back to just being family we find it remarkably easy to switch off!

Who is your biggest inspiration in the kitchen? What are your culinary roots?

Jasmine: We’ve both always loved good home-cooked food from early on thanks to our Filipina mum being wonderful and inspiring in the kitchen. She would make use of everything we had - definitely where our frugal streak comes from - and each meal was made with great care and attention.

Melissa: Growing up, the more we tuned into how our bodies were really feeling, the more we realised the relationship between food and good health. Being the youngest I lucked out as mum and Jasmine used to do all the cooking and all I had to do was lay the table. As I got older I realised that it was so hard to eat nourishing foods without truly taking charge of it yourself. I realised that if I wanted to eat the same good food I’d have to start putting into practise what I’d absorbed over the years of being around mum, Jaz and all our aunties!

You're big fans of bone broth, how did this start and why does it have such an important role in your food concept?

Bone broth will always be at the heart of our philosophy and intrinsic to everything we do. We love it because it’s a champion all rounder, packed with protein, vitamins, minerals, collagen and keratin - all the building blocks for healthy digestion and glowing skin. Easy to make, frugal and tasty, this ‘liquid gold’ is supremely versatile and a must in anyone's recipe repertoire! Wellness begins from within and good digestion is key - bone broth is an easy to digest source of protein for very little money. At home, we always have broth on the go or a batch in the freezer. You can throw any leftovers in like shredded chicken, roast veggies, yesterday’s salad and swirl through some pesto or miso for a quick soup. We also use it to steam up some quinoa, as the base for sauces, soups, stews and to simply drink it warm from a mug.

How did you develop your holistic food concept, did you work together with food/ health consultants or did you follow your own experiences?

We’ve been developing and growing the Hemsley + Hemsley way of eating for almost ten years through research, study and self-practice. We really tuned in and focused on what made us feel good despite whatever was going on in the media about what you should and shouldn’t be eating. Our philosophy and nutritional ideals take you back to basics with a focus on provenance and digestion. People love our style of cooking and are always intrigued as to how food this tasty could possibly be good for you.

How do you develop new recipes?

We are constantly inspired by our travels when experiencing new cuisines as well as by our readers and client’s who often request Hemsley + Hemsley reworked versions of their favourite foods.

What was the first dish you cooked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

Jasmine: My mum would make a big soup instead of a Sunday roast, using up all the leftovers from the fridge. I started off cooking one-pot dishes and they are still a Hemsley + Hemsley staple now - a lot of our recipes are simple, quick and frugal dishes which begin with a base of homemade bone broth and can be adapted and added to in order to make use of leftovers.

Melissa: I remember making the perfect creamy scrambled eggs with my mum...lots of butter and a slow-cook.

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in London?

Jasmine: We’ve just discovered Sea Containers (Seamus Mullen) on the Southbank which is stunningly beautiful and the food is incredible with views of the Thames. While we’re over that way, we love Borough Market for fresh produce and The Ginger Pig for delicious, organic meat.

Melissa: For eating out I love Brunswick House in Vauxhall, Elliots in Borough Market, Rochelle’s Canteen in Shoreditch (it’s hidden from the street in a converted school) and Paradise in Kensal Rise (where I used to work).

You shared your Avocado Lime Cheesecake recipe on eat in my kitchen, how did you develop this delicious vegan cheesecake?

People always tell us that our recipes don’t taste healthy and we pride ourselves on coming up with upgraded versions of takeaways, comfort foods and the nostalgia-inducing dishes that our clients, friends, families and followers love best from their childhoods. Keeping texture and flavour in mind, we made clever use of whole foods such as skin-boosting avocado and zesty lime to reinvent this classic and give it the Hemsley + Hemsley stamp of approval. The Avocado Lime Cheesecake is a raw, New York-style cheesecake packed full of goodness. The smooth creamy lime sits atop a nutty, chocolate base with a hint of coconut. It’s tasty, filling and good for you!

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

Jasmine: Keith Floyd, cooking up a Bouillabaisse in the South of France and enjoying it with plenty of wine in the sunshine. I bet it’d be an afternoon to remember!

Melissa: Rather than have her cook for me, I’d want to cook for the legendary Madhur Jaffrey, probably something like our Chicken Curry and Cauliflower Rice so that she could critique it!

You're going to have ten friends over for a spontaneous dinner, what will be on the table?

Don’t be fooled, these 3 course menus are so easy! And people always tell us they cant believe that it’s healthy food when it tastes that good:

Jasmine: Starter: Baked Chicken Liver Mousse and Carrot and Flax Crackers  Main Course: Fish Pie with Celeriac Mash and a side of Garlic Lemon Green Beans Dessert: Instant Berry and Coconut Ice Cream

Melissa: Starter: Cucumber Maki Crab Rolls  Main Course: Courgette and Aubergine Curry and a side of Cauliflower Rice  Dessert: Pistachio, Fig and Goat’s Cheese Trifle

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

Jasmine: I’ve always had a sweet tooth so it would have to be chocolate brownies. I almost cried the first day I made our Black Bean Brownies and they came out perfectly - fudgy, rich and delicious. They’re now one of our most popular sweet treats from our book The Art of Eating Well; and best of all, they’re free from any processed nasties!

Melissa: Spaghetti Bolognese was one of my favourites growing up and it still is now, except we call it Beef Ragu with Courgetti. Made with the Hemsley Spiralizer, we enjoy the sauce atop a bed of spiralized courgette which we call courgetti and fill the sauce with extra grated carrot and courgette as well as highly nutritious chicken livers if we have any. It’s hearty, warming comfort food that’s perfect with a glass of red wine.

Do you prefer to cook on your own or together with others?

Jasmine: I love to cook with family and friends, it’s always a great way to catch-up and I love seeing how other people do things in the kitchen.

Melissa: I like to have the music on and cook by myself sometimes, as it’s one of the ways I love to unwind, just in the kitchen at home. Saying that, I also love getting together with friends over a glass of wine and have us all chopping away in the kitchen together.

Which meals do you prefer, improvised or planned?

Jasmine: I’m the queen of leftovers so I love getting experimental - it’s a great way to discover new recipes and more often than not you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you can rustle up.

Melissa: The spontaneous ones that come out of leftovers in the fridge, they’re always the best!

Which meal would you never cook again?

Jasmine: Lactose fermented herring - yes I tried to make fermented fish myself! It’s not something I will be repeating anytime soon, I think I’ll stick to sauerkraut, kimchi and other fermented veg to get my probiotic fix!

Melissa: I can’t think of any one but have definitely recipe tested recipes before that ended up being really complicated so I wouldn’t bother with those again, no matter how tasty. We spend a lot of time experimenting while recipe developing to come up with meals that are simple, delicious and nutritious, so if it’s complicated, it doesn’t make the cut.

Thank you Jasmine and Melissa!

Crescent Milk Rolls with Poppy Seeds for Easter Breakfast

One of my earliest Easter memories is searching for Easter eggs with my sister in the garden of the house we had just moved into. There was no fence around the lawn, the green grass sprinkled with red tulips opened up to a dense forest, my childhood playground. We were young and so excited, the kind of overwhelming excitement we tend to neglect as we get older. On that sunny April day many years ago, we forgot about everything around us as we found our Easter presents hidden behind a group of old oak trees: 80's roller skates in flashing red and white, it was better than Christmas!

I still love these special feasts, not for the presents but for these pure moments of bliss, when we take a break from our normal routine, slow down the pace and relax a little, or reflect on the memories filling our book of life. To me, memories are as precious as the moment itself and I wouldn't have started a food blog if they weren't inseparably connected with dishes, meals and recipes, at least most of the time. Easter Sunday is perfect for a long breakfast, preferably outside in the sunshine, which, unfortunately, isn't really an option in Berlin at the moment. We're still in the hands of snow, hail and rain! But snuggled into a blanket at our cosy wooden table feels just as nice, especially if there are crescent milk rolls, Milchhörnchen in German, involved. I love these yeast rolls warm, fresh out of the oven, when the soft inside smells almost buttery-sweet. The thin crust is sprinkled with crunchy poppy seeds which adds a slightly nutty nuance, to me they are best with a little butter and maybe, some homemade strawberry jam, but that's not even necessary. Happy Easter!

Crescent Milk Rolls with Poppy Seeds

For 10 rolls you need

• plain flour 500g / 1 pound

• granulated sugar 3 tablespoons

• dry yeast 1 sachet (7g / 1/4 ounce)

• salt 1 teaspoon

• milk, lukewarm, 220ml / 7 1/2 ounces

• butter, melted, 40g / 1 1/2 ounces

• organic egg 1 plus 1 egg yolk, beaten, for the glaze

• poppy seeds, for the topping

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Whisk the milk, melted butter and egg in another bowl, the mixture should be lukewarm. Add to the dry flour-sugar mixture and mix with the dough hooks of your mixer for a few minutes until the dough is well combined and elastic. Continue kneading with your hands for about 5 minutes until you have a soft and silky dough ball. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it rise in the warm oven (35°C / 95°F) for 70 minutes (top/ bottom heat and not fan-assisted!). 

Take the bowl out of the oven, punch the dough down and knead for another 30 seconds. Divide the dough into 10 portions (each about 80g / 3 ounces). Roll each of them to a smooth ball in your hands before you roll it out on the kitchen top with a rolling pin. Give it the shape of a 20cm / 8" long triangle, roll it up towards the tip and bend the roll into a crescent. Continue with the remaining dough and place the rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a tea towel and let them rise in a warm place for another 20 minutes.

Set the oven to 220°C / 430°F (top-bottom heat).

Brush the top of the milk rolls with the beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with poppy seeds (you can use more than you can see in the pictures). Bake in the warm oven for about 10-12 minutes or until golden on top. They are best on the first day!

meet in your kitchen | Cynthia Barcomi's heavenly Peanut Butter Brownies

Today's meet in your kitchen feature means a lot to me, with great pleasure I visited the woman who established two beautiful culinary places in my adopted home of Berlin. One of them became my peaceful refuge as soon as it opened its doors a long time ago, in 1997. Barcomi's Café and Barcomi's Deli are both true gems, to me and many others who love good coffee and New York style cakes and sandwiches. I was more than happy to meet the inspiring Cynthia Barcomi in her kitchen, to chat about her life, rabbits and chickens and to bake her delicious peanut butter brownies, what a perfect morning!

Over 20 years ago, Cynthia opened her first Barcomi's in this ever vibrant city that's seen so many changes in the culinary scene over the past two decades. She left New York as a professional dancer to live and work on this side of the Atlantic, in the German capital which was so different when she arrived compared to how we know it today. Cynthia is determined, a disciplined and hard working woman, so it's no surprise that she successfully became a part of the Berlin dance scene. Although she enjoyed her life here, there was something missing: good coffee. This has always been a very delicate topic, all over the world, making coffee is an art, interpreted by different (objective) tastes. Berlin's café scene in those days was a far cry from today's diversity and Cynthia wasn't particularly happy about her discoveries. She's a woman of action, so she decided to roast her own beans and while she was already moving in this new direction, she also had the idea to sell some sweet classics from her American baking heritage. Her New York cheese cake, muffins, raspberry granache and pies, and her fantastic coffee of course, soon gained so much popularity that she opened a second Barcomi's only three years later, a proper deli this time.

Since I first sat at one of her Deli's black and white tables as a traveling teenager it became my all time favourite café, a piece of my Berlin that I never wanted to let go of. So much so that I promised myself that I wouldn't live too far away if I ever moved here, which I managed in the end. It may sound a bit silly, but in this hidden café, tucked away in an old yard, in the dreamy Sophienhöfe, I found a lot of what I was looking for in this city at that point. Although it's a tranquil oasis, it also gave me the feeling that, here, I could dive deep into Berlin's secrets by just sitting on one of the leather benches watching people come and go, drink their coffee or wine, read a newspaper or have a chat. I'd just have to sit and watch attentively.

So after all these years, to find myself right in her kitchen is both a surprise and a gift, I can bake with one of my early baking heroes! I felt so excited to visit her creative space, this culinary laboratory where all the Barcomi's magic starts. Her private kitchen is equipped with five ovens, a dream collection of tins and pans, and in the center of this baking heaven stands Mrs. Cynthia Barcomi. She's so chatty and relaxed that one can easily forget that she runs more than a café and deli, she also has a catering company, has written five cookbooks, presents a TV show, and on top of all this, has brought up four children together with her husband. She seems like an endless source of energy and positivity, focussed without forgetting to enjoy her journey, this woman is truly inspirational!

Before we met, Cynthia asked me which of the recipes from her new Cookies cookbook I would like to bake with her. The choice wasn't easy! I was torn between Lemon Lime Cashew Shortbread, Chestnut Flower Brownies, Toffee Crunch Bars and Pesto Twists, but when I spotted her Peanut Butter Brownies I couldn't resist, I had to try them. The creamy, buttery, salty and chocolaty voluptuousness literally jumped out off the pages of her book and I wasn't surprised at all that they tasted exactly as I expected. These brownies were deep and rich, addictive after the first fudgy bite - I just love this woman and everything she creates in her kitchen!

If you want to find out more about Cynthia Barcomi, the Barcomi's cafés and her new book Cookies full of deliciously tempting recipes, click here!

Peanut Butter Brownies

For a 23 x 23cm / 9 x 9" baking tin you need

• butter 155g / 5 1/2 ounces

• bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces, 200g / 7 ounces

• granulated sugar 150g / 5 1/4 ounces

• vanilla extract 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon

• plain flour 90g / 3 1/4 ounces

• cocoa powder 20g / 3/4 ounce

• salt 3/4 teaspoon

• baking soda 1/2 teaspoon

• peanut butter, creamy, 200g / 7 ounces

• icing sugar, sieved, 25g / 1 ounce

• eggs 3

Set the oven to 175°C / 350°F (fan-assisted oven) and butter the baking tin.

In a saucepan, melt 125g (4 1/2 ounces) of the butter and the chocolate. Pour the melted chocolate-butter mixture into a bowl and mix with the sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Let it cool for about 15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the baking soda. In another bowl, mix the peanut butter with 30g (1 ounce) butter, icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Whisk the eggs into the chocolate-butter mixture and gently stir in the dry flour-cocoa mixture. Pour the dough into the baking tin and even it out. Place the peanut butter mixture in dollops on top of the chocolate dough and swirl it a little with a tooth pick. Bake in the oven for about 23 minutes or until just firm on top (don't overbake!). Let the brownies cool on a wire rack.

You opened your first Barcomi's in Berlin in 1994, the second one, a deli, in 1997. You also started roasting your own coffee beans, long before this café culture was popular in the city. How would you describe Berlin's café and restaurant scene in those days? What changed over the years?

In 1994 and up until a few years ago, there was really no alternative to industrial roasted coffee beans and industrial produced pastries in Berlin except Barcomi’s. Everything tasted the same and bad! Bad food and coffee corrupts the palette so that at some point, people no longer know how real food and coffee should taste. I have always seen my work as an alternative to the industry – be it feeding our guests or writing books, so that people can bake and cook successfully themselves.

You came from New York to Berlin, arriving as a dancer, and today you're one of Berlin's most popular personalities in the culinary landscape. What led to this personal transformation?

Hard work and a lot of self-criticism let to my success as a gastronome. The transition from dancer to gastronome to cookbook author was simple: I felt inspired and used that inspiration as my starting point. I have never looked back!

How much of the New Yorker is still in you, how would you describe it? What do you miss about this city?

New York is a magical (and tough) city. It is an extremely competitive and fast moving city and if you live there, you have to keep up! Living and going to school there taught me not to be afraid of competition by always doing my best and remaining true to my ideas and beliefs.

As a writer of five cookbooks, a TV personality, caterer and restaurant owner, which of your activities relaxes you and which challenges you the most?

It is always challenging to be good and it’s always challenging to work with lots of people, I have 50 employees between the two stores. I love it though and I simply love to cook and bake. It relaxes and focuses me so I can let the creative process unfold.

You just published your latest book COOKIES, how do you develop new recipes, where do you find inspiration?

Inspiration is everywhere: ingredients, shapes, colors, occasions, dreams, sense memories just to name a few. Inspiration is always the starting point for a new recipe and without it, I cannot create. A baking recipe begins as an intellectual theory of a bunch of ingredients. The magic happens, when I synthesize theory with practice (baking). This involves all of my senses and is partially an intuitive process.   When a pastry finally comes out of the oven, theory and practice have united – I love it!

What do you love about Berlin?

I love the people in Berlin. It has become a really exciting city because the people living here are busy making things happen. Whether music, the arts or the food scene – it’s happening in Berlin!

Who is your biggest inspiration in the kitchen?

Actually I find visual artists and music composers inspiring in the kitchen. Layers and layers of details like shapes, juxtapositions, harmonies remind me of the intricacies of my own work.

You brought up four children together with your husband, one of your daughters joined your catering business, how much family is there in Barcomi's?

There is a lot of family in Barcomi’s. My husband and son love to do the store deliveries on Sundays. My youngest daughter is a great helper / baker in the kitchen. Barcomi’s is my family’s existence as well as the existence of many co-workers of mine.

What was the first dish you cooked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

I used to bake when I was really young (3 – 4 years old) but cooking? I started making omelettes for my parents when I was…maybe 10 years old. Then I discovered Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The floodgate was opened!

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in Berlin? 

I love to shop at the weekend market at Mexikoplatz.There is also my favorite farmer who sets up a stand a few days a week at the corner of Sven-Hedin Strasse. I’m originally from Washington, which means that I know my apples. This farmer has the BEST apples I have eaten outside of Washington!

What did you choose to share on eat in my kitchen and why?

Peanut Butter Brownies (from the new Cookies book). I really love your work, Meike: it is detailed, honest and personal. There are many blogs out there, but so few capture the essence of food like eat in my kitchen. I’m impressed!

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

I would like Jean-Georges Vongerichten to cook his favorite meal for me… or Nobu Matsuhisa, I love his food as well.

You're going to have ten friends over for a spontaneous dinner, what will be on the table?

It is one of my favorite things to do: open my cupboards and simply throw a meal together (often in less than 30 minutes!). As my husband would say, I have done some of my best work in the least amount of time. I love the flow of improvising in the kitchen. It would be my dream TV show to go to someone’s home, open up their kitchen cupboards and cook an amazing meal!

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

Well, I do love chocolate chip cookies but my taste has also evolved over the years. I really love to make and eat simple, straightforward foods. Fresh herbs, seasonal and regional produce is simply the best.

Do you prefer to cook on your own or together with others?

I have a rather large kitchen at home with many ovens and lots of work space. One of the most important elements of my kitchen is the DOOR. I love to cook alone, by myself. It’s like painting to me and it is not necessary a collaborative process. It is a moment, THE moment.

Which meals do you prefer, improvised or planned?

Well, I like to plan a meal for a special occasion as well as the challenge of an impromptu get-together. They are two very different disciplines, each one off-sets the other!

Thank you Cynthia!

Lime Buttermilk Cake with Pistachios & Orange Blossom Water Yoghurt

This cake is sweet perfection! It's spongy, juicy, buttery and lemony with a touch of flowery lime which gives it a soft hint of marzipan. It's simply a scrumptious loaf cake and I could have just left it at that, cut into thick slices with a cup of tea and I would have been more than happy. But I asked for more, no puristic cake treat but a rich composition of cakey citrus flavours topped with Greek yoghurt whipped with orange blossom water, Maltese honey and sprinkles of unsalted pistachios. This is a proper dessert, also very convenient as a special Sunday tea time treat, but definitely beyond a simple breakfast cake.

My cake tastes like a summery day in the Mediterranean, the sun at its zenith, so hot that it invites all the beautiful fragrances around you to merge into an enchanting perfume of citrus, salt and warming sweetness. Imagine the smell of your last holiday in a hot and dry country, close your eyes and feel the sun on your skin, all those rich and exotic aromas surrounding you and caressing your senses. That's how this sweet little wonder made me feel and that's why I call it perfection!

More about the dough which led to this satisfying experience: I mixed some cornstarch into the flour, a trick I already used for my apple breakfast cake, it guarantees a very light and fluffy result. Then there's also buttermilk which adds the right juiciness to keep your fingers moist when you hold a slice of this cake in your hands. You could also reach this pleasant effect with more butter but that would make it heavier. Vegetable oil would also be an efficient alternative to end up with a very juicy cake (it's actually used quite often in combination with buttermilk) but the taste tends to bug me when there are such fine aromas involved. I like it for my nutty Florida carrot cake, but I usually prefer to work with the dairy product.

In the end, everything was just right in this cake, well balanced and harmonic. When that happens I don't ask any more questions, I'm just a thankful baker.

Lime Buttermilk Cake with Pistachios & Orange Blossom Water Yoghurt

For a 24cm x 10,5cm / 9.5″ x 4″  loaf tin you need

• plain flour 210g / 7 1/2 ounces

• cornstarch 70g / 2 1/2 ounces

• baking powder 3 teaspoons

• salt 1/4 teaspoon

• butter, soft, 180g / 6 1/2 ounces

• granulated sugar 180g / 6 1/2 ounces

• organic eggs 3

• zest of 1 lime

• lemon zest 2 tablespoons (about 2 large lemons)

• freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 tablespoons

• buttermilk 90ml / 3 ounces

• icing sugar 2 tablespoons, for the syrup

• freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 tablespoons, for the syrup

• pistachios (unsalted), chopped, a small handful, for the topping

For the orange blossom yoghurt

• Greek yoghurt 200g / 7 ounces

• orange blossom water (preferably organic) 2 teaspoons, to taste

• quality honey 1 tablespoon, to taste

Set the oven to 160°C / 320°F (fan-assisted oven) and butter the loaf pan.

Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy, add the sugar and continue mixing until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mix well in between. When the mixture is light and creamy mix in the zest and juice. Gently stir in the flour/ cornstarch mixture with a wooden spoon, in batches, alternating with the buttermilk (about 1/3 of each at a time). Pour the dough into the buttered pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until golden on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for a few minutes before you put it on a wire rack.

For the syrup, whisk the icing sugar and lemon juice until combined. Prick the cake and slowly pour the lemon syrup over the top of the cake, sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Whisk the yoghurt, orange blossom water and honey, season to taste and serve with the warm cake.

Buckwheat Dutch Baby with White Chocolate, Blueberries and Hazelnuts

I ate my first Dutch Baby in Marta Greber's kitchen, the cook and baker behind the beautiful blog What Should I Eat For Breakfast Today?. We met last October for one of my meet in your kitchen features, I was curious about this woman who is known to be so passionate about the first meal of the day. When Marta told me that she'd like to make a Dutch Baby for me I had to ask her for further information, unfortunately I had no idea what to expect on my plate.

To clear the picture for everyone else who feels as clueless as I did then: a Dutch Baby is a pancake baked in the oven in a heavy cast iron skillet. It rises a bit like a soufflé with a buttery crust on the outside. It's a very simple yet very delicious way to start the day! Marta mastered this dish to perfection, you can find her recipe here in the kitchen feature with her. I didn't want to change her basic formula too much. There are variations on this dish with a thiner result but I particularly liked the richness she created. Her recipe uses more flour than the ones that end up with a paper thin bottom, her Dutch Baby is a proper breakfast and not an airy dessert. I wanted to keep that but there is always room to evolve a recipe, to change it in order to give it a new direction. My new direction is called buckwheat!

Inspired by my hazelnut cake made with this tasty flour which found its way onto the blog only a few weeks before I met Marta, I have been wanting to combine these two creations for months: a hearty buckwheat Dutch Baby refined with cinnamon to underline its nutty flavour. The right cast iron skillet was missing in my kitchen which isn't obligatory for this recipe but I've been longing for this heavy pan from Tennessee for years and I didn't want to start this project without this exact kitchen tool (I know, I sound a bit like a child). Thanks to our family, to lovely Ana and Chris in Florida, my cooking equipment has a few new additions: not only one skillet but three plus a casserole dish, it felt like Christmas when the box arrived. My first Dutch Baby is dedicated to these two wonderful people on the other side of the Atlantic, thank you so much for this kitchen gift!

When I finally got started, it took three attempts to learn that you can't expect the same results from buckwheat batter compared to the ones made with lighter wheat or white spelt, it's just not as airy. Buckwheat is simply too heavy to let the pancake rise and bubble like a perfect soufflé, as long as you're not after after a crêpe-thin Dutch Baby which I wasn't. I wanted Marta's thick German pancake texture combined with the buckwheat's distinct taste. So, using only buckwheat was out of the question, it's impossible. For my first batch I used more or less Marta's recipe replacing half the flour with buckwheat. It created a pancake with a certain density that I wanted to lighten up a little. The second batch made with 1/3 less buckwheat flour tasted perfect but I still wanted a different texture and look. The third and final recipe is made with an additional egg and the same amount of the two different flours, and this time I was finally happy. Don't expect a feather-light soufflé but a cosy, nutty, cinnamony warm breakfast treat, slightly cakey, with sweet and creamy white chocolate melted on top. The addition of chopped hazelnuts and fresh blueberries made this comforting morning treat complete!

So where does the name come from? It's another one of these sweet fairy tales. The dish is derived from the German pancake, the word Dutch is a corruption of the word Deutsch, meaning German. A restaurant owner called Victor Manca is supposed to be the person who made the first Dutch Baby in the early 1900 in Seattle, Washington. At least he owned the trade mark. Legend has it that one of his daughters chose the name, referring to the German-American immigrants, the Pennsylvania-Dutch.

Buckwheat Dutch Baby with White Chocolate, Blueberries and Hazelnuts

For a 25cm / 10" cast iron skillet or heavy baking dish you need

• butter 80g / 2 3/4 ounces, to bake the pancake

• plain flour 60g / 2 ounces

• buckwheat flour 60g / 2 ounces

• granulated sugar 2 tablespoons

• salt 1/2 teaspoon

• ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon

• organic eggs 3

• milk 125ml / 4 1/2 ounces

• quality white chocolate, grated, 60g / 2 ounces, for the topping

• blueberries 125g / 4 1/2 ounces, for the topping

• hazelnuts, chopped, 20g / 3/4 ounce, for the topping

Set the oven to 230°C / 450°F (top/ bottom heat).

Place the skillet or baking dish with the butter in the oven. Let the butter melt and sizzle slightly (it should be hot but not brown). Combine the flour, buckwheat, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl, add the milk and eggs and whisk for about a minute until combined. When the butter is melted, gently pour the dough into the middle of the pan and bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until golden.

When the Dutch Baby is done, take the pan out of the oven and carefully pour out the excess butter. Sprinkle the surface with the chocolate immediately. Lay the blueberries and hazelnuts on top and enjoy warm!

Chocolate Ricotta Cheesecake - my take on Russischer Zupfkuchen

If you like the combination of bittersweet chocolate and creamy cheesecake, this is your recipe! Russischer Zupfkuchen is a German cake classic. Although its history is still relatively young and a little in the dark, this cake gained rising popularity over the past few decades. The name is slightly misleading, there is no proof of a connection to the Russian cuisine, this cake is a culinary mystery, a sweet one, and it might stay that way forever.

Zupfkuchen means plucked cake, which refers to the chocolate dough on top that's also used for the base. It's a dark, crumbly short crust that brings some depth into this sweet and creamy treat. Traditionally, the topping is made with quark, the German dairy product which is similar to ricotta or cottage cheese, it creates a bit of a heavy, more dry texture. I tried many of these cakes in my life and this particular texture was often the reason why I couldn't really warm to it, apart from the fact that many were simply too sweet for my taste.

When I decided to create my own Zupfkuchen I wanted to work on these two points, texture and sweetness. I had something lighter in mind, a filling made with ricotta and a little bit of mascarpone, definitely less sugar and more eggs than you'd find in the usual recipes. The texture turned out to be a cross between a soufflé and a flan, it's like a French take on this rather rustic cake. Especially when you try a piece while it's still warm, it tastes a bit like custard, resembling the fine eggy note of a crème caramel which fades away as soon as the cake cools down. If you're a Zupfkuchen traditionalist, you might be a bit disturbed by this new nuance, but if you savour with an open mind, you can enjoy the contrast of chocolaty darkness and light milkiness. Just add some more sugar if there are children at the table, this is a less-sweet-adult cake.

Before I forget, we found the cake best on the second day!

Russischer Zupfkuchen

For a 26cm / 10″ springform pan you need

For the chocolate short crust

• plain flour 300g / 10.5 ounces

• granulated sugar 80g / 3 ounces

• unsweetened cocoa powder 50g / 1 3/4 ounces

• baking powder 1 1/2 leveled teaspoons

• a pinch of salt

• cold butter 175g / 6 1/4 ounces

• organic egg 1

• cold milk 1 tablespoon

Combine the flour with the sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the flour with a knife until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and rub the butter into the flour. Add the egg and milk and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until combined. Form a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge while you prepare the cheese topping. 

For the cheese topping

• fresh ricotta 500g / 18 ounces

• mascarpone 250g / 9 ounces

• organic eggs 4

• cornstarch 50g / 1 3/4 ounces

• baking powder 1 teaspoon

• a pinch of salt

• granulated sugar 120g / 4 1/2 ounces

• milk 1 tablespoon

• a pinch of vanilla scraped out of its pod

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the cheese topping with an electric mixer until well combined and creamy. 

For the Zupfkuchen

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F (top/ bottom heat) and butter the springform pan.

Divide the short crust in 2/3 for the base and 1/3 for the chocolate topping.

Roll out 2/3 of the dough between cling film, big enough to come up about 2/3 of the rim of the springform pan and line the pan with the pastry. Continue rolling out the remaining 1/3 of dough between cling film (about 1/2cm / 1/4" thick) and pluck it into roundish pieces for the topping, set this dough aside.

Pour the cheesecake topping in the pastry lined springform pan and bake for 20 minutes. Open the oven and gently (and quickly) lay the plucked chocolate dough pieces on top of the cheese topping. Bake for another 35 minutes or until golden and firm on top. Switch off the oven, open the oven door and keep the cake in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Take it out and let the cake cool before you take it out of the springform pan.

Butter Buchtel Buns with Cherries and Vanilla Custard

Fragrant and fluffy! Buchteln are buttery sweet yeast rolls tucked together in a baking pan to keep them juicy. Break the warm buns apart when they are freshly out of the oven and you can enjoy the sweetest smell that yeast dough can possibly create. To get an even better idea of what to expect, imagine brioche, just softer, with a flowery aroma and a sweet filling of juicy cherries. Although this is the prefect Sunday morning breakfast treat, they also make a fantastic, rustic dessert, especially when you serve them with a thick vanilla custard. You can replace the cherries with your favourite jam, curd or poppy seeds, basically with everything that fits to a buttery sweet bun. I used canned fruits stuffed with a little lump of sugar to release their juices, there's no need to wait for their harvest in summer. It worked great! This is the right recipe to pull out all the preserved fruit cans and jars piled up in your pantry, apricots, peaches, plums are great too, just stuff them into your butter buchteln and enjoy their juicy sweetness.

Buchteln have been with me for quite a while, when I went to university I used to go to my favourite bakery at least twice a week to buy a couple of their fabulous plum cinnamon buchteln. I'll never forget the satisfaction I felt with each bite, and even today, after all those years, they still manage put me right back to this comforting feeling.

Buchteln (also known as Ofennudel or Rohrnudel in German) are very popular in Southern German, Austrian, Hungarian, Czech and Slovenian cuisine, several variations on this recipe spread into Polish, Croatian and Serbian baking over the years. However, they remind me a lot of Italian baking, the rich dough is almost yellow, made with lots of butter and eggs refined with orange zest and vanilla, it's as fragrant as a panettone. Simple and pure, yet so satisfying!

Butter Buchtel Buns with Cherries and Vanilla Custard 

I used a round 19cm / 7.5" (6cm / 2.5" high) baking dish. The buchteln should sit close to each other.

For 8 buchteln you need

• plain flour 400g / 14 ounces

• granulated sugar 60g / 2 1/4 ounces

• dry yeast 1 sachet (7g / 1/4 ounce)

• salt 1/4 teaspoon

• vanilla, scraped, 1/4 pod (or 1 package vanilla sugar)

• orange zest 1 teaspoon

• milk 125ml / 4 1/4 ounces

• butter, melted, 80g / 3 ounces plus 80g / 3 ounces to coat the buchteln

• organic eggs 2

• jarred cherries, for the filling 16-24

• sugar cubes, quartered, 4-6

• icing sugar, for the topping

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, vanilla and zest. Whisk the cold milk with 80g (3 ounces) of the hot melted butter and the eggs (the mixture should be lukewarm) and add to the dry flour mixture. Mix with the dough hooks of your mixer for a few minutes until the dough is well combined and elastic. Continue kneading with your hands for about 4 minutes until you have a soft and silky dough ball. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it rise in the warm oven (35°C / 95°F) for 70 minutes (top/ bottom heat and not fan-assisted!). The dough will need the last 10 minutes to reach the right volume.

Melt the remaining 80g (3 ounces) of butter in a sauce pan, take it off the heat as soon as it's liquid, it shouldn't be brown.

Take the bowl out of the oven, punch the dough down and knead for another 30 seconds. Divide the dough into 8 portions and roll each in your hands to a smooth ball. Fill each cherry with a quarter of a sugar cube. Use your thumb to make a hole in each dough ball and stuff it with 2-3 cherries. Close the ball well, use 2 fingers to close the fold of the hole tightly. Pour 3 tablespoons of the melted butter into the baking pan. Turn the little dough balls in the remaining melted butter and tuck them closely next to each other in the baking pan (the fold should be at the bottom). Pour the remaining butter over the buchteln. Cover with a tea towel and let them rise in a warm place for another 15-20 minutes.

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F (fan-assisted oven).

Bake the buchteln for 30 minutes or until golden brown, check with a skewer, it should come out clean. When they are done, brush the warm top with a tablespoon of butter. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar and serve with warm vanilla custard. 

For the vanilla custard

• organic egg yolks 4

• cornstarch 4 tablespoons

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

• milk 500ml / 17 ounces

• a pinch of salt

• vanilla pod, slit slightly, 1

Whisk the egg yolks with the cornstarch, sugar, salt and 50ml / 2 ounces of the milk until well combined.

In a saucepan, bring the remaining milk with the vanilla pod to the boil. Take the vanilla pod out and scrape the seeds out of the bean into the milk. Add the egg mixture to the hot milk, whisking well. Take the sauce pan off the heat after 1 minute and continue whisking for 2 minutes, serve immediately.

Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Orange Icing - 10 Years in Berlin

Kitchen remodeling! Finally, after having been in Berlin for exactly 10 years I used this special anniversary to change a part of my kitchen that has been bugging me since my first day. When I moved into my apartment I took over an oven and a rather simple and unpractical sink/ cupboard which were already set up. The oven made space for my new one after 5 years but, somehow, the sink which was supposed to leave after a week survived 10 years. Thanks to procrastination and my indecisiveness!

So, a few weeks ago I fell in love with a white ceramic sink and I took this love at first sight as an incentive to get my kitchen project started. Although I only had a one and a half meter space for the sink, cupboard and shelves, I don't think that the planning would have taken much longer for the whole kitchen. All the little details which make it or break it (literally) were much more time consuming than expected (which explains my hesitance to get started). I didn't want to break with the look that I already have, Carrara marble kitchen tops and aluminium wall panels. White is the dominant colour which is helpful as it makes the room brighter. The only thing I did change, are the closed cupboards under and next to the sink. In the past I only had an open shelving system with metal supports and wooden racks which looks great but is rather unpractical when there is water involved.

I made the final choices when I visited my mother last week, kitchen remodeling is a perfect mother-daughter project. We spoke about materials and the layout while we sat outside on her terrace in the sunshine with a glass of chilled white wine and lots of pictures, brochures and drawings scattered all over the table. As soon as I got back home, I made my orders and prepared myself for the building, I baked a cake! I love home works and renovations but to me good catering is essential to keep up the spirit in moments of frustration and we had a few of them. My cake of choice was the juiciest, spongiest gugelhupf (bundt cake) made with lots of olive oil. I covered this piece of simple bliss in a fruity orange icing to give it a more festive anniversary look. It doesn't really need it but it made it pretty! If you're looking for a cake that you can eat with your fingers as a little snack (while you're remodeling your kitchen) or for breakfast, or if you're after an honest tea time cake with a bit of finesse, go for it! The olive oil adds some moisture without making it soggy and it leaves a subtle hint of its rich aroma.

So, it's been 10 years of Berlin and the city has been very good to me. I fell in love with it when I visited it for the first time many, many years ago and it has inspired me every day since then, it made me grow and filled me with such happiness like no other place in the world (apart from Malta). Thank you Berlin!

Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Orange Icing

For a 1 3/4l / 3 1/2 pint bundt pan you need

• plain flour 250g / 9 ounces

• granulated sugar 200g / 7 ounces

• baking powder 3 teaspoons

• a pinch of salt

• organic eggs 5

• olive oil 150ml / 5 ounces

• milk 100ml / 3.5 ounces

• orange zest 2 heaping teaspoons plus more for the topping

• butter and breadcrumbs for the bundt pan

For the orange icing

• icing sugar 200g / 7 ounces

• freshly squeezed orange juice 3-4 tablespoons

Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F (fan-assisted oven). Butter the bundt pan well and coat generously with breadcrumbs.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Quickly mix in the eggs, olive oil and milk with an electric mixer. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 40 minutes or until golden and firm on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool for a few minutes, shake the pan a little and turn the cake onto a plate, let it cool completely.

Whisk the icing sugar and orange juice (spoon by spoon) until it's thick and slightly runny.

Glaze the cake with the orange icing and sprinkle with orange zest.

Banana and Chocolate Spread Rugelach

I've never baked croissants in my kitchen, I'm a bit scared of puff pastry at least when I'm the one who has to prepare it. Unfortunately, I love to eat them, sometimes I literally crave their buttery flakiness that leaves your fingers sticky and fills your mouth with the wonderful taste that only the excessive use of butter can create. Luckily, there is an easier and quicker alternative to the French treat coming from the Jewish cuisine. In case of urgent need of croissants, just bake rugelach!

The delicate pastry is in no way behind croissants, neither in richness nor in tender lightness. It's the addition of cream cheese that creates this easy miracle, easy as it's far from being as time consuming as the French breakfast classic. When the ingredients are mixed and the dough has cooled in the freezer for half an hour, the rolling and filling can begin!

My last rugelach recipe was one of the first posts I shared on eat in my kitchen, I baked them for a festive Hannukah party at a friend's house. I used bittersweet chocolate and cinnamon, a combination that can never go wrong. For my new recipe I had a bit of a childish combination in mind, chocolate breakfast spread and puréed bananas, the perfect kiddy treat! I'm quite sure that a few of our friend's young children would have loved to join in my messy kitchen activity. My first batch of rugelach turned out to be a bit difficult as I tried to cut the single pieces after I spread the banana and chocolate on top of the pastry, messy! I can't recommend this, it's almost impossible! Instead, start with the banana layer, cut the triangles and then put on the chocolate spread, that's much easier.

So, what can I say about the taste? My partner was quite skeptical when I told him about this combination but then, as soon as he smelled the sweetest aroma coming out of the kitchen, he couldn't stop himself anymore. Both of us actually, as we ate them like peanuts. It's one of those sweets that hits the right spot with the first bite and calls for more and more!

Banana and Chocolate Spread Rugelach

For 24 rugelach you need

• plain flour 150g / 5 ounces

• icing sugar, 2 heaping tablespoons plus more for the topping

• a pinch of salt

• butter, cold, 125g / 4.5 ounces

• cream cheese 125g / 4.5 ounces

• ripe bananas 2 (around 200g / 7 ounces)

• chocolate spread (like nutella) 6 tablespoons

Combine the flour, icing sugar and salt. Cut the butter with a knife into the flour mixture until there are just little pieces left. Continue with your fingers and work the butter quickly into the flour. Add the cream cheese and continue mixing with a fork or the hooks of the mixer until the mixture is combined. Form 2 discs, wrap them in cling film and put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes, the dough should be hard but still rollable.

Set the oven to 185°C / 365°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Purée the bananas in a food processor until smooth.

When the dough is firm, keep one disc in the fridge and roll out the other disc between cling film dusted with flour. You should end up with a circle of about 30cm / 12″. Flip the dough onto a new piece of floured cling film, this will make it easier to roll the rugelach. Spread half of the banana purée on the dough and cut it like a cake into 12 triangles. Divide half of the chocolate spread roughly into 12 portions and sprinkle on each triangle. Gently roll up the rugelach from the wider side to the tip. Bake in the oven for about 19-20 minutes or until golden brown. Continue with the remaining disc.

Let the rugelach cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar.

Loukoumades - Greek Doughnuts with Honey, Cinnamon and Pistachios

Every year at carnival, my family meets at my mother's house to make Berliner, a jam filled doughnut dusted with cinnamon sugar. It's a heavenly ball of sweet sponginess so tempting that all of us end up eating far more than we should. We all have our favourite filling, so we use a selection of blueberry, raspberry, blackberry and red currant jam. The only problem is, once they are cooked, you can't really see the difference anymore. So we guess blindly and exchange Berliner across the table when we pick the wrong one. It's quite a funny scene! You could also use chocolate, gianduja or eggnog to customize them to your personal taste and come up with your own perfect creation. Unfortunately, after this culinary experience, you might never be satisfied with store-bought doughnuts ever again! It's already been a year since I shared our traditional Berliner recipe, and next week, it will be that time of year again, we'll all meet in my mother's kitchen in the countryside to celebrate our silly little family feast!

Although I'm not the biggest fan of deep-fried sweets, at carnival I love them. They belong to this season like spooky costumes and exuberant music. In Cologne, where I went to university, I used to buy Muzen from a little bakery. They look like tiny diamond shaped doughnuts, crisp on the outside with a spongy centre. It's a local speciality only made at this time of the year. They are so good, I could eat them by the dozen! In Berlin, Berliner are called Pfannkuchen (meaning pancakes in German) and they are often filled with plum jam. There are many other names all over the world, Krapfen, Fastnachtküchle, Krof in Slovenia or Pączki in Poland, all customized after the regional preferences.

After some research, I discovered something new, Greek doughnuts called Loukoumades! I called my sister as her husband is half Greek and they often spend their summers in Greece. Nina got very excited about this sweet and told me that they savoured it all the time during their last holiday on the island of Thassos. Her husband would play Bouzouki in a mountain village in the evenings with his friends while my sister enjoyed plates of Loukoumades, with lots of honey and cinnamon. After her colourful description, my decision was made, I had to try them! The next morning I made an orange flavoured yeast dough, a bit softer and with more yeast than my usual recipe. You have to scoop out the little Loukoumades with a spoon and cook them in hot fat. It only took a few minutes and I had a plate full of golden doughnuts in front of me, coated voluptuously with orange-honey syrup and sprinkled with chopped pistachios and a bit of cinnamon. It was amazing, I know I can trust my sister when it comes to sweet treats!

Loukoumades with Honey, Cinnamon and Pistachios

For 24 small Loukoumades you need

• plain flour 400g / 14 ounces

• dry yeast 2 sachets (each 7g / 1/4 ounce)

• granulated sugar 1 tablespoon

• salt 1 teaspoon

• milk, lukewarm, 150ml / 5 ounces

• water, lukewarm, 125ml / 4.5 ounces

• orange zest 1 heaped teaspoon

• honey 1 tablespoon

• pistachios, unsalted, chopped, 60g / 2 ounces

• ground cinnamon, for serving

• vegetable shortening for deep-frying 1kg / 2 1/4 pounds

For the syrup

• quality honey (liquid) 150g / 5.5 ounces

• freshly squeezed orange juice 50ml / 1 3/4 ounces

• granulated sugar 1 tablespoon

• orange zest 1 teaspoon

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the milk, water, honey and zest to the mixture and mix with the dough hooks of your mixer for about 5 minutes. The dough should be elastic and come off the sides of the bowl, it will be a little sticky so don't mix with your hands. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rise in the warm oven (35°C / 95°F) for 45 minutes (top/ bottom heat and not fan-assisted!).

For the syrup, bring the honey, orange juice and sugar to the boil and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until it's a thick syrup. Stir in the zest and keep warm.

In a large pot, heat the vegetable shortening. Check the temperature with a wooden spoon, it's hot enough when little bubbles form around it. Scoop out a small walnut sized ball off the dough (this works best with 2 tablespoons) and carefully drop it into the hot fat. Start off with one ball, the Loukoumades should cook for 3-4 minutes to turn into golden balls. If they become too dark after a shorter cooking time, turn down the temperature (which is what I had to do after the first batch), they will need at least 3 minutes for the centre to cook through. They should be golden and not dark brown. Take them out with a slotted ladle and put them on a kitchen paper to remove excess fat. Serve with the warm syrup, chopped pistachios and a little cinnamon.

Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake

My last cheesecake creation is definitely too long ago, it was a dense treat with lots of orange and lemon flavours, rich in cream cheese with a little addition of Mediterranean ricotta. It was more like a classic New York cheesecake and was so good that for more than a year I haven't bothered to come up with a new recipe. I baked it all winter, its citrusy richness is just perfect for a cosy tea time, and then in summer, I moved on to our old family recipe for the German version of this cake. German Käsekuchen is made with quark and stiff egg whites which gives it a lighter, fluffier texture, it's delicious with fresh berries for a Sunday morning brunch on the balcony!

Despite the wintery temperatures, my mood has already moved on to the next season, spring, sunshine and fragrant flowers. This calls for a new cheesecake recipe!

I was after a lighter version so a good amount of the usual cream cheese had to make way for ricotta. For the first time in my life I looked at the amount of fat in both dairy products, something I'm not very interested in most of the time as I want to enjoy my food and not feel guilty. The Italian cheese is definitely the winner (in a good way). It still creates a creamy texture but it's not as filling. I refined the cheesecake mixture with lots of lemon juice and zest and baked it on top of a base of buttery digestive cookies. A fruity topping brought a spring feeling to the recipe, I brushed the cake with a thin layer of apricot jam and spread lots of crisp blueberries on top. It was amazing, one bite after the other was pure bliss!

Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake

For a 20.5cm / 8″ springform pan you need

• digestive cookies (Graham crackers) 210g / 7.5 ounces

• butter, melted, 70g / 2.5 ounces

• ricotta, at room temperature, 250g / 9 ounces

• cream cheese, at room temperature, 300g / 10.5 ounces

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

• vanilla pod, scraped, 1/4

• organic eggs 3

• cornstarch 1 teaspoon

• zest of 1 large lemon

• juice of 1 lemon (4 tablespoons)

• a pinch of salt

• fresh blueberries about 200g / 7 ounces, for the topping

• apricot jam 2 tablespoons, for the topping

• water 2 tablespoons, for the topping

• icing sugar, for the topping

Crush the cookies in a blender until very fine, or in a plastic bag, and mix with the melted butter until combined. Press the mixture into the springform pan and put in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Set the oven to 165°C / 330°F and put a deep tray or roasting tin in the oven on the lowest position. Boil water in a kettle.

Mix the ricotta, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, eggs, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest and salt with an electric mixer until well combined.

Take the springform pan out of the freezer and wrap it in aluminium foil twice so that the bottom and sides are well covered to protect the cheesecake from the water while it's baking. Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the hardened crumbs and place the tin carefully into the tray in the oven. Fill the tray with the boiling water from your kettle. The water should come half way up the wrapped springform pan. Bake for 50 minutes, switch off the oven, open the door a little bit and leave the cake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Take the cheesecake out of the oven, take off the foil but leave the cake in the springform pan. When the cake is completely cool, chill it in the fridge (or outside in winter) for about an hour.

In a saucepan, bring the jam and water to the boil and cook for about 30 seconds, push through a sieve and brush on the cake. Spread the berries evenly on top of the cake and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

German Poppy Seed Strudel with Cinnamon Crumbles

As a child I went through different sweet phases with quite an obsessive persistence. There were times, if not years, when I bought a scrumptious short crust ring topped with gianduja cream and chocolate at least once or twice a week from my hometown's confectionery, it's a decadent treat called Nougatring in German. When I fell in love with a cinnamony cherry crumble cake from a French bakery as a young teenager I bought a piece of it every day after school. For months I wanted nothing more than this buttery pleasure, it felt like the best culinary discovery of my young life. Luckily, I was always quite tall and didn't have to worry much about the effect of my obsessions on my weight, my culinary enjoyment was always greater than my vanity!

I remember that my family, especially my mother and aunts, used to tell me that I should enjoy it to the fullest as with age, I wouldn't be able to eat these amounts without repentance. They were so right! I simply can't eat so many sweets anymore, a fact which I regret, especially when I have to refuse a piece of tempting cake, this would have never happened in my early years! The only thing that didn't change is my excitement for these treats and my complete misjudgment of the amount of cake that two people can actually eat. I prefer my baked sweets well sized, you never know if an unexpected guest may appear at the door step. The same happened to me a few days ago when I decided to make a traditional German poppy seed cake. This was another one of my childhood favourites, soft and spongy yeast dough wrapped around a juicy poppy seed and raisin filling. In the North Rhine Westphalia area where I grew up, this rich strudel is topped with sweet and buttery crumbles which is simply amazing in combination with the seeds and pastry. When I prepared all the ingredients on the kitchen counter I remembered how much I used to love this cake and decided to make a huge strudel, ignoring the fact that my partner isn't too fond of poppy seeds or yeast cakes for that matter. I didn't expect guests either but I had a rustic picture of a huge strudel in mind, with impressive proportions.

I got what I asked for! The strudel woke up all the culinary memories of my childhood and tasted exactly how I wanted it to be, even my partner liked it a lot, but still, after 2 big slices we just looked at each other and thought "what are we going to do with this massive strudel?". Luckily, I can always rely on my family. My aunt Ursula came for a quick visit, she is as much a fan of this cake as I am. She replaced her dinner with two slices of my strudel monster and she looked very happy when I offered her to take half of it home. The lesson is, a cake can never be too big, there will always be friends and family who enjoy it as much as the baker does!

German Poppy Seed Strudel with Cinnamon Crumbles

For 1 huge strudel for about 10 people you need

For the yeast dough

• plain flour 480g / 17 ounces

• granulated sugar 80g / 3 ounces

• dry yeast 1 sachet (7g / 1/4 ounces)

• a pinch of salt

• butter, melted, 80g / 3 ounces plus 1 tablespoon to brush the strudel

• milk 175ml / 6 ounces

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix the milk with the melted butter (the mixture should be lukewarm) and add to the dry flour-mixture. Mix with the dough hooks of the mixer for a few minutes, the dough will be quite moist. Dust the kitchen counter with a little flour and continue kneading and punching with your hands for a few minutes until you have a soft and elastic dough ball (if the dough sticks to your fingers add more flour). Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it rise in the warm oven (35°C / 95°F) for 70 minutes (top/ bottom heat and not fan-assisted!).

For the poppy seed filling

• milk 420ml / 14 ounces

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

• ground cinnamon 2 leveled teaspoons

• orange zest 2 teaspoons

• poppy seeds, cracked, 250g / 9 ounces

• raisins 80g / 3 ounces

In a sauce pan, bring the milk, sugar, cinnamon and orange zest to the boil. Stir in the poppy seeds and let the mixture cook on lowest heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. When the filling is thick and the milk is soaked, add the raisins, mix and let it cool. 

For the crumbles

Prepare the crumbles shortly before baking the strudel.

• plain flour 100g / 3.5 ounces (plus more if the crumbles are too sticky)

• granulated sugar 60g / 2 ounces

• ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon

• butter, melted, 60g / 2 ounces (plus more if the crumbles are too fine)

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the melted butter and mix quickly with the hooks of your mixer, stop as soon as the mixtures crumbles. If it doesn't form crumbles, add a little more flour and sugar, if the crumbles are too fine add a bit more melted butter. 

The strudel

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F (top/ bottom heat).

Take the dough out of the bowl, punch it down and knead for 1 minute.

Dust a piece of parchment paper (big enough to cover a baking sheet) with a little flour. Roll out the dough on the parchment paper until it's roughly 35 x 35cm / 14 x 14". Spread the poppy seed filling on it evenly, leave a rim of 1-2cm / 1/2-1". Roll the dough up tightly, gently pull off the parchment paper while rolling the dough. The fold should be at the bottom. Close the sides well, cover with a tea towel and let it rise for 15 minutes (on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper).

Brush the strudel with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Prepare the crumbles, spread them over the strudel and gently push them into the yeast dough. Bake for 50 minutes or until the yeast dough is golden brown.

meet in your kitchen| A Greek dessert creation by the Grand Hyatt's Pastry Chef

This young man is a sweet genius in the kitchen! His creations open the door to new culinary experiences, but with such respect and care for the single ingredients that besides its spectacular visual effect, the result tastes as comforting as your favourite cake. Benjamin Donath is the Grand Hyatt Berlin's executive pastry chef and furthermore, he's responsible for the dessert creations for German chancellor Angela Merkel and her guests. If that weren't enough, he managed to make me fall in love with a dessert made with Retsina. The Greek resinated wine is rather difficult to appreciate, at least for my taste, but when we met in the Hyatt's kitchen Ben turned it into a fantastic composition called Griechischer Wein. Apart from being a quote from a famous German pop song in the 70s,  this means Greek Wine and describes a complex composition which Ben created for eat in my kitchen: fluffy retsina honey sorbet, buttery almond financier, sour apple terrine, light yoghurt espuma, crunchy yoghurt meringue and caramelised amaranth pops. It tasted as impressive as it sounds!

I first met Ben at a Christmas event in December, he helped me to decorate a gingerbread house. The result was so satisfying that it even got a place of honour under my Christmas tree. The chef's patience combined with a determined sense for perfection fascinated me, and I must admit, being the pastry chef of an internationally renowned hotel dedicated to savouring on the highest level made me curious. Ben is the kind of person who follows a goal with a passion once it's in his head. Although he seems too down-to-earth to be obsessed, he is extremely focussed. He won an award as the pastry chef of the German Culinary Team and gathered experiences abroad before he was asked to become Hyatt's executive pastry chef back in 2010. Ben is honest, he admits that he had to learn a lot in the beginning, creatively but also logistically. The responsibility given to him was quite a challenge but he grew into this new position with time and through the trust he received from his team. If you cater to 1500 people and present a selection of dessert creations to the chancellor for her official dinners, you simply have to believe in yourself and that's what Ben does. When he talks about his sweet creations, about contrasting flavours, combining dishes of different textures and temperatures, you can easily hear his dedication, and when you look into his eyes you can see the artist's passion and love for the ingredients he uses to bring his visions to life.

Ben says that he found his own style over the years, his signature, but that's an ongoing journey for him, one that leads him to work ever more minimally. He wants to work with less ingredients and concentrate on maybe four nuances, simple and pure. His creations speak for his creativity and he has many ideas for the future. He would love to involve more herbs in his desserts, so maybe one day he'll take over part of the hotel's roof garden in the name of sweet savouring and turn it into Ben's herbal oasis, we'll see!

Greek Wine by Benjamin Donath

For 4-6 people you need

For the Retsina honey sorbet

• water 190 g / 7 ounces

• Retsina wine 320g / 11 ounces

• glucose syrup 40g / 1 1/2 ounces

• granulated sugar 50g / 1 3/4 ounces

• pectin (pectagel rose) 3 1/2g / 1/10 ounce

• chestnut honey 50g / 1 3/4 ounces

• lemon zest

• a pinch of salt

Combine the sugar and pectin.

In a large pot, bring all the ingredients with 125g / 4.5 ounces of the Retsina wine to the boil, cook for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and mix in the remaining Retsina wine. Purée in a blender, filter through a cloth strainer and freeze in an ice cream machine. 

For the almond financier

• granulated sugar 80g / 2 3/4 ounces

• egg white 75g / 2 1/2 ounces

• ground almonds, roasted, 30g /1 ounce

• plain flour 300g / 10.5 ounces

• beurre noisette (brown butter), melted and cool, 80g / 2 3/4 ounces

• honey 1/4 teaspoon

• lemon zest

• a pinch of salt

Set the oven to 160°C / 320°F (fan-assisted oven).

Combine the flour and almonds.

Beat the egg white and salt until stiff, adding the sugar gradually. Gently stir in the honey and lemon zest and fold in the flour-almond mixture. Let the beurre noisette drop slowly into the dough and mix carefully. Pour the dough into a baking dish lined with parchment paper, it should come up to 1 1/2 cm / 1/2". Bake the financier until golden on top and baked through, it should stay juicy inside. 

For the yoghurt espuma

You will need a cream whipper for the espuma.

• milk 25g / 1 ounce

• Greek yoghurt 50g / 2 ounces

• granulated sugar 2 teaspoons

• chestnut honey 1 teaspoon

• a pinch of salt

• lemon juice 1 teaspoon

• egg white, beaten, of 1/2 egg

• gelatine 1/3 sheet

Soak the gelatin in cold water and dissolve in a little yoghurt. Mix with the other ingredients and fill 2/3 of a cream whipper with the mixture. Screw on the cream charger and let the espuma soak overnight. 

For the yoghurt meringue

• egg white 1

• granulated sugar 25g / 1 ounce

• icing sugar, sieved, 25g / 1 ounce

• Greek yoghurt 20g / 1 ounce

• salt

• lemon juice 1 teaspoon

Beat the egg white and salt until stiff, adding the sugar gradually. Fold in the icing sugar, yoghurt and lemon juice and stir gently until combined. Spread on parchment paper (about 4mm / 1/4" thick) and let it dry in the 40-50°C / 105-120°F warm oven. 

For the Retsina syrup

• apple juice 25g / 1 ounce

• water 25g / 1 ounce

• Retsina wine 75g / 2 1/2 ounces

• lemon juice 1 teaspoon

• lemon zest

• granulated sugar 3 teaspoons

• chestnut honey 2 teaspoons

In a sauce pan, bring the apple juice, water, half the Retsina wine, lemon juice and zest, sugar and honey to the boil and cook on low temperature (simmering) for 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool to 70°C / 160°F, stir in the remaining Retsina wine and filter through a cloth strainer. 

For the apple terrine

• granulated sugar 40g / 1.5 ounces

• water 2 teaspoons

• baking apples, peeled, cored, quartered and cut into 1/2cm / 1/4" slices, 250g / 9 ounces

• a pinch of salt

• lemon zest

• calvados 1 teaspoon

• cinnamon stick 1/4

In a wide sauce pan, bring the sugar and water to the boil. When it turns into a golden caramel add the apple slices, salt, lemon zest and cinnamon. Close with a lid and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, turn the apples once every minute. Take the apples out with a slotted ladle and set aside. Keep the juices in the pan, add the calvados and bring to the boil. Cook down to a thick sauce and gently mix with the apple slices. Line a baking sheet with cling film, pile the apples on the cling film (a few centimetres / inches high), cover with cling film and a second baking sheet. Press together with weights for 10 minutes. Put the compressed apples wrapped in cling film in the freezer. When they are frozen, cut out circles with a round 5 cm / 2" cookie cutter (or cut into 5 x 5cm / 2 x 2" squares). They should be at room temperature when served. 

For the yoghurt sauce

• Greek yoghurt 25g / 1 ounce

• salt

• granulated sugar

• lemon juice

Whisk the yoghurt and season with salt, sugar and lemon juice to taste. 

For the caramelised amaranth

• popped amaranth 50g / 2 ounces

• icing sugar 30g / 1 ounce

• butter 1 teaspoon

• salt

In a saucepan, warm up the amaranth with 1/3 of the icing sugar on medium heat. When it starts to caramelise, slowly add the remaining sugar (the amaranth will turn glossy). Add the salt and butter and spread on parchment paper. Crumble into small pieces. 

The Greek Wine

Spread the yoghurt sauce on a large plate, place the apple terrine in the middle and top with a scoop of Retsina honey sorbet. Spray the yoghurt espuma on top of the sorbet and sprinkle with amaranth pops. Arrange the broken meringue and financier around it and pour some of the Retsina syrup on the plate.

You have been the Head Pastry Chef at the Grand Hyatt in Berlin since 2010. What are the differences between working in the kitchen of a hotel, a restaurant or a confectionery and why did you choose to work at a hotel?

The difference is clearly the size of the operation as well as the versatility of the daily business. Here you need a mix of skills like being creative, being organized and being focused on leading a team and controlling costs. All this is on a bigger scale than it is in an à la carte kitchen. Even though my heart still beats for restaurants, I rather see myself in a company like Hyatt.

Before you settled in Berlin, you also worked in Australia, Mexico and Malta. How important is traveling for your culinary inspiration and what did you learn from the experiences abroad?

To me, this is where a lot of inspiration comes from. You know when you are away from home or your comfort zone that you want to open your eyes to get along and soak up all the different cultures and influences of a certain place. Even though I often don’t realize it right away, ideas for new dishes evolve from places I´ve been to, may it be a weekend in Vienna or a few months in Asia.

What are your memories of the time you worked at the Intercontinental hotel in Malta? Did you learn something about the island's traditional cuisine?

I have to admit that a competition brought me there. I went there to support my former colleague, who was a member of the Turkish national culinary team and after the competition, we supported the Intercontinental Malta for its pre-opening phase. Unfortunately, my stay did not last for too long, but for me, it was a great experience diving into new and unknown international cuisine.

Who or what inspired you to become a pastry chef? Do you have a kitchen idol?

Thats easy to answer. At the age of sixteen, I didn't have a clue what to do or even where I could see myself in the future. I just knew that I wanted to learn a craft. In the end I decided between two apprenticeships, so it was carpenter vs. pastry chef. You can make an easy guess which decision I made. And what can I say, I am still very happy with my choice and haven’t regretted it since. The idol thing is something that I can't really support, there are people by my side for a certain period of time, who I might look up to, but then our ways separate and there will be other people. To be creative in a good team is far better than having idols, in my opinion.

What was the first dish you cooked or baked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

The first thing I baked was Christmas cookies with my mom. We peeled almonds for it, kneaded the dough and cut it into stars, Christmas trees and all that. I think my first dish was a classic one: spaghetti with tomato-basil sauce. Not my brightest moment, I must admit, but very tasty and simple indeed.

Do you have a sweet tooth or do you prefer to create but not to savour your creations?

I can't really bring this to a point. I love to create and try afterwards, but I am not a "I always have a bar of chocolate at home" type of guy. Although I would rather go for a good sausage, I still have my sweet moments and when I eat in a restaurant, I often have dessert to try, especially when eating at good places.

How do you develop new recipes? What inspires you?

My recipes are always made to complement each other on the plate. You will always find light sweetness with an acid touch to it, there will be something baked as well as something creamy, something iced and something warm. So all in all it is about textures, temperatures and the main thing: the original taste of a product. My inspiration comes from people who surround me in my daily life, be it colleagues or friends. It can be from travels or eating at different places. Sometimes it happens when I just stroll through a market but there are times when there is just nothing in my head. That is when it is time for a day off.

What are your three favourite baking ingredients?

Herbs, Spirits and Chocolate.

When you bake in your own kitchen, what's your favourite recipe and why?

I actually don't bring work home but the last thing I did was gingerbread with the kids. Sometimes we make some ice creams at home, more in summer than at this time of the year. I usually spend more time cooking savoury things.

What advice would you give someone who wants to become a pastry chef?

Go ahead and work in many places such as classic pastry shops, restaurants or hotels with different multicultural teams. Be open for anything and don’t be afraid to fail… if you do, try again. Develop your own style after a while.

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in Berlin?

This would be any good weekend market. I love to be outside, taking my time, sip a cup of coffee and decide on what to cook while looking around, so relaxing.

What did you choose to share on eat in my kitchen?

The recipe is called Greek Wine and is made of Retsina wine, honey, Greek yoghurt, apple and almonds.

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

It would be Luke Burgess from the Garagistes, Hobart and it would be any of his tasting menues. What I really like about his dishes is the simplicity while they still seem to be so well combined.

You're going to have ten friends over for a spontaneous dinner, what will be on the table?

Mixed starters (olives, dips, veggies, sausage, pita), the main course would contain plain mashed potatoes, red wine shallots, and a big piece of meat, and for dessert I imagine chocolate cake, nuts, toffee and vanilla ice cream.

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

My mom’s tomato sauce. Today I love any good piece of fish like sea bream, sea bass or cod, combined with risotto, greens and good olive oil. All I need to be happy.

Do you prefer to cook on your own or together with others?

Definitely for others or even better with others.

Thank you Ben!

Madeira Cake with Caramelised Tangerines

Weekend baking is my meditation, my time to relax and reflect, to slow down my pace and review the past few days. I enjoy the peaceful silence in the kitchen when I place bowls and butter, eggs and flour on my marble kitchen tops before I get started. My mother prepares her pastries in heavy ceramic bowls in black, green and blue and when I moved into my first flat she passed one of them on to me. Her old black bowl is my baking companion, this is where my sweet mixing and tasting begins, traced with scratches and cracks.

In the winter months I'm quite a coach potato on my lazy Sundays, I love my cosy afternoons on the sofa, with piles of books, magazines, pillows and blankets to defy the uncomfortable cold outside. Just give me a cup of tea and a warm cake freshly out of the oven and I'm happy. At the moment I love simple tea time treats that you can eat with your fingers, nothing too complicated. A spongy Madeira cake is perfect, the dough refined with the zest of tiny tangerines and their sweet juices. I could have stopped at that point but I went a bit further and topped it with caramelised slices of the citrus fruit which is easily done in five minutes. They were soft and sticky and brought even more fruitiness to this wonderful English treat which is, despite its name, not made with Madeira. Traditionally, it used to be savoured with the sweet Portuguese wine which led to its name, I skip that tradition and stick to my tea.

Madeira Cake with Caramelised Tangerines

I recommend using small, firm organic tangerines for this recipe as they are easier to grate and sweet in taste.

For an 18cm / 7" springform pan or a 1l / 2 pint loaf tin you need

• plain flour 250g / 9 ounces

• baking powder 1 teaspoon

• a pinch of salt

• a pinch of ground cinnamon

• tangerine zest 2 tablespoons

• freshly squeezed tangerine juice 3 tablespoons

• butter, at room temperature, 200g / 7 ounces

• granulated sugar 200g / 7 ounces

• organic eggs 3

For the topping

• small organic tangerines, rinsed and very thinly sliced, 4-5

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

• water 4 tablespoons

Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F (fan-assisted oven) and butter the springform pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and rub the zest into the mixture with your fingers.

In a large bowl, mix the butter until fluffy, add the sugar and continue mixing for a few minutes until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, mix well in between. Quickly mix in the dry flour mixture and the tangerine juice, it should be well combined. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 60 minutes or until golden and firm on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. If you bake the cake in a loaf tin, check after 45 minutes. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes before you take it out of the pan.

I caramelised the tangerines in 2 batches. In a sauce pan, bring half the tangerine slices, half the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water to the boil and cook on high temperature for 3-5 minutes. The water should bubble and evaporate. Take the pan off the heat immediately when the sugar starts to turn golden and caramelises. Quickly arrange the citrus slices on top of the cake as the caramel will become hard after a minute. Cook the remaining fruit slices to finish the cake. Use a very sharp kitchen knife to cut the caramelised top of the cake.

Banana Muffins with White and Dark Chocolate Chunks

We had a muffin feast in my kitchen this week, it started off with my marmalade muffins which I made with my tangerine jam instead of the blood orange spread that I normally use. They were fantastic, sweet and christmassy! The golden citrus muffins filled the air with a wonderful smell that only muffins can create after only a few minutes in the oven. It's so good I could have it in the kitchen all the time! Inspired by this sweet aroma, I had an idea for another recipe, banana muffins with lots of chunky white and dark chocolate. Luckily I bought too many bananas (again), they started to get darker and darker and seemed to say "you had better decide what you're going to do with us". When they are deep yellow with some brown patches they have just the right texture to be turned into a fruity purée for juices or muffins, honey sweet and velvety. I added milky white chocolate and its bittersweet counterpart to the dough and while I stirred the chunks in I could already smell that this would lead to a satisfying result. The two kinds of chocolate are a great match to the ripe fruit!

When I took pictures of these muffins, Emma from Malta was still here with us. She joined me in the kitchen which was freezing cold at that point as I had to leave the window wide open to have better light for my photos. Emma watched me impatiently like a hungry little squirrel, asking me once in a while how it was going. It looked quite funny, both of us in winter jackets, taking pictures of the most tempting sweets right in front of our noses as red as Rudolph's!

White and Dark Chocolate Banana Muffins

For a muffin tray with 12 molds you need

• ripe bananas, 2 (about 200g/ 7 ounces)

• plain flour 200g / 7 ounces

• baking powder 2 1/2 teaspoons

• baking soda 1/2 teaspoon

• salt 1/4 teaspoon

• butter, melted, 80g / 3 ounces

• organic egg 1

• maple syrup 2 tablespoons

• vanilla bean, scraped, 1/4

• white chocolate, roughly chopped, 70g / 2.5 ounces

• bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, 70g / 2.5 ounces

Set your oven to 190°C / 375°F (fan-assisted oven) and put paper baking cups into the 12 molds of the muffin tray.

Purée the bananas in a food processor.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the melted butter, the egg, maple syrup and vanilla in another bowl and pour into the dry mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until you have a lumpy dough (with a bit of flour left here and there). Gently fold in the chopped chocolate, and keep in mind, the more you mix it the more it will lose its light texture.

Fill the muffin tray with the dough and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Crème Malakoff - an Austrian Almond Cream Trifle

The Malakoff trifle is one of the most tempting desserts I have ever had on a spoon and although it's quite a rich treat, I can't get enough of it! My favourite recipe is from our dentist's wife Margit. This passionate baker and her husband are longtime friends of our family and they are one of the sweetest couples I know, they make a great team on many levels! Margit is from Austria and she truly mastered the art of her country's extravagant sweet creations. The Austrian cuisine is famous for its cakes, cookies and creams, what would the world be without the elegant Sachertorte, the rustic Kaiserschmarrn, chocolaty Brabanzerl cookies, cinnamony and buttery plum dumplings or the amazing Malakoff trifle? This is pure opulence on a plate!

Whenever Margit brought one of her delicate glass bowls filled with her luscious signature dish to my mother's kitchen, my childish heart jumped with excitement. I could barely wait for the next birthday, Christmas or New Year's party which would bring another Malkoff trifle to our table!

My beloved dessert starts with a heavenly buttercream refined with the sweet smoothness of liquid cream and lots of nutty almonds. This velvety richness is layered with rum and milk soaked ladyfingers and topped with whipped cream. The final result looks surprisingly light and fluffy, you just have to whip it long enough and all those eggs, butter and cream turn into fluffy clouds. Like Margit, I always make a trifle with the Malakoff cream, some prefer to turn it into a Charlotte or a cake, the Malakofftorte with homemade sponge cake. I like the convenience of a trifle made with store-bought ladyfingers, especially when I have guests over, like for Christmas or New Year's Eve. I just layer the cream and sponges the day before the big event to let it soak overnight and then finish it off with whipped cream before serving.

Malakoff Trifle

The ingredients for the buttercream (butter, eggs and heavy cream) have to be at room temperature!

For a 2l / 4.5 pint glass bowl for 4-6 people you need

• 120g / 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature (!)

• 140g / 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 3 very fresh large egg yolks, at room temperature

• 250ml / 1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature (!), plus 250ml / 1 cup cold heavy cream for the whipped topping

• 140g / 5 ounces ground almonds, plus 1-2 tablespoons for the topping

• About 250g / 9 ounces ladyfingers

• 150ml / 2/3 cup milk, to dip the ladyfingers in

• 50 - 75ml / 1/4 - 1/3 cup rum, to dip the ladyfingers in

• 14 almonds, for the topping (optional)

In a bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until very soft and creamy. Add the sugar and mix for about 2 minutes before you whisk in the egg yolks. Mix for a few minutes until the sugar dissolved, the mixture should be light and fluffy. Slowly (!) pour in the warm heavy cream (in drops) and continue mixing until the the egg-butter mixture and the heavy cream are combined, this will take about 7 minutes. Gently stir in the ground almonds with a wooden spoon.

In a deep plate, mix the milk and rum, briefly dip in the ladyfingers (both sides) and spread 1 layer of soaked ladyfingers at the bottom of the glass bowl. Cover with half the buttercream and continue with the next layer of soaked ladyfingers. Spread the remaining buttercream on top and finish with the third (and the last) layer of soaked ladyfingers. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge overnight.

Take the trifle out of the fridge about 15-20 minutes before serving. Whip the cold heavy cream and spread on top of the trifle. Sprinkle with ground and whole almonds.

Ginger Orange Christmas Cookies

There is a very popular Christmas cookie in Germany called Zimtstern, meaning cinnamon star. They are a tiny bit chewy inside, soft and juicy. The dough is made without flour and butter but with lots of ground almonds or hazelnuts and egg whites which gives it its typical texture. This sweet is a classic which you can find on every German Christmas cookie platter and I have faithfully baked them for years. It has always been one of the recipes that I look forward to with excitement, these cookies bring out the best of my beloved cinnamon!

As so often when I follow a tradition with such consistency, at one point I need a little change or at least a variation, which is the substitution of spices in this case. I took out the cinnamon and replaced it with lots of freshly grated ginger, orange zest and cloves. The result is an extremely aromatic cookie with the same texture as the Zimtstern, they are equally soft and chewy inside. I covered them in a thin layer of orange glaze to give them a glowing festive look. As I had already broken with the tradition I thought I might as well give them different shapes. When I took out my cookie cutters I went straight for the sausage dog, reindeer and squirrel apart from the classic trees and stars!

I wish you a happy Advent!

Meike xx

If you're looking for some more baking inspiration for the next days, here are my

• Espresso Meringue Cookies with Cardamom Ganache

• Chocolate and Orange Panettone 

• Vanilla Kipferl 

• Chocolate and Apricot Jam Sandwich Cookies 

• Bittersweet Spice Cookies 

• Maltese Lemon Cookies

• German Linzer Cookies  

• Elisenlebkuchen with Bittersweet Chocolate

Ginger Orange Christmas Cookies

For about 60 cookies you need

• ground hazelnuts and/ or almonds 320g / 11.5 ounces (I used 100g / 3.5 ounces hazelnuts and 220g / 8 ounces almonds)

• organic egg whites 2

• a pinch of salt

• sieved icing sugar 250g / 9 ounces plus 100g / 3.5 ounces for the glaze

• freshly grated ginger 20g / 3/4 ounce (about 3 teaspoons)

• zest of 1 orange (about 2 tablespoons)

• cloves, crushed in a mortar, 20 (about 1 teaspoon)

• freshly squeezed orange juice, about 6 teaspoons, for the glaze

• granulated sugar, to roll out the dough

Set the oven to 160°C / 320°F (fan-assisted oven) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the ground nuts with the ginger, zest and cloves. Spread and rub the ginger with your fingers into the nuts until well combined.

Whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff and mix in the icing sugar (gradually). Mix in the nuts and spice mixture with a wooden spoon until well combined. Scrape the dough onto cling film, form a ball and keep in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Roll out the dough between sugared cling film, it should be about 1/2cm / 1/4" thick. Dip the cookie cutters in sugar and cut out cookies, spread them on a baking sheet with a little space in between them and bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden. They should still feel a bit soft. Let them cool for a few minutes before you put them on a wire rack.

For the glaze, mix 100g / 3.5 ounces of icing sugar with 5 teaspoons of orange juice, the mixture should be very thick and slightly runny. Add a few more drops of the juice if necessary, mix until smooth and brush the cookies with the glaze.

meet in your kitchen | Designer Imke Laux bakes her Aunt Herta's German Apple Pie

When I met Imke in her kitchen on a cold and dark Berlin morning, it started snowing. It was the first snow of the winter (and the last so far) and I couldn't have found myself at a warmer and more comfortable place than her stunning roof top apartment. The interior designer created a beautiful world for her family of four in shades of white and light grey, with lots of light, cushions, candles and cosy corners. Her open kitchen, living and dining room is the place where you want to sit with a cup of tea and chat for hours. I can imagine that the long table, the centrepiece of the room, has already seen many special nights of feasting. Imke created the perfect place to gather and savor, to feel at home as a guest and enjoy.

My kitchen host is a fascinating woman who I met not too long ago but there was something in her eyes that made me want to find out more about her. Imke is a renowned interior designer, her clients appreciate her sensitivity, confidence and style. She understands and respects their needs and creates spaces that make you feel good. Not a single chair, sofa, table or lamp is pretentious, it all makes sense and is a functioning part of her daily life. But it also pleases the eye, it just seems very effortless.

Imke found her present profession over the past few years. She studied law and worked as a lawyer for a photo agency in Hamburg but then moved to California together with her husband just after their first child was born. In the new country she decided to make another change in her life, she studied design at the New York Institute of Art and Design. She successfully finished her correspondence course and her first projects began. After the family moved back to Berlin a few years later, it wasn't long before she established herself in a new situation again. From the start, the demand for her stylistic advice, help and guidance was just as high on this side of the world.

This summer the family bought a little weekend house at a river outside Berlin which they are renovating themselves. A new project for Imke, her husband and their two 13 and 7 year old daughters, lots of building and painting but also picnics and looking for mushrooms in the countryside. When the four need a break, they love to travel without planning much to see where life takes them, a 3 week trip to India is next on their list! Imke's eyes sparkled when we talked about this adventure and when I asked her about the difficulties of traveling with two young girls, she didn't seem too worried. The effortlessness which fascinated me from the start is built on trust and a positive attitude. That's also what Imke prooved when we started our kitchen session. She couldn't find the apples which she hid from her family for the pie she wanted to bake with me. Her aunt Herta's Apple Pie (gedeckter Apfelkuchen in German) is an old family recipe which needs lots of sour fruits so she bought a big bag full but couldn't find them. I offered to run to the grocery story but Imke stayed calm and was sure that they must be somewhere. She was right and we could start. As if life wanted to test her patience, a second obstacle came into our way. The oven broke and refused to keep the right temperature. Imke kept her cool, sat right next to the oven, put it on the highest temperature and kept an eye on our pie. It all worked fine in the end, the pie was fantastic, packed with lots of juicy apples and a crisp thin pastry. On my way home I noticed that this lady, her pie and her gorgeous apartment left me with a really good feeling, life is good when you trust!

You can see Imke's work her on Laux Interiors and follow the progress of her country house on her new blog Laux Haus.

Aunt Herta's Apple Pie

For a 26cm /10″ springform pan you need

• large sour baking apples, peeled, cored, quartered and sliced, 5

• vanilla sugar 1 package (or 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar mixed with 1/4 vanilla bean, scraped)

• plain flour 300g / 10.5 ounces

• a pinch of baking powder

• granulated sugar 65g / 2.5 ounces plus 1 tablespoon for the topping

• a pinch of salt

• eggs 2

• butter 150g / 5.5 ounces plus 1 tablespoon for the topping

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, eggs and butter with an electric mixer until well combined. Form the dough into a ball and keep in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Set the oven to 210°C / 410°F (fan-assisted oven) or 225°C / 440°F (top / bottom heat).

In a large pan, cook the apples and vanilla sugar for a few minutes until soft and let them cool for a few minutes.

Roll out 1/3 of the dough between cling film until it's roughly the size of the springform pan. Roll out the remaining dough between cling film and line the bottom and the sides of the springform pan. Fill the apples into the dough-lined springform pan, even them out and put the remaining pastry on top. Close the pie and spread around 1 tablespoon of butter (in small pieces) and 1 tablespoon of sugar over the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and crisp on top.

You lived in California for seven years with your husband and two daughters before you decided to make Berlin your new home. How did your lifestyle change through this move?

We moved from a big house with a garden in the suburbs in California to an apartment on the 5th floor in downtown Berlin. What changed drastically is the convenience of our daily life. Grocery shopping for example is a whole different story when you don’t have parking on the same level as your kitchen. I go grocery shopping more often now and buy smaller amounts of food because I have to carry it up the stairs to the 5th floor.We also spent much more time outside in California. We used to go to the beach almost every weekend or went hiking in one of the great State parks. Now in Berlin we are far away from the coast or the mountains but we love to bike around the city or go swimming in a lake in the summer.

How did the new city influence your cooking and eating habits?

In Berlin we have a ton of great restaurants in walking distance. So we definitely go out to eat way more here than in the States. My cooking hasn’t changed much I believe.

What did you miss about German food when you lived in the US? Did you adapt to any American kitchen habits that you miss since you've been back in Germany?

I missed the German bread! The American bread is way too soft and sweet. So I baked our own bread in the USA. Here in Germany you find a bakery at every street corner with a big selection of whole grain breads and rolls – so we eat more bread here.In Germany I miss being able to buy freshly baked cupcakes in the supermarket. That was so convenient. The table ready (pre-washed and pre-cut) vegetable and salad selection in the States is amazing. Also there are some really good ready made organic dressings. I loved grocery shopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. I really miss that. Everything looked so nice and you could always sample things.

You told me that you enjoy baking more than cooking, who or what sparked your love for sweet creations?

I enjoy baking more but I still cook more than I bake, because I have to cook dinner almost every night. I bake just occasionally. I think baking is more fun for me because I really like to eat cakes, pies and cookies. I am a big fan of sweets. I love the smell of freshly baked goods in the house. My mother and my aunt are to blame. They bake amazing things!

What was the first dish you cooked on your own, what is your first cooking memory?

I baked a pie for my mother as a surprise. I think I was 8 or 9 years old and I forgot to add the butter to the dough. So what came out of the oven was solid as a rock. But we still ate it and my mother pretended that she loved it.

What are your favourite places to buy and enjoy food in Berlin?

I love to go grocery shopping at the farmers markets – the organic food market at Kollwitzplatz on Thursday afternoon and the weekly farmers market on Saturdays. I buy fresh pesto, cold cuts and cheese at the Italian Deli Giannis Pasta-Bar on Schönhauser Allee. I love the bread selection at Zeit für Brot on Alte Schönhauser Strasse. I am a also member of the organic supermarket LPG Biomarkt at Senefelder Platz. My favorite supermarket is Kaiser’s at Winsstrasse. They have everything.My favorite café is the Meierei on Kollwitzstrasse, they serve great coffee and have a small selection of sweet or savory dishes.Restaurants that we like to go to are Aromi e Sapori on Straßburger Strasse, Leibhaftig on Metzer Strasse, Due Forni and Fleischerei on Schönhauser Allee, Lemon Grass Scent, Donath and Pappa e Ciccia on Schwedter Strasse.

You worked as a lawyer for a photo agency in Hamburg and couldn't follow your profession when you moved to California. How did you come up with the idea to start something completely new, your own design company Laux Interiors?

I always had an interest in interior design. I was the one friends would turn to for advice when rearranging their home. I had the constant urge to move furniture around in our home. When we moved to the States I was surprised to learn that interior design was/ is such a big thing over there. There are entire TV channels dedicated to it. So I decided to turn my passion into a profession and went back to school – this time for interior design.

Your father is a goldsmith and your mother was a home economics teacher and is now a full time artist. How did your parents influence your aesthetic perception and your creative work?

My parents always took me to museums, exhibitions and galleries. Growing up my father had his own gallery where he would exhibit his own jewellery along with paintings and sculptures of other artists. His aesthetics in jewellery design are very clean, elegant with flawless craftmanship.My mother is very expressive, caring and has a big heart. Her art is colourful and earthy. Sometimes I feel that I am torn between these two aesthetics.

This summer you bought a little weekend house built in 1974 at the picturesque Oder-Havel canal and you write about the progress of the renovations on your new blog LauxHaus. What is the biggest challenge and what is the great gift of renovating something old rather than buying new?

The biggest challenge for me is to be patient. I would love to do it all at once. But we are only there on the weekends, so it takes time to finish something. The huge garden also is something that scares me a little. Actually I would have loved to built a brand new house – something energy efficient with green materials and tons of glass - but the house is located in a protected nature reserve so we can only preserve the status quo but not build anything new there. We bought it mainly because we love the location at the riverside so much.In really old buildings that I often have to renovate here in Berlin for clients I adore the craftmanship that you find in elements like stucco, panelling, doors, windows, floors, glass and hardware. You don’t see this anymore in homes that were built after World War II.

What did you choose to share on eat in my kitchen and why?

I chose to share an old family recipe with you – Apple Pie Aunt Herta. It’s a classic for decades. This pie is a staple at every birthday or special occasion in my family. The recipe was given to us from my great aunt Herta, my grandfather 's sister. I thought I’d share it with you because I always get positive feedback for this pie. I love that the crust is so crispy and the apples are so juicy and still a bit sour.

If you could choose one person to cook a meal for you, who and what would it be?

It would be a tie between my grandmothers Wilma and Resi. Wilma would have to show me how to preserve apples and pears from the garden by cooking them in jars with cinnamon sticks. Resi would have to show me how to cook East Frisian Sniertjebraa, a slow cooked pork roast.

You're going to have ten friends over for a spontaneous dinner, what will be on the table?

Roasted pork loin with oven roasted vegetables and rosemary potatoes. If it’s really short notice - pasta with pesto Genovese and salad.

What was your childhood's culinary favourite and what is it now?

My favorite as a child was Paprikagemüse – a dish in a pan with ground meat, red and green bell peppers and tomatoes served with rice. Now I could eat tagliatelle with truffles and parmesan cheese every day. Or Sushi.

Do you prefer to cook on your own or together with others?

Together with others. It’s more fun when you can chat and have a glass of wine while cooking. Although I am more focused and quicker when I cook alone.

Which meals do you prefer, improvised or planned?

I mostly improvise a little – probably I would be calmer and less stressed if I planned ahead.

Which meal would you never cook again?

Can’t think of one.

Thank you Imke!

A Christmas Chocolate Panettone

We always had at least one huge panettone under our Christmas tree and I used to be more fascinated by the packaging than the actual bread. I love the Italian way of dramatically packing everything in glossy boxes with bright bows in candy colours. My style is usually so minimal that at Christmas time, I enjoy indulging in a little kitsch and opulence - too much is just right at this time of year. Although I used to enjoy the wrapping so much, the content of the boxes couldn't always keep up with my expectations. The panettone was often too sweet, too dry or so light and airy that it felt (and tasted) artificial.

When I decided to bake my own panettone this week, for the first time in my life, I got more and more intimidated the more I read about it. Often it's described as a moody and difficult bread and some bakers had to bake hundreds of loaves before they found the right formula. I didn't have that much time, I'm too impatient, so I thought that a good panettone resembles a French brioche in some ways, the richness and colour, the flowery taste, the subtle sweetness. The Italian bread is just not as soft on the outside and a bit more airy and fluffy inside. So what makes a good brioche? Lots of egg yolks and butter! That was my starting point. Although the most popular panettone feature raisins and candied peel, I went for lots of bittersweet chocolate chunks and orange zest and that was a good choice. When the bread was in the oven, a friend came over spontaneously and said "It smells like Italy, like real panettone!" That relaxed me a bit, at least I had the right smell in the house.

The preparation of the panettone dough takes some time, it has to rise twice, 90 minutes for the first time and 60 minutes when it's already in the form. I made it with dry yeast and let it rise in the warm oven at 35°C / 95°F. I follow this technique with all of my yeast based doughs and it works wonders. It just rises much quicker. You could also use your heater but I find that the oven works best. I didn't buy a special panettone form, I just used a normal cooking pot lined with buttered parchment paper which I let come up high enough for the bread to bake in the shape of a tall cylinder. The baking paper went up 20cm ( 8") which was a bit too high, I could have cut it shorter for the dough to rise above the rim like a mushroom, next time... A panettone is quite dark on the outside but it's important that it doesn't burn. At one point the top has to be covered with aluminum foil and the temperature changes, from 200°C (390°F) to 180°C (355°F) and then to 160°C (320°F) for the last 10 minutes. I took the bread out of the oven after 40 minutes to check if it was done and gently knocked on the bottom (it's quite fiddly to do as it's very hot and fragile), but it needed some more time on a lower temperature setting for the centre to bake through.

When you bake bread for the first time you can just follow and trust your nose, your ears and fingers. When you knock on the bottom it's always exciting, you don't know if it worked out, and in the case of this bread, it made me quite nervous. I had to wait until the next day to cut and taste it as I didn't want the chocolate to still be liquid. So the next morning, I solemnly cut the first slices of my first Christmas panettone, the centre was baked through but soft, so baking time and temperature were right - I felt relieved. The bread was fluffy but rich and it tasted like Mediterranean Christmas, this was all I had hoped for. The flowery aroma of the orange merges beautifully with the bittersweet chocolate. I spread a bit of butter on top and enjoyed my work in peace. Happy Advent!

Chocolate Panettone

For 1 panettone (18cm / 7") you need

• plain flour 500g / 1 pound (I used white spelt flour type 630)

• dry yeast 2 sachets (each 7g / 1/4 ounce)

• granulated sugar 100g / 3.5 ounces

• salt 1/2 teaspoon

• a pinch of nutmeg

• zest of 1 orange (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)

• organic egg yolks 5

• butter, melted, 170g / 6 ounces

• milk 220ml / 1 cup

• bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, 100g / 3.5 ounces

• almonds 4, for the topping

• heavy cream 4 teaspoons, to brush the top

• icing sugar, for the topping

Mix the melted butter with the milk and egg yolks, the mixture should be lukewarm.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, yeast, sugar, salt and nutmeg) and orange zest. Add the milk/ butter/ egg mixture and mix with the dough hooks for about 5 minutes or until well combined. Knead with your hands for about 1 minute, it should be soft and glossy. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it rise in a 35°C / 95°F warm oven ( top / bottom heat, no fan!) for about 90 minutes or until doubled in size. While the dough is rising, put the chocolate in a plastic container and keep it in the freezer.

Butter the inside of an 18cm / 7" cooking pot (about 10cm / 4" high). Cut a 15cm / 6" wide strip of parchment paper, long enough to be wrapped around the inside of the pot with both ends overlapping generously. Butter the parchment paper on one side. Line the sides of the pot with the parchment paper (the butter side should be facing inwards). Push the overlapping ends of parchment paper together.

Punch the dough down and take it out of the bowl, give it a quick knead and mix in the cold chocolate with your hands. Form a ball and put it into the prepared pot. Carefully cover it with a light tea towel (on top of the parchment paper) and let the dough rise in the warm oven for another 60 minutes or until doubled in size.

Take the pot out and set the oven to 200°C / 390°F, fan-assisted oven (210°C / 410°F top/ bottom heat).

Brush the top of the dough with the cream and cut a cross into the surface with a sharp kitchen knife. Decorate with the almonds. Bake the panettone for 10 minutes and turn the temperature down to 180°C / 355°F (190°C / 375°F top/ bottom heat). Bake for 20 minutes, cover the top with a piece of aluminum foil if the top gets too dark, and bake for another 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to 160°C / 320°F (170°C / 340°F top/ bottom heat) and bake for another 10 minutes. If you use top / bottom heat bake for another 5-10 minutes. Carefully take the pot out of the oven (it will be very hot!) and let the panettone cool in the pot for at least 30 minutes or until it's stabile enough to cool on a wire rack. When it's completely cool, dust with icing sugar.