Can you believe it, there are only eight more weeks until Christmas? Another year that has completely flown by, and a season I love going home for. Home for me is Hameln, an old town in northern Germany, known for its story of the Pied Piper, one you might recognise from the odd tale here or there.
And there is always so much I look forward to when I go home, with of course number one being seeing the family. With working and living in the UK, I get to see the rest of the Corners about twice a year, which isn’t that often but makes our get-togethers mega special. And we make sure we cram in plenty of activities and enough time to get my fix of German foods that I have been craving.
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With Halloween still being an up and coming celebration in Germany, Christmas there is already well underway. So, Germany’s Christmas game is pretty strong already, with shops decorating their windows accordingly, new stock arriving and of course they have pulled out all the stops in terms of food.
From stollen, lebkucken, to spekulatius biscuits or marzipan breads, Germany knows how to satisfy any sweet tooth during the winter months. In fact, all year round really, but especially this time of year.
After my trip back home earlier on this week, and having had munched on a lot of marzipan, it was kind of necessary to bake my own marzipan inspired milk cake – all in the name of Christmas, of course.
I found a marvellous ‘Hot Milk Cake’ recipe from Culinary Hill, that I decided to follow and adapt, and the outcome was marvellous. With an impressed boyfriend and pleased colleagues, the cake was a success, and one I recommend doing.
Instead of using normal milk, I opted for this Alpro cashew milk, deciding to add walnuts and almonds into the mix too, as well as melted marzipan.
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup cashew milk + 1/4 cup of cashew milk for marzipan
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 marzipan log
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- Handful of nuts (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 160°C and move your oven rack into the middle position.
- Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan or you can opt for a typical cake tin like I did.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in milk and vanilla and continue to heat until small bubbles form around the outside of the pan and the mixture is very hot but not boiling. Reduce heat to low.
- In another pan, add in the 1/4 cup of cashew milk with broken up marzipan log. I opted for one with a chocolate coating but that is optional.
- On a medium heat melt together the marzipan and cashew milk, continuously stirring until fully melted. Continue to simmer until the mix turns into a thick consistency.
- With a whisk combine the eggs and sugar until smooth for approx 5 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Carefully add the hot milk mixture, mixing it slowly together.
- Then add the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing it well into the mixture.
- Add in your handful of nuts.
- Pour the batter into the pan/tin, followed by dollops of marzipan mixture which is to be swirled into the batter.
- Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.
- Your cake may need longer, and you can check by using a toothpick. Inserted into the middle, if it comes out clean or has a few crumbs attached, your cake is ready. If not, keep it in the oven and check back every 5-10 minutes until it's done.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before taking the cake out of it's tin/pan to cool on a rack.
You might have also have noticed my latest set of fragrances, Christmas aromas only of course, from Landon Tyler, to make sure we’re well and truly in the right frame of mind for baking a proper Christmas treat. Opting for the ‘Scent of Christmas’ aroma, both the candle and diffuser bursts with a fruity and spiced scent creating a marvellous smelling room.
This particular fragrance combines traditional festive smells that we all love about Christmas.
Clementine, check. Cloves, check. Norwegian spruce, check.
Their candles have a 40 hour burn time, which is fair to say as I’ve probably lit my mine over a period of 25 hours and it’s just over half way, burning equally across all sides.
A quick tip: if you do ever have a candle that no longer lights but still has plenty of wax, keep it and repurpose it for a wax melt jar.
I’ve placed the diffuser in our bedroom, so when you walk in, Christmas hugs you. And who doesn’t want to be hugged by the best celebration ever? Also with diffusers if your reeds are not smelling as strong as they used to, flip them around to make the oily ends stick out. I turn mine every two weeks to release more of the fragrance. If you’re tempted to get your hands on your own fragrances, visit Landon Tyler to find your local stockist.
So, as you can tell, we’re well on our way to making the house our own grotto, with plenty more bakes, spiced wine, decorations and candles to come along too.
I’d love to know what reminds you the most of Christmas, so please do let me know in a comment below 🙂 And if you’ve tried out the cake too, or even made your own adaptation, I would be so excited to know.
Lots of love,
Charlotte xox
Charlotte Corner
Lifestyle blogger & cat mother
