Is there anything better in winter than sitting on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate milk nestled in a woolen blanket? I would say yes, there is something better. A cup of hot chocolate milk plus a slice of Hot Chocolate Milk Cake…. on the sofa with a blanket to warm you ;P Twice the chocolate means twice the happiness. Maybe also twice the calories, but that doesn’t really matter in winter. Any additional weight is quite easy to hide under a large sweater ;P
Many of you know our German “Angel Eyes” probably as “thumbprint cookies” – classic Christmas cookies all over the world. Usually, these cookies are quite bulky with a blob of jam on top. These Meringue Angel Eyes here are a little different. Instead of a ball of dough that got an indention to keep the jam filling, these cookies here are light and the jam filling is inside a ring of meringue. Similar, yet quite different ;P
Rugelach never used to be on our family’s Christmas baking list. At least when I was a kid. We baked a lot of Christmas cookies but normally only the typical classics from the south – Cinnamon Stars, Vanilla Crescents or Spitzbuben Looking back, I have to say we should have looked beyond the cookie plate a little earlier ;P Rugelach are very easy to prepare and can be customized easily with different types of fillings. These here, for example, have a simple hazelnut filling. Very delicious!
Last week I made a batch of colorful Polka Dot Christmas Cookies. They did not really have the typical “Christmas Cookie Look & Feel” but who cares ;) Today’s cookies are probably also not very “Christmas season-appropriate” for most people – but I really like these Llama & Cactus Christmas Cookies. They are fun to look at and fun to prepare – that’s all that counts!
Fruit cake and stollen – you either like them or you hate them. I think there is nothing in between. You’re either a friend of these heavy and very sweet bakes, or you are not ;P I am one of the persons that likes bakes like this Victorian Christmas Fruit Cake. However, I’m not allowed to eat as much of it as I used to, because there is quite a lot of sugar in these bakes. What can you do… that’s how it is ;P
Cake pops and I have never really been big friends – at least when I have to make them myself. I actually really like them. Eating them and looking at them. Delicious cake balls covered in chocolate and decorated beautifully – who doesn’t like that?! ;) But after my very first attempt making them a few years ago, I had to realize that there is a lot that can go wrong with these little cakes on sticks. These Brownie Reindeer Cake Pops are not without flaw… but really damn tasty :P
I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
