Tasting Life...

2007...

2007-01-03T18:29:00.000+01:00

A new year, a new beginning.
Good resolutions, firework, lots and lots of oliebollen and a chance for 20 million in the new years eve lottery.
That last one didn’t come true of course, but the oliebollen part made it up quite all right…

As I already let you know with my ‘Things to Eat before You Die’-list, oliebollen are one of my favourite things in the world.
But, needless to say, only oliebollen from my family recipe. The average bol that is sold during this time of year in the special pastry stalls is a bit too greasy for my taste and has nothing, or maybe, when you’re lucky, 4 raisins as filling. Not really my taste. We like our bollen as they were made intentionally: properly filled. The trick is to use eggs, lemon zest ànd juice and lots and lots (and lots) of apples, raisins and currants. A delicious, sweet, airy and moist bol with a golden brown, crispy layer will be the result.

I love oliebollen. It’s strange you can attach so much to customs; it happens still occasionally through the year, mid June for example, that I would kill for a fresh, still warm bol - we however haven’t made them ever on a different day then the 31st. It’s just not right. We wait a year, and then eat for 3 days nothing else than oliebollen. Period. (and we are of course at least a month sick of them afterwards…) ;)

Oliebollen are one of the most well-known Dutch things. Although not everybody makes them their selves, making them is in our family a true tradition. We start bright and early with our batch, call how it’s going with the others and the next day tasting and comparing the golden beauties with the rest…

So, a new year.
"Let's hope it's a good one, without any fears."
Up to new starts, hopes, wishes, opportunities and chances.
And of course...Tasting Life!

Superbollen, Oliebollen (“dough balls”) makes about 45
- 800g (6 cups) flour
- 16g (1 Tbsp) salt
- 4 eggs
- 40g fresh yeast
- 0.6L (2 ½ cups) milk
- 2 Jonagold apples
- 3 Goudreinet apples (if you don’ have these apples, just use firm, sour apples)
- 200g yellow sultana raisins,
- 200g blue sultana raisins,
- 200g currants
- 3 lemons - the zest of 3 lemons, and the juice of 1/2 lemon
- 100g (1 stick/½ cup) butter

- a deep-frying pan with fresh deep-frying fat (sunflower oil)
- kitchen paper and napkins
- powder sugar

1. In a small saucepan, heat about 0,2L (1 cup) of the total 0.6L until it’s tepid. (about 40°C - 104°F) Pour the warm milk in a small bowl and crumble the yeast over it. Stir gradually until it’s completely dissolved, cover up and set to rest on a warm place.

2. Peel the apples, chop them in 4 pieces, remove the core, and cut the parts into tiny little pieces. Put the apples together with the raisins, currants, lemon juice and lemon zest in a large bowl and mix well.

3. In the biggest basin you have, (or a clean bucket) sift together the flour and salt. Make a small hole in the centre and insert one egg. Mix with the electric mixer fitted with the dough hooks until the egg is completely inserted. Then add the second egg and repeat this process until all eggs are added.
In a small pan, melt the butter. Heat in the ‘milk’ pan the rest of the milk until tepid.
Add to the flour/egg mixture the yeast mixture that was resting and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the milk and mix until combined, to end with mix the melted butter in. Change the dough hooks for the whisk hooks and mix until the whole mixture is one smooth mass. Scoop the filling in, mix well, cover up with a damp towel and set to rest on a very warm place for 1 to 2 hours. Now the dough will have risen and doubled in its size…

4. Heat the deep-frying fat until it reaches 180ºC. take an ice scooper or two tablespoons and stick the spoons in the heated fat for a couple of seconds. (this will prevent the batter from sticking to the spoons) take a big spoon full of dough, round it a bit, and carefully dip it into the oil. Repeat this, but don't have more than 6 of them into the oil at the same time (this also depends on the size of your pan). Fry the 'oliebollen' for 6 minutes, 3 for each side, until they are nice gold brownish.

5. Take the oliebollen out and let them leak out on kitchen paper until they are completely dry. Serve warm or cold with lots and lots of powder sugar. The oliebollen will keep for 2,3 days, but they are best the first day. Keep them in a bowl covered with a towel.

Great Presents and Late Cookies

2006-12-28T12:56:00.000+01:00

Happy 4th Christmas day! ;)
[Sigh] The presents are unwrapped, the family is gone, the Christmas tree has lost most of it’s special-ness, and you’re probably still full from all the loads of food.
Finally, everything is becoming calmer. Now starts a bit of that peacefulness. You survived the big stress and it’s now time to relax… How about some more cookies? Just kidding.

The true Christmas thought isn’t of course about presents or mountains of food, but it is a nice side issue.
It’s far from necessary, but it is a great opportunity to do something extra for your loved ones, pamper them (a bit) with treats you know they would appreciate.
And you can’t believe how incredibly spoiled I got…

Not bad, eh? Thank you Santa(s) for all the beautiful, thoughtful presents! ;)

But it’s clear that these amazing books come with another problem.
In gods name, what should I make first?? It’s already impossible to choose from Hermé’s, how should I ever pick something out of three??
Luckily my vacation isn’t over yet, and as I’m a bit sick and spend most of my time in bed now, I have all the time to read them from cover to cover and amaze myself about their geniusness…

Back to other sugar, back to the Christmas Sugar Cookies! Although Christmas is over and I do think these are really Christmas-y cookies, I wrote down the recipe here below. They are so sweet, buttery and easy that I wouldn’t mind having them, lets say, on a February morning.
And you can make them of course easily less Christmas-y by replacing the cherries for something like chocolate chips! They make a nice present, and they are perfect for making ahead, as you make the dough in advance.

The Plaisir Sucres, Macarons, Croissants, Tarte Tatin, and who knows what more, (unfortunately) have to wait a bit more because first…it’s (almost) time for making the best oliebollen!

=> Haha, mine are way better than these!! ;)

Will be continued...

Christmas Sugar Cookies (makes a hundred!)
(From BBC GoodFood)
- 300g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar
- 140g (1 stick and 2 Tbsp/½ cup and 2 Tbsp) butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 550g (4 cups) flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 200g (1 cup) glacé cherries, chopped. (bigarreau)

1. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until pale and creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs, vanilla and milk.
In a new bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Then add a few spoonfuls at a time to the butter mixture, stirring with each addition to combine. Fold the cherries through the dough, and shape into to logs.
Wrap the logs in cling film, freeze one and chill the other for at least 2 hour.

2. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line three baking sheets with parchment paper. (of course if you don’t have three, bake in batches)
Take the chilled logs from the refrigerator, unwrap, let warm up slightly, and use a large knife to slice rounds the thickness of a coin.
Lay the cookies out on the trays and bake for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Repeat this process for the other log in the freezer.
Cool on a wire rack before serving. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Optional: spread the logs with some egg yolk and roll them though the sugar! Extra sugar cookies!

Have yourself a...

2006-12-23T15:50:00.000+01:00

I know it’s needless to say, but I’ll do it anyway:
It’s really almost Christmas now!
I hope this info is not new or comes with a shock for you, because otherwise I think it would be smart to make some plans and get going (!)
What are you doing this year with Christmas? A 15 courses menu? (it wouldn’t be a surprise with you foodies!) Eating out in a Michelin worthy restaurant? Nothing? Or like us, having a buffet with all kinds of little snacks and other tasty things?
I’m in charge of the dessert section this year -what else?- and decided to go for a few different sweets and desserts, simply because I couldn’t choose…
One of them is this rich chocolate cake with hazelnuts. This is the kind of cake that gets only better and better the longer you wait…perfect for Christmas!

I’m always careful in the kitchen - did you know 58% of all indoor accidents happens in the kitchen?! - but this time I was extra careful, as I still have last Christmas etched on my memory...
Last year me and my mom were hostesses, so on Christmas morning after breakfast and presents, we got back in the kitchen and prepared the final things for dinner. It was nice, but busy and slightly chaotic, and their was still a lot to do.
I was just making a piecrust: butter, flour and sugar were in the bowl, the hand blender was cheery grunting, and the dough was ready to be made into a bal. I putted down the blender and placed my hands in the bowl.
I wanted to have as well the last bit of dough that was sticking in the blender, so I, clearly without thinking, went for it.
10 minutes later we were, me still in my pj’s, at the first aid post. When my finger touched the blade, the power switched on and -luckily!- only my fingernail didn’t survive. Merry Christmas indeed! ;)

So this year I made sure nothing needed the blender…
I haven’t tasted this cake yet of course, -that would be rude!- so I can’t tell you how it tastes, but judging the ingredients, the look, the soft inside versus the crunchy outside, and the incredible smell, it’s only really promising…

Have a great time, merry Christmas everybody!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake (for 10 till 12 people, adapted from La Dolce Vita)
- 250g (9oz) chocolate (minimum 70%)
-115g (1 stick/½ cup) butter, softened
- 5 eggs, split
- 140g (¾ cup) finely granulated sugar
- 50ml rum/cognac
- 100g fine maizena
- 150g (1 ¼ cups) hazelnuts, roasted

1. Preheat over to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 22cm (9 inch) round cake pan.

2. In a small saucepan, mix the chocolate, broken in little pieces, and the butter over low heat till the chocolate is melted. Take the pan of the fire and let to cool a bit.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together to a thick, creamy mixture. Mix in the chocolate mixture, rum, maizena and hazelnuts until well blended.

4. Whisk the egg whites until stiff (but not dry!) and fold them carefully in the chocolate/hazelnuts mixture.
Scoop this mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30 till 40 minutes.

The cake is ready when it’s dry and firm to the touch, but still a bit wet and silky inside. The top is as well cracked, but that’s how it should be.
Let the cake in it’s for until it’s completely cooled, take out on a serving plate and dust with powder sugar.
Optional: serve with a big dot of mascarpone and strong coffee…Yum!

Almost

2006-12-14T17:41:00.000+01:00

Sinterklaas has left the country, our (gigantic) tree is up, shining and smelling really nice, and I have finally time to spend some time behind the computer and post again.
It has been so busy lately…I’m glad it’s almost vacation - time for Christmas!
(who in the world can do math or French when you know you have to go to school for just one more week?!)

Did you know that Santa Claus is based on our Sinterklaas? Yes - they both refer to Saint Nicolas; a bishop who lived in the third century and became known for his generosity and love for children.
A big difference however, is that Sinterklaas still comes with a boat from Spain, and Santa Claus with a sledge from the North Pole. Sinterklaas comes along with his black ‘pieten’ and Santa Claus has elves…
Here in Holland you see around this time of year a sort of battle between Sinterklaas and Santa Claus, on who’s nicer/better…really strange when you know they are the same person!

Anyway, Saint Nicolas 1 is gone and it’s time for number 2! Christmas!
Time for a lovely, forest-y smelling house, twinkling lights, Christmas songs on the radio, snow (yeah right!), presents under the tree, and…making Christmas cookies!

Making Christmas cookies is such a relaxing, rewarding thing - and it will definitely bring you in the holiday spirit!
It’s easy, they smell amazing, you can make them in every kind of shape or flavour you want, and it’s really fun to decorate them in every possible way…

I made my basic recipe which is perfect and really hard to mess up, and when I was finished I added some of my favourite flavours.
I divided the dough into three, and kneaded into the first ball some salt and pepper, into the second ball some cinnamon and into the third ball some cacao powder…
They all turned out beautiful and perfectly crispy, but the cinnamon version was absolutely my favourite…delicious!

I made a sugar glaze and melted some chocolate, put on a Christmas cd and I got going with a whole load of decorations: candy pens, sprinkles, and lovely little silver, gold, and green sugar balls…
It was really calming (in these 3 hours I almost forgot all the schoolwork I still have to do…) and you will feel so proud and artistic if your cookie turns out good and pretty…
And the ugly, not so arty cookies? Ah…they’ll be quickly gone and forgotten… ;)

Christmas Cookies
- 300g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 100g (½ cup, 1 stick) butter, softened and sliced
- 100g (2/3 cup) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten with
- 4 Tbsp liquid honey
glaze:
- 250g (2 cups) confectioner’s sugar
- 4 Tbsp boiling water
extra:
- 100g (1 bar) good quality chocolate
- sprinkles, candy pens, sugar balls, etc.

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, spices and baking powder. Add the butter and sugar, and mix with the electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until crumbly. While the mixer is spinning, slowly add the egg/honey mixture. - Don’t pour in at once, otherwise there is a big chance you’re dough will be too sticky! - Pour in until you have a well blended, handable dough.
The dough is now ready. You can just use it like this (and go to step 2) or add some spices/flavours.
This is what I did:
Divide the dough into three and put the three balls into different, small bowls. Add to bowl 1 a good pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Knead this into the dough. Do this as well for bowl 2 and 3, adding 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon, and 2 tablespoon of cacao powder.

2. Beat each ball down to a disc and wrap into plastic. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Flour your work surface, and take out the first disk of dough.
Roll out thinly, keep flouring (it can be a bit sticky) and cut out the cookies - or if you don’t have cookie cutters, just carve them out with a sharp knife. Transfer to the baking sheet and make a small hole in each cookie so you can hang them in the tree.
Knead the leftovers together, roll out again and cut out more cookies. Do this until you have no more dough left. Do this as well with the other two flavours.
You can also put a bit of chocolate and cinnamon dough together and make fusion cookies! (see the last picture)

4. Bake for about 10 minutes until the bottom is golden brown. But keep checking them during the baking! Let cool completely and make the glaze, or store in an airtight container.

Glaze:
1. Mix the confection’s sugar with the boiling water, adding each spoon of water after the previous one is well blended, until you have a silky, thick glaze.

Melt the chocolate, while stirring, in an heatproof bowl.
Get out a few clean spoons, kitchen paper and the decorations…and get creative! ;)

Paris, Je t‘aime…The Sweet Life (part three)

2006-11-30T13:13:00.000+01:00

It’s by now already quite some time ago since my trip to Paris. Exactly 25 days. Already way too long…
I told extensive and detailed about it earlier, but I wanted to tell and show you in brief some other sweet (and very tasty) things we did.

Our dinner at Ladurée on the Champs Elyseé for example.
I had the Bonaparte Salad - with Scottish smoked salmon, salmon eggs, blini, olive oil, lemon juice, seaweed tartare and black olives cream…- and it was absolutely amazing.

Simple perfection. Made with only the best ingredients, this was one of the best things I have ever eaten.

But I said that as well about their Ladurée Salad and Club Champs-Elysées. And from seeing the queue of people waiting to be seated and their plates and expressions, I can conclude everything is amazing here!

For dessert we had the Tarte Tatin, the Coupe Fraise-Coquelicot and the Eclatant Fraise Figue.

The Tarte Tatin was without a doubt the best out of these three.
Sadly, I have not even one good picture of the food or our royal seating, as a result of that charming candle light…

So you just have to go and check out yourself if I’ve made you curious…;)

We consumed more for lunch the next day at BE, Boulange épicier, a fusion of a "boulanger" and an "épicier" - baker and grocer.

We read that BE had the best sandwiches of Paris, and since the store is owned by no one less than Alain Ducasse and Eric Kayser, this wasn’t so hard to believe.
The wonderful perfumes from freshly made bread welcome you when you step into this beautiful little store packed with goodies and the best products. You can buy your pasta, jams, chocolate, little jars and spreads here, and of course your lunch (!)
Soups, salads, sandwiches, and a whole arrange of desserts: fruit salads, pastries, tartlets and muffins...

We ordered a lentil salad, 2 pesto/mozzarella/tomato/basil sandwiches -which were served onto indeed one of the best breads I’ve ever tasted: It was soft, slightly sweet and a bit brioche-ish. Amazing… - The last sandwich was a larger, sweet raisin pain, with roquefort and pear. Wonderful.

I’m glad we went, but it was a bit disappointed since we expected a real restaurant. BE is a wonderful store, with wonderful food, but more for take-away.

-----

Stop three.
We heard so much about Berthillon and their ice cream in flavours like caramel and chocolat amar, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and just had to go.
So on Saturday morning, after our morning coffee and croissant, we ‘shopped’ ourselves down to Île Saint-Louis - one of the two little islands in Paris, surrounded by the Seine.
We rushed pass the Notre-Dame, with just one intention: Berthillon.
The lack of an immense line was our first hint. When we arrived on 31, Rue St. Louis en l´Ile, we found Berthillon…

Yep. 100% Closed.
%&$*^(%#$!!!!
I’ll leave it by this. If I start expressing my feelings more, I know I will not stop anymore…

But if we want ice cream, we will get ice cream.
Berthillon drove us straight to their opponent:

Amorino!
Amazing Italian-style ice-cream, with quite a few locations in Paris. (Just look out for a flying little Italian elf and you’ll find Amorino...)
Absolutely delicious. I’m not really an ice cream expert, I almost never eat ice cream, (I prefer something with a bite…) but my sister, who happens to be an ice cream expert, approves it as well.
Very nice is you can choose as many flavours as you want. 20 flavours in just one scoop? No problem. The mango and caffe were my favourites.
(I just discovered their website, click on the flavours and see them in close-up. *drool…*)

The last thing I want to share is this pain au chocolat from Fauchon.
Their macarons couldn’t compare with Hermé’s, (they didn’t even come close…) but their pain au chocolat beats hermé’s easily. It was the best pain au chocolat we ever tasted. Buttery, flaky, as light as air and so chocolaty…*sigh*

This were my Paris highlights part I, II and III. Hope you enjoyed it, - I sure did! - and up to the next trip! ;)

Ladurée Champs Elysées
75, avenue des Champs Elysées
Tel : 01.40.75.08.75

boulangépicier
73 bd de Courcelles
Tel : 01 46 22 20 20

Fauchon
place de la Madeleine 24-26-30
Tel : 01.70.39.38.00

1 + 1 = 3

2006-11-25T17:51:00.000+01:00

Sometimes is 1+1=3
These Chocolade Stroopkoeken (chocolate treacle cookies) are a classic example for this. They are not just two crispy chocolaty cookies fused together with some hot, creamy, salted treacle….but they are the best crispy chocolaty cookies fused together with some hot, creamy, salted treacle. They are amazing.
Make a hundred and you still want more, I guarantee.

The stroopkoek is a typically Dutch product. Only, undeserved, a whole lot less known then it’s brother the stroopwaffle. Although I can appreciate a hot, freshly made stroopwaffle from time to time, (especially with this colder weather) I prefer a stroopkoek. And then of course the version as shown here above: thinner, chocolaty and salted. Heaven.

I got them from Koekje, the cookie-bible I wrote about before. The recipe comes from Kees Raat (kind of logical since it’s a(n incredible) twist on the normal stroopkoek…) but I adjusted it slightly since I didn’t have pepper vinegar or zeeuwse flour (from Zeeland - a part of Holland) and because - let’s face it - I like it always just a bit more salty and chocolaty.

Two thin chocolate biscuits with the best salty caramel-y syrup which will make the cookies deliciously chewy and sticky. What do you want more? Enjoy immediately while the treacle is still hot. Try them and love them…;)

Chocolade Stroopkoeken
- 120g (1 stick/½ cup) butter, softened
- 60g (1/3 cup) dark brown sugar
- 60g (1/3 cup) white brown sugar (witte basterdsuiker)
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 200g (1 ½ cup) flour
- 4 big Tbsp cacao powder
- 1 big tsp baking powder
For the syrup:
- 100g (½ cup) stroop (treacle)
- 60g (1/3 cup) white brown sugar
- 60g (½ stick, ¼ cup) butter, softened
- 1 Tbsp sea salt

1. In a medium bowl, sift together flower, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and pepper. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter, the two sugars, vinegar and egg. Add the flower mixture to the sugar mixture and knead it to a ball. Pack in foil and let rest in the fridge for at least one hour.

2. Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. Get the dough out of the fridge and roll out thinly on a lightly flowered surface. (if it’s too sticky, use some more flower) you can best do this in 3 or 4 times as the dough will break easily.
With a round 10cm (4inches) form, - or a cute small one…- stick out cookies and line them on the baking sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes, until set and down. Let cool completely and make the syrup.

Syrup:
1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt treacle with sugar, butter and salt. Stir until well blended and let cool a bit.

2. Ladle syrup on the flat side of a cookies, move it a bit back and forth to even and close with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Enjoy immediately or keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Going Dutch: Koekje

2006-11-22T20:01:00.000+01:00

In Holland there are just a few really good, legendary, patissiers.
Two of them are Cees Holtkamp and Kees Raat.
They are both really different and yet the same;
Cees Holtkamp started in Amsterdam in 1969 and is famous for his simple, straightforward and traditional approach to baking.
Kees Raat opened his ‘Unlimited Delicious’ in Amsterdam 15 years ago and became known for his originality and uniqueness.
These two masters are now combined in one beautiful little book: Koekje. (Cookie)

I can’t believe Koekje wasn’t here earlier - it’s indispensable.
The concept is brilliant; Holtkamp wrote down his (50!) recipes for all the classic Dutch cookies, - such as stroopwafels, Arnhemse Meisjes, Goudse Moppen and Jan Hagel… - and Kees Raat gave each cookie his own, creative twist and came up with 50 brand new cookies as Chocolate Blini’s, Javaanse Jongens and Zeeschuim (!)

Koekje is a clear-cut, beautiful book with on every single page a picture.
I love that I now finally have a book where all the recipes for good Dutch cookies are bound together.
And I’ve discovered so many new, which are in fact old, recipes(!)
Who still knows how a Haarlems Halletje or Nonnenscheetje taste?
And Haagsche Wind??
Haagsche Wind (Wind of the Hague) dates all the way back to 1880. Living in The Hague and never having tried it - how could I not make it?

(Plus it was a wonderful opportunity to use my new pastry bag from la Bovida that I still hadn’t used since my trip to Paris…!)

Haagsche Wind is a sweet little meringue cookie with cute looking almonds on top. It’s one lovely cloudy bite: crunchy on the outside and soft and airy inside.
Meringues are well loved in my family.
I once tried to make meringues, but it didn’t work out so well - this recipe however, is a keeper.

99 recipes left in ‘Koekje’…what will I make next?

Haagsche Wind
- 3 egg whites
- 150g (¾ cup) finely granulated sugar
- 100g (½ cup) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 100g (1 cup) almonds, lightly roasted and roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 120° C (248° F) and line one baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Beat, with an electric mixer, egg whites until frothy. Gradually add granulated sugar and mix until well blended. Beat in the confectioner’s sugar carefully until the mixture is white and glossy.

3. Fill pastry bag (with a 2cm, 1 inch tip) with the mixture and drop little dots on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with the roasted almonds and bake for 20 minutes until set. Let cool completely before enjoying and store in an airtight container.

Holtkamp
Vijzelgracht 15
1017 HM Amsterdam

Unlimited Delicious
Haarlemmerstraat 122
1013 EX Amsterdam

Nuts...

2006-11-14T14:57:00.000+01:00

My new camera is driving me nuts.
It’s so pretty and I really love it but I’m beginning to get a little desperate.
It doesn’t matter what I do - all my pictures are either too light or too dark and too blurry or too dim. I really hope it’s just a temporary problem and I just haven’t figured out the light focus or something like that…

So under the impression that at least one of my 158 photo’s was good, and without further checking, I started tasting and…
all the cashew-caramel cookies disappeared quickly.
And this was the best picture in the bunch.
I’m sorry I can’t let you better see how incredibly delicious these cookies were…

Because they weren’t just good.
They were really, really good.
I know it’s a bit strange, but you make me most of the time happier with a good spoon of cookie dough then the cookie itself…
Well, these nut cookies are like the best cookie dough ever.
They are chewy, not too sweet, and the cashews are lovely caramelized in the oven. They have a good bite, a delicious sugary bottom and an amazing soft caramel swirl on top…oftewel; echte door-etertjes! (so it’s really hard to stop eating these…!)

I found the recipe online at MarthaStewart.com but I made some big changes in the process so I typed out what I’ve done here below.
If you want to check out the original recipe; click here

I don’t have a decent electric mixer to grind cashews with, only a puree mixer with a sharp blade which will make the nuts fly and spring everywhere (I have btw a rather horrific Christmas story about this blade - but that maybe for later…) so I just chopped 1 cup finely and kept the rest in big chunks. This worked out really well as I may say so.
For some reason I wanted to add pear as well. Don’t ask me why, I just had a feeling. It turned out to be a wrong feeling; there was absolutely no trace of pear in these cookies. Not that's incredibly terrible, I think they are pretty perfect just like this…
I kept the pear in the recipe what so ever - who knows how they would turn out without it??

Cashew Cookies (makes 24)
- 200g (1 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 350g (3 cups) roasted, salted cashews
- 4 Tbsp sunflower oil
- 115g (1 stick, ½ cup) butter, softened
- 115g (¾ cup) packed light-brown sugar
- 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 pear
- 24 cubes soft caramel candy (200g, 7 ounces)
- 65ml (1/4 cup) heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. (350°F)
Mix flour and salt together in a small bowl and set aside. Finely chop 1 cup cashews and transfer them to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add butter and sugars and mix on medium speed until fluffy. (about 2 minutes)
Mix in egg, vanilla and oil. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture. Wash and dry the pear and thinly slice it with a cheese-slicer. Chop these slices into even smaller bits and mix it in with the reserved, roughly chopped cashews.

2. Shape dough into 4cm (1 1/2-inch) balls; space 5cm (2 inches) apart on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 6 minutes and gently flatten with a spatula. Bake until bottoms are just golden, 6 to 7 minutes more. Let cool completely.

3. For the caramel, melt caramels with cream in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring. Let cool. Using a spoon, drizzle caramel over cookies and let set. Store the cookies in an airtight box in single layers.

No Fuss, No Worries: Only Cake

2006-11-07T18:48:00.000+01:00

I’d forgotten the power of a good basic cake.
Like a Pavlov reaction, I thought instinctively of the margarine, soppy, flavourless version that you can buy at the store. The one that doesn’t even deserve the name cake and will keep till end 2010...
What was I thinking??

Pound cake is the best. Or more precisely; Madeira cake is the best.
And this version is even better; it’s so easy, has a lovely lemony twist and a divine sugar topping that really gives the extra touch.
A crunchy layer with a big crack down the middle, covering a soft and slightly moist, amazing cake that will melt deliciously in your mouth…

The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s How To Be A Domestic Goddess, i.e. my first cookbook. My collection has, as you might have noticed, grown considerably since then but it still has a special spot with me.
I made this cake from it quite some time ago on request. I was actually already forgotten it but (luckily) came across the pictures when I sorted out my files. This is a wonderful cake, even the best in its sort I think.
Well, try and judge yourself…

Cake (for 8 to 10 slices)
- 240g (2sticks/1cup) soft butter
- 200g (1cup) finely granulated sugar, plus more for topping
- zest and juice of one lemon
- 3 eggs
- 210g (1 ¾ cups) self raising flour +
- 90g (¾ cup) all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (330°F) and butter and line a cake form with parchment paper.

2. Stir butter and sugar until creamy and add lemon zest.
Mix in one egg, then one tablespoon of flour, then an egg again…and so on.
Add the rest of the flour, mix well, and add the lemon juice. stir until well combined.

3. Pour the batter in the prepared form and sprinkle generously with sugar (about 2 Tbsp) Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely, then invert onto a serving plate.

Paris, Je t’aime: A little Investigation… (part two)

2006-11-02T17:46:00.000+01:00

If I were a cookie, I would be a macaron. No question.
The flavour, the texture, the colours, the shape -
it’s just the best cookie.
The taste of the crunchy and slightly chewy outside, and soft and smooth inside…:it’s heaven between 2 little shells.

Making good macarons - not to be confused with the coconut macaroon - is however difficult and a real art. You can find in almost every sweet cookbook a macaron recipe and on Google more than 28.000 hits will appear on your screen from recipe sites and fellow bloggers, but the recipe for the perfect macaron is, and will probably always be, a question for us humble human beings.

The basic macaron is made of almond flour, icing- and granulated sugar and egg-whites but what amount or what the masters include extra? Perhaps Pierre spits for his final touch 3 times in the batter or David Holder gives each macaron a little blessing before he let them enter the shops... Who knows. (note: if you do know - please send me a mail!)

Macarons don’t exist here in Holland. The average Dutchman does not know what it is - and doesn’t care - and considers a bought slagroomtaart (cream cake) as a true delicacy. Well, bon appetite - Grrr…
That’s another reason why I’m so delighted about Paris. Everywhere you look are little (and large famous ones…!) bakery’s, patisseries and chocolatiers with the most beautiful display windows, loaded with freshly baked goods.
You name it; croissants, pain au chocolat, millefeuilles, éclairs, madeleines and of course…macarons (!) In every thinkable colour and flavour, beautifully lined up, waiting to be bought.
What do you think about marron et thé vert matcha or perhaps a huile d'olive et vanille macaron?

Time for a little comparing examination (!)
I wish I could have sampled from every shop I came across, including Maison du Chocolat and Laduree but it was just too much. Very unexpected and kind of new for me, but there was just too much good food.
I’m still bummed about that last one. Especially because now I read EVERYWHERE that Laduree has the best macarons…
Well, nothing to do about it; I just HAVE to go back - o boy, what a pity…;)

So I stayed with Fauchon and Hermé.
I lost my heart to Fauchon when I was ten. It was my first time in Paris and I sat in the beautifully decorated tearoom behind my chocolate tasting plate, all feeling special. Such an experience for a little girl.
And Hermé; do I have to explain?? I was just dying to go to Hermé - I read so much about him and his incredible creations and his latest book PH10 is standing so high on my wish-list…(hint!)

For my comparing, I got from both a chocolate and a coffee macaron -
Fauchon (below) and Pierre Hermé (above), and the 2 flavours; coffee (left) and chocolate (right)

The results:
*drum roll….*
It wasn‘t very difficult:

Fauchon’s macarons are fine. Great even if you haven’t tasted the perfect one. They have a very soft (in my opinion too soft…) centre but a good, strong chocolate/coffee flavour. They are chewy, have in proportions very thick shells and little filling and chewing is not really required with these macarons.
Hermé’s macarons are simply heaven. Compacter, a good bite and an explosion of flavour. And as you see on the picture a perfect, thick ganache centre, which will soften and melts deliciously in your mouth…
Easy calling: Hermé is the winner(!)
*yeeh, yeeh! Applause, applause…*

Wow, now I haven’t even written something about his almighty shop or my other purchases(!)
See here two wonders of the master Pierre Hermé;

The Plaisir Sucre - From bottom to top: hazelnut dacquoise, milk chocolate-hazelnut spread, a layer of chocolate ganache, a dark chocolate sheet, another layer of chocolate ganache, a chocolate sheet, chocolate mousse, and one last chocolate sheet…

And the Surprise Ball - I’m not 100% sure what was inside here but I think…- a chocolate biscuit layer, chocolate ganache, a chocolate sheet, more ganache, mascarpone and caramel, covered with a thick chocolate layer…

I was speechless - how does he come up with it??
It was just perfect. Heaven. Al the flavours 'fit' with each other.
And so is his entire shop - everything looks incredible and is made with such care, love and preciseness.
Amazing.
Well, I definitely know what I want for Christmas this year…

Pierre Hermé
rue Bonaparte 72
Tel: 01 43 54 47 77

Rue de Vaugirard 185
Tel: 01.47.83.89.96

Fauchon
place de la Madeleine 24-26-30
Tel : 01.70.39.38.00

Paris, Je t’aime…(part one)

2006-10-29T18:01:00.000+01:00

I’m back from Paris. And I’m not really liking it. Sure it’s nice to be in my own home again, but what I already knew has been confirmed once again; Paris is the best, most beautiful city in the world.

We stayed our 3 full-planned, beloved days at Hotel Chopin, a charming little hotel located in the small passage Jouffroy, right near the Grands Boulevards. Lovely decorated, welcoming classical music playing in the hallways and great service. I really recommend Hotel Chopin for a short stay in Paris.

Although I didn’t think the whole multiple pages long - ok, actually multiple novels long - list to-do could all have been visited, we yet succeeded to do almost everything that stood on the priority list…

One thing I really wanted to do, was to visit L’as du Falafel.
When I read about it on David Lebovitz’s site, I immediately started to crave. And I can tell you; it is really so good. My saliva production is running up by just seeing the pictures...
Imagine a fresh, soft pita crammed with the best, delicious, hot and crispy chick-pea balls, a generous amount of delicious marinated red and white cabbage, soft aubergine, some fresh slices of cucumber, hummus and the best garlic sauce that isn’t too strong, over dominated or thick at all. That’s L’as du Falafel. There’s no doubt; L’as du Falafel is toujours imite jamais egale. (always imitated, never equalled)

Some other tasty goings were Laduree, Fauchon and the master Pierre Hermé. (but I will come back to these later - they really deserve their own post…)

Another culinary highlight was going to G. Detou and La Grande Epicerie.
G. Detou is a beautiful, little, old and dusty epicerie with the most diverged professional baking supplies. And what about some caramels au beurre sale from Bretagne, or the best blue pigment? (I have a fabulous chocolate layer cake with blue frosting in mind for it’s first project…)
La Grande Epicerie Paris is a gigantic, wonderful culinary shopping Walhalla. I could spend a whole day just looking at everything, walking a bit among the display-windows with fresh pasta and little anti-pasta bites, the bread section, tea and coffee, and the stock of mysterious little pots and jars. Even the meat section looks good and appealing here. So you can understand I couldn’t leave without a little extra something. I got a package of super cute little purple and pink biscuits, that look a bit like mini macarons and I found coloured sugar that I can’t wait to use…

Of course this trip wasn’t just one big eat feast - but it was indeed quite close to it… - I still have a few withdraw symptoms left from all the sugar and chocolate and I can really use a little break and give my body a little peace for a while. But just a little while of course… ;)

L'As du Falafel
34, rue des Rosiers (Marais)
Tel: 01 48 87 63 60
Closed Friday evening and Saturday for Sabbat

G. Detou
58, rue Tiquetonne
Tel: 01 42 36 54 67

La Grande Epicerie Paris
38, Rue de Sèvres
Tel : 01 44 39 83 47

A Great Weekend

2006-10-25T13:33:00.000+02:00

My little half-sister Katoo is the ultimate chocolate monster. She’s almost 4 now and this weekend she came to visit her two big sisters in the city. These two days were way too short and we had, as always, a wonderful time. We absolutely spoiled her to dead now we had the opportunity, we got her some little girly presents, we watched Cinderella, went out to the bakery, danced, watched some more Cinderella and of course devoured a whole lot of chocolate…

That’s why I made these cupcakes. It’s clear it can’t get more chocolaty or sweeter than this; these cupcakes contain melted chocolate, cacao powder and chocolate chunks, along with the best chocolate frosting and some Smarties on top.
And they tasted absolutely great.
Sweet, brownie-y, and perfectly between dry and moist. They are also very nice without the frosting but that first bite in a frosted one, when your teeth go through the glaze, then the dry, crumbly top and finally threw a delicious moist inside…
Well, nothing will beat that.
And I’m happy I wasn’t the only one who liked them…

A weekend with cheery Tootje is always a pleasure, but this weekend turned out to be even better when Saturday morning the bell rang and my brand new camera had finally arrived(!)

It’s the Olympus E500 and it’s without a doubt the best toy ever!
I’m now like an annoying paparazzi photographer, walking through the house going click, click, click…
And the quality of my pictures - every shot looks like it popped right out a professional photographer catalogue(!)

I love it! Can’t wait to get going and discover all it’s features…=)

Oh yes, one last thing about the cupcakes -

Make sure you buy enough Smarties if you have a specific colour in mind; my plan was to decorate them only with pink Smarties - well, every package contained about 3 pink ones…

A little Smarties fact to end with; Did you know 17 thousand Smarties are eaten every minute in the UK?
You sure can decorate a whole lot of cupcakes with that…(!)
Enjoy! ;)

Chocolaty Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 24 cupcakes)
- 150g (5,4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate
- 250g (1 cup/2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
- 350g (1 3/4 cups) sugar
- 5 eggs
- 120g (1 cup) flour
- 4 Tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 150g (5,4 ounces) chocolate chips, or bittersweet chocolate, cut into little pieces.

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare 24 cupcake cups on a baking sheet.

2. In a large saucepan, melt chocolate and butter while stirring. Add sugar, stir until blend completely, and let cool for 10 minutes.

3. In another bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.

4. With an electric mixer, beat chocolate mixture for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and make sure each one is completely absorbed before adding the next.

5. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture and mix well. Scoop into the prepared cupcake cups - this is easy with a ladle - and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Store in an airtight container or continue with the frosting.

Chocolate frosting (enough for 24 cupcakes)
- 250g (9 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 250ml (1 cup) heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp butter, room temperature
- 300g (2 cups, packed) powdered sugar

1. In a medium saucepan, heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Reduce heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for one minute, then stir to combine. Add butter and vanilla and mix well. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

2. Sift powdered sugar into the mixture and beat with an electric mixer until combined. Continue to beat until light and creamy. This frosting can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator. Before piping on the cupcakes, let stand for a few minutes or pop it for 20 sec. in the microwave.

4. Fill pastry bag with the scoopable frosting and pipe onto the cupcakes. Decorate with smarties/m&m’s before the frosting is completely hard. Store in an airtight container.
These cupcakes will stay for an surprisingly long time good - even on the 5th day they taste heavenly…

Autumn Weather…Time for Cookies

2006-10-17T20:02:00.000+02:00

Summer is definitely over. And it happened so quickly;
The streets are rainy and the trees transformed from green to all shades of yellow, orange and red. It’s still dark outside when I wake up in the morning, I need a scarf on when I go to school and I hate that the wind has become so cold and raw…
The plus side however, is that it’s time for candles, tea, electric blankets and wearing comfy ski socks again(!) (and almost time for oliebollen!)

In the summer nothing beats a fresh, sour apple, but with this weather I prefer baking; the wonderful perfumes filling the house, the apples becoming all soft and oozy in the oven, their hotness and perfectly sweetness…

These Apple Cookies are great and have al the above.
They are granola-y and hearty, with delicious crispy edges and a soft apple-ish inside.
I start with the edges, slowly nibble them off, work my way in, and finish with one soft and gooey last bite…
These cookies are robust, sweet and spicy, and really substantial - great for those chilly days…

Apple Cookies (makes about 30)
- 240ml (1 cup) apple juice
- 200g (1 cup) currants
- (250) 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 225g (1 cup/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 300g (2 cups) dark-brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 250g (2 1/2 cups) rolled oats
- 5 crisp and tart apples, I used granny smith
Granulated sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Heat cider in a small saucepan to a simmer. Place currants in a bowl and pour the warm cider over them. Let plump at least for 10 minutes.

2. Mix in a small bowl together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add egg, and continue beating until well blended.

4. Add the dry ingredients, beating until just combined. Add the currants with half of the cider and oats until just combined. Using the largest holes on a box grater, shred 2 apples directly into the dough, rotating to avoid seeds and core. Stir well to combine.

5. Using two spoons, scoop out cookies and place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Using a sharp knife, slice 2 or 3 apples very thinly. Remove core with a cookie cutter or with a knife (you can make all sorts of fun figures…) Place a thinly sliced apple ring on top of each cookie and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar, if desired. Bake in the heated oven until dark brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Can be stored for 3 days - but be warned, they will soften and soften and...

Make you Banana Pancakes...

2006-10-16T16:10:00.000+02:00

Scrambled eggs with white beans in tomato sauce, a few slices of buttered toast, a croissant, or a big delicious tower of pancakes…
The possibilities are endless and it’s the most important meal of the day…
Breakfast
Although I’m always quite satisfied with my coffee, yoghurt and freshly squeezed orange juice, this morning it was time for a change.
It was time for pancakes.

I've always loved Jack Johnson’s song Banana Pancakes, and every time I hear it I just start craving for banana pancakes…
So of course I made banana pancakes.
Banana pancakes with buttermilk and a drizzly of honey to be exact.

I’ve eaten pannenkoeken, - A pannenkoek is the Dutch version of a pancake; larger and thinner and served with sugar and treacle… - crepes and blini, but I’d never ever eaten pancakes. let stand for breakfast.
I got my recipe from America’s absolute Baking Queen, Martha Stewart, and I served them with a big dot of crème fraîche and honey instead of maple syrup. This was a lovely - and quite heavy - breakfast that I really enjoyed…

I had a bit of trouble at first with the recipe. or not with the recipe, but jut with pancakes in general; some of my first batch got really messy and burned a bit because I left the heat on too high - luckily I figured it out after a bit of practise and after this I made absolutely beautiful perfect golden-brown pancakes…

They were soft and sweet, had crispy edges and a luscious fluffy and oozy centre from the hot and slightly melted banana slices. Drenched in the honey this big golden-brown heap was a wonderful festive way to start my day…

Banana pancakes (makes 12)
- 120g (1 cup) whole-wheat flour
- 3 Tbsp light-brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 240ml (1 cup) buttermilk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 11/2 Tbsp butter, melted
- vegetable oil
- 2 ripe bananas, thinly sliced
- crème fraîche, maple syrup (or honey) and chopped walnuts, for serving (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 135°C (250°F). In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Whisk in buttermilk, egg, and melted butter until batter is well combined and free of lumps.

2. In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, swirl oil to coat bottom of pan. Working in batches, add batter in 1/4-cup portions. - I got 3 pancakes per time - Top with banana slices, dividing evenly. Cook until golden brown and tiny air bubbles form evenly on top, 2 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat if browning too quickly. Flip pancakes, and continue cooking until slightly puffed, 2 to 5 minutes.
Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook remaining pancakes.

3. Serve pancakes with crème fraîche, honey (or maple syrup) and some chopped walnuts.

Wednesday Baking IV: No Baking

2006-10-11T19:47:00.000+02:00

If you are a regular reader, you’ve already read about my beloved Wednesday Baking.
Clearly, this was too good to be true - schoolwork is really kicking in (and piling up ridiculous quickly…) and my new school period starts already next week.
From now on my Wednesday morning will be spend with maths, physics and chemistry. Great. Definitely an improvement…(!)

My plan was to make something really spectacular, over-the-top and impressive for this last Wednesday Baking.
Something like a 20layercake or perhaps try to make my favourite macarons…
well, this plan failed rather badly as I - strangely - wasn’t at all in the baking mood. I just wanted to spend this last free morning in my pj’s curled upon the couch. Eat far too much kruidnootjes, spoon away something sweet and watch many, many Friends episodes…

Friends is the best. I even dare to say me and my sister are the biggest Friends fans ever - we have watched every episode approxiately a hundred times (and I can watch them at least another 100 times…) and just like baking, this is one of my favourite, most relaxing things to do.
The last few weeks however, I hadn’t have the time (or peace) to just sit down, do nothing and watch. You can understand this morning was really needed, and I happily relived Ross and Rachel’s drama story…

So this Wednesday Baking Day was really No Baking Day - just something easy, quick, really satisfying and with a good sugar kick was needed today.
The answer was Chocolate Mousse

Intensely chocolate flavoured, exactly sweet enough and delightfully fluffy, this recipe was great. Pillowy, velvety and melting wonderfully on your tongue, this was exactly what I needed.
My homework will just have to wait a little bit longer…;)

Chocolate and a big pile of friends episodes….
Could this BE any better? ;)

Bitter Chocolate Mousse (makes 8)
- 250g (9oz) good quality, bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 30ml honey liqueur (or brandy)
- 25g (1oz/2 Tbsp) butter, cut into pieces
- 4 eggs, separated
- 90ml (6 Tbsp) whipping cream
- 45g (3 Tbsp) sugar
- whipped cream, some chopped hazelnuts and cocoa powder to decorate.

1. Place the chocolate and 4 tablespoons (60ml) of water in a medium saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove pan from heat and whisk in the liqueur and butter.

2. With an electric mixer, beat the eggs yolks until thick and creamy, then slowly beat into the melted chocolate until well blended. Set aside.

3. Whip the cream until soft peaks form and stir a spoonful into the chocolate to lighten it. Fold in the remaining cream.

4. In a clean, grease-free bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy. Sprinkle over the sugar and continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy.

5. Using a large metal spoon, stir a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, and then gently fold in the remaining whites until just combined.
Gently spoon into 8 individual cups and chill for at least 2 hours until set and chilled.

6. Scoop a big spoon whipped cream (beaten with a tablespoon of sugar) on top, sprinkle some chopped hazelnuts on top and lightly dust with cacao powder.

Spinach Risotto with Goat’s Cheese

2006-10-08T17:10:00.000+02:00

For my 25th post, my mum got me a very, very nice present; ‘Cook with Jamie, My Guide to Making You a Better Cook’ !
I read about this new book a few days ago, told my mum I really liked it, and as a surprise she immediately went out and bought it for me… =)

Cook with Jamie (already his 7th book!) is a beautiful - 450 pages thick - kitchen bible and is divided in 6 chapters; salads, pasta, meat, fish, vegetables and desserts.
Each chapter begins with a little info about the ingredient, a good basic technique and some handy tips and tricks. The principle is to first master the basics, be able to make the fundamentals for good authentic food, and than start mixing and experimenting and let all the flavours flow with about 8 different variation recipes, all made from that first basic recipe.

Become Jamie’s student in your own home…(!)

I absolutely love this book. I’ve always liked Jamie Oliver and his TV shows, I think he’s a great guy with his school dinners and 15 project, but I didn’t really like all his commercial stuff; tefal series, flavour shakers, table wear and god knows what.
I’m glad this book is simply about good food, learning and enjoying it.

Wanting to use my lovely new book immediately, I made this Spinach Risotto with Goat’s Cheese as a surprise Saturday night dinner.

Making risotto isn’t difficult at all.
You just have to have some timing and patience, since you really have to stand the whole time next to the pan - My rice was cooked exactly long enough; soft and oozy but still with a good bite.

I’m not really used to make something that doesn’t involve baking or isn’t sweet, but I have to say I really like it. Especially if I get an outcome as this…!
Intensely flavoured, slightly perfumed from the wine, a bit cheesy and wonderfully creamy. What’s a better dinner than a big, hot and steamy bowl of risotto mixed with soft spinach, slightly sour goat’s cheese and a bit of tangy lemon??

After making the basic risotto recipe, the rice will be ready for 75%
The idea is you’ll finish it off with a following recipe
Perfect if you have people over for dinner - make the base in advance and just leave it until you need it!

Spinach Risotto with Goat’s Cheese
based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe from Cook with Jamie.
(according to Jamie it serves 8, but if you want a good hearty portion, don’t count on more than 4 or 5 portions!)

ingredients for the basic risotto:
- 1 Litre (1 ¾ pint) vegetable stock
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 6 sticks of celery, trimmed and finely chopped
- 600g (1lb 6oz) risotto rice
- 250 ml dry white wine

extra ingredients for the spinach risotto with goat’s cheese:
- 75g (2/3 stick, 1/3 cup) butter
- olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
- nutmeg, for grating
- 250g (9oz) spinach, washed and dried
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 700 ml (1 ¼ pint) vegetable stock
- 1-2 hands freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
- ½ a lemon
- 200g soft goat’s cheese, crumbled
- extra virgin olive oil

Basic risotto:
If you make the risotto in advance, oil a large tray and set aside.

1. Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.
Put olive oil and butter in an other large pan, add onion and celery and cook very gently for about 10 minutes, without colouring, until soft.

2. Add the rice and turn up the heat - keep the rice moving
Pour in the wine and keep stirring all the time until all the alcohol has evaporated, leaving the rice nicely perfumed.

3. Add the stock to the rice a ladle at a time, stirring and waiting until it has been fully absorbed before adding the next. Turn the heat down a bit to prevent cooking the rice to quickly, (the inside will than be very hard!) and continue to add ladlefuls of stock until it has all been absorbed. This takes about 15 minutes. The rice now begins a bit to soften, but is still quite hard.

4. Scoop the part-cooked rice out on the waited oiled tray, spread it out evenly and not to thick (otherwise the rice will cook itself!) and put the tray somewhere to cool down.
When it’s completely cooled, scrape it carefully all in a Tupperware container with a lid and keep it in the fridge until you want to use it.
The rice will keep for a couple of days.

Now you’ll have a perfect risotto base. Finish it off with the following recipe;

Spinach Risotto with Goat’s Cheese:

1. Heat a medium saucepan, spoon in a tablespoon of the butter and add a splash of olive oil, the garlic and a good grating of nutmeg.
When the butter has melted, add the spinach. Cook for 5 minutes, moving it until it’s wilted down. A lot of the liquid will cooked away and a dark intensely flavoured spinach will be over. Chop finely and season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat up your stock in a medium saucepan (the same one) and bring to a simmer.

2. Put a different large saucepan on medium high heat and pour in half the stock followed by all your risotto base. Stirring all the time, gently bring to a boil, and cook until most of the stock has been absorbed. Add the rest of the stock a ladle at the time until the rice is cooked. (check and taste when it’s perfect and a real pleasure to eat - still holding it‘s shape but also soft, creamy and oozy)

3. Turn off the heat, and stir in your spinach, butter and parmesan. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and leave the risotto to rest (with the lid on) for a minute. Fold in half of the goat’s cheese, stir well and scoop your portions on the plates. Finish off with the rest of the goat’s cheese, some lemon zest, a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a bit of grated Parmesan…enjoy!

Wednesday Baking III: Honey and Spice Cake

2006-10-05T20:32:00.000+02:00

To keep my tradition going, I started my lovely free morning Wednesday again with some baking.
Because Wednesday Baking seems to be equal for using lots of raisins and cinnamon, I made sure this week’s recipe would also be loaded with both and ended up making a variation on Delia Smith’s Spice Cake.

Spice Cake is a true no fuss cake;
It isn’t very special or difficult to make - and I doubt it will ever win a beauty price - but in its simplicity, this cake is really irresistible and tastes so incredibly good.
If you just want something simple with a special twist; this is definitely your cake.

I substituted the candied peel for raisins and increased the amount of honey. This honey was just faintly traceable but did give it its nice and soft texture.
This cake is crumbly, spicy, extremely flavourful and has a lovely orange hint. The fresh and tangy lemon icing pairs beautifully with it;

perfect with a nice cup of tea for one of those cold autumn days.

p.s.
Tasting Life is silver! Yes, already 25th posts (!) Absolutely nothing, if you compare it with certain other blogs, but I‘m still very glad I even got this far. I keep learning and having fun so… up to the 1000th! ;)

honey and spice cake
- 100 g (1/3 cup) clear, runny honey
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 225 g (8 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 75 g (3 ounces) golden caster sugar
- finely grated zest 1 orange
- finely grated zest 1 lemon
- 110 g (1 stick/1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 150g (¾ cup) raisins
icing:
- 175 g (6 ounces) icing sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice + 2 Tbsp warm water

1. Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F) and lightly butter a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin.

2. Put the honey in a small bowl. Place this bowl into a saucepan containing almost boiling water and warm up the honey a little. (not too much, just a little)

3. Sift spices and flour into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, orange and lemon zest. Now add the butter in small pieces. Rub it lightly into the flour with your fingertips, until the mixture becomes crumbly. Using a fork, lightly mix in the beaten egg, followed by the warm honey.
In a small bowl, mix the baking soda with 3 tablespoons of cold water, stir until dissolved, and add it to the cake mixture. beat, quite hard, until the mixture is smooth and soft.
Stir in the raisins and spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, spreading it out evenly. Bake the cake for about 50 minutes, until well risen and firm to the touch.
Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

4. For the icing; sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of hot water along with the lemon juice and mix to a thin consistency that will coat the back of a spoon. If you don't think it's thin enough add a little more water.
Now place a large plate underneath the cake on the wire rack and pour the icing all over, letting it run down and coat the sides a bit.
Store in an airtight container.

Paris Time: Chocolate Éclairs

2006-10-02T17:02:00.000+02:00

I love watching TV series while I peel peanuts, my cat Romeo, morning fog, cherries, the smell of Christmas trees, my family -
But I as well love Paris.
Nothing overdramatic or something to exaggerate, but still a kind of special, distinctive feeling which I can not really explain. My tummy flips when I’m daydreaming about living there and I just simply want to be in Paris -

Well, maybe you’ve already noticed my count down here on the right… but in 24 days I will be on my way to Paris; city of lights and love, shopping paradise and gourmet walhalla (!)
I can’t wait to stroll down the Champs Elysee, taking the Paris metro, having some macarons again, sipping on my café au lait, exploring the different arrondissements a bit better and purchase some new winter fashion - which nobody will have here in Holland, wha-ha... -
I’m going for 3 days with my mum and sister and I can’t wait - (and it will be a true miracle if I will get to see and do everything that’s already on my list…)

I’ve only been 2 times in Paris, both for my birthday - when I was 10 and last year, for my 15th birthday. To get (even more) in the Paris mood, I decided to try and make éclairs. Chocolate éclairs.
I only have had 3 or 4 éclairs in my life; all in Paris at Fauchon, Maison du Chocolat and bakery Paul.
So the stakes and expectations were rather high…

Luckily the whole process went very smoothly and as you’ve already seen on the first photograph…
my own éclairs turned out beautifully and very delicious.
They are not quite yet in the same league as Fauchon’s, but this is truly a great recipe and it did give a real similar feeling as the one from last year…

I actually don’t really like custard or things filled with pastry cream - I’m not that keen on profiteroles or millefeuilles
but this cream filling - o my god
This pastry cream is different, slightly vanilla-infused and it is much lighter, as a result of adding whipped cream into the batter.
This is very nice, and will make it possible to devour 5 or 6 Éclairs easily without needing any pause…

It was a lot of work, definitely if you compare it with the time it took to gobble them down…, but all worth it.
And who knows…if things go as I want, maybe you can have one someday at JULIA instead of Fauchon… ;)

Chocolate Éclairs (makes 30)
Pâte à choux:
- 115g (1stick/½ cup) butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp sugar + ½ tsp salt
- 150g (1 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs (plus 1 egg white, if needed - I didn’t need it)

Pastry cream:
- 500ml (2 cups) whole milk
- 100g (½ cup) sugar
- ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- pinch of salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 75g (¼ cup) cornstarch 2 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

Chocolate glaze:
- 170g (6 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 565ml (2 ¼ cups) heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp honey

1. Begin with the pastry cream:
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, half of the sugar, vanilla and salt.
Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour 100ml (½ cup) of the hot-milk mixture into the egg-yolk mixture. Continue adding milk (100ml/½ cup at a time) until it has been incorporated.

Pour mixture back into the saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens.
Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter, and beat on medium speed until the butter melts and the mixture cools, about 5 minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours (or up to 2 days!) just before using, beat on low speed until smooth.

2. The pâte à choux:
Preheat oven to 210°C (425°F)
In a medium saucepan, combine butter, sugar, salt and 240ml (1 cup) water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and immediately remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in the flour until combined.
Return pan to medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from the sides, about 3 minutes.

Transfer mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute.
Increase the speed to medium, and add the whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated before adding the next. Test the batter by touching it with your finger and lifting to form a soft peak. If a soft peak does not form, the batter needs more egg. If you have added all the whole eggs and the batter still does not form a soft peak, lightly beat the remaining egg white, and add a little at a time.

3. Making Éclairs out of the pâte à choux:
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. With a ruler and a pencil, mark lines about 8 cm (3 ½ inches) long on the parchment paper, spacing them about 5 cm (1 ½ inches) apart. I got 15 on my sheet.
Turn parchment paper over, marked sides down (otherwise your Éclairs will have little lines on their back…!)

Fill a pastry back with pâte à choux and pipe along the lines on the prepared baking sheets - about 1 cm (½ inch) thick. Gently smooth tops with a wet fingertip to ensure even rising.

Bake for 10 minutes and reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F).
Continue to bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until pastries are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Transfer pastries and parchment paper to a wire wrack to cool completely.

4. Make the chocolate glaze:
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. (large enough that an Éclair could fit in lengthwise)
Heat 190ml (¾ cup) cream and the honey in a small saucepan over medium heat until bubbles begin to appear around the edges, about 5 minutes. Pour mixture over the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Let cool, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

5. Filling the Éclairs:
With the same pastry tip (cleaned of course!) create a small hole on both sides of each shell.

Take the pastry cream out of the fridge and in a medium bowl, stir to soften.
In another bowl, whip the remaining 375ml (1 ½ cups) heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the Pastry Cream in two batches to lighten.
Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with the same plain 1cm (½ inch) tip.
Insert the tip into the opening of each Éclair shell - both sides - and pipe to fill with the whipped pastry cream. You’ll feel when the Éclair is filled - you’ll feel pressure and the shell will be a lot heavier…

Dip the top of each Éclair into the chocolate glaze; let excess drip off, and place, coated sides up, on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
Refrigerate Éclairs in a single layer in an airtight container until glaze is set, about 20 minutes or up to 2 days…

Wednesday Baking II : Carrot cake Muffins with Cinnamon Glaze…

2006-09-27T19:04:00.000+02:00

It’s Wednesday today, and just like last week, I’ve had a lovely quiet morning today, filled with baking, a bit of blogging and a
lo-hot of tasting.
This morning I made Carrot cake Muffins.
I just realized this is again a recipe with lots of raisins and cinnamon (!) Talk about coincidence…=)

The recipe is from Delia Smith. I love her Vegetarian Collection - it’s a big, beautiful book with simple and complicated recipes and the most amazing photo’s - even a simple potato looks gorgeous in here.
According to Delia this is the absolute best carrot cake there is. She worked on the recipe for years, carefully analysed it and made a lot of little adjustment over the years.

Changing the recipe seemed very stupid and completely sacrilege, so I followed the instructions precisely...
My only adjustment was the use of little muffin tins instead of two large cake pans. I was very pleased with the outcome; they were a lot easier to make and don’t they look sweet??
I’m very glad I didn’t change a single thing: this is indeed the best carrot cake ever

It’s sweet, dense and spongy and still fairly healthy judging all the ingredients...
You can taste all the different ingredients and flavours, but what really special is, is that not one single thing dominates in this cake – all the lovely flavours work together and are simply a perfect match!

Although I liked the cinnamon glaze, I prefer the muffin served just plain with the syrup…I love this syrup - It’s without a doubt the best addition ever for a carrot cake. It will be perfectly moist (but not wet!) unbelievably sweet and so delicious…
well, you just have to try it yourself ;)

Carrot cake Muffins with Cinnamon Glaze (makes 18 muffins)
base:
- 175g (1 cup packed) dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ dl (2/3 cup) sunflower oil
- 200g (1 2/3 cups) self raising flour (wholemeal)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp mixed spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and white pepper)
- 200g (= 1 ½ cups packed, when grated) carrots, scraped and roughly grated
- zest of one 1 orange
- 100g (½ cup) raisins
- 50g (2/3 cup) grated coconut
- 50g (½ cup) pecan nuts
syrup:
- juice of one little orange
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 75g (½ cup packed, minus 3 Tbsp) dark brown sugar
glaze:
- 125g (1/2 cup) mascarpone
- 100g (1/2 cup) fresh cream cheese (8%fat)
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 3 tsp brown sugar
- 50g (½ cup) pecan nuts (for the topping)

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F)
Make the cinnamon glaze first: whip all ingredients together until they’re creamy, cover with plastic foil and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
Divide all the pecan nuts (100g) over a baking sheet. Grill for 6 minutes and turn oven back to 170°C (325°F)

2. Cut half of the amount of nuts roughly up for the cake base, and the rest very finely for the topping.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar, eggs and oil for about 2 to 3 minutes, until sugar is completely dissolved. Sift flour, baking soda and mixed spices (put back the grains!) stir and add the ingredients to the cake base.

4. Butter and flour a muffin pan and a small cake pan. Pour base in forms (don’t fill them completely! About 2/3) and bake for 30 minutes, well risen and firm. When they stick to their forms, bake for another 2 to 3 minutes and check again. Leave them in their tins and make the syrup.

5. For the syrup: whisk together both citrus fruits and add in the sugar. Mix well. Prick (with a toothpick) little holes in the muffins/cake and divide and pour over the syrup.

6. Let cool completely. Take them out off their forms and spread (if you wish...) with cinnamon glaze. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and enjoy…

Wednesday Baking: Cinnamon Raisin Bread

2006-09-23T09:23:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday I’ve two classes plus my first one starts at two in the afternoon - no wonder my favourite school day is Wednesday.
I love I don’t have to set on the alarm and I can spend the whole morning wandering around alone and in my pyjamas.

It’s beginning to become a bit of a habit to use this time to keep my blog a bit updated and, maybe you already guessed, bake something.
When I wake up on this Wednesday morning, the house is empty and it’s completely silent.- I make my morning cappuccino in peace, turn on the radio and start leafing through my cookbooks (a bit drooling…) and looking for something to make.

This morning, absorbed in one of my favourite and most used cookbooks - Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook - I spotted this recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Bread. I love cinnamon. It’s without a doubt my favourite spice, I put it always on my cappuccino and have the tendency to double or triple the amount that’s asked for in my recipes.

In short - this recipe sounded just perfect (especially with another cappuccino!) and I started my Wednesday morning baking session…

I have to say - I hope I don‘t sound too cocky… - everything I’ve made so far from cookbook recipes with a picture, looked very similar or sometimes even identical, as my outcome.
The only real surprises came from the experimental baking…
Well, up till now. This time my making didn’t even look slightly as the picture out the book…

Martha Stewart’s picture of this Cinnamon Raisin Bread was light, airy and well, very breadlike. Although it was a bit of a shock mine wasn’t, - I think my yeast didn’t do his job so well... - it was yet one of the best, extremes things I’ve ever tasted. I can't imagine Martha’s version had been any better or have more flavour than my version…

It was delicious, I loved it. It was compact, a bit cookie-ish and soft, and completely perfumed with cinnamon and sugar. Luscious golden-brown and with an amazing over-the-top sweet sticky cinnamon-syrup-swirl inside. It’s indescribable. The texture was perfect and if you had told me about this filling, I know I wouldn’t have believed that so much goodness would all been inside.

I didn’t wait and let cool completely before slicing, and a slightly warm, thick stream of cinnamon sugar came oozing out. Is it possible to get it more sinful or delicious than that?

The dough itself was wonderfully soft and warm, and a real pleasure to knead.

But keep in mind this isn’t a recipe you finish in an hour or so, it will definitely take you a while with all the rising and rolling, so pick a good moment and take your time (!)

A bit obvious; don’t eat this bread as a quick snack out the hand or for example when you’re dressed in white and you don’t have any napkins. Guaranteed trouble. Do devour it however, in thin slices and with a nice cup of tea (and plenty of napkins...)

Cinnamon Raisin Bread (makes 2 loaves)
- 1 envelope (¼ ounce/7g) active dry yeast
- 480 ml (2 cups) warm milk
- 950g (6 ½ cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 115g (1 stick/½ cup) butter, room temperature, cut into pieces, plus more for pans
- 100g (½ cup) sugar
- 2 eggs, plus 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2 ½ tsp coarse salt - 200g (1 cup) raisins
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
filling:
- 300g (1 ½ cups) dark brown castor sugar
- 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk and whisk to combine. Add the flour, butter, sugar, 2 eggs, and salt. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed until all the ingredients are well combined, about 3 minutes. Raise speed to medium-low, and continue to mix until the dough is completely smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes more.

2. Turn out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Pat out the dough into a big round. Sprinkle with raisins and cinnamon and knead and fold until they are just incorporated. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Return the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and pat into a round. Fold the bottom third of the dough up, the top third down and the right and left sizes over, pressing down the seal. Return the dough into the bowl and let rise again until doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.

4. Make the filling. Combine sugar and cinnamon with 2 Tbsp water in a small bowl.

5. Generously butter two 9by5-inch loaf pans (if you don’t have two, one 7 inch round spring form) set aside. 6. Return the dough to a lightly floured work surface, and divide in half. Roll each half out to a large rectangle, a bit bigger than your loaf pans - about 10 inch. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle each with half of the filling.

7. With the short end of the rectangle facing you, fold in both of the long sides of the dough in. the roll the dough towards you, gently pressing forming a tight log. Roll back and forth to seal the seam. Place loafs in the prepared pans. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and let rest in a warm place, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 225°C (425°F)

8. Brush the tops of the loafs with beaten egg, and transfer pans to the oven. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until loaves are golden brown, about 45 minutes. If the tops begin to brown too quickly, tent with aluminium foil.) turn out the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. (if you can wait…) The bread can be kept, wrapped in plastic up to 4 days.

Prinsjesdag & Royal Cookies

2006-09-18T15:47:00.000+02:00

Every third Tuesday of September - as tomorrow - is Prinsjesdag.
Prinsjesdag, literally translated day of the princes, is the official opening of the Dutch parliamentary year. On this day the Queen rides in her Gouden Koets (Golden Coach) all the way through The Hague. She begins her route at the Noordeinde Palace and ends at the Dutch Parliament on het Binnenhof.

Here, in de Ridderzaal, she reads her annual speech in which she introduces the plans of the government, together with the national budget for the Netherlands for the new year.
The name ‘Golden Coach’ is in fact a bit misleading, since the wood is only partially gilded; the rest of it is painted. The carriage is decorated with symbolic motifs and is drawn by eight horses...

Prinsjesdag is a real festive day here in Holland; flags are hanged out and the whole city is orange. (the Royal name is Van Oranje-Nassau… oranje means orange!)
There is carnival, thousands of tourists come to The Hague and…we get a day off from school!
We can go watch the parade, look at the carriage, wave at the queen and - what I especially enjoy - go check out what kind of outfits with big ridiculous matching hats the royals picked out to wear this year! Maybe feathers this year? A pyramid, some vegetables, or simply some fruit?

Because my mother works in the second chamber, (part of the parliament) I grew up very close to all this and is it very fun to walk nonchalant by the tourists, past the security and go inside…!

The year I was 8 (a time where there weren’t terrorist alarms yet) my mum even found a short cut to Het Binnenhof and I could sneak all the way to the front and stand right next to the Golden Coach…=)
I’m not at all pro-royal, but yet I enjoy this day always very much.
Prinsjesdag seemed a good motive (and excuse!) for me to bake something orange, royal and of course, sweet!

I made these royal cookies with orange and ginger.

I adapted them from the classic gingerbreadmans -

added orange zest and orange juice, shaped them into little crowns and decorated them with a simple sugar glaze and orange muisjes.

These cookies are delicious, smell incredible and have a slightly orange hint. They are thin and crispy, a bit buttery and full of flavour. Although the glaze and decorating does give an extra touch, and is fun to do!, they are also delicious just plain.

Royal Orange Ginger Cookies (makes about 2 dozen)

- 420g (3 ½ cup) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

- 1 ½ tsp baking soda

- ¼ tsp salt

- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

- 1 ½ tsp ground ginger

- 1 tsp ground allspice

- 225g (2 sticks/1 cup) butter, room temperature

- 150g (¾ cup) granulated sugar

- 135 g (¾ cup) packed dark-brown sugar

- 2 tsp orange zest

- 1 egg

- 70g (¼ cup) unsulfured molasses

icing:

- 200g (1 cup) icing sugar

- 1to 2 Tbsp orange juice and 1 Tbsp orange zest

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, both sugars and orange zest on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in egg and molasses to combine. With mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated.

3. Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, shape into flattened disks and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line to baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Remove dough from the refrigerator, and let stand until slightly soften. (this will help keep the dough from cracking when rolled.)

On a large piece of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough thinly out. Place the dough and parchment paper on another baking sheet (or a tray) and freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes.

5. Remove dough from freezer, working quickly, cut out large cookies with cookie cutters or your self invented ones with a knife. Using a wide metal spatula (or a cake-slice) transfer cut-outs to prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating sheets halfway through, for 12 to 15 minutes, until crisp but not darkened. - they will harden more when they cool! -

Transfer cookies and parchment paper to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate if you want.

Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Icing:

sift the icing sugar above a bowl and pour in enough orange juice to get a very thick glace. Add the orange zest and mix well. It is better to get a glace that is too thick than a soft, runny one! Spoon the glace onto the cookies and wait a minute or so till it's completely hard.

Triple Love Biscotti

2006-09-13T19:22:00.000+02:00

I’ve told you before about my undying love for kruidnoten.
So when I saw they - very logic since it’s half September… - had entered the shops, you maybe understand my first impulse was to buy the entire pile, rip open every bag and build my own kruidnoten-house where I could happily live in.
But I as well became a bit confused about it.
What was going on here? This isn’t normal! Do they think we don’t have a calendar - it’s 3 months till December! It’s just absurd!
Therefore I decided to go on strike and will refuse to participate in this ridiculous nonsense. I will be strong and will turn every kruidnoot down till half November!

Uhm…

Ok.

It's true.
I did buy one bag.
But I can explain it one hundred percent -
I had to buy it.
I needed them for the following Triple Love Biscotti…so it doesn’t count and I’m still strong and still on strike (!)

Now is the first love in ‘triple love biscotti’ explained.
The second and third love will be also clear when I tell you they contain chocolate and coffee.
They contain chocolate coffee. ;)

This combination of flavours and spices is just absolutely heaven and perfect with a nice cup of coffee…

This biscotti (cantucci) is flavourful and exactly crunchy enough. It has a perfect subtle hint of coffee and the delicious big chunks of chocolate and kruidnoojes will melt a bit when you dunk it in your coffee…

I used my favourite biscotti recipe, which originally has hazelnuts (another love) instead of kruidnoten - also very, very good…

Triple Love Biscotti (makes bout 20)
- 280g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 150g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 100g (1cup) kruidnoten, roughly chopped
- 85g (½ cup) bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 150° C (300° F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in a large bowl flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and espresso powder. Add the egg mixture and beat until a dough forms, kneading with the back of your spoon and adding the chocolate and kruidnoten about halfway through.

3. Form a dough ball and divide it in two. Roll each half, on a lightly floured surface, out into a log - 20 cm long and 7 cm wide. Transfer them onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 40 minutes, or until firm to touch.

4. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes

5. On a cutting board, using a sharp knife, cut slantwise both logs in slices, 1 to 2 cm tick

6. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. remove them from the oven and turn slices over, bake again for another 10 minutes, until nice, firm and golden-brown on both sides.

7. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

SHF23 Surprise Inside - Brownie Explosion...

2006-09-12T13:29:00.000+02:00

Surprise!
I’m joining in the greatest Food Blogger’s sweet-tooth event: Sugar High Friday. This month’s theme is, big surprise!, Surprise Inside and is hosted by Alanna from A Veggie Venture.

I love my sweets but yet I had a hard time choosing what to enter.
What is the ultimate surprise?
Finding a broken nail from the hostess in your dessert is also a surprise, but not really the one I was hoping for…
But what then?
What’s the best base and what’s its best surprise?
The answer was actually rather simple: chocolate.
chocolate, chocolate and... chocolate!

I began a bit of experimenting and ended up making these dense and dark brownies. Very rich, pure, oozy and delicious. Instead of making one big one, I put them in individual little muffin-tins, and for the big surprise…
I buried cherry liqueur pralines inside them.

Can you really think of a nicer surprise than finding a soft kirsch centre, an explosion of flavour, inside the best brownie you’ve ever tasted?

The whole thing went quite well actually - I made the batter, placed the surprise-filling in the tins, covered them up and placed them in the oven… - but let’s just say it was a real surprise to find that after 20 minutes 12 little chocolate volcano’s had arisen in my oven, very angry and spewing out their lovely sugary-kirsch lava…

OK, this was not really the surprise I was hoping for(!)

One tip, (in retrospect quite logic, but still…) make sure you completely cover up the bonbons - I used two different kinds of liqueur pralines (see photo above) and left the ones with those nice stems a bit uncovered…not my best move.
If you leave them uncovered, the alcohol will run out easily and vaporize when it’s chocolate layer melts…and they will turn out like this!

But luckily -surprise!- this didn’t ruin them at all (!)
they still looked very beautiful and they tasted absolutely amazing. Dark and dense, so rich and overwhelmingly chocolaty with still a delicious soft oozy kirsch centre…

Definitely worth a try!

I’ve added of course, - no surprise here - the recipe for you to try (and love)

Brownie Explosions (makes 16)

- 250g butter (2 sticks/1 cup)
- 250g best quality bittersweet chocolate (1,5 cup) chopped
- 4 eggs
- 325g (1 2/3 cup) fine granulated sugar
- 150g (1 ¼ cup) all-purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- 16 Cherry Liquor pralines.

1. Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F) and grease and flour a muffin-tin

2. melt the butter and chocolate on low heat, stirring once in a while. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Mix in a different bowl the flour and salt.

3. Take the chocolate mixture away from the heat when it’s completely melted, and let it cool off a bit before adding it to the eggs.

4. Add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and mix well. Add the flour and mix until you’ll have a smooth batter.

5. Place in every muffin tin a praline and cover them COMPLETELY with the batter. Fill every form. bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until done. The top will be dark and dry, but the centre still sweet, dense and compact. Be alert; the difference between a nice sticky brownie and a dried out one is just a couple of minutes!

6. Let them completely cool in their forms and keep in an airtight box.

Blogging By Mail

2006-09-10T10:32:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago I found out about the Blogging By Mail project, this round organised by Stephanie from The Happy sorceress. The rules are simple:

Food bloggers from all over the world swap treats, baked good, recipes and more, sending a care package to a new friend. Cookies, cakes, jellies, breads, candies, teas and coffees, music, cookbooks, photos... Everyone who joins in will be given a swap partner to whom they'll send a package and you can fill your package with whatever you want to share.

Of course I immediately signed up - looking very forward to carefully put together my parcel, and not to forget, to receive my own little something (!)

My own parcel to send turned out to be very Dutch. I filled it with all kinds of things I love, but also tought of adding a lot of local Dutch stuff, things that would be completely new and unavailable on the other side of the globe.
Well, my package has just began its very long journey to its final destination. Please Mr. Postman; be nice and look out a bit for it, handle it with care so it will survive the shipping…!

And what a surprise was waiting for me last night…(!)

After a very long day at work - I just started my new job working in the kitchen of a grand café/restaurant. - but this is really a different story… - I got home and found waiting for me…

MY PARCEL!! *whoe-hoe…!*

I wasn’t expecting it to be here so soon at all, but was very happy and excited - I instantly forgot my tiredness and opened anxiously my parcel…

O, and what a wonderful and beautiful stuff where inside! It turned out to come from Mademoiselle Differentiell out of Switzerland and she wrote a lovely letter, which I really enjoyed reading, where she a bit explained what she had send and why.

This is what I got;

Not one, not two, but three chocolate bars out of Switzerland! She had read on my blog that I like hazelnuts so she chose a hazelnuts-bar (isn’t that thoughtful??) and two extra fine dark ones…

A bottle of Rivella - Rivella is a soft drink and comes originally from Switzerland, but is actually being widely exported to many countries; including the Netherlands (!) So unfortunately I already knew it, but I like the gesture! =)

And last, but certainly not least, she added some delicious self-made goodies: a jar of dandelion marmalade which she has made quite often since kindergarten, Nidelzalte - caramel candies and sables. Of course far more than you can see on the photograph, but I couldn’t help it and started sampling…- quickly this was all that was left to photograph. I absolutely loved them! And I think Mademoiselle Differentiell had foreseen this a bit, because she added three nice little cards where she had written on the recipes! =)

Thank you for the lovely thoughtful presents M.D., I loved everything and can’t wait to try the Dandelion Marmalade on toast for breakfast tomorrow!

Now, I have just one little question remaining…
Where can I sign up for the next round of Blogging By Mail??! ;)

Kletskoppen

2006-09-06T18:37:00.000+02:00

Some days I just crave for sweet. Often something in particular and once I’ve figured out what exactly, I just want to get a move on and make it as soon as I can. (or simply buy it of course…)
Well, last weekend I had this distinct urge for kletskoppen. Kletskoppen are caramelized peanut biscuits and beloved old-Dutch cookies.
Although you can buy them in every supermarket and almost every bakery sells them fresh, I decided to make them myself. I found many, many recipes on the net, all quite similar, so I just merged a few different ones, added to taste some more peanuts and finally ended up with this.

Figurative is a kletskop in Dutch someone who talks a lot and superficial, but this biscuit got its peculiar name - literally translated means it smack head - as a result of the preparation; when you put the dough on the baking sheets, you have to klets (smack) the tops with the back of a spoon and make them as thin as you can. This way you will get a lovely crispy cookie.

A kletskop is made of almost only sugar and will melt in the oven to a delicious crispy biscuit with little holes in it. They are sweet and crunchy, great to nibble on or served with dessert. ice cream for example.

Kletskoppen (makes 20 if you don’t snack to much of the dough…)

- 50 g peanuts, finely chopped
- 125 g brown castor sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 55 g butter, melted
- 50 g all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 200 ° C and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Mix in a standard mixing bowl castor sugar, cinnamon powder and salt. Add the melted butter and mix until well blended. Add in parts the flour and chopped peanuts and mix until you’ll have a compact dough.

3. Shape little balls, about a tablespoon full, and place them with 10 cm space between them on the baking sheets. Smack them with the back of a spoon out as thinly as you can. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes until melted, paper-thin and golden brown. Leave them to cool and harden on the baking sheets and keep in an airtight box.

Babybundts

2006-09-05T20:10:00.000+02:00

It’s safe to say terms as ‘extremely delicious’, ‘mouth-watering’ and ‘amazingly sinful’ are often used on many foodblogs. yes, that includes mine as well... I love reading foodblogs, and think these, maybe well used, expressions are quite important; you do want to pass on your experiences, share your enthusiasm and of course get others a bit drooling and craving for your delicious recipe (!) =)

There are beautiful blogs on my reading list that always amaze me with an original post and a special twist. I know how much time it can take to figure out exactly how to express what you want to say, and I think I’m not alone when I say I’m glad some others take this time and do this so lovely. It’s always nicer to read a passionate, detailed description of something than boring non-info like ‘this is a recipe for a cake. try it…’, right?!

Although I as well like to rattle on and give full descriptions when I think I’ve made something amazing, this time I’ll keep it a bit shorter and will not exaggerate. I think I’ll save that for a more over-the-top post. I promise those will come…! =)

These lovely moist cakes are called ‘babybundts’ - please don’t ask me why, because I really don’t know… - and I found the recipe in Nigella Lawson’s ‘How to Be a Domestic Goddess’
They are very easy to prepare and will not leave you with much of washing-up. I loyally obeyed to all the instructions - only I did add a good handful of raisins to the batter, which gave a nice extra bite.

I think this is a very good alternative for a normal plain cake; it’s quite basic and light, but the yoghurt gives it a twist and makes it very fresh and slightly sticky. This pairing with the sweet sugary icing is truly delicious…

Babybundts (makes 6)
- 125 g natural yoghurt
- 75 g salted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- rind of 1 lemon
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 50 g (a good handful) raisins
- ½ tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 125 g granulated sugar
icing:
- 200 g icing sugar
- juice of 1 lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 170° C and grease generously 1 mini-Bundts form for 6 - or if you don’t have that, muffin tins or little oven bowls

2. Mix in a measuring cup yoghurt, melted butter, eggs and lemon rind.

3. Mix in a large bowl flour, baking soda, salt and sugar.

4. Spatula the wet ingredients in the dry ones and mix well. Fill the prepared tins (half full!) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

5. Leave them to cool a bit before taking them out their forms (otherwise they’ll brake! but don’t wait too long, or they’ll be glued to their tins forever…) place with the flat side down, on a rack to cool.

6. For the glace, sift the icing sugar above a bowl and pour in enough lemon juice so you will get a thick glace. Cover the cakes with it and let it drip a bit down the sides.

Of course you can use all sorts of other citrus fruit for variation, oranges for example, or maybe lime and grapefruits…

Salty Triangle Biscuits

2006-08-31T19:34:00.000+02:00

Because this following recipe should really come with a warning, thoughtful as always, I added it in for you...
warning:
It is very likely once you’ve tasted one of these totally luscious crisps, and you’ve got the rich addictive flavour remaining in your mouth, many, I really mean many, will follow and you will find yourself devouring the entire pile.
So a great self-control is needed.
Because I apparently don’t have that, an entire pile did follow and now we refer to them simply as ‘de lekkere ziekmakertjes’ - translated ‘the delicious little sickmakers’…

I found the original recipe for these salty biscuits in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.
I don’t know what it is but I always pick out recipes that are paired with a nice picture. The art of good photography really gets me and makes me unconsciously craving for all their tasty looking delicacies. I simply can’t get a recipe out off my mind after I’ve seen the beautiful, flawless, tempting photograph.
So after seeing Martha Stewart’s mouth-watering photograph of these lovely golden-brown cookies, there was no question. I just had to make them.

Martha titled them ‘Savoury Caraway Cheese Crisps’ but you can’t really taste the mascarpone and the caraway seeds weren’t such a success so I thought they would be better of as ‘salty triangle biscuits’ and I changed it.

These cookies are surprisingly rich and light at the same time. Flaky, with a subtle, soft flavour and very irresistible. They are dry, o so buttery and they will become deliciously soft and oozy on your tongue while chewing.
Perfect for an afternoon snack or appetizer, they were also much enjoyed the next evening with a light salad.

Salty Triangle Biscuits
(makes about 5 dozen)
- 400 g (2 ¾ cup) sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 55 g (¼ cup) sugar
- 200 g (2 sticks/1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
- 250 g (8 ounces) mascarpone cheese
- 1 large egg
sprinkling:
- coarse sea salt
- sesame seeds
- optional: your favourite herbs/spices

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add the butter, one piece at a time, beating until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

2. Add the mascarpone and beat until a soft dough forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

3. Turn out the dough onto a clean surface and divide it in half. Shape each into a flattened square, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

4. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

5. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll each piece thinly out into a big square on a well-floured work surface. Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut the dough square into triangles. (They should be roughly the same size, but the shapes don’t have to be uniform) Place them on the prepared baking sheets.

6. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush each triangle with egg wash. Sprinkle some with sea salt and the others with sesame seeds.

7. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the crisps are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Crisps can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

I present...

2006-08-29T18:16:00.000+02:00

Without much further a due, I now present to you
my brand new, stunning little baby, the most valuable possession I have…

My beautiful new Dell Inspiron 1300 Notebook (!)

It feels a bit strange to sit here, by the way very comfortable, on the coach typing up this short post. This is such a luxury after the many hours I spend on the (a lot less comfortable) wooden chair behind my desk. I’m still a bit taken aback from this, for me, very expensive purchase - I’m at once completely broke…- but I'm above all just really, really happy. I LOVE it!

I’m just going to play a bit with it right now, figure some handy things out and learn a few things about it. This might take some time because I’m not, how shall I put it, a real computer expert… - maybe you’ve noticed my attempt to put categories on my blog, which are STILL un-linkable…if anyone knows how to solve this problem by the way, don’t be shy and please share your secret! - =)

So from now on, only posts from this little wire-less beauty… =)

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Banana Oatmeal Cake with Hazelnuts and Crumb Topping

2006-08-28T10:58:00.000+02:00

A Banana Oatmeal Cake with Hazelnuts and Crumb Topping.
Wow, that’s a whole mouth full to pronounce. (try to say it, for fun of course, 10 times fast in a row…banana oatmeal cake with hazelnuts and crumb topping, banana oatcake with crumb hazelnutsmeal topping, hazelnuts and crumb oatmeal with banana cake topping, or something like that…)
I’ve noticed this isn’t the most mysterious puzzling title, but it is clear-cut and straightforward and I feel strongly that all the above elements should be pointed out and get their well deserved credits…=)
So here you have it; Banana Oatmeal Cake with Hazelnuts and Crumb Topping.

And a hit it was; it turned out to be a luscious cake with an overwhelmingly rich banana flavour. Healthy, light, slightly moist, sweet and with a nice extra bite due to the un-chopped hazelnuts.
Without the coating it would be actually a rather simple basic cake, but this baked on crispy, very sugary crumb topping gave it a very nice extra touch and made it stunning to see.

I loved the difference between these textures; dense and fluffy cake, covered with a delicious sweet crunchy layer… I made this cake because my grandma came to visit us and it was very well received. I served it with a nice cup of tea in the afternoon and it was perfect.

Banana Oatmeal Cake with Crumb Topping

- 85 g (1/2 cup) butter, softened
- 165 g (2/3 cup) packed brown castor sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 large banana’s, mashed
- 110 g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
- 50 g (a good handful) hazelnuts
- 130 g (1 1/3 cup) rolled oats
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
topping:
- 70 g (3/4 cup) rolled oats
- 80 g (1/3 cup) packed brown castor sugar
- 2 Tbsp (30 g) butter, melted
- 2 Tbsp (20 g) chopped hazelnuts
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 175˚C (350 F) and grease and flour a 24 cm (8 inch) spring form cake pan.

2. Stir together flour, oats (130 g), hazelnuts, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

3. Cream with an electric mixer the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, following the bananas and vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

4. For the topping mix the oats, sugar, hazelnuts, cinnamon and melted butter together until crumbly.

5. Divide the topping onto the cake, and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until it tests done. Transfer to a rack to cool.

6. Will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature, airtight wrapped in plastic. Can be frozen double-wrapped for up to a month.

Five things to eat before you die...

2006-08-23T11:29:00.000+02:00

Perhaps you have already heard about this great meme which is going round invented by Melissa from The Traveler’s Lunchbox, the “Things to Eat before You Die” also known as “The Foodblogger’s Guide to the Globe”.
For this exciting project she asks follow bloggers worldwide, to make a list of their five most amazing, most special, tastiest food experience that they think everyone should once try in their lives. Very happy and honored to be tagged by Aun a.k.a. Chubby Hubby, I’ll now present you MY list of Thing You Must have Eaten At Least Once Before You Die…

1. Ganache truffles
Nothing beats a ganache truffle. I’ve been privileged to have sampled many bonbons and other delicious chocolate creations, from Wittamer to Fauchon, and although these are very outstanding and magnifique, I simply can’t live without ganache truffles. Only a ganache truffle has that ultimately richness and deep, bitter chocolate taste which is so addictive and makes it a thing you’ll definitely have to eat before you die…

2. Laduree’s "Club Champs-Elysées"
Their famous macarons didn’t make the cut; see point 1. plus the fact that I may only list five, but Laduree’s Club Sandwich Champs-Elysées – toast with dried tomatoes, eggplant, grilled courgette, mozzarella, black olives, pine nuts, parmesan and rosemary and basil. Served with a simple mixed salad using very good quality olive oil, and Laduree’s French fries (a.k.a delicious crunchy potatochips…) – certainly did. Sounds maybe a bit strange to go to one of the best chocolatiers and order a sandwich, but try it and I know you’ll agree with me. It’s already a year ago that me and my mum ordered this delicious lunch, we went for my birthday to Paris for a weekend, and Paris was of course amazing. Since then I often think back to it and has it became one of my dearest memories.

3. kruidnootjes (ginger nuts)
Kruidnoten are a Dutch traditional candy and are being eaten for The Saint Nicolas Feast. In October the shops are suddenly loaded with them, even special brands, you can get them fresh from every bakery and behind each display-window you can see pictures from the Saint and his kruidnootjes for the children. It’s every time again special to receive them after a year waiting. These little crunchy cookies are full with flavour and it’s hard to stop eating.

4. my family recipe for oliebollen (doughnut balls)
Oliebollen are being made for the celebration of New Year’s Eve and you eat them with lots and lots of icing sugar. You can make them your self, but almost everyone simply buys them from a street booth. I find this every year again so remarkable; they’re over priced and the quality varies a lot - often they are old, greasy and tasteless. Our family recipe is on the other hand the best; every year we adapt it a little trying to get an even better bunch and we pack them with raisins, apple and citron. They are delicious. It’s a true tradition to make them and I can’t imagine starting the year without them. Of course you’ll find the recipe on January 1st on my blog…

5. The Liquid Lounge’s "Honey and Chili Prawn Skewer" in Puerto Banus, Spain.
Food always tastes better when you’re on holiday but this was without a doubt the best thing I’ve ever eaten. I’ve seriously considered jumping on a plain to go back. We were there on vacation and noticed right away this little, English bar/restaurant with their big leather chairs inside and nice relax atmosphere. It is already some time ago but I can still remember the lovely ambiance and the distinct, different flavors of my dish. The prawn skewer was served with Italian Noodle, peanuts, red pepper and a coriander salad. Sweet, spicy, soft, crunchy, hot, cold…; definitely a deserved spot on the list…

Okay, now it’s time to ask some other people worldwide for their list/experiences and am I supposed to tag again five bloggers, but feel free to join and share your list as a comment, I’m really curious for the outcome…!

- Anne from Anne’s food – Stockholm
- Mary from Alpineberry – San Francisco
- Nicky and Oliver from Delicious Days – Munich
- Jocelyn from KUIDAORE – Singapore
- Gilly from Humble Pie – Canada

Kinnie and Ftira’s

2006-08-21T17:59:00.000+02:00

Bonģu! Yes, I’m back from my vacation to Malta. All-tanned and well-rested. I have had a wonderful time and am already missing my days of lying on a stretcher next to the pool, just listening to some music…

When we landed on Schiphol Airport this morning, a nice welcome was already waiting for us; rain, rain, and more rain. Grey skies with dark clouds and bitter coldness. Will put you definitely right back on your feet in the real world again after a week of dreaming and relaxing under a blue sky…

Malta is the perfect place for your holiday if you want to rest, sunbathe, shop a little and rest some more. It’s an idyllic little island with an ideal climate; of course hot, but not at all stifling. All the time sunshine and a lovely little breeze so you get the chance to cool off a bit.
Upon the clean streets are cute English houses, all beautiful painted, little chapels, small family restaurants, trendy bistros and souvenir shops which we happily plundered.

For the evening we drove on one of the many historic, antique yellow buses, which are by the way rejected English buses. (You really shouldn’t think of the brakes and their condition when you’re on one of the chauffeur’s bumpy, high-speed rides and see the many saint figures, presumably for blessings and good luck next to him…)
We set off to Valetta or Sliema; shopped a little and had a nice dinner on one of the cities many terraces.

I loved sitting there, watching people go by and drink some delicious, cold Kinnie. Kinnie is very popular on Malta, alcohol-free and made from bitter oranges and a variety of aromatic herbs. Really refreshing and an excellent thirst quencher.
Having a freshly baked, good-filled Maltese Ftira paired with this made it perfect. This big, round, oven-baked bread with a 20 cm diameter looks a bit like a plain, toasted focaccia but has a thick dark crust and a deliciously soft white centre which Maltese call the galba, i.e. the heart. I especially liked the scrumptious, still slightly warm, tuna-Ftira; both sides of the sliced bread were coated with tomato puree, and after this packed with tuna, Maltese capers, onion, garlic and olives. finished with a good sprinkle of olive-oil, this turned out to be a simple, very filling and very tasty sandwich.

I also succeeded to be a perfect tourist and came back with a much heavier suitcase than I had on the way there - stacked with new clothes, souvenirs and local goodies; including a jar of Maltese capers, some traditional cured cheeselets, Maltese honey made from wild thyme, nougat, the famous honey rings (qaghaq ta’ l-ghasel) which turned out a bit to dry and disappointing, and of course a bottle of Kinnie!

We as well found a little book with more than 120 authentic Maltese recipes which I’m eager to use. Leafing through, I already found the recipes for a lovely Mqaret (datecake) and Kwarezimal (Lenten almond cake) which both look very tempting and promising.
And who knows, maybe they will bring back a bit of my “good-happy- vacation-vibe” and the “gone-away-from-everything-feeling”, when school and work starts all again next week…

GONE

2006-08-11T14:51:00.000+02:00

YES!
Don't want to make anyone jealous, but...
I already packed my bags, and in a few hours i'm off to (hopefully) sunny and exotic…

MALTA!!!!!!!!!

A whole week of just relaxing and getting tanned is planned… =)
Lying fabulously on a white bounty-beach among some palm trees, drink cocktails, read books, maybe some swimming, try local food, rest, and just have a nice break before school and all the other drama starts...

yum, yum...! =)
So, I’m gone for a week! But I’ll see U later, and hopefully I'll have some new Maltese recipes...

Chocolate truffles

2006-08-10T09:34:00.000+02:00

The remaining ganache which was standing in my fridge since I’d made chocolate-glazed gingerbread cakes (see previous post) I ended up using for some chocolate truffles. I know, not the most original post. But because they’re so delicious you’ll all forgive me, right?
Chocolate truffles are extremely rich and tasty, very easy to make and so much fun! You will feel like a real chocolatier; shaping and creating your own legendary bonbons, and everything, really I mean everything, including yourself, will be covered with chocolate and cocoa powder…indeed one messy process! (Or does this happen just with me?)
But I’m sure you’ll completely forget this when you’re finished and you’ll have a delightful homemade truffle in return… =)

I made 3 different ones; one with a regular cocoa coating, one covered with a mixture from ground cinnamon and sugar, (this one was my favourite!) and the last one with a layer of ground hazelnuts -
They turned out beautiful and, of course, very tasty… (They’re ganache truffles; who doesn’t like that??)

After a bit of sampling, and my mom had another few more... - She really, really liked them; she just couldn’t leave them alone! - which made me of course in return happy; it’s nice if what you’ve made is been appreciated so much…-
Well, I packed “the leftovers” in nice, pretty, gift bags and gave them out as little presents. They looked wonderful and I must say, very impressive…

Chocolate truffles

- 1 recipe for Chocolate Ganache (see previous post chocolate-glazed gingerbread cakes)
- 100 g bittersweet chocolate, chopped for coating
- +/- 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- +/- 50 g of chopped nuts – I used hazelnuts but just use what you like; almonds, peanuts or walnuts for example…
- 25 g cinnamon powder mixed with 25 g icing sugar

1. If you haven’t have the ganache already; make the ganache and let it stand for at least 2 hours, until firm. (or chill, covered, until firm)

2. Scoop, with a spoon, the truffle mixture into little balls (about 2 cm) and roll each one in your hand palms until round. Place them on a plate and chill the truffles thoroughly - the warmth of your hands will make them melt a little!

3. melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (stir once in a while) and spread the cocoa powder on one plate, the cinnamon/icing sugar on a second plate and the chopped nuts on a third one.

4. When the chocolate is melted, take it off heat and let it cool slightly. take the truffles out the fridge.

5. Dip one hand in the melted chocolate. Pick up a truffle with your clean hand and place it in your hand covered in chocolate. Smear the truffle all with chocolate and then roll it through one of the coatings. Place on a plate and repeat this process for all the truffles. You’re done!

6. Truffles can be served immediately or can be refrigerated for up to 10 days.

Chocolate-Glazed Gingerbread Cakes

2006-08-08T14:35:00.000+02:00

The small birthday party my niece gave this afternoon, seemed the perfect occasion for making a first birthday cake. Or in my case; really cute, single-serving chocolate-glazed gingerbread cakes from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

I remember starting very pleased preparing all my ingredients. Thinking how nice it was I’d finally be able to use the handy silicon mould for mini muffins that had been lying in my cabinet for over a year…

O boy, what was I mistaken. Martha already kind of instructed me to generously butter and flour the standard 12-cup muffin pan, tapping out excess flour and set aside…
But I ignored Martha and didn’t generously butter and flour the standard muffin pan.
In fact I didn’t even have a standard 12-cup muffin pan; I had a very cute, silicon muffin mould I wanted to use! And Martha, you should know you really don’t have to butter and flour silicon baking products…

Well, you do. The ginger cakes turned out all messed up, for ever glued to their forms and, to my absolute fury, very ugly.
Looking back I blame the molasses. I guess the sugar caramelized in the oven and adhered to the form sides. *Grrrr…*
This was my first little breakdown. What a mile pale!
It may have been prevented if I just had done what the book told me, but luckily it didn’t turn out to be my first cooking disaster... because I remained with a lot of batter after filling my cute little mould, I also filled a standard form and a petit cake tin. Well, Hallelujah! :)

The result was a beautiful golden mini cake which I covered with thick chocolate ganache and decorated with some lovely little berries. A gorgeous birthday cake and a real success.

Besides, now I had the opportunity to sample and devour these little failures, which by the way tasted heavenly…
The cake was very moist and flavourful, with the wonderful, subtle taste of ginger and other spices. Very light and fluffy; forming the perfect base for the rich, heavy and divine chocolate ganache. In 1 word; delectable…!

Gingerbread cakes
(adapted from Martha Steward’s Baking Handbook. makes 12, can be baked a day in advance and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.)

- 5 Tbsp (60 g) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
- 1 ½ cup (215 g) flour, plus more for pan.
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2/3 cup (157 ml) boiling water
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup (150 g) packed brown castor sugar
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup (230 g) unsulfured molasses
- 1 ½ tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
- 2 pieces crystallized ginger, thinly sliced lengthwise, for garnish. Or in my case: some summer fruit.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F. (175˚C) Generously butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan, tapping out excess flour. Se aside.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the baking soda and boiling water; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl; sift together the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer; beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, and beat until well combined. Add molasses, fresh ginger, and the baking soda mixture; beat until combined. The batter will look soggy but will come together once the flour is added. Add the flour mixture, and beat until well combined.

5. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about halfway. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack to cool completely.

6. Spoon about 1 Tbsp of Chocolate Ganache over each cake, letting some drip around the sides and garnish. Once glazed, cakes can be refrigerated, in airtight containers for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before serving.

Chocolate Ganache

- 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
- ½ pound (225 g) best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat bring cream to full boil, turn off the heat.

2. Add the chocolate, and swirl pan to completely cover it with cream. Let stand for about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk mixture until smooth. Let cool, stirring frequently.

Ganache will thicken as it sits. It should be pourable but still thick enough to coat. If not, place the bowl of ganache over a pan of simmering water and stir until it reaches the right consistency.

The Perfect Scone - the recipe

2006-08-07T14:58:00.000+02:00

OK, I didn’t prepare ALL the different recipes I’d found and wanted to make from books, magazines and the internet, cause frankly, I was quite sick of it. But this last couple of days I have made:

Scones without, with a few, and scones with a lot of raisins.
Scones with milk and scones with buttermilk. (3 different recipes with all a different amount…)
Recipes with a lot of butter/sugar/flour and recipes with not much butter/sugar/flour.

I’ve made recipes which resulted in a soggy bunch, scones that were too dry and fell right away apart, pale ones, burned ones and a couple which tasted rather good actually, but nothing like a scone.
I’ve made light and heavy ones and I’ve experimented with the brushing; milk, buttermilk or egg yolk. (which doesn’t make the slightest difference by the way…)

After 3, I must say, very busy bake-days, I finally came up with a recipe that kind of looked like the ones I wanted - They weren’t close to being perfect yet, but he, NOW it could go somewhere(!)
So I made them again, now with more raisins, a bit more flour (I wanted them to be dry…) and a lot less butter (the previous ones were far to buttery; they had a heavy, greasy smell and aftertaste, I wanted them to be a bit more neutral)

Well, 10 minutes in the oven + 3 minutes under the broiler later…HURRAH !- I HAD MADE THE PERFECT SCONE!

They were light, dry and scrumptiously crumbly. The inside just fluffy and moist enough, with a golden brown coating and a delicious crispy, buttery crust.
Scones with just enough raisins, a wonderful aroma, gorgeous colour and trust me, the best flavour ever.
Best to eat freshly baked of course, still slightly warm, with some (homemade) jam and a nice cup of tea…

The recipe for the best scones ever:
(makes 6 big ones)

- 225 g self-raising flour
- a pinch of salt
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 50 g cold butter, cut up in little pieces
- 75 g raisins (or other dried fruit)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 220˚C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, sift the self-raising flour with the pinch of salt, and add in the sugar.

3. Add the butter and crumble this, using your fingertips, through the flour until you have a fine texture, looking a little like rough breadcrumbs.

4. Mix in the raisins and stir in the egg and the milk. The dough will now be very quickly ready. Knead it a couple of times, but don’t overwork it. The dough should now feel soft and can easily be formed into a ball.

5. Divide the dough into 6 round little balls, flat the top and shape them so they’ll be about 2 cm high and have a diameter of 7 cm.

6. Brush them with a little milk/egg yolk (doesn’t matter which) and bake them for 10 minutes.

7. They don’t have their beautiful colour yet, so turn on the broiler for 3 minutes.

8. Now they are perfect. The bottom and outside are golden brown and the inside fluffy and delicious. They can be stored at room temperature for a few days or you can freeze them, but best to eat immediately.

I hope you’ll try them, and agree with me…let me know! :)

Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie)

2006-08-05T09:39:00.000+02:00

Because my inquiry for The Perfect Scone is still full going, I unfortunately have to report that it’ll take a bit longer. But don’t worry, results are still being booked and with every adjustment there is improvement.
(the only backside is that every day I stumble on more and more recipes...)

In the meantime I though it might be nice to share the recipe for Greek spinach pie with you guys; my ultimate favorite dish.

Just look at it; it’s perfect.
I simply can’t resist it; even now I’m already a little drooling…
It’s the best food you can EVER serve me. (OK, this is maybe a bit of an overstatement; I can change my mind on this later on, with al the recent baking, but for NOW it certainly is!)

When I have a slice, I think of my vacation to Greece, where I first tasted this delicious tart and ate it happily and relaxed as lunch in the cafeteria by the beach… *sigh*

The phyllo dough is wonderfully crisp (but not hard!) and dry and becomes beautifully golden brown in the oven. This paired with the slightly moist and overwhelming strong and rich taste of spinach is magnificent. Its very light and compact pastry and it’s very nice to serve on a party buffet. I like it best when it’s served cold.
The leftovers (if there are any…) are as well delicious to eat the next day; the spinach becomes than even stronger and the puff pastry will be slightly softer and oozier. Best to serve straight out of the fridge.

Greek spinach pie

- 3 Tbsp olive oil + more for brushing
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 1 kg spinach, rinsed and chopped
- a handful fresh parsley
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 125 g ricotta cheese
- about 125g FRESH feta cheese, crumbled
- 8 sheets phyllo dough

1. Take the phyllo dough out of the freezer, preheat oven to 175˚C and lightly oil a 24 cm (or a bit smaller…) round spring form.

2. Heat 3 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Sauté onion, garlic and green onions, until they’re soft and lightly browned. Stir in, in parts, the spinach and parsley, continue to sauté until the spinach is limp. This will take about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

3. In a medium bow, mix together eggs, ricotta and feta. Stir in the spinach mixture.

4. Lay one sheet of phyllo dough in the spring form and lightly brush it with olive oil. (do this carefully, it’s important that every part get brushed!) Lay another sheet on top of this, brush with olive oil and repeat this process until you have 4 layers of phyllo dough. (it doesn’t matter if the sheets cover a bit of the pans sides)

5. Spread spinach mixture into the pan. Layer the remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough on top of this, each carefully brushed with olive oil. Tuck overhanging dough into the pan to seal the filling.
6. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden brown. (I my case this doesn’t happen, so I also put the broiler on for about 10 minutes.) Take the pie out of his form and serve hot or cold.

The perfect scone…

2006-08-03T08:29:00.000+02:00

Last month, I went on vacation to Brighton for a week. (Britain) It was my very first holiday on my own and I’ve had such a fantastic time…
(It was an organized trip for teens which came with an intensive English course; this means I had 6 hours a day lesson... - seemed handy for my blog!)
I stayed in a youth hostel with people from roughly 60 different countries (!) and met some really nice people…

What I especially miss about my trip is my morning ritual I developed over there. Since the food we got served was just AWFUL, every morning, after the others had theìr breakfast and I’d had my first cup of coffee, I would walk to “the little village bakery” across the street and ordered a perfect breakfast: 2 delicious, freshly baked fruit scones…Scones served just out the oven with an absolutely perfect texture, an amazing taste, wonderfully dry and o so crumbly; these were without a doubt the best scones I had EVER tasted. Now, back home, completely scone-less and slightly depressed, I have decided to find out the secret of this perfect scone and ‘ll get the recipe!
Although it’s very simple to make scones, I have already come across about 100 different recipes, all claiming to make the perfect one…
…With sugar or sugarless, with milk, a mixture from milk and water or buttermilk, adding no eggs, just one, or many, and how much flour? and what about the amount of butter???...
Kind of frustrating and really not helping!

OK, maybe it’ll take some loads of scones, but I will post the perfect scone recipe! :)
If anyone has any useful tips (or perhaps already the perfect recipe…) please be so kind to leave a comment! :)

Orange-Apricot-Walnut bread

2006-08-01T09:40:00.000+02:00

The ultimate best thing of having vacation is that I have all the time to nose through my cookbook collection, search peacefully for my perfect recipe, prepare all my stuff untroubled and start baking in complete harmony, of course still wearing my pyjamas, filling the house with lovely, sweet aromas.
And today, a new free day, I was in the mood to make this absolutely gorgeous orange-apricot-walnut bread.
This pandolce is another recipe from La Dolce Vita and is normally being eaten on Easter.

It is a deliciously, just perfect bread packed with flavor. The orange rind really gives it a unique taste. It’s soft, with a good crunchy crust and so beautiful with that topping. Because of the great amount of nuts and fruit, the bread is dry and compact, but at the same time moist and soft. Easy, healthy and very tasty!

Orange-Apricot-Walnut bread

- 115 g dried apricots
- rind of one unsprayed orange
- 55 g butter
- 10 g fresh yeast or 1 tsp instant yeast
- 200 g flower
- 75 g fine granulated sugar
- 55 shelled walnuts, chopped
- 2 eggs, beaten
topping – I doubled the amount; otherwise it was too dry - :
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 4 Tbsp orange juice
- 25 shelled walnuts
- 6 dried apricots

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 18 cm springform cake pan.

2. Cut up the apricots and grate the orange till you have all the rind.

3. Put the fruit with the butter in a saucepan and bake on low heat until all the butter is melted. Then remove the pan from heat.

4. Mix the yeast with 2 Tbsp warm water and combine this mixture with the flour, sugar and chopped walnuts. Whip in the eggs, the melted butter and the fruit until well blended. Pour this mixture in the cake pan and bake for 1 ¼ hour, until golden and dry.

5. Take the bread out of his form and let cool.

6. Make in the meantime the topping. Bring honey and orange juice to boil and leave 30 seconds, while stirring, simmering.

7. Put the walnuts and the apricots in the pan and warm them, on low heat, for about 1 minute. Place the nuts and apricots nicely on the bread. Let cool completely.

Italian Honey Loops

2006-07-30T14:49:00.000+02:00

Some days ago I bought “ La Doce Vita - Sweet Things from the Italian Home Kitchen” by Ursula Ferrigno and it became right away my favourite cooking book. It’s just wonderful for authentic Italian pastry. The book is timeless; filled with delicious recipes for Italian pudding, pastry, pies, cookies, other sweets and of course the famous gelato! There are also many sweet recipes for Italian feasts, for example these Honey Loops; traditionally people eat them only on Christmas Eve. (why for heavens sake just once a year??) Almost every recipe is paired with the most beautiful pictures, and when I see them, I picture myself in lovely sunny Italy. Just sitting outside in front of a local pasticceria, enjoying my morning espresso with some tasty pastry…

Browsing trough the book, I found the recipe for ‘Honey loops’ and I just couldn’t get the picture of these little sugared cookies out of my mind. They were completely new for me, so I didn’t know what to expect, but I already knew it would be very good. The picture looked so delicious and having dreamed about this high, golden pyramid, drowned in honey and mixed spices last night, this morning I woke up resolute and made my bunch of Honey Loops...

And I was absolutely right. Although it didn’t taste how I thought it would, the Honey Loops were very, very delicious and a real success. The thick spongy inside paired with the sticky sugary outside was just perfect.
The loops self haven’t got a concrete taste. They’re just very soft, dry and doughy. (In fact I don’t think I would have put them in the chapter ‘cookies’…) All the flavour comes from the outside - the sweet honey with the sugar mixture - Therefore it’s really important you use honey from a good quality and aren’t too thrifty with it. Drown those Loops!

Just watch out you don’t make the loops to thin. They are much nicer when they’re big and thick. They’ll have more bite and you’ll notice the difference between textures much better.
The Honey Loops should be eaten the same day (but I doubt that’ll be a problem…)

Honey Loops
(makes 15)

- 15 g fresh yeast or 1 ½ tsp instant yeast with a pinch of granulated sugar.
- 150 ml warm water
- 225 g flour
- pinch of salt
- olive oil, for frying
topping:
- 5 Tbsp honey
- granulated sugar and about 2 tsp of mixed spices to sprinkle on top. (a bit to taste!)

1. Combine the fresh yeast with 2 Tbsp warm water. If you’re using instant yeast, mix it with the sugar in 2 Tbsp warm water. Leave the yeast for 15 minutes on a warm spot, until it becomes a foamy mixture.

2. Sift the flour and salt over a medium bowl. Make a dimple for the yeast mixture and pour it, together with the remnant of warm water in the bowl. Mix until you have dough.

3. Knead the dough, on a flowered surface, for about 10 minutes, until its elastic. After this, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover the dough with a clean towel and leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

4. Take little pieces of dough, about the size of a chestnut, and roll it out till strings. Place the ends over each other, so that on one side there’ll be a loop. Make 15 loops.

5. Heat the olive oil in a pan until it starts to smoke. Bake the loops five at the same time. Pay good attention; this doesn’t take much time. Take them out when they’re golden and let them leak out on kitchen paper.

6. Make a pyramid out of the loops and cover it with warm honey. Sprinkle generously with sugar and mixed spices.

Soft Blueberry Cookies with Chocolate Chunks

2006-07-27T20:38:00.000+02:00

It’s soo hot at the moment in Holland. After a severe spring full with rain and storm, the sun finally found us and is making us regret for whishing for a hot summer with a terrible heat wave. Everyone is smelly & cranky and everything is melting. Although it’s not nice at the moment, I do love the summer.
The warmth, all the green outside, the fact that I don’t have to go to school and the most delicious kinds of fruit in the supermarkets.
Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries… all beautiful lined up in the cooling area, waiting to be bought.

Perfect for making these delicious sweet cookies. They are really easy to make (which is extra nice with this wheater…) and are very light. The combination of the slightly bitter chocolate chunks with the sweet summer fruit is just heavenly. I love that the cookies’ll stay soft and moist, all oozie from the melted chocolate and berries. With a cup of tea, this is just the perfect way to start a hot summer day.

Soft summer Cookies with Blueberries and Chocolate chunks
(Makes about 10 cookies)

- 50 g butter - cut into small cubes
- 150 g wheatflour (so much better than just normal flour!)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 70 g cane sugar
- 100 g fresh blueberries (can be replaced for other summerfruit)
- 75 g extra dark chocolate – chopped into little chunks
- 100 ml milk

1. Preheat the oven to 200˚C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Knead the butter through the flour with your fingertips until it looks like rough breadcrumbs.

3. Mix in the sugar, blueberries and chopped chocolate. Stir in the milk until you’ll have a sticky dough.

4. Scoop the dough in little piles onto the bakingsheet, a bit flatten out and with about 5cm space between them.

5. Bake for 20 minutes, until they are goldenbrown and the tops feel dry and firm. Don’t overbake them, or they won’t remain soft and moist.

6. Let cool about 5 minutes before transferring from the baking sheet to a cooling rack. (they’ll break easily!) Enjoy and Store the rest in an airtight container.

Welcome to Tasting Life

2006-07-26T21:03:00.000+02:00

Hi Everybody! Welcome to my foodblog. My name is Julia, I’m 16 years old (but mature for my age…) and I’m from the Netherlands. I live with my mum, my sister Sarah and my cat Romeo in a small apartment building in The Hague, and – what a surprise - I love to cook.

About a year ago I discovered ‘The Absolutely Fabulous World of Food Blogging’ and I was instantly hooked. It was like I had discovered a whole new world; Wow, is this real? Do all these people feel the same way about baking as I do? Are all these people from all around the world as much obsessed with food and cooking as I am? Yeeeh I’m not alone! I’m not weird! (OK, maybe just a little…) ;-)
I think it’s great you can share your thoughts, recipes, victories, adventures (and of course disasters…) so easily with others on the net, to see al the beautiful pictures of baking goods and get new ideas for own recipes.

I have always loved cooking programs like Oliver’s twist and Bill’s Food, and one of my favorite things to do is to go to a bookshop to the cooking section and browse trough cookbooks looking at all the mouth-watering pictures. To search for new delicious recipes, at home experiment with them and of course the result… spending time in the kitchen, the smell of your own homemade cookies and seeing the faces of others while they are enjoying what you have made…
Aaaah I just love everything about it!

School is very easy for me – OK, I’m completely bored most of the time, but don’t tell them!… - a new project is always welcome and I love a good challenge. This is when I got the idea of Tasting Life. Cooking and baking is one of my favorite things to do and if I believe my friends and family, I’m quite good at it! So why not my own blog? So here I am; - Tasting Life.

My goal for Tasting Life is to make minimal once a week something new and post the recipe (my own or adapted from a cookbook) I always LOVE to see many pictures with recipes, so Tasting Life will be full of pictures. I want to experiment, make delicious things and be original and different.
Tasting Life will mainly be sweets, desserts and little snacks. I just love to make (and to eat of course...) things like cookies, cakes, muffins and pies. Because I’m addicted to coffee, chocolate, fruit and nuts many recipes will have one (or more…) of these things in it. – But really, has anyone a problem with that?? - ;-)

Well I think this is all for now, I hope you like it (and me…) and see U soon!

Julia