Sweet Things

My simple recipe for Mini Berry Pavlovas with lots of tips and techniques to make sure you get the perfect Christmas pavlova!

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!

Speculaas or Dutch Spice Cookies are a wonderfully old fashioned Christmas treat and so delicious! These light and crisp cookies are full of fragrant and exotic spices, perfect for the festive season.

With a buttery shortbread crust covered in gooey caramel and topped with rich dark chocolate, Millionaire’s Shortbread is a seriously decadent treat. This classic recipe is also known as Caramel Slice, and one piece is never enough!

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!

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.

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

Torta Caprese al Limone is a classic chocolate cake from the Italian island of Capri. With a mouthwatering combination of almonds, lemon and white chocolate and a soft and fudgy interior. Bonus: Gluten-free! .

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.

Made from crumbly, buttery shortcake topped with a layer of tart berry jam and crispy coconut meringue. Louise cake is one of New Zealand’s favourite sweet treats!

Fig and Honey Tart with fresh figs and almond frangipane wrapped in buttery short pastry and drizzled with honey is the perfect sweet recipe for autumn or fall.

Hold on a minute, beer-a-mi-what? You heard right, a Beeramisu is a traditional Italian Tiramisu with a generous helping of dark and fruity stout or porter beer. Perfect for the beer lovers in your life! It might sound strange at first, but this light and flavoursome Italian dessert is delicious with beer added.

Tender and sweet, White Wine Poached Pears filled with creamy mascarpone are a light and fragrant dinner party dessert.

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!)

Whenever I need a sweet or dessert in a hurry, I always make a Puff Pastry Braid. The combination of flaky puff pastry, juicy apricots and sweetened cream cheese is always a winner, and only takes minutes to prepare.

Crumbly, buttery, nutty streusel tops this moist and tender apple cake. This rustic farm-style cake is made with no special equipment, just a couple of bowls and a whisk.

With a tender, flaky crust, crisp apples, and rum-soaked raisins, my easy recipe for homemade apple strudel is sure to become one of your ‘favourite things’ too! Possible the most famous German dessert of all, strudel is perfect for fall baking with orchard fresh apples.

With buttery, flaky pastry, fresh apples and fragrant cinnamon, my Deep Dish Apple Pie recipe is a crowd pleasing classic.

Gently cooked in rosé wine, scented with vanilla, served with a big scoop of ice cream and some buttery homemade shortbread cookies, my Rosé Vanilla Poached Apricots are truly heavenly.

Tender sweet pastry, silky creme patisserie, all topped with ripe and juicy nectarines? Oh yes, my easy Nectarine Tart is the perfect summer dessert for showing off beautiful ripe fruit.

Cool, creamy and with a wake-up kick, Iced Coffee Panna Cotta are a fantastic sweet to serve after a heavy meal. Prepare the night before for a no stress dessert!

An Australian icon, Lamingtons are made from squares of tender sponge cake dipped in chocolate and coconut. These delicious tea-time treats have been popular for generations and are a guaranteed hit for afternoon tea or at your local fair.

Buchteln or German Sweet Dumplings are pillowy soft rolls made from a buttery yeast dough and filled with fresh fruit or jam. Sometimes known as Rohrnudeln, my Buchteln recipe is a family favourite. Serve these sweet yeast rolls with plenty of vanilla custard sauce. Yum!

A delicious combination of tangy summer red currants and buttery, crumbly streusel. This classic German Red Currant Crumble Cake is perfect for serving with a cup of strong coffee.

Tangy, refreshing and bursting with kiwi fruit flavour, this simple recipe for Kiwi Granita requires only three ingredients: fresh kiwis, sugar and lemon juice. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a scoop of Greek yoghurt for a light and refreshing summer dessert.

Possibly the most famous of all Germany’s cakes, the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, or Black Forest Cherry Cake is a retro favourite that never seems to go out of style.

Making marshmallows is a type of kitchen magic. With only 5 ingredients you can create mountains of fluffy, springy, delicious marshmallows. Try the recipe yourself to see how easy it is!

With luscious, juicy cherries, surrounded by moist and fluffy almond frangipane and tender sweet pastry, this French-style Cherry Almond Frangipane Tart is guaranteed to impress.

Peach and Ginger Pie is the perfect bake for those long, lazy, late summer days when the trees are full of ripe, juicy fruit. Ideal for taking on a picnic, or serving for dessert.

Looking for the best way to make Pomegranate Sorbet without an ice cream maker? Look no further! This easy recipe works every time.

Pink Champagne Panna Cotta with a layer of creamy, delicious vanilla panna cotta, topped with a bright, jewel-like rosé jelly is a wonderful after dinner treat, and the perfect dessert for a party or a special occasion.

German Strawberry Cake or Erdbeerkuchen is made from a heavenly combination of soft sponge cake, creamy vanilla custard, and fresh spring strawberries, all topped with a sweet, clear jelly. The most beautiful of all summer cakes.

Easter Bunny Cupcakes are possibly the cutest Easter treat around! These deliciously moist carrot cake cupcakes are topped with tangy cream cheese frosting and marshmallow bunny ears. No special equipment required!

This is definitely a dessert for the grown-ups! This is a beautiful recipe for a dinner party as it is a wonderful palate cleanser. Wobbly, glass clear Gin and Tonic Jelly cubes, served with bright, fresh and tangy lemon granita.

Is there anything more tempting than a fresh, warm donut? My tried and true recipes guarantees light and fluffy, perfect cinnamon sugar donuts every time.

Any of these irresistible desserts is perfect way to finish a romantic Valentine’s Day meal for two. They’re all made in advance so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your date!

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.

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.

With a dark chocolate base, tangy cream cheese filling and a topping of raspberries in a jewel-like jelly, Raspberry Jelly Cheesecake is a showstopper of a dessert and the perfect way to make the most of in-season raspberries.

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!

It must be nearly winter because I am craving Sticky Toffee Puddings. The magical transformation of dried dates into a luxurious pudding is what I call kitchen alchemy. Make one big pudding to share or bake in individual ramekins.

Rain, rain and more rain. The house is surrounded by fog and drizzle, the fire is roaring happily away and I’m wrapped up warm with a big pot of tea. ’Tis the season for comfort food in my house, long-simmered stews and casseroles, roasts, and puddings for afters. This is the sort of food that […]

Surely one of the most delicious and iconic desserts (I mean, anything that involves a blowtorch in the kitchen has me onboard), it is a favourite of mine and I have spent YEARS perfecting my Lemon Meringue Pie recipe. Tried and tested and tasted again and again (poor me, right?) this recipe bakes up perfectly every time.

My recipe for Banana Berry Ice Creams uses the ‘Nice-Cream’ technique to create a creamy and delicious dessert. This works by using frozen banana as a base which gives a beautifully creamy texture.

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 a strong Turkish coffee and a good gossip with friends. Tomorrow evening will mark the […]

Chocolate lovers rejoice! Today I am sharing the recipe for my ultimate Dark Chocolate Mousse Cake! This is a fabulous recipe if you are having people round for dinner. It’s a real crowd-pleaser and everyone always seems to find room for a little slice – even if they were claiming to be full seconds before […]

The sun is shining, the sky is brilliantly blue and the fields are full of waving green grass that has sprung up seemingly overnight. The bowl of strawberries on the kitchen table is filling the kitchen with the sweet smell of summer. Juicy and succulent, they are the perfect topping for a delicious Gluten-Free Chocolate […]

I can think of Easter weekends here in Munich where there has been a thick blanket of snow, gale-force winds and a sullen, steel grey sky. These were the times when we were all happy to be inside, hiding away from the weather and gorging on chocolate and treats. This Easter, as luck would have […]

With the barrage of news bulletins and onslaught of social media health advice over the last month, it’s been easy to forget that we are in the lead up to Easter! Normally we’d be gleefully snacking on chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, but with so many distractions it seems to have slipped by the […]

Eierlikörtorte or German Advocaat cake is a glorious concoction of nuts, dark chocolate, whipped cream and advocaat that is seriously moreish. This cake is also gluten free.