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!

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.

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.

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Quarkbällchen German Donut Holes title card.

Super light and fluffy on the inside and crisp and sugary on the outside, my German-style Donut holes or Quarkbällchen recipe is so easy it’s like kitchen magic. Made without yeast, they are ready in minutes. Perfect for parties or sharing with friends (or just eating all to yourself!)

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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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Chewy, creamy, perfect caramels with a delicate hint of honey, my recipe for Soft Honey Vanilla Caramels is super easy and dangerously addictive.

Lusciously soft, chewy and gently flavoured with a hint of honey, Honey Vanilla Caramels are pure pleasure. Homemade candy is easier to make than you might think!

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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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Homemade marzipan title card.

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.

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Delicate, crumbly pastry filled with aromatic spiced fruit, Christmas Fruit Mince Pies are one of the most delicious treats of the season. One is never enough!

Delicate, crumbly pastry filled with aromatic spiced fruit, Christmas Fruit Mince Pies are one of the most delicious treats of the season. One is never enough!

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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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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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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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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 Frose Wine Slushies

Strawberry Frosé Wine Slushies

Sweet summer strawberries meet rosé wine in this fruity and refreshing adults-only slushy. Strawberry Frosé Wine Slushies are perfect for long lazy summer days.
Zucchini and Feta Pizza

Zucchini and Feta Pizza

We are still working our way through the seasonal surplus of delicious zucchini, not that I’m complaining! I adore this abundant and healthy summertime vegetable and I’m always looking for interesting ways to cook with it. Mostly in the warmer…

Vietnamese Prawn Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Prawn Spring Rolls

Light, fresh, and full of delicious vegetables, Vietnamese Prawn Spring Rolls are fun to make and the perfect light meal for a hot summer day. Mix and match fillings to suit your tastes, but don’t forget the spicy peanut dipping sauce!
Homemade English Mufins

Homemade English Muffins

Is there any brunch more tempting than Eggs Benedict? The sight of a perfectly poached egg, cloaked in buttery hollandaise sauce, perched atop a lightly toasted English muffin is enough to get most stomachs rumbling. Whether you like it with…

Thai Massaman Beef Curry

Thai Massaman Beef Curry

I love Thailand, and one of my favourite memories is of attending a cooking school in Bangkok, where we shopped for fresh ingredients at the markets, before cooking meal after meal in a beautiful old colonial house. We practised all…

Shakshouka Spicy Tomato Eggs

Shakshouka Spicy Tomato Eggs

Hooray, it’s the weekend! As the world slowly returns to business-as-usual, the rhythms and rituals of the working week are coming back. Even though I work from home, to me the weekend mornings are still the days of a lazy…

Roasted Feta Stuffed Mushrooms

Roasted Feta Stuffed Mushrooms

I love mushrooms. Truly, mushrooms would have to be one of my desert-island foods. Whether fancy shiitake, the prized porcino, colourful pfifferlinge or plain old button mushrooms, they are all delicious, with their earthy flavour and delicate texture. Whatever time of year it is, mushrooms…

Walnut and Orange Blossom Baklava

Walnut and Orange Blossom Baklava

Tatlı yiyelim, tatlı konuşalım or ‘Let’s eat sweet and talk sweet’ has to be my favourite Turkish expression. It’s definitely the perfect way to describe having a slice or two of sticky, sweet, nutty Walnut and Orange Blossom Baklava with…

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.

Sticky Orange Chicken Drumsticks title card.
German Sauerbraten recipe card.
Garlic Herb Roast Pork
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.
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