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A Little Love Letter

Sometimes, Classic Vanilla Ice Cream simply ends up in an Espresso Martini. This version is made for those evenings when you do not want to choose between a cocktail, coffee, and dessert.

To me, an Espresso Martini is one of those drinks that gets to be a little bit of everything at once. It is cold, bold, slightly sweet, and usually arrives at exactly the point when the evening has already been very good, but does not quite feel over yet.

For my version, I used tequila instead of vodka. It is joined by Kahlúa, a little sugar syrup if needed, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, ice cubes, and a fresh shot of espresso. The drink stays strong and slightly bitter, while the coffee liqueur adds just enough sweetness.

And then comes the part that turns the cocktail into a proper dessert: an extra scoop of vanilla ice cream placed directly into the martini glass.

The ice cream slowly melts into the Espresso Martini and changes it a little with every sip. At first, the coffee and tequila are still quite pronounced, but later the drink becomes softer, creamier, and almost reminiscent of an ice-cold affogato with coffee liqueur. That is why I skipped the classic coffee bean garnish altogether. The scoop of vanilla ice cream is already the main event.

EVERY RECIPE DESERVES

A Little Love Letter

You probably know by now that I like things to be a little special. Not necessarily complicated, but whenever a small idea can turn a good dessert into something even better, I have to try it. That is exactly how this Salted Caramel Crème Brûlée Ice Cream came to be.

It started with my Salted Caramel Ice Cream, which is already perfectly good on its own. But then I started thinking about crème brûlée – more specifically, that moment when the spoon breaks through the thin, firm sugar crust. Probably one of the best sounds a dessert can make. Naturally, the question followed: why shouldn’t that work on ice cream too? It does. Surprisingly well, in fact.

Underneath the caramel layer, the ice cream stays cold and creamy. With the first spoonful, the crust breaks into small pieces that mix with the soft salted caramel ice cream. Sweet caramel, a little salt, and that contrast between crisp and creamy.

For the crust, I did not simply use regular sugar this time. I first melted it into a dark caramel, let it cool and harden completely, and then ground it into a fine powder. This allows the caramel powder to melt especially quickly under the blowtorch while adding even more depth and toasted flavour. It does not just taste like caramelized sugar, but intensely of caramel, which is of course perfect with the ice cream.

You can still skip that extra step and use regular sugar instead. The dessert works very well that way too. The caramel version is more for those days when you feel like a small kitchen experiment and a little extra effort suddenly seems entirely reasonable.

EVERY RECIPE DESERVES

A Little Love Letter

Thursday, 7 a.m. While other people are still sleepily stirring their coffee, I’m in the kitchen puréeing fruit. Not because I have to, but because this sorbet wanted to get made and my calendar had no other slots left. This is what dedication looks like. The plan was actually a different one. Peaches were on the list, the supermarket had other ideas, and so it ended up being white nectarines. The recipe is still called peach strawberry sorbet, and I’m sticking with it.

That’s the beauty of homemade sorbet anyway: whether peach, nectarine, or whatever happens to be ripe and looking good, what matters in the end is that the fruit tastes like summer. Originally, the sorbet was also supposed to be two-toned, hence the two separate purées. Then I did some quick math on the extra waiting time that would have meant, and changed my mind. Both purées together, into the ice cream maker, done. And honestly? Best decision of the day. Sometimes impatience isn’t such a bad thing after all.

The result: a sorbet that’s fruity and refreshing, completely dairy-free, and feels like instant relief on a hot day. Sweet peach, strawberries, a squeeze of lime for freshness – that’s all it takes to make hot days a whole lot more bearable. And the best part: once it’s made, the sorbet waits patiently in the freezer for its big moment. Whether it’s unexpected guests, a warm evening on the balcony, or just a Tuesday that deserves a little reward. You’ll be glad it’s there.

EVERY RECIPE DESERVES

A Little Love Letter

Some recipes work on the first try. And then there’s this yogurt lime swirl ice cream. The lime swirl took me four attempts. Four! But hey, for a yogurt lime swirl ice cream, I wanted nothing less than perfect. My goal was clear: I wanted a homemade ice cream that doesn’t turn rock hard in the freezer, but stays beautifully creamy and scoopable. Sounds simple, but it isn’t. Anyone who has ever had to chisel ice cream out of the freezer knows exactly what I mean. So I tinkered, tested, tossed and on the fourth try, everything finally came together. Creamy, fresh, scoopable. Exactly the way I had imagined it.

I didn’t want to compromise on the color either. The swirl in this recipe gets its color entirely from natural ingredients. It was supposed to look like real lime not like plastic. The base is my tried-and-true Yogurt Ice Cream. Yogurt ice cream is my absolute favorite anyway that light freshness, that creaminess, that feeling of summer in a bowl. But paired with the tangy, fresh lime swirl? It takes the whole thing to a completely different level. The best part comes when you layer it: the yogurt base and lime swirl are added to the container in alternating layers and gently swirled with a knife, creating a gorgeous marble look.

Every scoop looks a little different, and that’s exactly what makes this frozen yogurt so special to me. It’s one of those recipes where even the plating is pure joy. Whether as dessert on a warm summer evening, a little cool-down in between, or the highlight of your next dinner with friends, this yogurt lime ice cream is my personal summer favorite. And I promise you: after the first spoonful, you’ll understand why I don’t regret a single one of those four attempts. I simply love everything about it.

EVERY RECIPE DESERVES

A Little Love Letter

Some things sound so simple at first that you almost underestimate them. Vanilla ice cream, for example. At first glance, it is the classic, the safe choice, the flavor that is somehow always there. But when vanilla ice cream is made really well, it suddenly is not plain at all. It is creamy, rounded, soft, aromatic, and exactly the kind of ice cream that makes you think after the first spoonful: Oh, this is what it is supposed to taste like.

For me, homemade vanilla ice cream felt like the perfect way to start our little ice cream month. If you are going to begin with ice cream love, you might as well begin with the foundation. With the recipe that shows whether an ice cream is truly good. No hiding behind toppings, sauces, or wild flavor combinations. Just milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. But done properly.

And that is exactly why two vanilla pods go into this base. Not because we want to be dramatic — although, maybe a little — but because real vanilla simply makes all the difference. Those tiny black specks do not just look beautiful; they give the ice cream that warm, deep flavor that store-bought vanilla ice cream so often misses.

To be honest, I had a little respect for making ice cream with egg yolks myself, but in the end, it is much more doable than you might think. You take a little time in the morning to prepare the base, let it chill peacefully in the fridge, and then pour it into the ice cream maker in the evening. And then that moment happens: the machine is running, the mixture becomes lighter, thicker, creamier — and at some point, the ice cream looks like the softest vanilla ice cream in the world. Straight from the machine, it is basically like soft serve, which for me personally is already a very strong argument for going in immediately with a spoon.

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A Little Love Letter

We’re not just having Turkish pizza today, we’re having Mini Turkish Lahmacun Flatbreads. Small, crispy, savory, topped with sauce, fresh vegetables, and exactly the kind of “I’ll just have one more” energy that, of course, is never actually true.

Making Turkish pizza from scratch had been on my to-do list for ages. Not because you can’t buy it on almost every corner, but because I simply love being able to make these kinds of things myself. Also, lahmacun is genuinely one of the best ways to use up leftover vegetables. A little bell pepper, tomato, lettuce, onion, a few herbs, and suddenly fridge leftovers turn into a special dinner.

The thing I was most curious about was the dough, because this dish really stands or falls with it. And what can I say: it turned out perfect. Super easy to work with. After baking, it gets beautifully crispy on the outside while still staying soft on the inside. Exactly how you want it. And the beef filling? A 10 out of 10. I added pomegranate molasses, which makes the savory, spiced mixture a little fruitier and more rounded.

The best part about the mini version is: you will definitely eat more than one. And that is very much part of the concept here. Each flatbread can be topped a little differently: a little more herb garlic sauce, more sumac, extra tomato, or a little more lettuce. I love dishes that let you try a bit of everything.

And honestly, every now and then I just love a recipe that happens in the oven. The beef mixture is spread onto the thin flatbreads, baked for a few minutes, and then all that’s left to do is top them with sauce, romaine, bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions, sumac, and fresh parsley.

EVERY RECIPE DESERVES

A Little Love Letter

EVERY RECIPE DESERVES

A Little Love Letter

My mom and I were on the phone and somehow we ended up talking about making ice cream at home. And not just any ice cream, but frozen yogurt. The really good kind: creamy, slightly tangy, fresh, and so delicious that you kind of want to order ten scoops of it. Our love for frozen yogurt goes so far that we even order spaghetti ice cream with frozen yogurt instead of vanilla ice cream. I know. Maybe not classic. But very correct.

And while we were talking about how dreamy it would be to make that exact kind of ice cream at home, I suddenly had one of those moments where I thought: why not? I had been eyeing an ice cream machine for ages. So I finally just ordered it, and I can say with full confidence: best decision of my life. At least in the category of kitchen appliances.

For my perfect homemade frozen yogurt, I only need five ingredients: yogurt, cream, milk, sugar, and a little lemon juice. That’s it. This exact combination makes the ice cream beautifully creamy, fresh, and not too heavy. It tastes like summer, like an ice cream shop, like “I only wanted one little scoop, but now the bowl is empty.”

When the frozen yogurt came out of the ice cream machine after only 15 minutes, I was honestly speechless for a second. It was truly perfect. So, naturally, I called my mom again right away and simply said: “It turned out perfect.” No further convincing was needed. My parents ordered the ice cream machine immediately after. And now? Now the whole family is basically just producing ice cream.

A Little Love Letter

Out of a million cookie recipes, this is the one I would bake again and again. Truly. Some recipes are good, some are even really good, and then there are these cookies. These thick, soft, slightly chewy bakery style cookies that look like you did not simply bake them in your own kitchen, but like they came from a small, very good bakery where everything is a little too expensive, but you still fall for it every single time.

I have tried so many cookie recipes over the past few years. Some were beautifully crisp like these White Chocolate Coconut Lime Cookies and some wonderfully soft like these White Chocolate Blueberry Cookies & Blueberry Icing. But this recipe feels like another level to me. And the little trick that makes the flavor so special is almost too simple: butter flavoring. Just a few drops and suddenly the dough no longer tastes like regular homemade cookies, but like those really good bakery cookies where you wonder why they taste so much better.

After baking, you can of course decorate the cookies however you like. I drizzled a little more vanilla chocolate on top and used colorful sprinkle pearls.

And the best part is: you can freeze the cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. That means you can have warm, freshly baked bakery style cookies at home whenever you like, almost instantly.

EVERY RECIPE DESERVES

A Little Love Letter

I’m probably the biggest fan of crispy chicken in every form. Preferably with a really thick, crunchy, fried coating. But in everyday life, it unfortunately can’t be fried chicken every single day, so I had to come up with a version that uses no extra fat at all and still tastes just as good. It may not have that crispy coating, but it makes up for it with the most flavorful, delicious spice coating you could imagine.

And this recipe gets a huge bonus point from me because it fits so effortlessly into everyday life in our home. I make this chicken almost every week anyway and often keep it sliced in the fridge, because we also love using it as homemade deli-style chicken for sandwiches like this Apple Cucumber Brie Turkey Sandwich. That means this salad usually comes together in no time, and that is exactly what I love most about it.

And then you have everything that makes a really good salad: crisp romaine lettuce, fresh vegetables, sweet corn, thinly sliced onion, a creamy dressing, and those golden pan-fried tortilla pieces. Add the flavorful chicken, a little lime juice, and a few flakes of salt, and suddenly it is not just a salad anymore, but a really good example of how delicious a quick meal can be even without fried chicken.

So if you are looking for a salad that is easy, full of flavor, and perfect for prepping ahead, this is one of those recipes you will probably end up making just as often as I do.