Although it is nice to know plans so you have something to look forward to, sometimes it is wonderful to be suprised. I spent this weekend in Germany with my dear friend Maren. I knew that we were planning to travel to the North Coast of Germany - little did I know that we were going to one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever stayed in. Heiligendamm has nothing but a spa hotel and a clear stretch of sandy beach. Its location is perfect and I am sure we had the best rooms in the whole hotel as we could see the full stretch of the beach from the bay window in each room. The G8 summit was held there in 2007 so it must be good! We had lovely long walks along the beach and wonderful food - including this delicious raspberry mascapone torte, some amazing hazelnut ice cream and German dumplings. Our favourite was this cocktail - the balsamic might sound strange but it was delicious!

Heiligendamm Fizz

Place 1 tbsp cherry puree and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar in the bottom of a champagne glass and top up with prosecco or champagne and serve. You could replace the cherries with strawberry puree and it would be equally yummy.