Delicious, easy recipes by Jay Wadams

Welcome to
Days of Jay

I'm Jay, cookbook author and food photographer.

Days of Jay is my website, where I share easy, delicious recipes for home cooking.

My recipes are packed with photos and useful tips and tricks to help you as you cook. They are all inspired by healthy, seasonal ingredients and my travels across the globe, especially in Germany, Italy, Cyprus, and Australasia.

Welcome to
Days of Jay

I'm Jay, cookbook author and food photographer. Days of Jay is my website, where I share easy, delicious recipes for home cooking.

My recipes are packed with photos and useful tips and tricks to help you as you cook. They are all inspired by healthy, seasonal ingredients and my travels across the globe, especially in Germany, Italy, Cyprus, and Australasia.

I am so excited to have you here, so let’s dive in and get cooking!


It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!


Well, the countdown is until the year’s end, and Christmas is just around the corner. Check out some of my most popular Christmas and festive recipes below!

Biscotti or Cantucci are a deliciously crunchy Italian treat. My recipe for Almond and Apricot biscotti is so easy and perfect for the festive season. Serve with a strong espresso or a glass of Italian vin santo.

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Eierlikör Linzer Cookies Title Card.

These perfectly crumbly Eierlikör Linzer Cookies are filled with Advocaat spiked pastry cream. They make a delicious addition to your Christmas baking, especially served with a big mug of eggnog or Glühwein!

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My Mulled Wine Cheesecake is full of Christmas’s rich spices and flavours. A deep-red, almost black mulled wine jelly on top of a creamy citrussy filling with a deliciously spicy base. This fabulous no-bake cheesecake is Christmas heaven!

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Beetroot Cured Salmon Gravadlax

We’ve landed back in beautiful Munich to the clear and crisp skies and very chilly nights of late winter. It’s not quite spring yet, but the promise of it hangs in the air, brightening the mood and sending the locals outside to soak up every last bit of available sun. I’m rather enjoying the opportunity…

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Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti Title Card.

Crisp, nutty and deeply chocolatey, my Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti are so simple to make and absolutely irresistible! This classic Italian cookie (known as Cantucci in the motherland) is ideal for Christmas baking and makes a perfect edible gift.

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Classic British Christmas Cake recipe title card.

Even though I grew up on the other side of the world in New Zealand, it wouldn’t be Christmas Day without a Classic British Christmas Cake. This dense and sweet cake, packed with dried fruit, spices and plenty of brandy is an absolute must for the festive season and is something I look forward to…

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Title card for Spitzbuben, showing cut out unbaked spitzbuben cookies on a tray and completed spitzbuben.

Spitzbuben are one of the most beautiful traditional German Christmas cookies. Also known as Linzer Augen or Linzer Cookies, the delicious combination of buttery short pastry and tangy redcurrant jelly is a Christmas classic.

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A plate of Vanillekipferl or Vanilla crescent cookies surrounded by Christmas decorations, walnuts, clementines and a candle.

Possibly the tastiest of all German Christmas cookies, Vanillekipferl are, crumbly, buttery crescent-shaped cookies, scented with heavenly vanilla. Yum!

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Homemade Irish Cream couldn’t be easier to make, tastes streets ahead of the commercial stuff, can be adjusted precisely to suit your sweet tooth and makes an excellent gift for friends – if you are prepared to share it!

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German Dominosteine Chocolates Title Card.

Dominosteine are a traditional German Christmas praline made from layered gingerbread, fruit jelly and marzipan, all coated in a luscious layer of rich dark chocolate. These delicious treats are fun to make at home and are so tasty!

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The Latest Recipes From My Kitchen

Discover my latest and greatest recipes below, or use the search function to find exactly what you’re looking for.


Garlic Herb Roast Pork

Garlic Herb Roast Pork

It’s a bit of a grey Wednesday here in Munich, with no sun to tempt me to go wandering outside, it’s a perfect day to stay in the warmth of the kitchen, where I’ve got some bread in the oven…

Spicy Cashew Nut Chicken

Spicy Cashew Nut Chicken

Something I often crave is my favourite quick and easy stir fry, and Chinese restaurant menu staple dish, Spicy Cashew Nut Chicken. This much-loved dish is available in virtually any restaurant, but I find when you make it at home…

Honey Lemon Raspberry Tart Title Card.

Honey Lemon and Raspberry Tart

Honey, Lemon and Raspberry Tart has a lusciously light, honey, cream, and lemon filling, set off with tart and juicy raspberries in a nutty pastry crust.
Creamy Mushroom Pork Steaks

Creamy Mushroom Pork Steaks

The sun is shining, the beer gardens have tentatively opened for business and the cool air over Munich is beginning to carry the sweet smell of the countryside to the south. The chestnut trees are still absolutely bare, but it…

Homemade Irish Cream (Bailey’s)

Homemade Irish Cream couldn’t be easier to make, tastes streets ahead of the commercial stuff, can be adjusted precisely to suit your sweet tooth and makes an excellent gift for friends – if you are prepared to share it!
Herby Spiced Cauliflower Cous Cous

Herby Spiced Cauliflower Couscous

While I love Munich, my mind is already drifting off to our next holiday location – the magical island of Cyprus, where I was lucky enough to spend several years living in the tiny village of Bellapais. When I think…

Pork and Cider Stew

Pork and Cider Stew

Pork and Cider Stew, rich with chopped apples and pungent with aromatic sage, is an absolute winner. Meltingly tender pork coated in a thick and flavoursome sauce will warm even the most wintery of hearts. Best of all, it is minimum effort for maximum flavour.
Beetroot Cured Salmon Gravadlax

Beetroot Cured Salmon Gravadlax

We’ve landed back in beautiful Munich to the clear and crisp skies and very chilly nights of late winter. It’s not quite spring yet, but the promise of it hangs in the air, brightening the mood and sending the locals…

Recipes By Meal Type


light-bites
Main Event
Sweet Things
cocktail hour

Marillenknödel – Austrian Apricot Dumplings
Wurstsalat (German Sausage Salad)
Easy Cherry Tomato Tart
Zwetschgendatschi (Bavarian Plum Tart)
Homemade Chocolate Popsicles

Looking for Dinner Inspiration?


Below are some of my most popular dinner recipes. Quick and easy with simple ingredients and big flavours.

Garlic Herb Roast Pork
Zigeuner Schnitzel or Gypsy Schnitzel on a plate served with french fries and a glass of beer
Easy Chicken Lo Mein Noodles 1
Greek Lamb Shank in parchment paper with potatoes, olives, tomatoes and onions. Title card.
Pork and Shrimp Gyoza on a tray with spicy dipping sauce and fresh herbs. Title Card.
Prawn and Lemon Linguine

My FAvourite German Cake Recipes

While people often associate Germany with pretzels and beer, it’s really all about coffee and cake!

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Easy German Cake Recipes