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!

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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Apricot Glazed Christmas Ham title card.

Sweet and sticky with a touch of spice, my Apricot Glazed Christmas Ham recipe is sure to please the Christmas crowds. Made with a delicious apricot glaze, this ham is the tastiest, most stress-free Christmas main around.

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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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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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Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

With perfect spirals of chocolate and vanilla, my melt-in-the-mouth Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies are as good to look at as they are to eat. Made from crumbly, buttery shortbread they make a perfect and beautiful Christmas gift, though they are delicious any time of year!

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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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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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Christmas Pavlova Slice

My Christmas Pavlova slice is a delicious combination of ight and airy meringue, piled high with juicy berries. The perfect Christmas dessert!

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Tender, moist turkey breast filled with traditional stuffing and roasted to perfection. This delicious roast only cooks in under 2 hours, making it perfect for smaller celebrations.

Tender, moist turkey breast filled with traditional stuffing and roasted to perfection. This delicious roast is ready in under two hours, making it perfect for smaller celebrations.

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Perfectly tender, rosy roast beef is easier than you think! Slow Roast Beef where the beef is seared before roasting at a very low temperature produces juicy, delicious beef every time.

Perfectly tender, rosy roast beef is easier than you think! Slow Roast Beef produces juicy, delicious beef every time.

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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.


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

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

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

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

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

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


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.

Herb Crusted Roast Lamb Title Card
Mussel au gratin or as the Italians call them Cozze al Forno are a fantastic starter or light meal for two. So quick and easy to prepare they are packed with Mediterranean flavour.
Spicy Chicken Burgers serves with homemade coleslaw and fresh corn
Garlic Herb Crusted Chicken
Flammkuchen German Pizza
Sweet and Spicy Devilled Sausages

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