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.
I am so excited to have you here, so let's dive in and get cooking!
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!
My Homemade Marzipan recipe is super easy and tastes miles better than store-bought. This eggless, no-bake recipe comes together in minutes with just three ingredients. Perfect for Christmas time, fruit cakes, cookies, marzipan candy and more.
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.
Sweet, juicy and fragrant with a cinnamon sugar coating, Fried Apple Rings or Apfelkücherl are one of my favourite German Christmas market treats. You don’t have to stand around in the snow to enjoy them though, with my simple batter they are super easy to prepare at home.
The ultimate German Christmas cookie, Zimtsterne or Cinnamon Star Cookies are deliciously chewy morsels, topped with a crisp layer of snowy white meringue.
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!
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…
My simple recipe for Mini Berry Pavlovas with lots of tips and techniques to make sure you get the perfect Christmas pavlova!
Nussecken or Nut Corners are a famous German Christmas time treat made from a buttery shortbread base, topped with apricot jam and a layer of caramelized hazelnut. After baking, they are sliced into triangles, and the corners are dipped in delicious dark chocolate. Let me tell you, they are completely irresistible!
One of my favourite Christmas bakes is Cinnamon Star Bread. With the delicious flavour of cinnamon rolls, this sweet bread recipe makes a beautiful loaf to feed a crowd. It is also actually much simpler than it looks, relying on clever cutting and twisting of the layers of dough to achieve the beautiful design.
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…
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.
Strawberry Ripple Semifreddo
I have been watching the news from Australia with a bit of a heavy heart – due to industrial sabotage the strawberry growing community has been devastated. For those who haven’t been following, someone, or someones unknown has/have been hiding…
Red Currant Crumble Cakes
Red Currant Crumble Cakes (Johannisbeer Streusaltaler) are a long-standing German bakery favourite. Made from soft, enriched yeast dough and topped with a generous amount of tart red currants and masses of buttery streusel, these sweet treats are completely addictive!
Decadent Dark Chocolate Tart
Yesterday it poured with rain. All day. I’m not complaining, as these are my favourite days to hang out in the kitchen, put some jazz on the stereo, (good, vocal jazz, think Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Lena Horne), tie…
No Knead Sesame Bread
Is there anything more invitingly homely than than the aroma of freshly baked bread? There is a type of magic at work in the way something so simple can set our mouths watering and trigger so many memories and emotions.…
Fresh Radish Green Pesto
I have a fabulously easy, quick and summery recipe for you today – and best of all, this recipe uses the radish greens that usually end up in the bin. A peppery, delicious, vibrantly green pesto and less waste? Fresh…
Upside Down Plum Cake
We are back in Munich and summer is in the air. The sun is shining, the chestnut trees are verdantly green, and of course, the beer gardens are in full swing. Munich is such a summer city, with most days…
Black Magic Cherry Cake
Every baker needs a never-fail, guaranteed-to-impress, showstopper, easy chocolate cake recipe in their baking arsenal. Let me tell you, this is that cake. Invented in the early 20th century by Hershey’s, this is one of those recipes that has been…
Spicy Mexican Tortilla Lasagne
I love a crowd pleasing meal. I mean, really, what is nicer as a cook to put a meal on the table that everybody likes? Especially after a long week, when my nerves can be a little frayed anyway, it…
Recipes By Meal Type
Trending Recipes
Looking for Dinner Inspiration?
Below are some of my most popular dinner recipes. Quick and easy with simple ingredients and big flavours.
My FAvourite German Cake Recipes
While people often associate Germany with pretzels and beer, it’s really all about coffee and cake!