Plum Pie — in all it’s many variations — is a staple of German summer baking (recipe for this variation here: . I swear that “As American as Apple Pie…” could apply to Germans and their plum cakes also known as Pflaumenkuchen, Zwetschgenkuchen, Zwetschgendatschi. Mostly they are made from Italian Prune Plums (damson plums), but in this case, I used little “purple cherry plums” — small and very juicy. Tart and sweet, and very delicious.
Turnovers… I’m never quite sure if they are meant as breakfast items (yum), dessert with ice cream (also definitely yum) or just a snack with tea or coffee (certainly a yummy option). These were a last minute afterthought as I had some frozen blueberries and some jarred tart cherries taking up room in the fridge, so I went with cherry blueberry, but really any filling works — raspberry or apple also come to mind. Ready in under an hour (that is if you remember to thaw the puff pastry!). Can be re-frozen for a few months or kept in the fridge and reheated for about a week.
Hey! Happy Independence Day / 4th of July, Everyone! Here are some Celebratory Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes for the day! Who knew that you can bake directly in ice cream cones. Learn something new every day. Would be cute for a children’s birthday party too. Swap out your favorite cake flavor — I made chocolate cake, but vanilla, strawberry or even lemon might do. Fun dessert for the holiday!
Cookies that could be as good as Christmas Cookies as they are here in the summer-time: Chocolate-dipped Salted Caramel-candied Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies! Yes, that’s a mouthful to say (and to eat, har har). Hazelnut shortbread, dipped in decadent dark chocolate and then partially coated in a salted caramel hazelnut crunch — sort of like a topping that you put on ice cream or an ice cream cone. Not too sweet, just the right size for two bites. Would be a great “after dinner” dessert cookie.
Here is something bright and cheerful to lighten up your Monday morning. Over the weekend, I made these Mini-Meyer Lemon Curd Tartlets for dessert. Very tart, very lemony and surprisingly bright in color (presumably from the very yellow egg yolks — maybe the chickens were eating marigolds!), these are actually very easy to make. In a pinch, you can also substitute store bought curd or other fruit jams to pull something together in a hurry. They were delicious!