Harvest Dinner - Windbeutel/Cream Puffs

We did a great harvest dinner with our friends. I wanted to do the cream puff dough for many years. I ended up not doing it because I thought it is so difficult to do. A couple of weeks ago my husband said "Just do it!!!" and yep that's what I did. I can't believe I didn't do it for so many years.... it is so easy to do.... ;-) So right away I had to do this famous German treat to my wonderful Canadian friends. They all loved it.

Wir hatten ein wundervolles Herbstdinner mit Freunden. Ich wollte schon immer einmal Windbeutel selber machen, jedoch habe ich mich nie an den Teig heran getraut. Ich dachte immer das es zu kompliziert ist. Vor ein paar Wochen sagte mein Mann "Mach es einfach!!!". Genau das habe ich dann auch getan und ich kann kaum glauben das ich mich nicht schon eher daran versucht habe. Meine Freude war so gross das ich dieses typische deutsche Gebaeck auch gleich zu dem Harvestdinner gemacht habe. Es hat allen super geschmeckt.

Do you know Whoopie Pies?

I found a great fall Whoopie Pie pan. First, I didn't know what Whoopie Pies are. I would call them "Sandwich Cakes". You do it with cake batter. You bake them, let them cool and fill them with your favourite icing (buttercream, cream cheese frosting or ganache). You can decorate them with sprinkles as well.

Ich habe eine tolle Herbst Whoopie Pie Backform gefunden. Am Anfang wusste ich gar nicht was Whoopie Pies sind. Ich wuerde sie " Sandwich Kuchen" nennen. Man benutzt normalen Kuchenteig. Nach dem Backen laesst man sie abkuehlen und fuellt sie mit Creme (Buttercreme, Frischkaesecreme oder Ganache). Man kann den Rand dann noch mit Dekorsachen verzieren.

Happy Birthday Cher!

Cher's birthday was in September. It isn't so easy to do a sweet birthday treat for my friend because she doesn't like sweets. So I always have a bit of a challenge, which is good for me. I look all these incredible shows on TV about baking, cooking, cupcakes and cakes. I saw the combination of sweet and salty in one of these shows. So I decided to incorperate all the favourite salty things my friend like the most. At the end it was the perfect birthday treat for her.

Cher's Geburtstag war im September. Es ist nicht so einfach ein suesses Geschenk fuer meine Freundin zu machen. Sie mag naemlich ueberhaupt keine Suessgikeiten. Da hatte ich eine echte Herausforderung, was natuerlich gut fuer mich war. Ich schaue hier immer diese tollen Sendungen an wo es ums backen und kochen geht. In einer dieser Sendungen habe ich gesehen das sie suesses mit salzigem kombinieren. Ich habe ein paar salzige Dinge heraus gesucht die meine Freundin ganz besonders mag. Am Ende war es das perfekte kleine suesse Geburtstagsgeschenk fuer sie.

Chocolate Cookies with salted pretzels (it was her and my favourite cookie)



Chocolate Chip Cookies with salted chashews



Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Reese candy (Reese = filled with lots of peanut butter, Cher loves peanut butter)


At the end the little gift looked like this:

Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm not such a huge fan of chocolate cake in any way. I tried to do a Red Velvet Cupcake. I followed the recipe as directed (http://joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCupcakes.html) but at the end, I didn't had Red Velvet Cupcakes. I just had Chocolate Cupcakes. The batter was so red, I don't know where all the red disappeared. I didn't use buttermilk. I used milk and added vinegar - like it was decribed in the text. Mmmmhhhhhh I really don't know what went wrong. Doesn't matter, the cupcakes were yummy and I changed my Cream Cheese Frosting in normal Chocolate Frosting. Ok, if somebody of you did a Red Velvet Cupcake/Cake and can give me advice - feel free!:-)

Ich bin kein grosser Fan von Schokoladenkuchen. Ich wollte Red Velvet Cupcakes backen. Ich habe das Rezept genau befolgt. Am Ende bin ich jedoch nicht mit Red Velvet Cupcakes abgeendet, sondern mit Schokoladen Cupcakes. Der Teig war richtig schoen rot. Ich habe keine Ahnung wo das ganze rot hin ist. Ich habe keine Buttermilch benutzt. Ich habe die Milch + Essig Mischung, wie im Text beschrieben, genommen. Ich habe wirklich keine Ahnung was da schief gegangen ist. Ist ja auch egal, die Cupcakes waren trotzdem lecker. Anstelle des Frischkaese Frostings habe ich normales Schokoladen Frosting genommen. Also falls das jemand liest, der erfolgreich Red Velvet Cupcakes/Cake gemacht hat, ich bin fuer jeden Tip dankbar.

Summer BBQ

Our friends invited us for a wonderful summer BBQ in the country. The day was so awesome. There was everything what we imagine about Canada. A BBQ with yummy baked potatoes, sour cream, onion, cheese & bacon. Amazing salad, appetizers and dessert. We had wonderful AAA steaks. The evening ended with a clear sky, tons of stars, a full moon, we were sitting at the fire pit in the dark and heared the coyotes.
I did a light summer dessert. Tarts with vanilla pudding, fresh rasperries and drizzzles with chocolate and a piece of waffle.

Happy Birthday Brenda!

We celebrated Brenda's birthday and it was such a great evening. I just wanted to let her know I sure do appreciate her!
I did a traditional german strawberry cake. I decorated it with Oreo and a nice big bow, so Brenda could unwrap the cake ;-).

Happy Birthday Karen!

We celebrated Karen's birthday today. It was an awesome day at the baseball park. On top of it, our team came into the finals. I made some baseball theme cupcakes. I'm glad I met Karen. She is a wonderful person and I like to spend time with her. I wish her all the best.