American Baker in Germany

 This is another nod to my very close Jewish friend, Rachel. It's that time of year. Hanukkah! So, if you don't know, as I didn't, Hanukkah originated in the Maccabbean rebellion when at one point the Maccabbeans were holed up in the Temple and could not escape. They only had enough oil for one day, but miraculously, the lamps remained lighted for a total of eight days. In the end, the Jews were able to keep their temple, which was also a miracle. So, Jews celebrate these miracles with eight days of small gifts, money and candles.  So, let's get to the cake. I started out with pumpkin spice cake. I also made some cream cheese frosting. Since I recently discovered I am lactose intolerant just like my daughter, this was made with goat cream cheese. Tasted great! I highly recommend it. I filled the cake. And frosted it with the goat cream cheese frosting. Then I cut some lengths of wooden dowel. And I covered them with pale blue fondant. These are the candles. But candles,

 I love cinnamon. There isn't much I don't like cinnamon in. And I'm a sucker for a soft, homemade bread. Combine the two and I am in love. So, today we are marrying a loaf of  bread with a cinnamon roll. Amazing. Cinnamon Swirl Bread: 1 cup (250mL) warm milk (about body temperature) 1 1/2 tsp dry yeast 1/3 cup (75g) sugar 1 tsp salt 4 cups (500g) white flour 1/4 cup (60g) butter 1 egg 1/2 cup (100g) sugar 1 tbsp cinnamon Warm milk, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl and stir until dissolved. If your yeast is still good, you should see small bubbles form at the edge after a few moments. Add the salt to the flour and mix through. Add flour to the yeast mixture and stir with a spoon until you can't anymore. Then turn out onto a clean surface and knead until it forms a soft dough. Add butter about a tablespoon at a time and knead it until combined. Put dough into a bowl and cover with a clean towel. Allow to rise for about an hour or until dough doubles in size. Then remove

 A few months ago, I was sent a box of baking supplies from the TDOZ Market. ( https://thetdozmarket.com/collections/baking ) One of the cool items in the package was a set of Christmas-themed Russian piping tips. I was super excited to try them, but Christmas was a long way away. Hence, I didn't try them right away. But now's the time! Here's the wide variety I have. How cool are these? But I chose two snowflakes, one Santa, one Christmas tree and the branch, candy cane, present and bell. Let's try them out. We'll start out with a snowflake tip. I started out with a practice pipe on a piece of cardboard. And I chose the best one from the cake so everyone can clearly see what it looks like. The next one is a different snowflake. This one didn't have nearly as much definition as I was expecting, but I kind of liked the result better... Yes, that's gorgeous. The next one is a bell shaped tip. When you can see the definition, it's really pretty. And now the