Brigitte’s autumn hideaway

Posts Tagged ‘baking’

Morning is the only time you like to bake because as you know we have summer here in New Zealand.

A few days ago Jonas and David started to make ‘Vanillekipferl’ (Vanilla crescents)

Yummy treats which bring back memories of my Mum and the songs we sang while baking…

Today I was making Davids favorite cake…

… yeah, he just loves mushrooms

Now we are waiting for Aileen and Daddy to come home…

Yesterday we went over the pass to my friend’s place.

She gifted me with a lot of herbs…

… and David was picking some red clover for Benny

From Hana I also got a lot of herbs to dry and I’m just over the top to see them hanging  from the beam.

Her friend has huge lavender bushes with the longest lavender spikes I have ever seen.

How very different a New Zealand December can be if you are used to snow, ice and minus temperatures…

… here the only cold thing is my ice-tea with lemon balm and fresh lemons from the garden

Christoph made another amazing bread this weekend.
It is always fun to watch the dried yeast bubbling up like a mushroom.

This lovely loaf not only looks good…

…it’s also soooooooo delicious!

This weekend we had a lot of fun (even the cold snap hit us in New Zealand)

All children were involved to bake a birthday cake

David of course loved the ‘machine’!

We made a delicious cake with self made marzipan!

All was done ‘Top secret’ of course!
And on Sunday Christoph got a surprise party

Birthday card by Aileen.

And of course Daddy ‘had’ to share the presents

To make your own Marzipan you need almonds, sugar and rosewater.
First you give 1 cup almonds into a pot and fill with boiling water. Soak for a few minutes, strain and give into cold water.
If you squeeze the almond now it will pop out of it’s skin.
Process the almonds in a food processor or grater or like me use the Magic bullet.
Add half a cup of confectioner sugar (I make my own by powdering raw sugar with the Magic bullet)
And add 1-2 tsp rosewater. Knead well. If it is sticky, you need more sugar.
You can make Marzipan also with a bit creamed honey instead of sugar.
It tastes yummy and has no added preservatives like the Marzipan from the store.

A few month ago my husband discovered the delight of baking bread.
And as you may see on the picture, one bread is not enough!

Please click here for the link of this wonderful bread.

And if you wonder what nice cake this is, please click here

A few day’s before Christmas, Christoph surprised us with this lovely rabbit!

We call him Benny

Like every year my husband made some “Butterkekse” (butter biscuits) for Christmas…

… and the children had fun to help him.

On Christmas day Benny and our kids were very excited to find all the presents under the tree.

With friends we went to the beach and enjoyed a merry Christmas in this beautiful country.

We had a great time and on the way home the kids fall asleep while holding hands