Hemsley + Hemsley's Cannellini Sponge Cake with Chocolate Avocado Frosting

No flour and no butter - the Hemsley sisters did it again! The two gorgeous girls from London impressed me with a recipe that leaves out all the ingredients that I usually pull out of my pantry and fridge when I turn on the oven to bake a sweet treat.

There's a beautiful cake in the sister's new book Good + Simple that surprised and challenged my traditional idea of sweets and baking. When they published their last book I was in a similar situation, I gave their raw avocado lime cheesecake a try and I was more than a bit skeptical in the beginning. However, there was no need for any doubts, the Hemsley's taught me that you can make a cheesecake without cream cheese, using avocados instead. It has the same creamy texture, it tastes great, and it's healthy! But this time, Jasmine and Melissa went a step further, they made a sponge cake with canned cannellini beans and a little coconut flour. To my big surprise, the result looks like a sponge cake, feels like a sponge cake, and tastes like a sponge cake. It was a little like a science project that works out when you least expect it. I could not imagine how canned beans could turn into a spongy cake, layered with chocolate avocado frosting. I got used to the avocados from their last book, but the beans seemed a bit far fetched. I was wrong. It's kitchen magic, I don't know how, but the mashed legumes become a light cake (with the help of a few other ingredients).

I always believe that it's important to have an open mind in the kitchen, to exchange ideas with other great minds that love food just as much but maybe follow another diet, a different approach. Our culinary traditions can only evolve if we try out new recipes, ingredients, and combinations. I'm lucky, my own diet only follows my mood, I don't suffer from any allergies or food intolerance. You'll see a cakey nibble on my plate quite often during the week - and an even bigger piece on the weekend. My health doesn't mind my little sweet treats, but even I changed to white spelt flour (type 630) for all my baking recipes (sweet and savoury) a few years ago. I just prefer its nutritional value. So we all have to find out which kind of food makes us feel good, the body and the mind. The beans were a great reminder for me that there are many ways to enjoy the sweet side of life.

On my last trip to London, I visited Jasmine at the new Hemsley+Hemsley café at Selfridges in London. She and her sister told me about their latest project so enthusiastically when we last met in Berlin that I couldn't wait to see their new "baby". It's the perfect place to enjoy a little shopping break, to snack and feel good. If you happen to be in the capital and you're after the kind of food that gives you energy during a busy day and tastes delicious at the same time, follow the Hemsley's to their new kitchen.

Cannellini Sponge Cake with Chocolate Avocado Frosting

I only made half the recipe and used an 18cm / 7" springform pan. I baked the sponge cake for 25 minutes. 

Serves 6-8

For the sponge cake

• coconut oil, melted, 125g / 1/2 cup, plus extra for greasing

• cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, 3 cans (each 400g / 14 ounces)

• medium eggs 9

• vanilla extract 1 tablespoon (I used a pinch of fresh vanilla seeds, scraped out of the bean)

• maple syrup 220ml / 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons

• apple cider vinegar or lemon juice 5 teaspoons

• coconut flour 90g / 3 1/4 ounces

• baking soda 2 1/2 teaspoons

• fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon

• fresh mixed berries 150g  / 5 ounces,  to decorate the cake

For the Chocolate Avocado Frosting

• medium, ripe avocados 4

• coconut oil, melted 5 tablespoons (about 75g / 2 1/2 ounces)

• raw honey 8 tablespoons (to taste)

• cocoa powder 10 tablespoons

• vanilla extract 1 tablespoon

• lemon juice 2 tablespoons

• orange extract (not essence) 1/2 teaspoon (I used a little freshly grated orange zest)

• a pinch of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (convection setting), then line the bases of two 25cm / 10" springform pans with baking parchment and grease the sides with butter or coconut oil. (I baked one cake after the other in the same pan and kept the dough in the fridge while the first one was baking.)

Blend all the ingredients for the frosting together in a food processor until smooth, adding a dash of cold water if needed. Adjusting the flavouring to taste, then transfer to a bowl and set aside in the fridge.

For the cake, add the cannellini beans to the cleaned food processor bowl along with the eggs, vanilla extract, and maple syrup and blend until smooth. Add the remaining cake ingredients, except the berries, and blend to combine.

Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake tins, spreading out evenly and smoothing the surface. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until well risen and lightly golden on top. Check the cakes after 25 minutes and swap the tins between shelves, if necessary, as they will cook at different rates.

Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely in the springform pans before turning out.

While the cakes are cooling, gently wash the berries and dry them carefully using kitchen paper or leave to air dry; they must be thoroughly dry before adding to the cake.

Spread half the frosting on one of the cooled sponges, top with the other sponge and spread over the rest of the frosting. Store in the fridge and bring to room temperature to serve. Decorate with the fresh raspberries just before serving. (I sprinkled the berries with icing sugar and added a few mint leaves.)

Strawberry Mascarpone Panna Cotta

If I could choose between a cake or creamy desserts, I think I would always go for the cake. I just love pastries, no matter if it's buttery shortcrust, flaky puff pastry, soft sponge, or juice-soaked lady fingers in a trifle. The combination of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar is pure magic in my eyes. Since I was a child, I've always been the first at the cake buffet when we have our luscious family feasts, and I'm also the last one, when the platters are almost empty.

As I'm the one who's responsible for sweet treats at home - at least most of the time - we barely get to enjoy the dark depth of a mousse au chocolate, the sweetness of a vanilla scented Bavarian cream or a crème caramel. If my boyfriend could choose, it would be the other way around; we'd have cake maybe twice a year. He loves anything sweet, smooth, and creamy and if I want to spoil him a little, I make a panna cotta. The Italian classic is usually made with heavy cream and milk, but I like to sneak in some ricotta (like I did for my rosewater and pistachio panna cotta), or a little mascarpone, which fits perfectly to the juiciest strawberries I've found this year so far. A bit of fresh mint on top and these little beauties are done. When we have guests for dinner, I usually serve this dessert in small ramekins, but this time I went for wine glasses. The shiny red fruit looks really pretty in the bright panna cotta, it would be a pity to hide them.

Strawberry Mascarpone Panna Cotta

Serves 2 to 4

• gelatin sheets (7 x 11cm / 3 x 4") 2 1/2, or 2 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin

• heavy cream 240ml / 1 cup

• whole milk 120 ml / 1/2 cup

• a pinch of fine sea salt

• vanilla pod, scraped, 1

• granulated sugar 50g / 1/4 cup, plus more for the strawberries

• mascarpone 60g / 2 ounces

• fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced, 140g / 4 ounces, plus 3-4 whole strawberries, quartered lengthwise, for the topping

• a few fresh mint leaves, for the topping

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for about 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, bring the cream, milk, salt, vanilla seeds, and sugar to the boil. As soon as the mixture is bubbling, take the pan off the heat. Squeeze the excess water from the soaked gelatin sheets and crumble into the warm cream mixture; whisk thoroughly. Stir in the mascarpone and whisk until well combined. Leave the cream in the saucepan and let it cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, whisking occasionally. Then chill the panna cotta in the fridge for about 1 hour, whisking 3-4 times, or until it starts to set.

Divide the sliced strawberries between 4 ramekins (120ml / 4 ounces), or 2-4 wine glasses, and sprinkle them with a little sugar. Divide the panna cotta between the glasses and chill for about 30 minutes or until set. Arrange the quartered strawberries and the mint leaves on top of the cream just before serving.

Cardamom Churros on the table and my German book is ready for pre-order!

I almost live in my kitchen, day and night, at least that's how it seems at the moment. Although I'm used to spending a lot of time in this room - and I love it, that's the reason I started this blog - but I barely see anything other than my pots and pans right now. I was asked to develop a bunch of recipes for a project (which I can't talk about yet) and this task ties me to my kitchen again, just like a year ago when I worked on my book. It's so funny that some things tend to repeat annually and you don't really know why. It becomes a theme without a deeper sense to it. So I accept, it's the second year in a row that I spend the month of May developing, cooking, and shooting recipes and producing more food than two people can possibly eat. But luckily, our friends are more than pleased about these circumstances. I cook and bake and they indulge in plates of cakes, roasts, seafood dishes, and salads.

Although I basically do exactly the same as last year, it feels different. It's not my book, these aren't my blank pages that I have to fill. I have to accommodate someone else's vision, which is fine as I have complete freedom with the recipes. But when it comes to taking the photos, I have to match my own ideas with the visual concept that my partner in crime brings to the table. It works surprisingly well but when it comes to the amount of sauce - as banal as it may seem - there are worlds between us. I like it a bit less soggy, however, my creative supervisor prefers more juices on the plate. We compromise and meet in the middle.

The fruits of last year's kitchen work are getting closer and closer to coming to the analogue world - the Eat In My Kitchen book is at the printing press! After I shared the Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk pre-order links for the English book a few weeks ago, it's time for the big announcement for my German readers: Eat In My Kitchen - Essen, Kochen, Backen und Genießen is ready for pre-order on Amazon.de! It will be published on the 26th September, a few days before the English book (on the 4th October). The cover picture is the same as the English book and we also kept the subtitles quite similar. Apart from the last word, 'to treat' in English (einladen / verwöhnen in German) became 'genießen' (meaning 'to enjoy'), the books are the same and both completely written by myself (I was offered a translator for the German version but that felt a little weird).

My book emerged out of this blog, which is all about cooking, baking, eating, treating, and enjoying the pleasures created in this marvelous space - my kitchen!

One of the latest creations I passionately enjoyed from my kitchen were churros, the famous Spanish fried pastry snack. It was the first time ever that I made them and I was impressed how easy they are to prepare and how good they taste when they are made at home. Fresh out of the boiling oil, soft inside and golden and crisp on the outside, I tossed and coated them with aromatic cardamom sugar and ate them warm with fresh strawberries. The combination is perfect as it balances the churros' richness with a bit of sour-sweet fruitiness.

I love my kitchen, especially when it produces such deliciousness.

Cardamom Churros

Serves 4

For the topping

• granulated sugar 150g / 3/4 cups

• ground cardamom  1 1/2- 2 teaspoons

For the churros

• sunflower oil, for frying, about 1,3l / 5 1/2 cups

• water 350ml / 1 1/2 cups

• olive oil 2 tablespoons

• granulated sugar 1 tablespoon

• fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon

• plain flour 200g / 1 1/2 cups

• organic egg 1

For serving

• fresh strawberries

For the topping, combine the sugar and cardamom and spread on a deep plate.

In a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven, heat the sunflower oil over medium-high heat.

In a large saucepan, bring the water, olive oil, sugar, and salt to the boil. Take the pot off the heat, add the flour, and, using a wooden spoon, stir vigorously until smooth and the dough comes away from the side of the saucepan. Transfer the dough to a large bowl and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Using a spoon, beat in the egg and mix until well combined.

When the oil is hot – dip in the bottom end of a wooden spoon, little bubbles, should form around it – fill the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a large open-star tip (about 1cm / 3/8"). Carefully squeeze the dough into the hot oil and snip it off when the churro is about 7cm / 2 3/4" long. Fry about 5-8 churros at a time, depending on the size of your pot, and turn them a few times, using 2 large spoons. The churros should be done and golden after about 4-5 minutes. If they turn dark quicker, turn down the heat a little. Take them out with a slotted ladle and transfer them to the plate with the cardamom sugar. Toss and coat them and keep them in a large bowl while you continue frying the remaining dough. Serve warm with fresh strawberries - and preferably with a dark espresso.

Churros taste best on the first day. You can freeze them once they are fried, but they become a little rubbery (my aunt still enjoyed them though).

Blueberry Victoria Sponge Cake, London, and my first book presentation

London welcomed me with blue skies and the brightest sunshine - the city looked like a blossoming beauty as I stepped off the train. It was supposed to be a two day work trip but spring temperatures made it feel like a little holiday. Great food and wine and the company of wonderful people almost made me forget why I went to the capital: my publisher's London team invited me to present my Eat In My Kitchen book for the first time at the Photographers' Gallery. To say that I was nervous, is a slight understatement. I drove the people around me crazy in the past few days! We just finished the last edits for my book this week, which means I can't change anything anymore and I'm not yet sure if I like this feeling. Now I have to learn to let go. But the thought of talking about it in front of 30 people straight after closing the last pages of my book to send it to the printing press felt a little overwhelming.

I booked an early flight on Wednesday morning so that I'd have the day to myself. I wanted to have enough time to meet a couple special people. My first stop was the gorgeous Brown's Hotel in Mayfair where I stayed for the night. My last visit to London - and a scrumptious meet in your kitchen tea time feature - made me fall in love with this wonderful hotel. It's the perfect choice when you need a relaxing place to stay during a busy trip. London is like a beehive but Brown's Hotel is the calm oasis you can go back to to rest. Thank you Sophie Grounds for making me feel so good again!

A stroll through the sunny streets of Mayfair took me to busy Oxford Street and the charming building of Selfridges. I came here to visit Melissa Hemsely at the sisters' brand new Hemsely + Hemsley Café located on the third floor of the luxury department store. It's a cozy place that's only been open for a month and it was totally packed. All the tables were taken and I saw lots of happy faces enjoying beautiful dishes from the girl's books, like quinoa roasted vegetables with basil pesto (delicious!), salmon burger with lime slaw, and the sisters' fantastic sweets. We chatted about our books - they just published their second book called Good + Simple - and I also got to try a wonderfully juicy banana cake that's not on the menu yet.

Spitalfields was next, and here I met a man whose work I've admired for quite a while and who I got to know through another one of my meet in your kitchen features: Sami Tamimi. This man is a great inspiration, he's open and charismatic and he talks with a warm, calm voice. Sami seems to smile the whole time, genuinely, and it felt like I've known him for years. He gave me such a flattering quote for my book and I wanted to thank him in person. Sami invited me to the latest addition to the Ottolenghi restaurants, their deli in the heart of Spitalfields that opened just a year ago. The place is bright and airy and the long counter right at the large window front is filled with the most beautiful food you can imagine. No one presents food as tempting, lush and perfect as the Ottolenghi crew. Large bowls filled with colourful salads and vegetables, the freshest meat platters, and piles of colourful meringue, delicate tartlets, and cakes dripping with thick icing turn this room into a food lover's paradise. I was in heaven.

Sami constantly works on new creations and tries the food prepared by his team working in and for the five restaurants, he's an absolute perfectionist. There was a little banana cake on a plate of six that he spotted, it wasn't as straight as the other ones, so it had to go - right into my mouth, I didn't mind. Seeing him in this environment, surrounded by the food he creates with so much passion and perfection, made me understand why he's so successful and why guests from all over the world love the Ottolenghi restaurants so much. The vision that the team behind Ottolenghi once had, has been brought to life completely. There's no compromise and that makes it so good. Before I left, we exchanged spices, and when I stepped out onto the street I felt a little sad to leave.

My dinner plans took me to an old, traditional pub, The Grenadier in Belgravia. It was an early night, I enjoyed my obligatory fish & chips and a glass of wine to the fullest and went to bed early - I had an exciting day ahead.

On the morning of my presentation, I felt like a student going to her exams, but after a few minutes of talking I was fine again - as always in life. The Photographers Gallery was the perfect surrounding and I can only recommend visiting one of their great exhibitions when you're in town. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for the arts but I had a lovely crowd to talk to about my book instead, which felt even better. Thank you everybody at Prestel for inviting me and for making me feel so welcome. It was a pleasure to meet you, Andrew, Emma, Oliver, Lincoln, and Will!

My London days called for a traditional British treat when I was back home in Berlin, ready for a cozy weekend on the sofa: a simple Victoria Sponge cake refined with lemon zest, filled with plump blueberries, jam, and whipped cream. It's an honest, uncomplicated treat that fits perfectly after a week of lots of excitement.

Blueberry Victoria Sponge Cake

You'll need 2 18cm / 7" springform pans for this cake. If you only have one pan (like me), divide the ingredients in half and prepare and bake one cake after the other. For the 3 eggs, beat them lightly and then divide in two equal portions.

For the sponge cake

• plain flour 145g / 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons

• cornstarch 15g / 2 tablespoons

• baking powder 1 teaspoon

• a pinch of salt

• butter, at room temperature, 160g / 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon

• granulated sugar 160g / 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon

• freshly grated lemon zest 2 teaspoons

• vanilla bean, scraped, 1/2

• organic eggs 3

For the filling

• blueberry jam, lightly beaten, about 4 tablespoons

• fresh blueberries 120g / 4 ounces, plus a few berries for the topping

• heavy cream, whipped, about 120-180ml / 1/2-3/4 cup

• icing sugar, for the topping

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (conventional setting) and butter 2 18cm / 7" springform pans.

For the sponge cake, in a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, using in electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla seeds until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between. Using a wooden spoon, fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well combined.

Divide the batter between the two buttered springform pans and make a slight dip in the middle of each of them (to prevent the cakes from rising too high in the middle). Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and spongy. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Take the cakes out of the springform pan and let them cool completely (about 15-20 minutes).

Transfer 1 sponge cake to a plate and cut off the tip if it rose to high, it shouldn't be too pointy but it doesn't need to be completely even either. Brush the top generously with jam and spread the blueberries on top. Spread the whipped cream all over the berries and sandwich with the second sponge cake (you don't have to even this cake out). Dust the cake with a little icing sugar and, if you want to decorate it with blueberries, dip the berries in the jam and stick them on top of the cake.

Strawberry White Chocolate Breakfast Cake

This is such a kiddy cake: it's light and fluffy, sweet and juicy, and packed with soft strawberries and creamy white chocolate. And although my childhood days are long over, I love this cake. I would even call it my favorite spring cake (for the time being, until my next discovery). And the fact that it's so easy to prepare - you just have to roll out of bed on a lazy Sunday morning and throw it all together - makes it a perfect weekend breakfast cake.

The combination of the ripe red berries and the milky chocolate works unbelievably well in a cake. I'm familiar with this duo in ice cream and other sweet snacks, but it never struck me as much as in this composition. I was worried that the sweetness could be a little overpowering, but there was no reason to worry, it was still balanced. In fact, this cute little teaser tastes so good that it was gone in less than 24 hours. I wanted to freeze a few pieces - my new habit to eat a little less sweets - but it was hopeless. One piece after the other kept disappearing until the last crumbs were gone and the plate looked almost clean. I think if I could choose between a plate full of cake or a little less on my hips, I'd always go for cake.

Strawberry White Chocolate Breakfast Cake

Makes 1 cake

• plain flour 130g / 1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon for the strawberries

• cornstarch 30g / 1/4 cup

• baking powder 1 heaping teaspoon

• fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon

• butter (at room temperature) 160g / 2/3 cup plus scant 1 tablespoon

• granulated sugar 100g / 1/2 cup

• vanilla bean, scraped, 1/2organic eggs 3

• fresh strawberries, cut into cubes, 150g / 5 ounces

• white chocolate, chopped, 100g / 3/1/2 ounces

For the topping (optional)

• icing sugar or finely grated white chocolate 1 tablespoon

• fresh strawberries 3-4

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (preferably convection setting) and butter a 20cm / 8″  springform pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.

In a second large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla seeds until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well in between. Continue mixing for 2 minutes or until the mixture is thick and creamy. Quickly mix in the flour mixture until combined. Mix the strawberries with 1 tablespoon of flour and add, along with the chopped white chocolate, to the batter. Using a wooden spoon, gently fold in the berries and chocolate until just combined. Scrape the batter into the buttered springform pan, even it out, and bake for 40-45 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until golden on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool for a few minutes before you take it out of the springform pan.

Sprinkle the cool cake with icing sugar or grated white chocolate and decorate with strawberries.

Rhubarb Tartlets with Cinnamon Oat Crumble

The combination of rhubarb and cinnamon crumble is so perfect that I dare to call it one of my favourite baked sweets. It's sweet, fruity-sour, and buttery, what more could I ask for? I could add oats, which I've never done before for some reason, so I gave it a try and the result was extremely pleasing. The first bite through the crunchy aromatic crust and soft fruit gave me the feeling that home-baked sweets are simply the best.

The past few days were a little rough and rocky and I often wished I had two Meikes to sort out all the tasks and problems piled up on my desk. Late night work led to sleep deprivation and a paranoid me, worrying that I wouldn't manage to finish everything in time. I call myself quite disciplined, I can work hard, but luckily, I also know when to pull the brake. It was a bright and sunny afternoon and I started to feel like I could see the light at the end of the tunnel - although not all problems were solved yet - but I decided to close my laptop. Trying not to think too much, I grabbed my bag and jumped on my bike. Cycling through springy Berlin and enjoying the bumpy ride over cobbled roads put a smile on my face as I saw nature's leaves and blossoms taking over the city again. I stopped at a café for a creamy cappuccino that felt like the best coffee I had in a while, and leafed through a cheesy magazine. Life can be perfect and sometimes it's so easy to get there, all you have to do is forget about your duties for a little while and follow whatever your mood calls for.

Rhubarb Tartlets with Cinnamon Oat Crumbles

Makes 10 tartlets

For the filling

• trimmed rhubarb, cut into 5cm / 2" pieces, 600g / 1 1/3 pounds

• granulated sugar, 100g / 1/2 cup

For the pastry

• plain flour 260g / 2 cups

• granulated sugar 80g / 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon

• a pinch of salt

• unsalted butter, cold, 160g / 2/3 cup

• organic egg yolks 2

For the oat crumble

• rolled oats 100g / 3 1/2 ounces / 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon

• plain flour 65g / 1/2 cup

• granulated sugar 90g / 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons

• ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon

• unsalted butter, melted, 80g / 1/3 cup

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F (preferably convection setting).

For the filling, add the rhubarb and sugar to a large baking dish and toss to combine. Bake for about 25 minutes or until soft but still in shape. Set the rhubarb aside and let it cool completely.

For the pastry, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter with a knife into the flour until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and rub the butter into the flour until combined. Add the egg yolks and continue mixing with the dough hooks of an electric mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form a thick disc, wrap in cling film, and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Butter 10 (10cm / 4") tartlet pans and dust with flour. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.Divide the dough into 10 equal parts. Roll out the 10 pieces of dough between cling film into 12 cm / 4 1/2" circles. Line the tartlet pans with the pastry, push the dough into the pans, and prick with a fork. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden, bush the dough down with a fork if it bubbles up. Take the tartlet pans out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Using a metal skewer, loosen the pastry shell gently along the rim and turn the tartlets out onto the lined baking sheet.

Turn the oven down to 180°C / 350°F.

For the crumble, combine the oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter and mix until combined and crumbly.

Divide the rhubarb among the tartlet shells, sprinkle with the oat crumble, and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Cynthia Barcomi's Cheesecake with Mint and Aniseed Crust

This recipe comes from a woman who is a great inspiration in the kitchen and for life - and she's also one of the reasons why I live where I live. I used to visit Berlin quite often in my twenties and on one of those trips, I discovered Barcomi's Deli right in the heart of the city's old Eastern part. The moment I walked through the hidden Sophienhöfe for the first time, I fell in love with its peaceful backyards and the tall brick walls covered in vine. When I opened the glass door to Cynthia Barcomi's cozy café, I found my place (update: sadly, the café closed in 2021). Amazing coffee and the best American cakes, muffins, and sandwiches I had ever tasted, I was hooked. So I decided that if I ever moved to this city, it would have to be close to Cynthia's kitchen. And that's what I did.

Cynthia is from New York. In the late 80's, she came to Berlin to live and work here as a professional dancer. Today, she's one of Germany's most successful women in the food business. She started roasting her own coffee beans long before it became a trend, and she introduced the people in her new home city to all the scrumptious treats she grew up with: bagels, New York cheesecake, fruit pies, and luscious sandwiches made with the juiciest potato bread. It became a great success. When you meet Cynthia, you can see right away that she's not the kind of person who would rest if something works out. She's constantly on the move, her enthusiasm is impressive, and she jumps from one project to the next project. She started a flourishing catering business, became a popular TV host, sells her own bakeware collection (she has the most perfect pie dishes!), and she wrote six best selling cookbooks. And all this as a mother of four children - sometimes I wish I had her energy.

It's only a year ago since Cynthia published her last book Cookies, which includes the best brownie recipe I know: chocolate and peanut butter. They are divine. Her new masterpiece is just as packed with deliciousness and focuses on Cheesecakes, Pies & Tartes (in German). It's a very special book, as Cynthia, for the first time, shared her signature cake, the best New York cheesecake in town. Her fans have been bugging her for years to share it with them, but she declined. So finally, after 20 years, she had mercy on us and opens her new book with this exact recipe. When I decided to write about Cynthia's new creations, I felt so tempted to bake this cake and share the recipe here with you, but I wasn't even sure if I feel quite ready to bake this cake at home in my kitchen. I've ben enjoying it for so long at her café, do I want to know how this piece of magic is actually made? I think for now, I want to leave it this way, I just jump on my bike whenever my appetite calls for it and roll down the hill to her Deli.

But as I thumbed through the pages of her new book, reading about such tempting treats as Blueberry Pocket Pies, Peanut Butter Townie, Sweet Potato Spice Bars with Potato Chip Crust, and Honey Almond Goat Cheese Cheesecake, I got excited. And then I spotted a recipe that made it impossible to read any further: A Spanish Cheesecake or Flaó from Ibiza. The pie is made with ricotta and mascarpone and refined with lemon and mint - this is genius! The filling lies on an aniseed short crust base and it's the most aromatic, fragrant, and light cheesecake I ever had on a plate. Two days ago, I shared the last pieces of it with some friends and there was happy silence at the table. I never even thought of adding mint to a cheesecake and it's actually the best thing that could happen to it. Cynthia learned about this combination from a friend's aunt, Maria, an eccentric art collector from Spain, living in New York. I have to start thinking about what else I could do with the mint plant outside my kitchen window.

When I sipped on my creamy cappuccino at Barcomi's many, many years ago, it would have never crossed my mind that one day, the woman who created all this would become more than an inspiration in my life. Cynthia gave me the best tips for my book when I started working on it. She shared her experiences with me and helped me so much during the whole process in the past year. And then, when I asked her if she'd like to write a quote for my book, she didn't hesitate. I emailed her the pages of the Eat In My Kitchen book, and I have to confess that I felt a bit nervous to share it with her. When I read her words, it brought me to tears:

"Great food like great art speaks the truth. Meike’s recipes and photos are pared down, honest and revealing – I love what she does! She goes right for the sensory jugular leaving you wanting and needing more. Void of superfluous detail, Meike’s all about delicious food – brava!"

Thank you Cynthia!

Cynthia Barcomi's Mint Cheesecake with Aniseed Crust

Serves 6

For the pastry base

• plain flour 200g / 1 1/2 cups

• granulated sugar 2 teaspoons

• aniseed, finely crushed in a mortar, 1 1/2 teaspoons

• salt 1/2 teaspoon

• freshly grated zest from 1/2 lemon

• unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes, 90g / 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon

• vegetable shortening, cold, cut into cubes, 30g / 2 tablespoons

• egg yolk 1

• olive oil 1 tablespoon

For the filling

• fresh ricotta 250g / 9 ounces

• mascarpone 250g / 9 ounces

• granulated sugar 200g / 1 cup

• eggs 4

• freshly grated zest from 1/2 lemon

• fresh mint leaves, finely chopped, 2 tablespoons

For the topping

• fresh mint leaves 12

• granulated sugar 1 tablespoon

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, aniseed, salt, and lemon zest. Add the butter and vegetable shortening and rub them into the flour mixture with your fingers, or use the dough hooks of an electric mixer and quickly mix until you have a crumbly mixture. Whisk together the egg yolk and olive oil in a measuring cup and add water until the total is 100ml / 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon. Add to the dough and mix until just combined; don't knead the dough. Form a thick disc, wrap in cling film, and put in the fridge for 2 hours (or longer).

Preheat the oven to 175°C / 350°F and butter a 23cm / 9" pie or tart dish.

For the filling, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk together the ricotta, mascarpone, and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and stir in the lemon zest and chopped mint leaves.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll our between cling film, large enough to line the bottom and sides of the pie dish. Line the pie dish with the pastry, press it into the dish, and leave about 5mm / 1/4" of dough hanging over the rim.

Pour the filling on top of the pastry and decorate with the 12 mint leaves (arrange them like a clock). Bake for 50 minutes or until golden. (Cynthia suggests that you check the cake after 30 minutes and cover it with aluminium foil if it gets too dark, I skipped this, the colour was fine.) Take the cake out of the oven, sprinkle with the sugar, and let it cool.

Grape and Olive Oil Friands with Caramelized Rosemary

I don't know what drove me to come up with a grape-recipe in April, but it must have had something to do with the fact that I desperately felt like baking with fruits and there was nothing else in sight that sparked my interest. I went to the shop around the corner to find some inspiration, but there were just a few tiny baskets of unripe strawberries, I spotted plump blueberries, which seem to have become available all year round, and some very delicate - and artificial - looking raspberries. I didn't get excited by any of them.

I usually try to follow the (local) seasons, but there was a bag full of South African grapes that seemed to fit perfectly to the bunch of rosemary that I had already picked. So they became the main flavours for my French olive oil friands. If we leave out the fact that it's not the fruit's season in the northern hemisphere where I live, it's a cozy sweet treat that is just right when the weather is too moody to go outside, or there's too much work on the desk, and you're forced to stay inside. A nibble of this aromatic beauty and the world looks much nicer again.

In case you've never heard of friands before - I must admit I was one of them - they are sumptuous small cakes, a patisserie classic. They look similar to muffins but the texture is actually more fine and delicate. They are made with ground almonds and just a little flour, and a generous amount of beaten egg white that helps the batter to rise instead of baking powder or baking soda. Traditionally made with melted butter, I just followed my mood and replaced the dairy product with mild olive oil. It was a good choice, especially in combination with the sweet fruit and fragrant herb.

Grape and Olive Oil Friands with Caramelized Rosemary

Makes 12 friands (in a muffin pan)

• For the friands

• organic egg whites 6

• fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon

• granulated sugar 180g / 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons

• ground almonds (or hazelnuts) 200g / 1 2/3 cups

• plain flour 80g / 2/3 cup

• freshly grated orange zest 2 teaspoons

• mild olive oil 140ml / 2/3 cup

• small dark grapes, preferably seedless (or seeds removed), 36 (3 grapes for each friand)

• icing sugar, for the topping

For the caramelized rosemary

• granulated sugar 3 tablespoons

• water 2 tablespoons

• the tips of 12 sprigs of rosemary (with about 4-5 needles each)

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F (conventional setting). Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with olive oil, dust with a little flour, and place in the fridge. Cut 12 circles of parchment paper, large enough for the bottom of each muffin cup; set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar for about 1 minute until it forms soft peaks.

In a second, large bowl, combine the remaining sugar, ground almonds, flour, and orange zest. In alternating batches, fold in the beaten egg whites and the olive oil, about 1/3 at a time. Stir gently until just combined.

Take the muffin pan out of the fridge, lay 1 parchment circle into each muffin cup, and divide the batter between the cups. Place 3 grapes on top of the batter in each muffin cup and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the friands cool for a few minutes, then, using a small sharp knife, cut along the sides of the muffin cups and lift the friands out of the muffin pan. Remove the parchment paper.

For the caramelized rosemary, place a piece of parchment paper on the counter top. In a small, heavy pan, heat the sugar and water on high heat, without stirring. When the sugar is golden and caramelized, stir in the rosemary until coated in caramel and transfer to the parchment paper. Let it cool for a few minutes before you peel it off the parchment paper.

Dust the friands with icing sugar and garnish with the caramelized rosemary. They taste best on the first day.

Pomegranate Pavlova Tart with Pistachios and Rosewater

In the past week, I experienced the highs and lows of kitchen life, a fact that a curious baker has to live with when jumping into new recipes. Let's start with the uplifting experience: I baked 3 cakes and 2 were fantastic, which isn't that bad. One of them will stay a secret until I share it with you next week, but the other one was this bomb of a cake. It's a voluptuous beauty, full of flavour, sweetness, crunch, and fluffiness. I call it a pavlova tart - not just a pavlova, which never really managed to rouse my excitement. Baked meringue sandwiched with whipped cream can be nice but it's not enough for me. So I decided to transfer the whole thing onto buttery shortcrust pastry and now it has my attention. This combination is so good that I believe the pastry base should have been an obligatory part of this sweet classic named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova from the start. But never mind, I'm happy with my new discovery. The light meringue is soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside, it's refined with a hint of rosewater just like the rich whipped cream that crowns the whole composition. Sweet-sour pomegranate seeds and their juices turned into a concentrated syrup lay graciously on top, side by side with nutty pistachios. Simply wonderful!

However, my disappointing kitchen experience was an epic fail - ready for the bin. I decided to give puff pastry a try again and I regretted it the moment I pulled the result out of my oven. I spent 2 days reading about the perfect croissant and up until they were in the oven I was quite optimistic that I'd manage to bake light, crisp apricot croissants, made for a Sunday brunch table. But my hope was destroyed as I opened the oven door and witnessed a rather sad result that looked like my flaky sweets got run over by a truck. It took me 2 years to recover from my last puff pastry disaster - I tried to make Maltese pastizzi, it's the flakiest treat, basically the queen of puff pastry - which ended in a buttery, floury soup on a baking sheet. I must say that, this time, it didn't actually look and taste as bad as my last attempt, but it's definitely far from making an appearance on the blog. It's a work in progress I guess.

Pomegranate Pavlova Tart with Pistachios and Rosewater

Makes 1 23cm / 9″ tart

For the short crust base

• flour 200g / 1 1/2 cups

• granulated sugar 65g / 1/3 cup

• a pinch of salt

• unsalted butter, cold, 110g / 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons

• organic egg yolks 2

For the meringue

• organic egg whites 4

• fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon

• granulated sugar 200g / 1 cup

• cornstarch, sifted, 1 1/2 teaspoons

• cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon

• quality rosewater, preferably organic, 2 teaspoons, plus more to taste

For the topping

• heavy cream, whipped, 200ml / 3/4 cup

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• quality rosewater, preferably organic, 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste

• seeds from 1/2-1 pomegranate

• pomegranate juice 60ml / 1/4 cup

• unsalted pistachios, chopped, 1 small handful

For the pastry, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter with a knife into the flour until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and rub the butter into the flour until combined. Add the egg yolks and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture; this takes a few minutes. Form a thick disc, wrap in cling film, and put in the freezer for 12 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F (conventional setting).

Roll the dough out between cling film and line a 23cm / 9″  tart pan with the flat pastry. Prick with a fork and bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until golden and crisp. Take the pan out of the oven and let it cool completely.

For the meringue, in a large, clean bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites and salt for 1 minute. Continue whisking for 10-12 minutes, adding 1 tablespoon of the sugar at a time. The meringue should be stiff and glossy. Whisk in the cornstarch, vinegar, and 1-2 teaspoons of the rosewater. Add more rosewater to taste.

Turn the oven down to 180°C / 350°F.

Scoop the stiff egg whites onto the pre-baked pastry, spread it lightly but don't push it down. Swirl it a bit for an uneven surface. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat to 135°C / 275°F and bake for about 60 minutes or until the meringue is light golden and crisp. Switch off the oven, open the door slightly, and leave the cake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool completely.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream, sugar and 1 teaspoon rosewater. Add more sugar and rosewater to taste; set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring the pomegranate juice and 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar to the boil. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until it starts to thicken.

To assemble the tart, spread the whipped cream in the middle of the meringue, leaving a wide rim, drizzle with the syrup, and sprinkle with pomegranate and pistachios.

Maltese Zeppoli - Fried Cream Puffs with Vanilla Ricotta and Fresh Berries

My Maltese family has been telling me about zeppoli - or zeppole in Italian - for many, many years. Countless stories about these puffy, tiny balls of choux pastry, fried to golden perfection, and filled with ricotta, fed my curiosity and made my mouth water. In Malta, the little sweets, also known as sfineġ, are traditionally made on the 19th March to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph. The filling is rich, refined with chocolate and candied peel and fruit, and topped with chopped hazelnuts. In other parts of the Mediterranean, like southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia, you can also find them plain, rolled in sugar, dipped in melted chocolate, or topped with vanilla custard. There wasn't the slightest doubt which version I'd go for.

The problem is, when you have an idea of a classic dish without actually ever having tried it, it becomes a dish of its own. In my mind, I always imagined the little puff balls filled with pretty berries. I couldn't really see the chopped chocolate bits but lots of vanilla freshly scraped out of its pod, sweet orange juice, and fragrant Maltese honey stirred into the creamy ricotta. I have an excuse, I've never been to the Maltese archipelago on St. Joseph's special day, so I have never tried a single original zeppoli. Therefore, I just used my imagination and my critical Maltese man, and gave this project a go in my kitchen. I'm not the biggest fan of deep-frying - and some zeppoli recipes even allow you to bake the pastry in the oven - but I didn't want to move away from its origin too much. I made 26 of the crisp balls and to my surprise, they all turned out well, apart from the usual 2 to 3 first trials to find the right temperature setting. It should be relatively low, on medium, so that the inside can cook long enough without burning on the outside - golden and crisp should be the goal. The filling was delicious, fine and aromatic, and a couple raspberries and blueberries on top made it summery fresh. I was more than pleased with the result, and so was my Maltese man, the last zeppoli 'disappeared' after dinner.

There's also a savoury version of this dish, filled with anchovies, however, my imagination fails to give me an idea of how this would taste. I guess I have to go to Malta for this culinary experience. If you're into deep-fried sweets, you can also try my Greek Loukoumades, made with yeast dough.

Have a Happy Easter with your loved ones and enjoy lots of chocolate eggs! xx

Maltese Zeppoli - Fried Cream Puffs with Vanilla Ricotta and Berries

Makes about 26 cream puffs

For the filling

• fresh ricotta 250g / 9 ounces

• flowery honey, such as orange blossom, 1 tablespoon

• freshly squeezed orange juice 1 tablespoon

• vanilla pod, scraped, 1/2raspberries, 1 small handful (about 100g / 3 1/2 ounces)

• blueberries, 1 small handful (about 100g / 3 1/2 ounces)

For the choux pastry

• sunflower oil, about 1 1/2l / 6 cups, to fry the pastry

• unsalted butter 120g / 1/2 cup

• granulated sugar 50g / 4 tablespoons

• fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon

• water 120ml / 1/2 cup

• plain flour, sieved, 130g / 1 cup

• organic eggs 3

For the topping

• icing sugar

For the ricotta filling, in a medium bowl, whisk the ricotta, honey, orange juice, and vanilla seeds until creamy. Season with honey and vanilla to taste. Keep the ricotta in the fridge until you fill the choux pastry.

In a large, heavy pot, heat the sunflower oil on medium-high heat. Line a large baking dish with kitchen paper.

For the pastry, in a large pot, bring the butter, sugar, salt, and water to the boil. Turn the heat down to low, stir in the flour vigorously with a wooden spoon, and mix until smooth and the dough comes away from the side of the pan. Transfer the dough to a bowl and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Beat the eggs in with a spoon, 1 at a time, only mix in the next one when the one before is well combined.

When the oil is hot - dip in the bottom end of a wooden spoon, little bubbles, should form around it - scoop out 1 heaping teaspoon of the dough and carefully scrape it with a second teaspoon into the hot oil. Start with 2 balls of dough to adjust the temperature, you might have to turn the heat down to medium or a little bit lower. The pastry has to cook for 4-6 minutes for the inside to be cooked through. The outside should be golden and not dark brown. If they become dark after 2-3 minutes, turn the heat down. Transfer the cooked zeppoli to the lined baking dish and continue frying the remaining dough. Let them cool completely.

Using a sharp knife, cut a wide slit in the top part of each zeppoli and fill with a spoonful of the vanilla ricotta. Top with 2-3 berries, sprinkle with icing sugar, and serve. Once the zeppoli are filled, they should be enjoyed within the next hour as the ricotta soaks the pastry.

Tsoureki - Greek Braided Easter Bread with Aniseed and Orange Blossom Water

Patience is a tricky thing, I feel it growing with every year I gain, but it still manages to drive me crazy at times. After about one year of working on my cookbook, eat in my kitchen, developing the recipes, cooking, baking and shooting them all by myself, then going through a long process of filling the pages with my little stories connected to each and every dish, I feel a rising impatience to bring this project to an end. Month after month of working closely with my fantastic team in New York, Munich, Berlin, and London, having a daily exchange and constant flow of ideas between me and my editors, photo retoucher, and book designer; all this leaves me hungry. I want to hold the fruit of our work in my hands so badly. My friends constantly make little jokes about me as they only see me with my laptop, glued to my chair at our long wooden dining table, which I turned into my office, or busy in the kitchen. To them, it seems like I, the chair, and the table have become one in the past year.

In German, there is a beautiful word called Vorfreude, which you could translate to the happy excitement you feel connected to a positive event lying in the future. This Vorfreude keeps me going. Sometimes I just feel my heart jump, when I think of the dedication I wrote on one of the first pages of my book for someone who means a lot to me, when I virtually thumb through the pages of my book which is still a file on my computer, or when I first saw the cover design, which I'll share with you soon! And I'm willing to wait for these moments, I'm willing to wait to make this book better and better with every correction, addition, and change we make, and then one day, it will be printed and I'll look at it and remember all the excitement, happiness, and frustration that's woven into every single page of it.

Baking can be a good teacher for life and a master when it comes to patience, especially baking with yeast. It will be Easter Sunday in a week and a sweet braided yeast bread is one of the most delicious and fragrant treats that one can have on the breakfast or coffee table on this special day. But this bread takes its time, you can't really rush - although I still try and succeed by letting the dough rise in the warm oven. It's a little quicker but you still have to be patient. 

This year I go for a traditional Greek Easter bread called Tsoureki. It's soft and fluffy, enriched with butter and eggs, and flavoured, often refined with mahlep, a ground spice made of wild cherry seeds, and mastic, sun-dried resin. More modern variations feature vanilla and cardamom but I was after a different flavour combination: aniseed and orange blossom. Years ago, I spent a couple weeks on the Greek island of Naxos and I enjoyed one of the fluffiest yeast buns with aniseed and orange in the shade of an old chapel high up on a hill. This picture in mind, I knew what my Tsoureki would taste like. It smells so beautiful and aromatic like the air in the Mediterranean, anise and orange merged in a scrumptious breakfast bread sprinkled with nutty sesame. I only left it in the oven for a little too long, just a couple minutes, but I have an excuse. Two of my cousins stopped by for an unexpected quick visit, a family chat at the table and the bread was forgotten. At one point I thought "Wow, it smells so good!", so I ran to the oven and pulled out this nicely risen beauty (with a dark bottom).

Here's another sweet braided bread I made and shared 2 years ago.

Tsoureki - Greek Easter Bread with Aniseed and Orange Blossom Water

Makes 1 large loaf

• plain flour 520g / 4 cups

• granulated sugar 100g / 1/2 cup

• fast-acting yeast 1 sachet (7g / 1/4 ounce)

• fine sea salt 1/2 teaspoon

• aniseed, lightly crushed in a mortar, 2 teaspoons

• zest of 1 small orange

• milk, lukewarm, 150ml / 2/3 cup

• unsalted butter, melted, 100g / 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons

• organic eggs 2

• orange blossom water 2 tablespoons

• sesame seeds, for the topping, 1-2 tablespoons

For the glaze

• organic egg yolk 1

• water 1 tablespoon

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, aniseed, and orange zest. Whisk together the milk, butter, eggs, and orange blossom water - the mixture should be lukewarm - and add to the flour mixture. Using the dough hooks of an electric mixer, knead for about 5 minutes until well combined and smooth. Continue kneading and punching with your hands for about 7 minutes until you have a soft and silky ball of dough. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel, and let rise in a warm place, or preferably in a 100°F (35°C) warm oven, for 100 minutes or until well risen (it won't double in size). Rising at room temperature prolongs the process.

Punch the dough down, take it out of the bowl, and knead for about 30 seconds, then divide into 3 parts and roll them into long sausage shapes. Lay the ends of the rolls on top and braid them tightly. Bend both ends of the bread under the loaf and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a tea towel and let it rise in a warm place for 50 minutes or until fluffy.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (conventional setting).

Whisk the egg yolk and water for the glaze and brush the top of the loaf, sprinkle with sesame. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, cover the loaf with aluminium foil after 15 minutes to prevent it from getting too dark. When the bread is done, it should be golden brown, knock on its bottom, it should sound hollow. Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting it into thick slices, and enjoy with butter.

Carrot and Pineapple Muffins with Hazelnuts

The secret ingredient to my favourite carrot cake is puréed pineapple, it makes the batter nice and light and adds subtle fruitiness. Our cake-loving granny Doris from Florida introduced me to her little masterpiece when I visited her in the sunshine state for the first time a few years ago. Although it wasn't the only treat she prepared for us - she's a grandma after all, so she made sure that our plates were never (!) empty -  it was the one that struck me the most. I must have eaten the whole cake on my own, it's addictive and I loved it! It's made with sunflower oil instead of butter, which I'm usually not that fond of, but here it doesn't disturb the flavours and makes a very nice and fluffy texture. Refined with my beloved cinnamon, it's a fragrant cake that fits perfectly to a late Sunday breakfast in spring. The temperatures are far from springy here in Berlin so I need a bit of imagination, but never mind, my heart is already set on the next season.

So what works in a cake, also works in a muffin. It's just quicker and easier to prepare and you can even skip the icing of the cake, which turns the whole thing into a richer treat (but if you're up for it, you can find the recipe for my cream cheese icing in the link to the carrot cake). I often use canned pineapple in this recipe, drained and squeezed, I'm after sweetness so if you can't find the freshest, juiciest, and sweetest fruit, go for the can. The amounts of the cake ingredients needed a few adjustments to turn into muffins but the results are actually quite similar: they have the same light texture, beautiful aroma, and I can't stop eating the muffins either.

Carrot and Pineapple Muffins with Hazelnuts

Makes 12 muffins

• plain flour 260g / 2 cups

• granulated sugar 150g / 3/4 cup

• baking powder 3 teaspoons

• baking soda 1/2 teaspoon

• fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon

• ground cinnamon 2 1/2 teaspoons

• sunflower oil 120ml / 1/2 cup

• pineapple (canned or fresh), drained and lightly squeezed (canned fruit), and puréed, 150g / 5 ounces

• organic eggs 3

• carrots, grated, 150g / 5 ounces

• hazelnuts, chopped, 1 small handful, for the topping

• paper baking cups 12

Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F (preferably convection setting) and line the 12 molds of a muffin tray with paper baking cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Whisk together the sunflower oil, puréed pineapple, and eggs.

Pour the pineapple-oil mixture along with the carrots into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a lumpy dough, with a bit of flour left here and there. Keep in mind, the more you mix it, the more it will lose its light texture. Divide the dough between the muffin cups and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts. Bake for about 20-22 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until the muffins are firm on top. Let them cool for 1-2 minutes before you take the muffins out of the tray.

You can keep the muffins in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days.

Provençal Pine Nut, Date, and Honey Tart

Berlin, March 2016:

I haven't left the country in a while and I'm starting to feel wanderlust. A few days in an old farmhouse somewhere in the soft hills of Tuscany, lonely walks along the endless beaches of breezy Brittany, or a lazy stroll through one of the ancient villages in the romantic Provençe. I wouldn't mind any of these tempting scenes, just far away, a different place, with different sights and smells, food, and languages to refresh my senses after too many months of being in the city.

Instead, I'm bound to my desk making the last decisions for my book, working on a few new projects, and thinking of recipes that can bring the sweet smell of traveling to my table. I'm quite obsessed with pine trees, I love their distinct, woody smell so much so that I even use a perfume that manages to capture this beautiful aroma of summer, sun, and sand in a little glass bottle. It's the smell of hot dry air mixed with the saltiness of the sea, where slim strips of pine forest become sandy beaches and end up in the gentle waves of the Mediterranean.

So, here's my cure: a Provençal pine nut tart filled with ground almonds, chopped dates, and honey, lying on top of a crisp short crust base. It's so fragrant, warm and sweet, a bit nutty, crunchy and soft, it's all you need when your heart is afar but you're still at home - in cold Berlin.

Provençal Pine Nut, Date, and Honey Tart

Makes a 23cm / 9″ tart

For the short crust base

• plain flour 200g / 1 1/2 cups

• granulated sugar 65g / 1/3 cup

• a pinch of salt

• butter, cold, 110g / 1/2 cup

• organic egg yolks 2

For the filling

• butter, at room temperature, 100g / 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon

• brown sugar 50g / 1/4 cup

• honey 50g / 2 1/2 tablespoons

• freshly grated orange zest 1 teaspoon

• freshly squeezed orange juice 1 tablespoon

• organic eggs 2

• ground almonds 100g / 3 1/2 ounces

• dates, finely chopped, 100g / 3 1/2 ounces

• pine nuts 100g / 3 1/2 ounces

For the pastry, combine the flour with the sugar and salt. Cut the butter with a knife into the flour until there are just little pieces of butter left. Continue with your fingers and rub the butter into the flour until combined. Add the egg yolks and continue mixing with the hooks of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form a thick disc, wrap in cling film, and put in the freezer for 12 minutes.

Set the oven to 200°C / 400°F (conventional setting).

Roll the dough out between cling film and line a 23cm / 9″ tart pan with the flat pastry. Prick with a fork and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Take the pan out of the oven and set aside.

For the filling, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, honey, orange zest, and orange juice until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between until combined. Stir in the almonds and dates and mix until combined. Scrape the filling on top of the baked pastry, even it out, and spread the pine nuts on top. Push the nuts gently into the almond-butter mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C / 350°F, and bake for another 12 minutes or until the top is golden brown and firm. Let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes before you take it out of the pan.

Sticky Banana Ginger Bread

This cake tested my nerves - I needed two attempts to bring it to perfection. The first version tasted divine but was far too soggy and didn't bake through. I didn't mind and still ate half of it. But it didn't help, my pride as a baker made me go back to my kitchen and work on the texture.

Apart from its unsatisfyingly undone center, cake no. 1 had the advantage of the banana halves lying perfectly on top of the baked cake and the batter rising around it - quite dramatic. It was beautiful, but unfortunately, slightly burned as the temperature was too high from the start. Cake no. 2 decided to swallow the fruit and let it sink to the bottom. Not as pretty as the former but it had a scrumptious concentrated banana taste once you got to the sunken fruit.

The cake itself was inspired by Nigella Lawson's wonderful Fresh Gingerbread from her Domestic Goddess book, it's a recipe I truly adore. However there isn't much left of her original recipe, I only aimed for the stickiness, which she mastered to perfection. I added butter, more eggs and spices, and mashed bananas to my ginger bread. And some baking powder for more sponginess. After my disastrous first attempt, I decreased the amount of milk and turned down the heat. It looked completely different but tasted so, so good. The cakey bread (it's actually more of a cake than bread) is infused with the honey-sweet aroma of bananas, lots of freshly grated ginger, and warming cinnamon. It's so good that I forgave the bananas for their disappearing act.

Sticky Banana Ginger Bread

This recipe is also in my 2nd book, 365: A Year of Everyday Cooking & Baking (recipe no. 34).

Update March 16th, 2024 (last picture of this post): Today, I decided to decrease sweetness and go for

• 180g / 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar beet syrup (or dark molasses)

• 50g / 1/4 cup brown sugar (or granulated sugar)

• The other ingredients / measurements didn’t change. I baked it for 60 minutes (so a bit shorter).

Makes 1 loaf

• 260g / 2 cups plain flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

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

• 3 ripe bananas (2 mashed bananas, about 180g / 6 1/2 ounces, and 1 cut in half lengthwise)

• 200g / 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar beet syrup (or dark molasses)

• 100g / 1/2 cup brown sugar (or granulated sugar)

• 1 generous tablespoon freshly grated ginger

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 3 organic eggs

• 60ml / 1/4 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F (preferably convection setting). Line a 11 x 26 cm / 4 x 10" loaf pan with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the mashed bananas, sugar beet syrup, sugar, ginger, and cinnamon and continue mixing until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between. In batches, add the milk and the flour mixture, alternating, about 1/3 at a time. Mix until just combined and no more flour is left. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, lay the banana halves on top (cut side up), and bake for about 65-70 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until golden brown and firm on top. Insert a skewer, it should come out clean when the cake is done. Let the cake cool for at least 15 minutes before you take it out of the pan. Let it cool on a wire rack for another 15 minutes before taking it out of the parchment paper.

Blueberry Lemon Cheese Babka

One of the first recipes that caught my attention as I thumbed through the pages of Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's book Jerusalem, was their gorgeous looking chocolate krantz cake - also known as babka. It's a Jewish classic - a sweet, soft twisted yeast cake that can be filled with chocolate, ricotta, cream cheese, almond paste, nuts, poppy seeds, or fruit butter. I knew this cake from Cynthia Barcomi's German book Backen, she sprinkles the loaf with crumbles and adds marzipan to the filling. I never tried it but the pictures in both books looked so tempting that I decided to give babka a go. I didn't even mind the overnight-preparation that Ottolenghi recommends - if you time it well, it's not a big deal. Yotam and Sami use water for the dough, Cynthia goes for milk, which I also did. It makes it rich like a brioche.

However, I didn't feel like dark chocolate but cream cheese, blueberries, and lemon zest. A bit of spring feeling packed in a Sunday breakfast treat. The cheese makes the yeast dough nice and juicy, the berries make it fruity and fresh. I can only imagine how wonderful this would be at an early summer picnic in May but let's not think about that for now. I made the dough in the evening before I went to bed and gave it a good 10 minutes of kneading until the soft butter, eggs, and milk were well combined and I held a silky, smooth ball of dough in my hands. After a night in the fridge it had risen slightly by the next morning, but hadn't doubled in size. Rolled out thinly and spread with the filling, it was a bit fiddly to roll it up into a log without loosing the blueberries. I wanted to add even more berries but it would have made it too stressful to keep them inside - so I went for less fruit and a chilled out mood instead. Twisting was next: If you have Ottolenghi's Jerusalem book at home, you can see how he does it, his technique is too complicated to explain and impossible if you want to fill your babka with cream cheese enriched with stiff egg whites and fruit. I followed Cynthia's method instead: I closed the roll into a ring and twisted it about seven times. When it comes to this kind of fragile kitchen projects, it's best to transfer your piece of art quickly and with confidence to a buttered pan - insecurity and hesitance would just make it harder to succeed. When this is done, the cake has to rise for an hour once again, so if you want to enjoy it for breakfast, you should get up in time. Once it's nice and puffy, the babka bakes in the oven for about 1 hour, but then it smells and tastes so wonderful that you don't mind the hours of work.

Blueberry Lemon Cheese Babka

Mind that the babka has to rise twice, the first time overnight (for about 8 hours) in the fridge.

Makes 1 loaf cake

For the dough

• plain flour 260g / 2 cups

• granulated sugar 50g / 1/4 cup

• fast-acting yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons

• fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon

• milk, lukewarm, 60ml / 1/4 cup

• organic egg 1

• organic egg yolk 1

• butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces, 75g / 1/3 cup

• oil, for the bowl

For the filling

• organic egg whites 2 plus 1 egg yolk

• a pinch of fine sea salt

• cream cheese, drained, 250g / 9 ounces

• granulated sugar 30g / 2 tablespoons

• vanilla pod, scraped, 1/4

• freshly grated lemon zest 1 heaping teaspoon

• fresh blueberries 150g / 5 1/4 ounces

For the glaze

• organic egg yolk 1

• milk 1 tablespoons

For the yeast dough, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Whisk the milk, egg, and egg yolk and add along with the butter to the flour mixture. Knead for about 10 minutes, starting with the dough hooks of an electric mixer and continue kneading and punching with your hands for a few minutes until you have a soft and silky ball of dough. Transfer to a clean, oiled bowl, cover with cling film and put in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, for the filling, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff. In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, vanilla seeds, and lemon zest until creamy. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites until combined.

Butter a 11 x 24cm / 4 x 9" loaf pan and line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.Punch the dough down, take it out of the bowl, and knead for about 30 seconds. On a floured counter top, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a 28 x 40cm / 11 x 16" rectangle. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 2cm / 3/4" rim, and sprinkle with the blueberries. Brush 1 of the shorter sides with cold water. Starting from the other short side, roll up the dough tightly into a thick log. Press to seal the end onto the roll and place the seam at the bottom. Gently stretch the roll a little and close into a ring, pushing the dough of both ends together to seal the filling inside (see the 5th row of pictures). Leaving the ring lying on the counter top, push the ring gently together, and, starting from the middle, carefully twist the roll about 3-4 times on the left side and then on the other side. The more you twist it, the more layers it will have, don't worry if it tears a bit. It should look like a thick spiral (see the 2nd row of pictures). Lift the roll with a large knife and quickly transfer to the prepared pan. Cover with a tea towel and let it rise in a warm place (I put it on the heater) for about 60-90 minutes or until puffy.

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F (conventional oven).

For the glaze, whisk the egg yolk and milk.Brush the loaf with the glaze and bake in the oven for 35 minutes, then cover loosely with aluminium foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until golden brown and almost firm on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out almost clean. Take the pan out of the oven and let the cake cool for at least 10-15 minutes before you remove it from the pan. Enjoy slightly warm or cool.

Earl Grey Biscotti with Almonds and Raisins

My perfect weekend includes a relaxed stroll through the market on Saturday morning (not too early though), a vast breakfast with bacon, eggs, and sandwiches, followed by some minor flat projects, such as rearranging a shelf in my kitchen. Not more than one shelf, it's the weekend after all. The afternoon can be filled with a walk at one of Berlin's lakes, or exploring an undiscovered neighbourhood and a hot chocolate at a cosy café. A visit to a couple exhibitions at some of my favourite museums in the city is also an option. There are always so many amazing art shows and at the moment, I'm far from keeping up. This week, it's Jackson Pollock at the KunstHalle showing his grand work Mural from 1943 and we managed to see it - it's breathtaking! In the evening, we may have some friends over for dinner, or maybe it's just the two of us enjoying a bottle of wine and an extensive meal. And if I'm lucky, we've got an invitation to a friend's house. This week it was my aunt Ursula and my uncle Uwe, their cooking is divine, the wine as well, and the company is always the best. I love to cook, especially in the evening, to calm down and relax after a busy day, but once in a while it feels so good when someone else takes care of you and invites you to join their scrumptious culinary adventures.

Sunday's next: Sleeping in is given, breakfast is a little more luscious than the day before and can easily extend into the early afternoon. I can't sit at the table and eat all day, I need a little activity even on a lazy Sunday, and some time on my own. So I bake, just me and my mixer, bowls, and sweets in the kitchen, some music from the vinyl player and I'm happy. I can't start my baking projects too late as at 6, the preparation of our weekly Sunday-pizza ritual begins.

In between, I also manage to squeeze in our obligatory tea time: A cup of English tea and some cookies. I made these Earl Grey biscotti with almonds and raisins a couple days ago and they taste so good that we enjoy them for breakfast, lunch, dessert, and tea time. The flowery aroma of the fragile tea leaves is present, I didn't aim for a subtle hint that makes you guess what this distinct taste might be. It's Earl Grey, presenting itself with confidence. I balance it out with the sweetness of the raisins, fruity orange zest, and the nutty almonds. They are nice and crunchy, perfect to dip into your tea or dark espresso, if that's your kind of thing.

If you feel like biscotti but you're not a big fan of Earl Grey, you can try these recipes here:

• Espresso Chocolate Biscotti

• Biscotti with a shot of Ouzo (inspired by my aunt Ursula)

Earl Grey Biscotti with Almonds and Raisins

For about 42 biscotti you need

• butter, melted, 100g / 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon

• Earl Grey tea leaves (loose leaf tea, not from tea bags) 3 1/2 tablespoons

• plain flour 400g / 3 cups

• baking powder 2 teaspoons

• granulated sugar 200g / 1 cup, plus more for sprinkling the biscotti

• freshly grated orange zest 2 teaspoons

• fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon

• organic eggs 3raisins 100g / 3 1/2 ounces

• almonds, roughly chopped, 50g / 1 3/4 ounces

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (preferably convection setting) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

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

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, orange zest, and salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs until creamy, stir in the Earl Grey-butter mixture and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix with the dough hooks of an electric mixer until just combined. Stir in the raisins and almonds, form a ball and divide it into 4 parts. Form each part into a long loaf shape (around 5cm / 2″ wide) and place them on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 25-28 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until golden. Take the loaves out of the oven and let them cool for 20 minutes.

Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper.

Carefully cut each loaf into 1 1/2cm / 1/2″ slices and transfer the biscotti to the lined baking sheets, sprinkle each one with a little sugar. Bake for 6 minutes, turn the biscotti over and sprinkle the other side with sugar. Bake for another 6 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack and let them cool. Once completely cool, you can keep the biscotti in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Ricotta Polenta Almond Cake with Poppy Seeds and Lemon

No flour again! After my Spanish Almond Tart with Blood Orange, I got a little hooked on no-flour cakes. I don't follow a gluten-free diet - luckily, my diet is far from this - it's just for the fun of it. The texture is different when you work with ground nuts instead of wheat or spelt, it's more juicy, and here, the polenta adds some crunchiness. I've already experimented with a few polenta-almond combinations and enjoyed this one a lot: poppy seeds, ricotta, and lemon. I use ground poppy seeds, they don't look as pretty in the cake but they have a richer aroma than the whole seeds. The juice and zest from the citrus fruit makes it nice and fresh and helps me to forget that the variety of fruits that I can use for my baking projects is still quite limited. It's mainly citrus, apple, and pear but I'm coping. Only a few more months left and all those berries will be back in my kitchen.

This weekend, I'm spending some quality time with my mother. It's carnival and, according to our annual family tradition, we all meet in the countryside to make Berliner (jam filled German doughnuts). We dress up funny (some of us) and listen to silly music, it's actually so silly that it's better to drink some wine or Champagne while it's on to stand its distinct humour. Two years ago, I wrote about this family feast and shared the recipe for our sweet treat. If you're up for it - carnival isn't over yet - here's the recipe. And if you prefer the Greek version, here are my Loukoumades with Honey, Cinnamon, and Pistachios.

Ricotta Polenta Almond Cake with Poppy Seeds and Lemon

Makes 1 cake

• ground skin-on almonds 150g / 5 1/2 ounces

• fine polenta 80g / 3 ounces

• baking powder 2 teaspoons

• fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon

• unsalted butter, at room temperature, 100g / 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons

• granulated sugar 200g / 1 cup

• organic eggs 4

• fresh ricotta 100g / 3 1/2 ounces

• freshly grated lemon zest 3 tablespoons

• freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 tablespoon

• spoppy seeds (preferably ground) 50g / 2 ounces

For the topping

• icing sugar, sifted

• freshly grated lemon zest 1 teaspoon

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (preferably convection setting). Butter a 20-cm / 8-inch springform pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the ground almonds, polenta, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between until creamy. Add the ricotta, lemon zest, and juice and beat for about 1 minute until combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the almond-polenta mixture and the poppy seeds until well combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes (slightly longer if using a conventional oven) or until golden brown and firm on top. If you insert a skewer in the centre of the cake, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then take it out of the pan. Dust with icing sugar and sprinkle with a little lemon zest.

Perfectly Fudgy Ginger Chili Double Chocolate Cookies

Over the past few days, I've been working on last year's tax declaration, a rather frustrating task that is only bearable with lots of sweets on the side. Or a glass of wine, which I don't recommend to avoid serious problems with your tax office due to illogical inconsistencies caused by a tipsy mind. This highly responsible - but absolutely boring work - needs lots of concentration and sugar to keep the brain cells awake. I think any kind of cookie would have worked in my case - I'm always happy when I have these sweet, chunky bites in my mouth - but I was after a powerful treat, packed with spice and bittersweetness.

And here's what I came up with: Ginger Chili Double Chocolate Cookies. I would call it a proper man's cookie, at least our male friends who passed through our flat recently were absolutely hooked on them and praised the perfect balance of softness and crunch. They are very dark, with chocolaty depth, I used melted bittersweet chocolate plus roughly chopped chunks and only a little bit of flour, which had an amazing effect on the texture. These cookies are soft inside, a bit fudgy, and wrapped in a thin, shiny crust - perfect. I stirred in plenty of freshly grated ginger and finely chopped fresh red chili pepper. The result was hot, citrusy and fresh - don't expect a slight hint of the spices, they are present.

You have to take these cookies out of the oven at the right point, when the dough is just done. I made 11 cookies, 10 were perfect, and only 1 of them (for whatever reason) was still too gooey inside for my taste. The chocolate flavour is intense, I wouldn't use chocolate much darker than 55% for this recipe, the bitter note can become too overpowering and disturb the spices - even for men.

Ginger Chili Double Chocolate Cookies

Makes 10-12 cookies

• bittersweet chocolate (about 55%) 300g /10 1/2 ounces

• unsalted butter 45g / 3 tablespoons

• freshly grated ginger 1 heaping tablespoon

• ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon

• plain flour 65g / 1/2 cup

• baking powder 1/2 teaspoon

• organic eggs 2

• granulated sugar 100g / 1/2 cup

• fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon

• medium hot fresh red chili, finely chopped, 2 teaspoons

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line 1 baking sheet with parchment paper.Roughly chop 1/3 of the chocolate  (100g / 3 1/2 ounces) and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining chocolate, the butter, ginger, and cinnamon over low heat, stirring occasionally. Let it cool for 2 minutes.

Combine the flour and baking powder and set aside.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs, sugar, and salt for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Whisk in the melted chocolate until well combined. Using a wooden spoon, fold in the flour and chopped chocolate until just combined. Stir in the chili and scoop 1 heaping tablespoon for each cookie onto the lined baking sheet, leaving a bit of space between the cookies. Don't flatten the cookies. Bake for about 11-12 minutes or until the cookies are a little crunchy outside and slightly soft in the middle. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and let the cookies cool for 10-15 minutes before you transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely, the chocolate will need a little while to become hard again.

Germknödel - Austrian Yeast Dumplings with Plums, Poppy Seeds & Vanilla Custard

Somewhere in the snowy mountains in northern Italy, is a tiny village that you can only reach through a dangerously narrow road. Winding up higher and higher, dark fir trees on one side and deep gorges on the other, it makes you pray with gratitude once you get to the village safely. I used to spend a lot of time there, skiing and walking through the woods, through knee-deep snow until I reached one of the cosy wooden huts that are luckily spread all over to offer the frozen wanderer a bit of warmth, rest, and food. The culinary treasures of this region - in South Tyrol - are outstanding and one of the best things you can give your body when the temperatures are freezing.

One of these treats actually originated in Austria but crossed the border and became a staple in the local cooking: wonderfully fluffy Germknödel. It's a yeast dough dumpling, usually filled with plum butter (thick and sticky plum jam) and topped with melted butter, poppy seeds, and icing sugar. It's one of those dishes that you can easily eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I used to enjoy it so often on the terrace of a very old hut, it had a breathtaking view over icy-white mountains, often framed in a sparkling blue sky. The chef used to serve it with thick vanilla custard instead of the melted butter and that's what I do in my kitchen as well. I also replace the plum jam with whole plums for a bit more fruitiness. The only difficult task I had to solve, was to decide how I would steam the dumplings (I don't have a steam cooker in my kitchen). You could also blanch them in water but the results aren't as nice. A quick phone call with my mother and my problem was solved. I did it the way my granny Lisa used to cook dumplings: on a cotton tea towel tightened with clothespins over a wide pot filled with simmering water - old-fashioned, cheap, and my Knödel were perfect. I could have steamed them one after the other to give them a pretty round shape, but I was impatient. I cooked all at once, up against each other, and broke their fluffiness apart when they were done. Warm, tender, and fragrant, you don't want to eat anything else ever again.

Germknödel

Makes 4 large dumplings

For the dumplings

• plain flour 270g / 2 cups plus 1 heaping tablespoon

• granulated sugar 25g / 2 tablespoons

• ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon, plus more for the plums

• fast-acting yeast, scant 2 teaspoons

• fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon

• milk, at room temperature, 120ml / 1/2 cup

• butter, melted and cooled, 40g / 3 tablespoons

• organic egg 1

• jarred plums, cut in half, 2

For the topping

• ground poppy seeds 2-3 tablespoons

For the vanilla custard

• whole milk 500 ml / 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons

• organic egg yolks 4

• granulated sugar 100 g / 1/2 cup

• cornstarch  30 g / 1/4 cup

• fine sea salt 1/8 teaspoon

• vanilla pod, split lengthwise, 1

To steam the dumplings, you need a large, wide pot (mine is 24cm / 9 1/2" wide), a cotton or linen tea towel plus 4 clothespins to fix the towel, and a metal (or heat-resistant) bowl, large enough to cover the pot as a domed lid.

For the dumplings, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, yeast, and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk together the milk, butter, and the egg - the mixture should be lukewarm. Add to the dry mixture and mix with the dough hooks of an electric mixer for a few minutes or until well combined. Continue kneading with your hands for a few minutes until you have a soft and silky dough ball. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel, and let rise in a warm place, or preferably in a 35°C / 100°F warm oven, for about 70 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down, take it out of the bowl, and knead for about 30 seconds. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and use your hands to form each one into a 10cm / 4" disc. Lay 1 plum half in the middle of each dough disc and sprinkle with a little cinnamon. Fold the dough up and use your fingers to squeeze the dough together to close the dumplings and seal the plums tightly inside. Roll into balls with your hands and transfer the dumplings to a lightly floured baking dish or baking sheet. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes until puffy.

While the dumplings are rising, fill about 1/3 of the pot with water and bring to the boil. Take the pot off the heat and lay a cotton or linen tea towel over the pot (mind the hot steam). Fix the towel with clothespins at the handles so that the towel can hang in the pot without touching the water. Lay the dumplings - 4 at once or in batches, if you want to have round shaped single dumplings - onto the towel, they shouldn't touch the water. Cover with a tight fitting metal bowl (upside down) and transfer the pot back to the heat. Turn the heat down to a low simmer (medium to medium-low) and steam the dumplings for 20 minutes without lifting the top (!).

While the dumplings are cooking, make the custard: In a small bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons of the milk with the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until well combined. In a medium saucepan, bring the remaining milk and the vanilla pod to the boil. Take the vanilla out and scrape the seeds from the pod into the milk. Whisking constantly, add the egg yolk mixture to the hot milk and bring to a boil. Take the saucepan off the heat; continue whisking for 2 minutes and set aside.

After 20 minutes take the pot off the heat and the top off the dumplings - mind the hot steam. Carefully transfer the towel with the dumplings to a table, wait for about 2 minutes then use a knife to peel the dumplings off the towel. If you cooked all of them at once, break them into 4 pieces. Serve immediately with the warm vanilla custard, sprinkled with poppy seeds.

Spanish Almond Tart with Blood Orange

No butter and no flour: The traditional Galician Torta de Santiago is only made with almonds, sugar, and eggs plus a little lemon zest and sweet wine for flavouring. Originating in the Middle Ages, when people didn't really think about gluten-free or butter-free baking, it's a cake that happens to please even the ones who want to cut down on calories or avoid normal flour in their diet in the year of 2016.

I'm neither of them but I got hooked on the idea of baking a cake with only three main ingredients - about one third of this cake is nuts, the other third is sugar (it's still a cake) and the rest is eggs, seven to be precise. No baking powder or baking soda. The original Galician tart is more flat than mine - I wanted a juicy cake - and it has a pattern of the Cross of Saint James in the icing, which is where the sweet gets its name from, it translates to Cruz de Santiago. I skipped the religious reference. I also replaced the lemon with blood orange (zest and juice) and left out the wine. Cinnamon crept in instead and gave it a warming, wintery touch.

Although this cake may seem quite unspectacular, it tastes wonderful: It's moist, nutty, and fragrant. The inside is almost fudgy, but before you get there, you have to break the crisp crust. It's as delicate as the outside of a French macaroon and once you cut through it with a knife, the center of the tart will collapse a little, just a bit, there's no need to worry. This combination of soft cake and crispiness - apart from its delicious taste of course - is my personal highlight of this Spanish cake classic.

Spanish Almond Tart with Blood Orange

Makes 1 cake

• ground almonds (or hazelnuts) 350g / 12 1/2 ounces

• freshly grated blood orange zest 2 tablespoons

• ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon

• organic eggs 7

• granulated sugar 350g / 1 3/4 cups

• freshly squeezed blood orange juice 2 tablespoons

• icing sugar, to dust the cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Butter a 20 cm / 8" springform pan.

In a large bowl, combine the almonds, zest, and cinnamon.

Using an electric mixer, in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar for 1 minute until creamy.

Fold the almond mixture along with the orange juice gently into the egg-sugar mixture until just combined. Bake the cake for about 55 minutes or until golden brown and springy on top. Check with a skewer, it should come out almost clean. The centre of the cake will be a bit fudgy. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes before you take it out of the pan. Sprinkle with icing sugar.