thou asked and thou shalt receive….

Wow. It’s been a hot minute… When you think you are where you’re supposed to be, life most certainly has other plans. I was never really able to let go of this blog, but also not able to publish the gazillionst recipe for cheesecake in the whole world wide web. I don’t have to tell you what a shitshow 2020 was, we’ve all had our fair share of breakdowns, anxiety, anger, projects, online meetups and what-not, but we all kept going one way or another.

I can’t remember where I first read it, but “If you’re going through shit, keep going!” is clinging to me. I am not one to walk away from problems or people easily, even though I often wish I could, but it gives me peace and actually helps me to remind myself that I just have to keep going, no matter how fast or how long. Eventually I will get through, no matter what it is.

When I feel the weakest I often think of my friend Kerby. She is a go-getter, always finds the right words to brighten up my day and can even make Iowa the most fun place on earth. Kerby, you bring so much joy, hope, support and empowerment to my life, I can’t thank you enough! Yet I try, as always with a little recipe that hopefully helps you to thrive.

Happiness is a piece of cake. And so is quark.

One thing I have learned the hard way when I visited her in Iowa, was that it’s borderline impossible to find Quark at all or at least for a reasonable price. That’s kinda annoying when you like Spundekäs and Käsekuchen (the German cousin of Cheesecake). I am not particularly a fan of cheesecake, but it seems to be a favourite among all people in my close circle, so I’ve been perfecting my recipe for a quite while now. In honor of Kerby and in order to cater the constraints of quark-availability, I have started a series of experiments and proudly share the results with you today. Brace yourself for a fluffy version of German cheesecake with greek yoghurt….

Nov. 29

Is it time for a Comeback and can this blog have one?

Recently someone frowned upon me for writing novels under my Instagrams. I guess it was meant as a joke, but it made me realise something: I hadn’t written anything for the blog for the whole year because I felt I had nothing to say. But my Instagram recently tells a different story. I have the words in me and I want to yell them out.

There has been so much going on around me and especially inside me lately. It feels like some personal changes – some made willingly and some were forced on me – accelerated my personal transition and made me understand certain behaviours. Some of my core beliefs were shaken up, I faced some setbacks, worked through a lot of emotional pain and I have found new ways to deal with my fears. I have grown stronger, physically and mentally. And I still lose track of what I wanted to say in only one paragraph… Continue reading »

Jan. 28

#craicinatlantis day 9: Connemara

The last day of the roadtrip was finally there and it was bound to be the longest of them all. After a good nightsleep on foldouts Betty treated us and the other guests with pancakes, eggs and fried tomatos for brrakfast. Over brekkie I learned how to pronounce the Name Kiely correctly (like Kylie Minogue) thanks to videographer Allen Kiely who stayed with his colleague Jane to capture some of the Fringe festival for one of his clients.

We took off, collected my friend’s friend from her place and I drove us along the coast, leaving Galway westward along the bay. Our luck: The rain had passed and we had another sunny day with blue skies and photogenic clouds. Connemara has a slightly different colour palette than Kerry, Clare and Cork. I think it’s the contrast of the blue seas, the grey stones, the greens and the earthy brown. It is hard to describe, you have to see yourself to understand and fall for it.

Jan. 7

#craicinatlantis day 8: Burren to Galway

Remember me mentioning the swingy weather from day 7? On day 8 it didn’t swing any more, all it did all day was pour. In the morning it was pouring as bad as I had never seen in Ireland before. The iternary for the day only had outdoor activities, which was what we discussed at the breakfast table. Our kind host Noel suggested, we should rather stop in Ennis for some serious shopping cause walking around outside all day with this weather wouldn’t be much fun. So we spontaneously changed the plan and headed to check out downtown Ennis. It was pouring heavily, impossible to walk 20m without getting completely soaked… We decided to get some more coffee and some dolci at an Italian bar while we check out google maps for the good stores to shop at. We browsed highstreet, tried on a ridiculous amount of clothes and finally hit Dunnes Home for some plates and decoration. Victim… I often fail to notice because I live in my bubble and most of my peeps are foodbloggers, but there at Dunnes, it hit me that my friend was the most patient and thoughtful non-foodblogger travel companion ever. Not a single food was eaten before a picture was taken, food was arranged on the table to look nicely and even when buying plates she gave ideas on which combination of plates to get to make the best use of it for pictures and me.

Dez. 28

#craicinatlantis day 7: Dingle Peninsula

Have you missed the Ireland travel diary series yet?! I can assure you, there is not too much left, only 3.5 days yet to be covered. Some with a lot of pictures, some with a lot of stories, but all fill me with great love, appreciation and wanderlust. After an epic day on the Ring of Kerry and the most epic photo shot on the trip, it surprisingly didn’t all go south from there. The worst part of the day was the morning, as it was time to say goodbye to Maria and her family, who we had stayed with for 2 nights. We left Beaufort and took the route towards Dingle, our first stop of the day was Inch Beach on the southern side of Dingle Peninsula.

Dez. 17

Irish Christmas Pudding

After 3 trips to Ireland this year, it‘s safe to say that I am a little obsessed with this country… My travel plans for this year only contained one trip to Ireland in late January with my friend to visit one of her old friends in Cork. That’s a part of Ireland I hadn’t been to before, so I was instantly lit. On my birthday another friend suggested an Irish roadtrip in the summer and a little over a month later we found ourselves on an epic adventure: #craicinatlantis. Since I had checked off at least 1 item of my travel bucket list, I was again on fire when another friend suggested to take her to Dublin over the weekend, to work on her fear of flying and to enjoy the beauty of Dublin in November. We’ve been only a few days too early for the real Christmas spirit to drop aka the Christmas lights being turned on, but it’s been a fabulous trip anyway and I enjoyed the most gorgeous views of Dublin in the winter sun.

Oooookay, how do I get to Pudding from here, cause that’s why we’re all here, right? Right… From my first trip to Dublin Pre-Christmas I brought home a Christmas Pudding from a supermarket chain because I was pretty curious what this “thing” that I only knew from my English book in school actually was like. It kind of became a Christmas tradition, but then it stopped, cause no Pre-Christmas trip and it got forgotten. Until a few weeks back, when my friend Käthe invited me to her birthday party and asked to bring something for the buffet. I thought hard about what to bring, but my mind was blank like oh so often lately… Käthe helped me to brainstorm and in the end basically she came up with an idea: Since it was that time of the year and she knows how much I love Ireland, she suggested I bring some Christmas Pudding to her party.

Sep. 22

Happy Birthday Schabakery

I can’t believe my baby turned 5 yesterday, where did time go?! I am looking back on 5 lively years, even though this is “only” the 100st post <insert another yay here>. I have been through some rough patches, especially lately, but for some reason I can’t give up this blog, don’t want to give this baby a new name or change my ways. As a matter of fact, I live and breathe Schabakery, I am Schabakery. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that 😉

Sep. 15

Fall is here: Plum Frangipane Tarte

Important report incoming: Summer is finally over and fall is here to stay. Behold! I know some of you just chocked on their PSL… My favourite part of fall is damson plum season, it reminds me of good ol’times and gives me a warm, fuzzy, comforting feeling. I know I still owe you the basic damson plum cake recipe like my Grandma used to make it, that I started to write years ago and never finished. But this one is too good and too delish to not share right away with you. The feedback of my taste testers was overwhelmingly good, not that I had any doubt with this combination of cinnamon pie crust and frangipane/marzipan filling topped off with local, fresh damson plums.

Sep. 11

#craicinatlantis day 6: Ring of Kerry

The day started slow, at least for me as my friend went for a little nap after we had homemade brown soda bread and cerial for breakfast. In need of another caffeine fix I shuffled into the kitchen, where our host Maria supplied me with coffee and biscuits. She guided me to the armchair in the sitting room, insisted I put my feet up and I sat in silence with my coffee, enjoying the view of the Gap of Dunloe with dreamy clouds wrapped around the tops of the mountains. Continue reading »

Sep. 8

Lemon Yoghurt Cake – A taste of summer holiday

The last post marked the halfway point of the #craicinatlantis roadtrip. For bearing with me here and following along on the new path, you guys deserve a treat. Those of you who followed my Instagram might have noticed that I was a bit in alert mode lately as I agreed to make the wedding cake for my former Handball teammate and her husband. She asked me earlier this year and as her request seemed to be doable (no fondant fuzz, a pretty naked cake with seasonal berries), I said yes.

Long story short, I was a nervous wreck that day and the night before, my freakout luckily was cushioned by some dear people who calmed my anxiety, talked some sense into me and a nice bottle of craft beer. I had planned a lot of extra time, as it was my first ever wedding cake and I learned from past cake projects that things never turn out perfect when they need to be on point… I took the extra trip to the grocery store to get more eggs with a smile after one cake turned out bumpy, as well as another cake baking about 3 times as long as I had calculated in the bigger tin. I tossed a batch of curdled custard that couldn’t be saved as it was way too flaky and even all my effort didn’t help. I dismissed the horror scenarios of cake crash or drop, but I think for days I could only think and talk about cake. I tried to take it as Irish as possible (“It’ll be grand!”) and repeatedly told myself that I am capable of doing this cake, which worked pretty well because I knew that everybody else seemed to have zero doubt about it. Some may think I was phishing for compliments, but sorry to disappoint you, I am a master in not believing in myself and my abilities. Even if 20 people tell me that I can, it is hard to convince myself. Self esteem can’t be forced, it can be learned, but it is a hard lesson and every oh so little bump in the road often results in huge setbacks. Enough of the detours, I got to get back to cake: The one thing I had no doubt about was the taste, I knew it was going to be delicious. Continue reading »