freiburg

freiburg

11 Nov 2025

My blog's name is 'Delicious Bites, a food and travel blog'. For the past few years this description hasn't been accurate because there has been very little travel. Going forward I'm hoping that will change so in that spirit here's a travel post from my recent overseas trip.

In late September I flew to Europe to attend a conference in Freiburg, followed by my first proper holiday in 2 years. I'd not been to Freiburg and in fact it's been quite a few years since my last visit to Germany. 

Freiburg is a small very walkable University town in the Black Forest. It was heavily bombed during World War II, and most of the buildings surrounding the Munster, the main cathedral, were flattened. 

Since then the buildings in the cathedral square have been faithfully rebuilt.

The Munster was mostly unscathed.

Freiburg was a bit of a mess during my stay. The area around around the old town hall square was a construction zone and many of the fountains and statues were protected by scaffolding. The centuries old Freiburger Munster was also covered in scaffolding but apparently this is the norm and it's been the same for the past 20 years. She's an old girl who is cumbling so is under constant repair. Many of the original gargoyles have been replaced and the originals are housed in the Augustiner Museum.

 

I wanted to climb the Munster but the stairs were only open during the afternoons, when I was at the conference. During my visit the cathedral organist was practising so I sat in the church transfixed as I listened to some wonderful music.

Freiburg is known as Germany's sunniest and warmest city, receiving around 1800 hours of sunshine per year. Well I'm not sure that statement is correct as it rained every day I was there and the temperature didn't rise above 11°C. Despite the rain, Freiburg is still a very pretty town.

I arrived from Zurich by train and orientated myself to the city. My little apartment was close to the Old Town whilst the conference was held at the University on the other side of town. I became very familiar with Freiburg's tram network and the rest of the time I walked.

Freiburg is known for it's cobblestone mosaics representing local trades and of course, the bear from the town's coat of arms. 

Autumn had definitely arrived in Freiburg. Even the man hole covers are decorative.

I found the very ornate Archbishop's Ordinariate just around the corner from the cathedral.

In my free time I roamed around the Old Town, visited the Munster and the Munsterplatz Markets, walked to Schlossberg and visited the Augustiner Museum, the Museum for New Art and the chilling National Socialism Documentation Centre.

I also made a pilgrimage to Brotbruder, an excellent sourdough bakery. I bought a glazed rosinenschnecken, a raisin snail, which was so tasty, I'm hoping to recreate it at home. 

As I bought the snail from a sourdough bakery, I'm assuming the base is a yeasted sourdough. I've looked at some raisin snail recipes and most have a frangipane or a cinnamon and butter filling. This snail didn't seem to have any filling other than raisins/sultanas so wish me luck as I try to reverse engineer this baby.

I passed by this pretty flower shop on my walk back to the Old Town.

Zur Wolfshöhle is a Michelin star restaurant on Konviktstrasse, known as the prettiest street in Freiburg.

Konviktstrasse is beautiful in both colour and black and white.

Another picture of Zur Wolfshöhle.

This time in black and white.

The other end of Konviktstrasse is home to antique shops and galleries.

The Munstermarkt is a daily market held in the cathedral square.

It sells food, flowers, snacks and some souvenirs.

Stefans cheesecake is very popular.

They have a stand at Munstermarkt which regularly sells out of cheesecake.

Only the hardiest of souls braved the weather.

I found lots of pretty details in the old town.

On my last day I discovered Colombi Park, a little green oasis.

Colombi Park was close to my apartment and the railway station.

The gardens belong to the Colombischlossle, a mansion which now houses the Archaeological Museum.

It has a childrens' park which was popular even on a rainy day.

I'll leave you with one more image of Freiburg, the old Adolf Kornhas building photographed in black and white.

I'll be back next week with another travel post.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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spiced pumpkin pecan babka

spiced pumpkin pecan babka

10 Nov 2025

I know it's Fall in the Northern Hemisphere which means its pumpkin spice season. Pumpkin spice everything not really a thing in Sydney as we don't celebrate Thanksgiving and in general pumpkin is reserved for savoury recipes. I wanted to bake something pumpkin flavoured and when I saw some pumpkin spiced buns on Nicola Lamb's substack I decided to make a custard filled version of the buns. 

I'm still a bit jet lagged and making custard seemed a bit too much for me, so the pumpkin buns morphed into a spiced pumpkin and pecan babka. How I thought this was less time consuming than making custard is beyond me as I had to roast pumpkin for the puree, toast and chop the pecans and make some cinnamon scented syrup. Please note, you will need to start this recipe the day before baking. 

I adapted my own cinnamon bun recipe but I found the pumpkin puree made the dough very soft and sticky, so you might want to reduce the milk in the recipe a little. It also takes more time to mix, about 10 minutes for the dough and an additional 5 minutes for the butter. Whenever I make a sweet dough I always activate the yeast first. You can leave this step out and simply add the dried yeast to the flour. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes 1 babka. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C. 

Spiced Pumpkin Pecan Babka - you will need to start this recipe the day before baking. 

Yeast sponge
1¼ tsp dried yeast
1 tsp plain flour 
1 tsp caster sugar 
1 tbs warm water 

Dough

100 mls lukewarm milk (this can be reduced to 75mls)
30g caster sugar or honey
1 room temperature egg 
140g pumpkin puree (I made my own)
1 tsp vanilla extract
330g plain flour 
½ tsp salt

yeast sponge or 1¼ tsp dried yeast
65g room temperature unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Pecan filling 

80g unsalted butter at room temperature, cubed  

100g light brown sugar 

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp each ground ginger and nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves or mixed spice

pinch of salt

1 tsp maple or golden syrup 

1 tbs almond meal 

65g coarsely chopped toasted pecans

Syrup 

75g caster sugar 

1/3 cup water 

1 cinnamon stick 

Yeast sponge

Mix the dry ingredients together in a small jug or bowl before adding the water. Stir until it forms a smooth paste. Cover the bowl and leave for 15-20 minutes until the yeast starts to froth and bubble. If it doesn’t froth and bubble, leave for anther 15 minutes. If nothing happens then the yeast is dead and you'll need to start over with fresh yeast. 

Dough

Grease a large plastic container and set to one side. Place the milk, the sugar, the egg, the pumpkin puree and the vanilla into a large jug and stir to combine. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt and stir on low to combine. Add the yeast sponge (or 1¼ tsp dried yeast) and the milk mixture and mix on low to combine. Continue to mix for another 10 minutes to develop the gluten. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time. When all the butter has been incorporated (another 5 minutes), increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough, until all the little butter pieces are incorporated, and the dough comes away from the side of the bowl. 

Transfer the dough to the prepared container. Cover the container with a lid or with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it back over itself. Turn the container and repeat this folding again. Continue 6 to 8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over on itself. Re-cover the container and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings. Replace the lid or tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours. Take the dough from the fridge and leave it at room temperature for about 30 minutes.  

Pecan filling 

Make the filling by mixing the softened butter with the brown sugar, spices, the syrup and almond meal to form a spreadable paste. Set to one side.

Assembly

Grease a 23 by 10 cm (9 by 4 in) loaf tin and line the bottom and sides of the tin with baking paper. Allow some overhang on each side to act as a sling. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle measuring 38 by 28 cm (15 by 11 in). Trim the sides to make them even, then position the dough so that a long side is closest to you. Use an offset spatula to spread the spice mixture over the rectangle, leaving a 2 cm/¾ inch border all around. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the spice paste. 

Brush a little bit of water along the long end farthest away from you. Use both hands to roll up the rectangle like a roulade, starting from the long side that is closest to you and ending at the other long end. Press to seal the dampened end onto the roulade and then use both hands to even out the roll into a perfect thick cigar. Rest the cigar on its seam. You can refrigerate the dough at this stage for 30 minutes to firm up the filling before braiding.

Trim about 2 cm/¾ in off both ends of the roulade with a serrated knife. Now use the knife to gently cut the roll into half lengthwise, starting at the top and finishing at the seam. You are essentially dividing the log into two long even halves, with the layers of dough and filling visible along the length of both halves. With the cut sides facing up, gently press together one end of each half, and then lift the right half over the left half. Repeat this process, but this time lift the left half over the right, to create a simple, two-pronged plait. Gently squeeze together the other ends so that you are left with the two halves, intertwined, showing the filling on top. Carefully lift the cake into the loaf pan. Cover the pan with a wet tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1½-2 hours. The cake will rise by about 50 percent. 

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F, conventional. Remove the tea towel, place the cake on the middle rack of the oven, and bake for about 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean or registers 95⁰C on an instant read thermometer. If not, return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. My babka took 45 minutes to cook through. While the babka is in the oven, make the syrup. 

Syrup 

Combine the water, sugar and cinnamon stick in a saucepan. Place the pan over a medium heat and bring to a boil. As soon as the sugar dissolves, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes then remove the pan from the heat and leave the syrup to cool down. As soon as the babka comes out of the oven, pour all the syrup over the top of the babka reserving the cinnamon stick. Leave the babka in the tin for about 1 hour before removing it otherwise it will fall apart. Whilst lovely to eat while still warm from the oven it’s a little hard to cut. Note my terribly uneven slice!

The babka will keep for up to two days at room temperature, wrapped in foil, and a few weeks if frozen. 

The babka came out soft, squishy and delicious.

See you all next week with some more baking from my kitchen and in the mean time, watch out for some travel posts.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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sour cherry and hazelnut bars

sour cherry and hazelnut bars

3 Nov 2025

Helen Goh recently visited Australia to promote her new book, Baking and the Meaning of Life. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend any of the events because I was overseas myself. 

Now that I'm home again it's time to get back into baking and naturally the first thing I baked was from Helen's new book. I don't have a copy yet but I had a sneak peak at the book at the local book shop and it's a gorgeous tome. 

I decided to make the plum and pistachio bars from the book using what I had at hand, frozen sour cherries instead of plums and hazelnut meal instead of pistachios. I also made them with gluten free flour so I could share them with my neighbours.

The bars are a riff on a Bakewell tart, with a pastry base and a frangipane filling. Fruit is used in lieu of jam and a dredging of icing sugar replaces the icing.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17 cm cake, which I adapted from a Helen Goh recipe. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 grams and my oven is a conventional oven not fan forced, so you may need to reduce your oven temperature by 20°C. 

Sour cherry and hazelnut bars - makes 8 bars
Pastry
100g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)

30g icing sugar
pinch fine sea salt
65g unsalted butter (cold, cut into cubes)
2 tsp (ice cold) water

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Sour cherry and hazelnut filling
55g self-raising flour
¼ tsp baking powder
pinch fine sea salt
100g unsalted butter (softened)
100g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
25g ground almonds
25g ground pistachios or hazelnuts
½ tsp vanilla extract
100g frozen sour cherries
15g coarsely chopped toasted skinned hazelnuts

To finish
icing sugar (for dusting)

Method
To make the pastry, combine the flour, icing sugar and salt in a food processor. Process for a few seconds, then add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture is the consistency of crumbs. Lightly whisk together the egg yolk and water, then add this to the mix, pulsing just to combine.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface – it will be quite soft and slightly sticky. Dust your hands lightly with flour, pat the dough to form a ball. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap and press gently to form a flattish disc. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (and up to 3 days) before using. 

Meanwhile, line the base and sides of a 17cm square cake tin, ideally with a removable base, with baking paper. If your tin doesn’t have a removable base, extend the baking paper 5cm over the side of the tin; this will help with removing the cake later.

Remove the pastry from the fridge. If it has been in the fridge for longer than 1 hour, allow it to rest at room temperature for a few minutes. Tap the pastry with a rolling pin to soften it slightly before rolling it out to 4 mm thick. Place the cake tin on the pastry to use as a guide to cut out a 17 cm square. Using your rolling pin to help lift the square, gently lower it into the base of the tin and prick it all over with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180˚C fan-forced/200°C conventional. Bake the pastry for 15–17 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C fan-forced/180°C conventional.

To make the filling, sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Place the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until just combined – not until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for a minute between each addition. Once the eggs are all incorporated, reduce the speed to low and add the sifted dry ingredients, followed by the ground almonds, pistachio or hazelnut meal and the vanilla extract. Mix until just combined, then scrape into the pastry shell and smooth out into an even layer using an offset spatula or spoon. 

Place the frozen cherries in a single layer on top of the batter – they will eventually sink but need to be exposed to the heat of the oven in the first instance. Sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts before placing in the oven.

Bake on the centre rack for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown and firm – tap the centre of the cake with your 3 middle fingers to check. When cooked, transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Using the baking paper, lift the cake out of the tin. Dust liberally with icing sugar and slice into 8 even bars.

Preparation Tip
If sour cherries don’t take your fancy, you can replace them with apricots, raspberries or plums.

This was a nice gentle return to baking. The bars have a buttery shortbread base, a nutty cake like filling brightened with bursts of sour cherries and some crunch from the toasted hazelnuts -a winning combination. 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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