German roast beef - 2 kinds

Fuhrmannsbraten - cARTER'S ROAST

Sauerbraten with potato dumplings and pickled beets

German Marzipan cookies - Bethmannchen

Valentines, Birthday, and such

One of  the cakes in my cake to do list is the sacher torte. Along with the Swedish Prinsesstarta, the German Donauwellen, the Austrian Sacher torte seems to be world renowned. I had never tasted any of these, until I made them. I had come  across mentions of these online. Actually I first read of the Hotel Sacher in a Betty Neels novel  long time ago! In any case, this Valentines I planned on making the Sacher torte. As it is my birthday time too, it was doubly exciting. Tummy travels! get it? like time travel? hehe .
And there is the Chinese New Year too!  The recipe I followed had the cake in three layers, while the original has two. Next time, I will stick to two.

Here is a  slice of my Sacher torte, served with the traditional unsweetened whipped cream.

As it is Valentines, one has to have strawberries and chocolate.

And something fruity and sweet and with a kick 

Hence, the strawberry jello shots:

and a milder cocktail:

So,  a berry mimosa

but then what is a birthday and a New Year without payasam? Palpayasam it is.