I have to admit I have not been writing very often in the past few months. I cannot tell exactly why and I am not going to find excuses now. But as the year is closing and I am sitting at my new kitchen counter, I thought it might be a good idea to look back.

The To Bake List

My New Years resolution was to bake a new recipe every month. I almost hit the target, but in November I totally missed it. However I am kinda proud I sticked to it and tried out at least 16 new recipes and here goes my hitlist:

1. Frankfurter Kranz / Frankfurt Crown Cake: I mastered this recipe over the year, starting with a convenience blend on my first attempt I refined the recipe more and more, tried different things and now am pretty certain that I do it very well. My gramps would love this one *sigh*
2. Carrot Cake: It is just a perfekt cake, moist and full of flavours with a little twist. Seeing it on display at Avoca in Suffolk Street Dublin kinda made me chuckle 🙂
3. Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Nutella Cookies: Better late then never I tried this recipe from Topwithcinnamon, I wanna drown in those cookies, pleeeeeeease.
4. Lemon Meringue Pie: Though it stressed me a lot when I did this cake for the last time, the taste again made all up for it. I just need to figure out a way to get this pie out of the pan in a clean way.
5. Cranberry Shortbread Stars: Came across the recipe in a magazine and had to try it. I love shortbread in all its forms, combined with the sweet and sour cranberries a winner!
6. Plum Frangipane: Plums are underrated in baking, well kind of. In Germany they are mostly used for Zwetschgendatschi (a yeast cake topped with plums) but there are always more ways of making cakes out of those fruits I can‘t wait for September to grab all those wonderful plums from the tree in our new yard and work them into delicious cakes!
7. Pear Walnut Brownies: I have always struggled with Brownies, they didn‘t ever come out good, whatever recipe I used. Then there was the day when I had „one last attempt“ with this recipe that gave me back the trust in my own skills. It is never you, it is always the recipe 🙂
8. Chocolate Truffle Torte: This was very very rich but extremely good in small doses. Made the perect base for a mini cake and a lovely surprise for my bridesmaid and truly best friedn.
9. Filled Scone Rolls: I remember flour, everywhere flour… But they tasted like more…
10. Peanut Butter Fudge: Just toooo much… But maybe next christmas in tree shapes put in giftboxes…
11. Apple Szarlotka: This recipe was rather surprising as it was dairy-free. But in fall with the right apples it makes a real great cake.
12. Nougat-Marzipan-Cookies: Usually I‘d say that when 3 good things come together it can only get better but this does not apply here. The cookies where too tiny and burned in the oven instantly. In the end the cookie base was too dry and only after storing them for 3 weeks they became somehow tasty. My sister loved them but I don‘t…
13. Red Velvet Cupcakes: Not one of my brightest moments in 2013. I had a specific picture in mind and what I produced came nothing close to that. I admit, my first cake wreck and I don‘t believe that adding food colouring does make it all better.
14. Chocolate-Almond-Macarons: I don’t know why, but it seems that macarons and me are not becoming good friends EVER… They don’t rise and look crappy… I need to take a class!
15. Scones with buttermilk & Lemongrass: Read it and liked the idea of Lemongrass in Scones, but after the first bite I was certain that I’ll never do those again.
16. Coco Choco Cookies: These have been the WORST cookies ever, they were mashy without crust *buerk*

Well, the list has grown a lot lately, after buying new books in Dublin. We’ll see what the next year will bring… I hope I can stick to trying out one thing from the list each month and to be acutally writing one recipe per month. That might be the biggest challenge, as I am a good baker and eater but always forget to take pictures and lack the drive to write stuff.

Personal

My year has been pretty troubled, there were major changes going on and some are still not yet through. Healthwise 2013 totally sucked but I found a new passion, some sort of ventile, in baking (when workouts are not possible). I am still at the opinion that a hard workout is the best way to wipe your brain and forget about all stress and worries. But baking, being creative with flavours and dough, really comes close, when you love what you do. And I love baking!

Being a married woman now and moving into our own house is a big thing for me. All this planning and all those decisions finally coming to live. From red brick walls to rooms with large windows, slate floors and a new kitchen was a very long way, but we are almost there. I am very thankful that my partner is taking care of all this so I can do what I can do best: Make people happy with cakes and cookies.

May you also have a wonderfull 2014, full of adventures, joy and yummy baked goods!