My Berlin Food Journey – Part 5 Sweet treat time

Ever since I was a little kid I have had a pretty bad sweet tooth. I love sweets, cakes, cookies, ice cream! If it has sugar I generally love it. As I have gotten older I have learned to control my sweet cravings but I still indulge every now and then and when better to indulge then when you are on holiday.

Before heading to Berlin I’ll admit I didn’t do a whole lot of research so I was really lucky our hosts were so great and knew all the best spots to hit. One of the best, for sure, was Fraulein Frost in Maybachufer.

Fraulein Frost
Friedelstr. 39
12047 Berlin
Germany
Neukölln
 

Has to be the best ice cream I think I have ever tasted!

It has the most bizarre selection of flavours. The weirdest being GuZiMi which is cucumber, cinnamon and mint, which is a big favourite with locals. Being allergic to mint I passed on this one and went for tiramisu and it was ridiculously good!

The best bit about it is all the ingredients are organic so that means it’s good for you, right? So you can eat as much as you want, right?

It wasn’t till I came back to London that I found out it is one of the most famous and popular shops in the Kreuzkölln area where the Kreuzberg and Neukölln district meet. Despite all the unique flavours and its popularity it’s still only roughly 1 Euro per scoop. You cant beat that and I can’t wait to head back to Berlin and try some more of the flavours.

The next sweet treat spot we hit was the amazing Fassbender & Rausch.

Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers
Charlottenstraße 60
10117 Berlin
Germany

The story behind this store is pretty cool. There was two main chocolate making families in Berlin. Fassbender whose chocolates were regarded as so fine they were supplied to the royal court and Rausch who was so successful with their first store, they opened seven more.

In 1999, the two chocolate making families came together to become Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatiers at the Gendarmenmark. Happy chocolate families! The business remains family owned to this day. Jürgen Rausch is currently in charge at the flagship store which is the one we visited.

 

One thing I really liked about them is they make a point to let their customers know they only engage with supplier who work in ecologically sound cocoa production and maintain the standard of quality outlined in the Rausch cacao manual. Always good to know you are supporting a company that is working ethically.

Though the raw materials are sourced from around the world, the chocolates are manufactured locally at a factory in Tempelh which is pretty cool.

It’s like walking into the chocolate store from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, with chocolate versions of anything and everything you can think of.

Be warned though, don’t try to take a bite because although they are made of chocolate they are lacquered in vanish!

I myself indulged in the Rausch Plantagen Chocolate range. It had eight different chocolate bars. The cacao for each type comes exclusively from individual plantations from Trinidad, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea. They were soooo good. Even better than my favourite chocolate of all time Lindt!

 

If a chocolate bar isn't your thing try the small chocolates pieces or the cakes. They have glass display cases containing sixteen different kinds cakes and loads of different flavours of chocolate pieces that you can get packed up to take home.

 

There are also lots of great gift ideas

 

Lastly there is a café on the second floor with an amazing view of the famous domes of the Gendarmenmarkt. We unfortunately, on this visit didn’t get to indulge in anything at the café but it is on the list for the next trip! Yet another reason to head back to Berlin.


 

Starting it off right

I am sure you have all heard the saying:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

You’re probably all sick of hearing it to but it is right folks.

Despite its importance it is the most regularly skipped meal of the day. To me this is just bonkers people because it has to be one of the easiest meals to prepare for!

I will admit there was a time when I would skip it or in fact eat some pretty shocking things for breakfast like cookies or cake or pastries…pastries once in a while isn’t bad…but every day like I was doing, is not a good thing.

Due to health issues back in 2010 I had to learn the importance of a healthy breakfast. Emphasis on the healthy part!

If you really think about it, it make sense that breakfast is so important because you have basically been fasting overnight. Say you finished dinner at 2100 and then head to bed roughly 2230. You get up 0700 and don’t end up eating your breakfast till 0800. That means you have not eaten for 11 hours. Would you ever go 11 hours without food during the day…I doubt it! Say you skip breakfast and don’t have lunch till 1300, we are now talking 16 hours people! That’s just crazy talk!

Breakfast not only breaks the fast you’ve been having overnight (hence the name break-fast) but also gives you the boost to start your day right. A healthy breakfast provides essential nutrition, better cognitive function and even helps with weight control.

So now we all know the importance of breakfast let’s talk about how simple it can be.

First note – STAY AWAY FROM THE BREAKFAST BISCUIT
The humble breakfast biscuits is advertised as sustained energy but folks in this context sustained energy just means SUGAR. 
If you eat one pack which is four biscuits you are consuming roughly 3 teaspoons of sugar with a little bit of fibre and protein to round it out. This is actually the same amount of sugar as eating 4 Oreos!
Therefore the so called convenient, healthy, nutritious breakfast biscuit is not the key to your healthy breakfast.

Now to some good, easy, healthier options that I have all the time. Remembering I am lazy, these have to be easy enough for you *smiles*

I am pretty time poor in the morning during the week, so most of these can be prepared in less than 5 mins (or the night before) and eaten at your desk.

Natural Greek yogurt with honey and strawberries

Natural Greek Yogurt topped with Granola and peach

Granola with banana and almond milk

Granola with banana, strawberries and almond milk

Porridge with banana and strawberries

Porridge with honey and a Petits yogurt with a nectarine

Peanut butter on Warburton’s brown sandwich thins (basically a thinner version of bread) with banana and apple

Of course there is always room for a treat breakfast as long as it’s not all the time. Say,
Nutella on Warburton’s brown sandwich thins with nectarine

There’s even room for the odd breakfast take away. Can’t go passed an egg, sausage, hash brown and tomato sauce Bap. Sometimes it just has to be done.

On a weekend I also like to get a bit more creative

Scrambled eggs with tomato, spinach and cheese with Warburton’s brown sandwich thins with a little bit of butter

The other weekend my amazing cousin Kirsty also made me an English muffin with cheese bacon and a poached egg and it was amazing.

I haven’t tried it myself before as the thought of cooking a poached eggs scares me off but it was soooo good I might have to overcome that fear and give it a try.

So there is a whole bunch of options ranging from easy to a little more tricky. You now have no reason to skip breakfast people!

photo taken from https://nourishinstyle.wordpress.com/tag/recipe/

So start eating breakfast from tomorrow, if you don’t already folks. From personal experience having a healthy breakfast will set up your metabolism and you are more likely to make healthy choices throughout the whole day!
  

 

Cronut!

Some of you may be thinking what the hell is a cronut...don't worry so was I two months ago. I have only recently learnt the joy of what a cronut is *cheeky grins*

It is a pastry of delicious indulgence that will have sugar running through your veins by the end of it! Who doesn't love that ;)

What actually is a cronut - A cronut is a croissant-doughnut pastry invented by Chef Dominique Ansel and trademarked by his Bakery in New York City conveniently called Dominique Ansel Bakery. I have yet to make my way to New York but this is going on the list of spots to visit when I get there.

                                                          Picture taken from dominiqueansel.com

I am not the only one in awe of this amazing pastry, in 2013 the cronut was named as one of the "25 Best Inventions" of 2013 by Time magazine!

I get my cronuts from a place called Dum Dum Donutterie in London. It is in Shoreditch in the Boxpark.

Dum Dum Donutterie
Unit 31 Boxpark
4 Bethnal green Road
London E1

So far I have tried four flavours

Apple tatin
Croissant dough filled with apple filling. Topped with dried apple and dusted with icing sugar.

Strawberries and cream
Croissant dough filled with strawberry preserve and buttercream. Topped with buttercream, a whole fresh strawberry dipped in white chocolate and a chocolate drizzle.

Chocolate hazelnut
Chocolate croissant filled with a hazelnut praline cream, topped with chocolate ganache and roasted hazelnuts.

Saving the best for last...

The Zebra
Layers of croissant dough and chocolate croissant dough. Filled with chocolate butter cream and finished with chocolate ganache and chocolate shavings.

Easily my favourite.

So if you’re in London get yourself to the Boxpark and indulge, if you’re in New York make me jealous by going to Dominique Ansel Bakery (189 Spring St, New York, NY 10012, United States) and if you're anywhere else get on google and start searching! This pastry is too good to miss.