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!

German Cinnamon Star Cookies zimtsterne.

The ultimate German Christmas cookie, Zimtsterne or Cinnamon Star Cookies are deliciously chewy morsels, topped with a crisp layer of snowy white meringue.

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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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Christmas Fruit Mince Tart

There’s nothing quite like the delicious aroma of a freshly baked Christmas Fruit Mince Tart to let you know the festive season has really begun. With brandied fruit mince and a buttery almond pastry, this recipe is perfect for a Christmas feast.

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Almond and Cranberry Nougat recipe title card.

Sweet and delicious, it is easier than you think to make homemade nougat. This recipe has no glucose or corn syrup and can be made with ordinary household ingredients. Perfect for Christmas gifts!

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German style Gingerbread hearts

My easy recipe for making traditional Oktoberfest Lebkuchenherzen or Gingerbread Hearts at home. Hang these brightly decorated hearts around the neck of your sweetheart (or eat and enjoy!)

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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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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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German Christmas Stollen Title card showing two pictures of Stollen.

German Christmas Stollen is always a real treat during the holiday season. Made from an enriched yeast dough, loaded with rum-soaked fruit and candied peel, Stollen is delicious served with a cup of coffee or a warming mug of Glühwein.

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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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Candied Orange Peels title card.

Candied Orange Peel makes a great gift (especially when coated in lashings of dark chocolate). It’s easy to make at home and a great way to turn orange peel (which would usually be tossed out) into a tasty candy.

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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.


Asparagus and Bacon Quiche

Asparagus and Bacon Quiche

I am looking out the kitchen window watching huge fluffy snowflakes drift down from the sky. Just two days ago it was so gorgeously warm and sunny that I thought maybe, just maybe we’d escaped winter and spring was on…

Kol Böreği Spiral Börek

Kol Böreği – Spiral Börek

More delicious Cypriot food for you today! I’m obviously longing to go travelling again, as I’m busy cooking recipes that evoke memories of faraway places, good times and mouthwatering food. The food and produce on Cyprus will always be very…

Zesty Lemon Lime Curd

Zesty Lemon Lime Curd

Lemon curd has to be one of my favourite things in the world. The very best curd is the perfect balance between sweet, sour, creamy and buttery. Whether you eat it spread on toast, fold it through softly whipped cream…

Spicy Tomato and Garlic Mussels

Spicy Tomato Garlic Mussels

The weekend has landed, the sun has been shining over Munich, it’s wine-o-clock and time for one of my favourite meals – Spicy Tomato Garlic Mussels. These are the ultimate quick-fix dinner. Healthy sustainable, and delicious, the heady aroma of tomatoes,…

Easy Sweet Corn Fritters

Easy Sweetcorn Fritters

Easy sweet corn fritters are so quick and simple to make and are full of delicious vegetables. Bursting with zingy, fresh flavour they’re always popular for breakfast, brunch or a light supper.
Kaiserschmarrn Emperor's Mess

Kaiserschmarrn or ‘Emperor’s Mess’

Hooray, it’s nearly the weekend. Here in Munich it is a blue sky day, bright and sunny and a balmy -3°C! The temperature doesn’t bother me in the least and during these darker months I crave sunshine so I’m soaking…

With beautifully bright colours Cranberry Orange Cured Salmon is a wonderful dish to serve as a starter at your festive table. It’s so simple to make and home and delicious with a creamy horseradish sauce.

Cranberry Orange Cured Salmon

With beautifully bright colours Cranberry Cranberry Orange Cured Salmon is a wonderful dish to serve as a starter at your festive table. It’s so simple to make at home and so delicious with a creamy horseradish sauce.
Creamy Fragrant Chicken Korma

Creamy Fragrant Chicken Korma

As tempting as it may be, we can’t live just on delicious Christmas sweets and treats alone, though, at this time of year, I also want my savoury meals to be beautifully spiced, pungent with enticing aromas, and what better…

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.

Real Bavarian Pork Schnitzel Title Card
Pork Medallions and Peppers
German Sauerbraten recipe card.
Turkish Bulgue Salad Kisir
Italian Beef Cannelloni Recipe

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