New home

Hey everyone!

I have a minor change happening in Live, Love and Eat Desserts
It's getting a new home, so from now on keep visiting me at http://liveloveandeatdesserts.likecroatia.hr/

New post coming up! :)

This time...back for good!

I know, it's been a long time. I guess I needed a break to sort out what I was doing next and once I got that going, I am back on a roll! Ready for a ride? There will be a lot to show and tell.

Let's rewind.

I stayed very busy with the Good Sweets line. We moved into a new place, there was a lot and still is to do. It definitely doesn't happen overnight! We are truly a team now :) The grand opening will be this fall, until then you can still stop by and see us at Teslina 7, Zagreb. 

A month ago I went on a business trip to Stockholm and it was the first time for me to visit a Scandinavian country. What a place! I was beyond impressed. The way people (especially men!) dressed (super old school), spoke perfect english, very polite and everything around was very clean and neat.

Now, onto the food scene!

I was lucky with beautiful weather! (it gets dark at 10:30 pm)

" Wild chocolate" with cocoa beans growing in wilderness. Stunning flavor. 

My favorite coffee place "Johan & Nyström"

Isn't it lovely?

Love the leather aprons

Great blend!

Another great coffee escape - Drop Coffee

Licorice's big in Sweden. It is EVERYWHERE. If I were only a fan.

Butter cookie filled with pastry cream

Check out Xoko 

BEAutiful indoor market. Definitely one worth remembering. 

Fantastic bread and danishes.

Gotta get myself a pastry memory!

Esperanto - 1 Michelin

Very interesting flavors. Lots of Swedish and Asian inspired dishes. I had the Wagyu beef tasting that is from a local farm. As you can see, even Wagyu sushi! (not a fan). One thing I found very interesting was miso in a few pastry components. Salty and sweet. Loved the pairing. 

Overall; Amazing service, good atmosphere, average food. 

Pretty ice cream quenelle though :)

Cake times

Recently I had a lot of Birthdays which gave me the opportunity to let my creative side do its thing. This particular cake was the present to my dearest friend who waited for my return from Germany so we could have a 2-day Birthday extravaganza. I did the chocolate work back at LaVie because I wouldn't have an opportunity to do it here, soooo this is what I ended up with. 

I had a super moist and dense Creme Fraiche cake, raspberry buttercream and white chocolate mousse. 

Off to the next...

Here we've got something like a "snickers" themed cake; flourless chocolate cake with salted peanut and caramel topped with another layer of the flourless chocolate biscuit and finished with milk chocolate ganache. Yep, super rich and fatty but aren't those the best cakes? :) 

And one last thing, not cake related, but super amazing. If you're ever in Zagreb make sure you visit this ancient pastry shop "Jakšić"that dates back to 1936 and is famous for its traditional cakes and pastries done the old fashioned way. It is especially known for "Kremšnite" which is a fluffy vanilla cream sandwiched between crisp puff pastry that is made in house as well. This particular pastry is also well known in other central European countries and the recipe varies from place to place. 

The other thing Jakšić is known for is "Štrudel", either sweet or savory. I tried the salty pumpkin one and the sweet one with fresh cheese. Love it. This is what I consider a real pastry and when it's done properly from good ingredients...can't get better that this. 

When in Zagreb please visit "Jakšić" 

Kralja Zvonimira 30

Zagreb

And p.s

It doesn't look very fancy and it's not modern at all, but the people are amazing, they do wonderful pastries and are very welcoming! 

Good Sweets

The awkward moment when you see your desserts on a shelf of Croatia's most common grocery store (Konzum). It is on 3 locations so far, but going very well. Definitely a different challenge, lots to learn!  

LaVie

I got a crazy mad opportunity to work in a stunning 3-Michelin restaurant in Osnabruck, Germany called "LaVie".  I met Chef Thomas Buhner randomly while I was working at Daniel in NYC. Fortunately I was the only one who spoke German (jaaaa, Deutsch!) in the restaurant and we had a little chit chat.  

The brief meeting turned into a great friendship and an offered me to spend some time with his team. So of course that's something I would do in a heartbeat! Last May I spent only a couple of days in LaVie, but this time... I decided to stay for a month. And wow, that's all I can say. 

I worked a lot on chocolates/different pralines and improved my skills tremendously. I must say it's nice when you do small quantities and hand dip them all. Love it! One of my favorites was white chocolate, quinoa and caramelized white chocolate. DELISH. All of these ideas come from a fantastic young Chef Rene Frank who taught me a lot and has impressed me a lot.   

I think I developed my hidden passion for chocolate work..

THE Banana milkshake dessert. For the love of everything that is great, as soon as I cracked this ball open I felt as if I was having my all time favorite banana smoothie. Seriously! And it has ginger in it, lots of it!

These little fellas are rockin'. Who would ever think milk chocolate, corn and sesame would be a match made in heaven?! Oh yes. 

The Snowball. Dessert made during Christmas time, so pure and elegant. The ball is blown sugar and has lots of lovely surprises in it ;)

At the end of my time in LaVie I finally got a chance to quickly go home, change, and have dinner at this beautiful restaurant. It is amazing how the perspective changes when you sit down and have this meal and when you're in the kitchen. 

There were so many different flavors, textures, techniques, temperatures...It was truly a party in my mouth. I had a wonderful time, learned lots, but also struggled working with 12 men...yea...If you think something like that would be fun, WELL it's not! I was the only girl and they were of course acting very stupid. Men....

A beautiful little city Osnabruck is. I shall be back!!!