Happy Easter weekend! I hope you can make the most of the long weekend with good food, all the sweet treats and some sunny spring walks outside. If you're looking for a last minute sweet treat for the day you've come to the right place! These amazingly light and fluffy lemon cupcakes are just the right level of sweet and fruity so perfect for the season. They are easy to make and pretty to look at if you want to impress family and friends - who doesn't? :)

Here's what you'll need:

For the icing:

In a big mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the cupcakes until it forms a smooth batter.

Line a muffin tray with liners and fill evenly with the cupcake batter. Give the tray a little shake to even out the mixture.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

In the meantime beat the butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and icing sugar together in a mixing bowl. Be careful not to overmix because you don't want your icing to get too runny.

Once your cupcakes are done, put them on a wire rack and leave to completely cool down before putting the icing on top.

I decorated with dried and fresh edible flowers as well as some chocolate mini eggs for Easter but you do you! :)

And that's already all there is to do! Dig in! :) 

Let me know if you give these a go and leave me a comment to tell me how you liked them :)

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 spring onions

1 clove of garlic

1 generous piece of ginger

dried red chili flakes (add according to how spicy you like your food)

1 tbsp sesame oil

800ml vegetable broth

300ml soy milk (or other plant based)

150g shiitake mushrooms

2 mini bok choi

90g ramen noodles

~ 100g canned sweet corn

2 tbsp dark miso paste

soy sauce to taste

Wash and chop your spring onions. Finely chop or grate the garlic and ginger (tip: if you freeze your ginger it’s super easy to grate!)

In a big pot heat up the sesame oil and add the white bits oft he spring onions together with the garlic and ginger as well as the chili flakes. Fry for about 5 minutes then add the vegetable broth and soymilk as well as the washed and chopped mushrooms. Bring the whole thing to a boil and leave to simmer while prepping the rest of the ingredients.

Wash and slice the bok choi lengthwise to create strips. Drain the sweet corn. If you want to add some protein you can also cut some tofu (about 100g) into cubes. Make sure you use somewhat firm tofu for this though.

Add the sweetcorn and ramen noodles to your soup. If you use tofu, add this here too.

At this point, add the miso paste and stir well. Add soy sauce if needed.

When the noodles are almost done, add the bok choi strips to the soup. You want them to wilt a little but not lose all their crunch.

Serve with a sprinkling of the green bits of the spring onions as well as some sesame seeds or more chili flakes.

What do you think? Will you give this a go? Trust me, if you do, this will become a staple on your meal plan! :)

I hope you love this as much as I do. Please let me know in the comments below how you got on.

Lentil soups are one of my favourites this time of year and this one is packed with vegetables and spices that warm you from the inside in these freezing temperatures. If you are looking for a delicious, healthy and quick to make lunch or dinner recipe high in protein, then this is it! This recipe is vegan and gluten free and perfect for meal prep!

Here's what you'll need:
(this makes 4 portions)

In a big pot heat the olive oil and fry the onoin, carrot, celery, potato, garlic and ginger, then add all the spices as well as some salt. Make sure to chop your veggies quite finely and similar in size. Stir well and let the aromas of the spices unfold. If needed, deglaze the pot with some water every once in a while. 

Once your vegetables start to soften, add both types of lentils and a litre of vegetable stock to your pot, as well as a heaped tablespoon of tomato puree. Stir well until combined and let simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the lentils are cooked all the way through. Now add the coconut milk and the baby spinach and stir until the spinach has wilted into the soup. Season your soup to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Serve with some plant based yoghurt, some parsley and maybe another squeeze of lemon or lime.

And there you have it, one super healthy and delicious winter warmer soup :) If you make this recipe let me know in the comments below and tag me in your photos on instagram at jessinretrospect :)

The perfect summer breakfast surely is a nice, big smoothie bowl. It's like ice cream for breakfast, it's so so good! There's about a million and one ways to make a smoothie bowl but I'm currently obsessed with this red cherry version. Not only does it look cool it also tastes amazing - like summer in a bowl :)

toppings I used:

In a high speed blender add your frozen ingredients and your yoghurt and blend until you get a smooth, creamy consistency. Keep adding soy milk as needed to help the mixture blend well and adjust how thick or liquidy your smoothie bowl is going to be.

Add the mixture to your bowls and decorate with toppings of your choice. I enjoy adding some more fruits on top and some crunch from nuts, seeds or granola is also always a good idea. I used some edible flowers here mainly because I feel they look nice sprinkled on top of literally anything, but they are obviously completely optional! You do you with the toppings :)

That's all there is to it: a quickly prepared breakfast, that's healthy, filling and pretty to look at! Let me know if you decide to make this and what toppings you chose to add :)

These almond and orange cookies were the perfect sweet treat for a frosty but sunny weekend! They also made the house smell amazing! I had never tried making vegan egg replacement out of flax seeds before but found it to be super quick and easy and it worked so well! I'm definitely gonna keep using this in baking. If you wanna give these a go, here's what you'll need:

~100g dark chocolate (vegan)

In a small bowl mix the flax seed and water well, then set aside until it's turned into a very thick paste. This should take no more than a few minutes.

Meanwhile, chop some whole almonds into coarse pieces to coat your cookies with later on.

In a big mixing bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, orange zest, salt and flax seed mixture. Fold in your ground almonds and the almond slivers.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Divide your dough into 12 equally sized pieces and roll each one between the palms of your hands before gently pressing them into the chopped almonds from both sides. Place your cookies on a lined baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Don't worry if they still feel soft when they come out of the oven, they'll firm up while cooling.

Leave them to cool completely while melting your chocolate in a bain marie. Decorate your cookies with the chocolate then leave to set.

So easy, so delicious!

Leave me a comment if you decide to make these and tell me how you got on :)

Anybody else sooooo ready for spring? We had some glorious sunshine here in Bavaria this week so I felt like making something deiciously summery and exotic. And nothing says summer and exotic holiday quite like a coconut & mango combination! To make this recipe feel a little more special I used black rice instead of your classic short grain rice. The black rice takes a fair bit longer to cook but trust me it's worth it - not only is it super delicious, it's also packed full of antioxidants.

Cook the rice in 700ml of water for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it and add more water if necessary. Add the coconut milk and sugar and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes until the rice starts to get the desired sticky consistency and has soaked up all the liquids. Take off the heat and let cool down.

Serve with fresh mango chunks as well as coconut chips and whatever you fancy as a topping - cocoa nibs would work great here too - as well as a splash of plant based milk. Now there's only one thing left to do: sit back, get some vitamin D and enjoy the fruits of your labour :)

What's the weather like where you are? Are you as desperate for more sunshine as I am?

Leave me a comment if you decide to try this and tell me how you got on :)

Not even four weeks til Christmas now guys! I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that another year is almost over but I'm still very excited for the Christmas season. So the advent wreath is ready to go (just in time for the first advent Sunday today), the first Christmas movies have been consumed and the first batch of Christmas cookies has been baked. A really easy but super delicious recipe I made for the first time this year are these Swedish julkuchen that are basically just cookies covered in ALL the cinnamon! Classically they are made with round cookie cutters for a basic cookie shape but I felt like switching it up a bit and did a few different ones. Grab your aprons and get baking :)

Here's what you'll need:

In a big mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and egg.

In a different bowl mix together your dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder and salt.

Slowly add the flour mixture into your big mixing bowl until it's all combined well. You will have to get your hands in there to knead the dough to get everything mixed together and to form a smooth dough.

Divide your dough into two. Roll them into balls and cover those in cling film. Put in the fridge for at least 3 hours until it's gotten quite firm.

Now preheat your oven to 200°C.

Take out the first dough and roll it out until it's about 5mm thick. You want to roll it out quite thin, because your cookies will rise quite a bit when baking. Use any cookie cutters you like and add the cut cookies to a lined baking tray. Brush your cookies with the egg white then cover them in your sugar/cinnamon mixture! There's no such thing as too much at this step :)

Bake your cookies for about 10-12 minutes, then take them out and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Continue to do this with the second batch of dough as well :)

Now there's only one thing left to do: cosy up with a plate of these and maybe a little mulled wine to get into the festive spirit! :)

Have you started on the Christmas baking yet? What are your favourite recipes? I have a list of a few more that I want to make this year and may share a few more recipes with you guys in December :) Make sure you leave me a comment if you make these and let me know how you got on! Happy baking guys, stay cosy :)