Semi-Homemade Coconut-Lemon Cupcakes

Now and then we all want something sweet and cupcakes are the perfect size to satisfy that craving for cake. Last night I didn't feel like weighing out all the ingredients so I just thought I'll do something semi-homemade.

After all nobody will notice if you don't tell and you save a ton of time, by using a box and just switching out some of recommended ingredients and adding to it.



Here is what you need for these Semi-Homemade Coconut-Lemon Cupcakes:

1 pkg. Pillsbury Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix
3 Eggs
1 Cup finely shredded Coconut, dry
1.5 cups Coconut Milk
1 tsp. Coconut Flavor
1 Lemon, just the zest
1/3 cup of oil

For the Lemon Glaze:

1 cup  C & H powdered sugar
1 Lemon, juice from the lemon you just zested

To decorate:
Icing (going with the semi-homemade I used store bought)
Coconut flakes
C&H powdered sugar

Prepare the cupcake batter just as described on the package, but instead of the water, use the coconut milk and then add in the coconut flakes, lemon zest. Divide the batter evenly in 2 twelve count cupcake pans and bake as instructed on the package or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.

While the cupcakes are baking prepare a lemon glaze with the powdered sugar and the lemon juice. The consistency should be like a thick syrup. Once the cupcakes are baked, remove them from the oven, prick them allover with a toothpick or a skewer and immediately brush with the lemon glaze, so the tops are coated and the glaze will be absorbed into the cupcakes.

Let the cupcakes cool, top with icing and coconut flakes. I found it easiest to dip the iced cupcakes into a small bowl with the coconut flakes, that way you don't get the flakes all over your kitchen.

If you want, sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and with a kitchen torch, toast the coconut slightly. Make sure you set the flame to low otherwise you are going to burn the coconut. I got my torch at

Now arrange on a nice plate, make yourself some coffee and dig in! Bon Apetit!

Gluten Free Lime'n'Blackberry Cake / Recipe

Like I promised, I made my Lime'n'Blackberry Cake again to make sure the recipe works. And boy did it work, the second time around the cake came out just as nice as the first time and I even left out the Xanthan Gum. I read up on the "Gums" and apparently they make a lot of people feel sick.

So no gums in cakes for me!


Here is what you need for this deliciously moist cake:

2 Limes or 1 big Lemon, finely grated zest and juice
200 g soft unsalted Butter (or unsalted margarine)
200 g fine Sugar
4 large Eggs
200 g Flour Mixture (50 g Oat, 50 g Quinoa, 100 g Rice)
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 container Blackberries (any berries really)
3 Tbsp powdered Sugar
Lemon/Lime juice


In a mixing bowl cream the soft butter until you see it forming little peaks, mix in the sugar, add the lime/lemon zest and juice and then mix in the eggs one by one.

Combine the baking powder with the flour mixture and using a rubber spatula fold it into the butter/egg mixture. Do NOT use a mixer for this, your cake will come out rubbery.

Then place half of the batter into a buttered loaf pan, take the blackberries and add about half of them to the batter. Cover with the remaining batter and then add the rest of the blackberries pushing them into the batter a little.

Place in a pre-heated 350 F oven and bake for 75 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean. Cover the cake with Foil after about 60 minutes so it doesn't get too dark.

Let cake cool slightly. In the meantime, make a glaze with some powdered sugar and lemon/lime juice (it should have a thick syrupy consistency). Poke little holes in the cake and brush with the glaze while still warm. This way, the cake will absorb some of the syrup and that will add to the nice lemony aroma.

Cool completely and ENJOY!

Tip: you can make this cake with any berries you like, or any other small fruit like cherries!

Gluten Free Lime'n'blackberry Cake

Lemon Drops (Lemon Meringue Bites) - Naturally Gluten Free

This recipe is super easy and these delicious light and airy Lemon Drops are made really really quickly. You only need 3 ingredients and you can use the same recipe for chocolate meringues.

You will need:

2 egg whites, beaten very stiff
100 g / 3 oz sugar, divided
1 lemon, zest and a little juice only

Beat the egg whites super stiff, then mix in half of the sugar until smooth and shiny. Mix in the remaining sugar and lemon zest/juice slowly with a spatula.

Fill the mass into a pastry bag with a star tip and spritz little mounds on cookie sheets that have been lined with parchment paper. If you do not have a pastry bag, you can just form little mounds with two teaspoons.

Bake in a oven with the temperature set at about 100 C / 200 F for about 70 to 100 minutes. The oven door needs to be open just a little bit. The cookies dry more than they bake.

Tip: You can make these in many variations, for a chocolate version, just leave out the lemon zest and switch it out for 1 oz of cocoa powder,  for coffee flavor use instant coffee powder, or switch out the lemon zest for orange zest and orange aroma. You could even take two of them and then join them by sticking them together with nutella, jelly or butter cream. Color them with food color or a couple drops of beet juice.. The possibilities are endless!

Cherry Cake

As you all know by now, I always love to cook and bake with whatever I find in my fridge. So over the weekend I got some nice ripe cherries and I remembered a cake my Grandmother used to make. She'd make a basic pound cake and drop cherries into it. We'd call it the "SpuckKuchen" loosely translated that would be "Spitcake", because she never pitted the cherries and you'd spit out a mouth full of cherry pits after a slice of cake. LOVELY!

Anyway, I thought I thought I'll do something like that but to spare everyone biting in a pit or having to swallow cherry pits as not to be rude, I removed the pits beforehand. Below you'll find what you need for this cake.


100g Butter
100g Sugar
125g Flour
2 medium Eggs
1/2tsp Baking Powder
1 medium Lemon
sprinkle Salt
100g Cherries, pitted
Serves: 8 -10
Preparation Time: 30
Cooking Time: 35
Oven Temperature: 180C/350F


Step 1: Cream Butter with Sugar, Eggs and Lemon
In a bowl whisk the soft butter until you can see little peaks form, mix in the sugar and a sprinkle of salt, add the eggs, one after the other until the mixture is lighter in color and fluffy, add the finely grated zest of the lemon and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice.

Step 2: Add Flour
Sift the flour and mix it well with the baking powder. Add the flour little by little to the creamed butter mixture with a rubber or silicone spatula (mixing it in with a mixer will make it rubbery).

Step 3:
Prepare two 11 cm / 4.5 inch spring form pans or one 9 inch pan 

Fill half of the batter evenly into the two pans, then add half of the cherries, maybe pushing them down in the batter a little bit. Add the remaining batter on top and add the rest of the cherries.

Bake in the lower half of the pre-heated oven for about 35 minutes, or until wood pick comes out clean.

Let cool and enjoy!

Cherry Cake

Lemon and Dill Salmon with Caramelized Onions and Tomato Salad

Does that make you hungry? Well it should, cause that's what was for dinner yesterday. I was pretty damn tired after driving home from work for about an hour and road rage almost made me lose my temper, but then I thought the better of it and told myself, I'll just get even with an onion, slice and dice it with one of my new knives from the  Jamie Oliver Knife Block, 6-Piece Set, I got myself and that should get rid of my excess energy.

I started out by getting my ingredients ready, broke out my new knives and got going on the onion, sliced them nicely and started sweating them in a pan with some flavored olive oil and a dab of butter. Get them going on  low heat and cook them until they are nice and golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Once I got my onions in the pan, I broke out a ovensafe glass dish, lined it with foil (clean up is so much easier) greased it with a bit of butter and got a little bit of the onions on the bottom. Lay down the Salmon on the onions and season with salt and pepper, some crushed red pepper and fresh pressed garlic. Then generously top it with the zest of a lemon and put a couple of sprigs of dill on it. Splash with the lemon juice, add a little dab of butter, wrap up the foil so you have a tent over your fish, and stick in the pre-heated oven (400F) until done. The time really depends on how thick the salmon is.

Once your salmon is done, arrange it on a nice bed of the caramelized onion, add a little tomato salad on the side and

BAM, there is dinner!