It’s Summertime in Florida. Yup.. I’m totally bragging here. It’s in the 80’s pool time and sun is what our weekends consist of and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I do love to brag how awesome Florida is to all my family and friends in Germany or up north just because… I can. I know, I’m such a meany! Honestly, I picked Florida as my home of choice when I left Germany, not really did I know how awesome Florida would be but hey when you grow up in Germany it’s cold, gray and rainy weather and you are 18 something and ready to explore the world Florida sounded pretty darn cool don’t ya think?
Well now almost 20 years later I’m still living the amazing Florida lifestyle that everyone dreams of. Don’t get me wrong I work hard but I play harder and still try to keep some of the German roots and traditions alive. I share a lot of recipes and tips from my home country here on the blog and when I got that call the other morning at 4 am that my beloved grandmother had fallen asleep at age 93 I was saddened but relieved that she can finally rest in peace after a long amazing life. She has made it through WWII, she fleet her country during the war and made Germany her home. She got married, raised 3 amazing kids, worked outside the home and was the first women in my family to even have a driver’s license. Back in the early days women really weren’t driving and to this day my other grandma never drove a car as a driver only as a passenger, so my beloved grandma sure had an amazing, eventful and historical life to look back at.
In her honor I decided to make this amazing dessert with real fresh Florida strawberries since they are coming to an end for the season and this amazing chocolate brownie bundt cake because my grandma loved chocolate and she was an amazing baker and cook.
I miss her Sunday dinners, her amazing birthday cakes and desserts so I made it my mission this week to honor her with this somewhat German American traditional coffee cake and hope you will join me and raise a cup of tea in honor of my Oma. Rest in peace, you will be missed but your legend lives on, here in Florida with me, baking and cooking up a storm.
When I’m sad I bake, when I’m happy I bake when I’m tired I bake, somehow baking makes me feel good all the way around and this cake totally topped it. It was so easy to make and I combined my love of the American brownie with my love of a chocolate cake to top if off with one of my all-time favorite European toppings a light mascarpone and strawberry topping.
What more do I want? How much more heritage and history could I possible include in one recipe? Trust me, it’s amazing, sounds super fancy but if I’ll tell you you can do it in no time I’m not lying, so grab your shopping list and head off to the store it really isn’t that hard to make.
I’m raising my cake to all those who love sweets, made sacrifices for whatever reason in their life, to made a change for the better or just wants to celebrate you, top it off with fruit and just enjoy the moment.
Perfect for every Kaffeeklatsch, enjoy it and would love to hear how your enjoyed this little piece of heaven and if you created your very own memories while making it.
We will miss you Oma, till we meet again one day I will keep baking and trying to create the perfect cake just for you.
Brenda says
I’m sorry for the loss of your Oma. She sounds like she was a really neat woman that you could learn a lot from. That’s great that you decided to make a cake she would like. When my brother-in-law passed away, we made a chicken dinner he liked too.
Melanie Roberts says
Thanks Ms. Brenda… loved that you all made chicken dinner in honor of your Brother-in-Law, that’s so thoughtful. Thanks for checking our my post and recipe 🙂