Steadfast Cooking

Dutch Apple Pie

2009-11-11T15:27:00.005+01:00

Dutch apple pie is the most ubiquitous type of cake in the Netherlands, you can get it everywhere - every restaurant, cafe, bar, pub... And it's everyone's favorite. Obviously, no one in the world should be left out. It's really easy to make, and I actually think it's way, way better than American pie... Because the crust is SWEET. Exactly. I have a friend who's grandma makes just the crust for him when she bakes apple pie; just because he doesn't like apples. Otherwise, he would always pick off the crust off the cake, a well-known activity among children that annoys everyone else. He never told his grandma that he really just preferred picking it off.

Every family has their own recipe for 'Appeltaart'; and this is mine. Enjoy!

For dough:
300 grams of self rising flour; or 300 grams plain flour + 4 tsp baking powder + 1.5 tsp salt
200 grams of cold butter, in cubes
160 grams granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
a pinch of salt

For filling:
1 kg of hard, sour apples (Granny Smith)
2 tbsp lemon juice
90 grams of sugar
3 heaping tbsp cinnamon
5 tablespoons apricot jam
80 grams of raisins

Preheat oven to 175C/350F degrees. Cut a circle (or square) of parchment paper slightly bigger than the diameter of your spring form pan and line within the form. Pan should preferably be 25 cm diameter or larger. Grease the sides of the spring form pan.

Mix together flour, sugar, vanilla, and salt.

Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut the butter through the flour, sugar, vanilla, and salt, until the mixture is crumbly.

Use your fingers to crumble mixture further; then add 3/4 of the egg and lightly knead until dough is cohesive.

Wrap tightly in plastic foil and place in the fridge

Peel and core the apples; rubbing lemon juice over them.

Cut into bite-size pieces and transfer to bowl; adding more lemon juice to prevent browning. Sprinkle over cinnamon and sugar, adding four tablespoons of apricot jam and the raisins. Stir until mixed.

Take the dough out of the fridge and divide into five equal pieces. Use two of these to make the bottom of the cake; lining the bottom of the pan by making a rough disc of the dough and pushing it into place with the tips of your fingers.

Use two more pieces of dough to line the sides, which is easiest by dividing the chunk of dough into quarters and making sausages from these pieces; then pushing them along the sides with your fingers. Make the edge about 10 cm/5 inches high and be careful not to make it too thin (although it will rise with baking).

Pour in apple filling. Divide the last piece of dough into 8 pieces and make a lattice top. Don't worry about thin, flimsy latticework - it will puff up. Use the rest of the egg to brush the latticework.

Bake the cake for roughly 80 minutes; turning down heat if it browns too fast.

Let cool for five minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and remove the sides of the spring form. Use the parchment circle to remove cake from spring form bottom and transfer to plate.

Let cool completely before eating - this cake really is better when eaten cold. It's at its peak after one or two days. Yes, really.

This cake is great and an absolute Dutch classic. However, it REALLY only comes to its full right when it has cooled down - there is a verb in Dutch that describes what happens to a cake when it cools down and becomes better, but it would get lost in translation ('besterven'). This cake is a little too crumbly when it just comes out of the oven; it will firm up after a stay in the fridge and be delicious. All I can say is make this cake, restrain your self, and enjoy. It is absolutely perfect for fall! Maybe try it as a new kind of dessert for Thanksgiving for you American people out there! The make-ahead quality will win you over, and the cake itself will win over your guests.

My Own Super Healthy Brown Bread

2009-10-08T21:38:00.002+02:00

This recipe was the result of combining several online recipes with my own preexisting breadmaking skills. It mainly came forth out of my desire to find actual proper healthy brown bread in a country where I can't seem to find ANY. (Manchester, the U.K.) So I figured, why not make my own! Here's the result, and it's lovely.

Baking bread requires a lot of technique that may seem intimidating if you've never done it before, but actually isn't when it comes down to it. You just need a couple tries to get the hang of it, after which you'll be able to bake awesome breads. To be absolutely sure, I'll have just noted the most obvious instructions and hints.

Firstly, this bread uses a seed mixture which you can make once and store in a jar with a tight lid for a while.
For the seed mixture:
300 grams sesame seeds
300 grams sunflower seeds
300 grams pumpkin seeds
175 cold-milled, crushed, or whole flaxseed

Don't worry, it does not need to be this exact mixture - it's simply what I used. I definitely reccomend the sunflower and flaxseed though.

For the wet ingredients, you will need to heat the following ingredients in a saucepan:
2 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 tablespoons molasses
4 tablespoons butter

Heat mixture over low heat until well mixed, and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix:
2 cups of the seed mixture
2 tablespoons salt
About 5 cups of whole wheat flour.

(I know that 'about' sounds vague and therefore difficult, but the amount of flour is simply something you need to work out according to the stickiness or dryness of your dough. It's easy to gauge whether or not your dough feels 'right' - firm but sproingy - and you should just add flour or water accordingly.
Start out with 5 cups of whole wheat flour, and add more as needed to make the dough come together. Aim for just enough to be able to pour the dough onto a well-floured countertop without making a huge mess. Just use your noodle.)

Finally, you will need to make the sponge. In a bowl, mix:
3 packets of yeast (about 7 grams each)
a threefingered pinch of sugar
1/2 cup warm water - about body temperature, so not over 98.6F/37C degrees. Hotter than this will kill the yeast, and killing the yeast is not good.

Pour water over sugar and yeast, and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

In the large bowl containing the flour, mix in the wet ingredients and the sponge, and mix well with a spatula or wooden spoon until a tough dough mixture that almost isn't stirrable anymore comes together. If needed, add more flour. In this case, I used 7! cups of whole wheat, and 3 cups of white flour to get my dough to come together.

Pour the dough onto a well-floured countertop, and with floured or greased hands (I tend to alternate), knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. Technique isn't key here - whatever you're doing to your dough, it's most likely O.K.
When your dough is at the right state, it will feel nice and sproingy yet firm. Like, well, dough.

Taking a sharp knife or a dough cutter (no tearing!) cut the dough in half; form into balls and place in two seperate greased bowls. Turn over the balls of dough to make sure they are well greased. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a moist towel, and let rise for 1 1/2 to two hours, until doubled. Dough is doubled when a dent made into the dough with your fingers does not spring back.

Pour the dough onto an again floured work surface, and deflate it by gently pressing out the air with your fingers. To make loaves, make a thick sort of jelly roll, and place in well greased loaf pan. To make rounds, make a tightly-stretched ball (tuck excess dough underneath the ball) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. As you can see, I conveniently did both. Cover once again with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes to an hour.

Right before baking, carefully wet the tops of the loaves or rounds by sprinkling some water on them, and sprinkle over additional seeds if you like - I used poppy seeds. Cut an x into the top of the round with a sharp knife, to make sure it retains its shape.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, or until well-browned and loaves, when tapped, sound hollow. If you want to be precise and have a thermometer, aim for a internal temperature of about 200F/90C degrees.

This bread is very very lovely - if you like healthy, hearty brown or black breads. I certainly do, I feel deprived if I don't eat breads that are very high in fibre and nutritional content. As I mentioned before, I CAN NOT find proper bread around here. I think it's because there's a lack of bakeries - I can't find many bakeries, and when I do, they usually have a line that stretches to outside the shop. I am uncomfortable buying bagged bread in the supermarket, and thus, there is nothing left but just to settle for making it yourself. Luckily I really enjoy making my own bread.
I put this recipe together myself, loosely based on recipes I have read online before but only vaguely remember. The 'wet ingredients' mixture is the only thing I needed to look up, and I thank Smitten Kitchen's Russian Black Bread recipe for that. Sort-of. Either way, this bread is wonderful.

Next time I am going to experiment by putting in a little more salt - I am not sure if it needs it, but I am curious to try. It is however very nice just as it is, and it will certainly be one of my staples for the future.

Finally, one tip: Home made bread does not keep well. Since this recipe makes to hefty loaves, I like to cut the bread in advance and store it in the freezer in freezer bags. Each morning, I take out the amount of bread I want and simply defrost it in the toaster. 20 seconds in the microwave will also work. This really is the only way to keep homemade bread unless you are planning to eat every last bit of it within several hours.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

2009-10-07T17:21:00.005+02:00

Yes, the recipe is for muffins, I however don't have a muffin tin here, so I used some tiiiiiiiiny cupcake liners, and a 20 cm cake tin! Recipe adapted from The Food Network.

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
juice of one lemon
4 tablespoons yoghurt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375F/190C degrees. Line 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners or brush with butter.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, cream together butter, lemon juice, yoghurt and sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in poppy seeds.

Fold in flour in 3 parts into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined. For big fluffy muffins, make sure not to over mix - flour pockets aren't a bad thing! For more demure cupcakes, beat the mixture a little further.

Divide batter evenly over muffin tin, cupcake liners or cake tin, and bake until golden brown and slightly springy to the touch, anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes.

I love lemon poppyseed muffins, and unfortunately I don't have a muffin tin here (and haven't seen one that costs less than 13 pounds, otherwise I'd have one already) otherwise I'd have made actual muffins. As it was I made a ton of tiny ones, that went over well with my flat mates. They certainly won't win any prizes for beauty, but I'll get good at baking in an unfamiliar kitchen. Soon. I promise.

I modified this recipe a little bit and in my opinion it could have used more sugar, so I changed the 2/3 cup I used to a whole cup here, but feel free to add more if you like. These cakes are simply very nice, not too greasy and lovely and lemony!

Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake

2009-10-05T14:30:00.004+02:00

Recipe courtesy of, of course, Dorie Greenspan. No tweaking was involved, except for the fact that I cheated and bought frosting instead of making it... Scandalous, I know, but I am living in a student hall at the moment, and don't have fancy appliances like electric mixers and stainless steel bowls at my disposal. Also, every dish I dirty I have to clean by hand. So I like to take it easy.

For cake:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the tough – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

Now, as I said: I cheated and bought canned frosting. I am still posting the instructions for the frosting however, as found in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking from my Home to Yours.

For frosting:
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

Or you can cheat, and buy canned. In any case, the last step is to assemble the cake!
You will need:
Desiccated coconut
Raspberry jam

I baked three thin 20 cm layers which I sandwiched; but you can also make two larger layers and cut them in half. Assemble the cake by layering cake, jam, and buttercream. Frost the cake with the rest of the buttercream; and finally, press coconut into the frosting, patting it along the sides and top of the cake. Finally, further decorate as desired... This particular cake was meant for someone's birthday, and it took combined enthusiasm to decorate and present it!

Most certainly, this cake is delicious. It's called Perfect Party Cake for a reason! The cake itself is an absolute success - this was the first time I made it, and I am going to keep it in my repertoire for a standard yellow cake. This cake is both yummy and practical, since it's firm enough to hold up to decorating well!
The frosting was just like all canned frosting - I don't really like it. However, this cake is hard to ruin. You should definitely make it the next time someone you know has a birthday!

Honey Walnut Cake

2009-09-06T14:53:00.004+02:00

This was adapted from several online recipes, and then tweaked further. Not even the original measurements are still in there, so let's just say that no credit is actually due.

For cake:
1.5 cup almonds
1.5 cup + 1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 1/5 cup flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
200 grams butter
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350F/175C degrees, and grease & flour whichever pan you are planning on using. Spread walnuts on a sheet pan and toast in the preheated oven for 6 minutes.

Grind 1 1/2 cups of the nuts and 1/2 cup of the flour in a food processor, until very fine and resembling course meal.

In a bowl, sift in flour and baking powder; add in ground nuts, salt.

Chop the rest of the nuts coarsely, set aside along with raisins.

Cream together butter, honey, and sugar until light and fluffy, in about 3 minutes.

In another bowl, beat together eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg, and add to butter mixture in thirds, beating well after each addition.

Add dry ingredients, mix until incorporated. Stir through chopped walnuts and raisins.

Spread batter into cake pan; bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

For glaze:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp lemon juice

Combine water and sugar, bring to a light boil. Reduce heat and simmer.

Stir in honey and lemon. Pour over warm cake.

When cake has cooled for ten minutes, top with glaze while still in pan. Let cool.

Even though it's still officially summer, it's like fall just crept in all of the sudden where I live. The leaves are turning brown and falling, it's raining a lot, it's a lot colder, and all of the sudden there are tons of spiders in my house. It's fall. That means a lot of things - school's starting again, which means that I'll be having less time to bake and cook as of now... But also that we're going to be craving seasonal things.

I don't know about you, but I hardly every want anything that has cinnamon or nutmeg in it during the summer, because it's just not right. Now it's OK though, so it must be fall. This cake has a lot of good things - almonds, walnuts, raisins and honey, all of which are very recognizable in the end product. The texture by itself is lovely, but the walnuts give a nice bite, and the honey complements the whole thing.

What I really like about this cake is the syrup that goes over it - I'm not a big fan of trying to boil sugar and water, since for me it seems like a disaster waiting to happen - but I think I overestimated the difficulty. The honey and lemon juice-syrup is absolutely lovely, and adds a third dimension of yum to the cake. A+, would make again!

Blueberry Muffins with Jam Swirl

2009-08-27T15:47:00.004+02:00

Adapted from a ton of websites, including The Pioneer Woman and The Good Life. I mixed and matched, to create these yummy muffins.

For muffins:
3 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
dash of nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup yogurt (mine was apple-cinnamon flavoured... All I had!)
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup blueberry jam

Preheat oven to 385F/195C degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla extract, egg, and yogurt.

Mix wet ingredients into dry, but don't over-do it. Visible flour pockets are a GOOD thing. The less mixing you do, the better the muffins will turn out.

Fold in blueberries.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill muffin cups. (about 12).

Spoon a teaspoon of jam into the center of each muffin cup, and use a chopstick to swirl the berry mixture in there.

Bake, 20-25 minutes.

I'm not going to tell you to let cool - eat them hot, if you like. I, personally, waited for them to cool so I could wrap them and take them into the plane. A plane trip to China, no less! I must say, they were as lovely right out of the oven as they were on the plane. Maybe nicer. They stayed wonderfully moist, most likely due to the jam swirl, and were perfect for curing in-between-plane-meal-munchies. They are just generally great, and would probably make an awesome breakfast!

Salmon Asparagus Salad with Chickpeas

2009-08-15T08:49:00.006+02:00

Adapted from the website Essentially Healthy Food. I did not make any adjustments to the recipe other than messing with amounts. This recipe made about three generous adult portions, but could also feed four adults if they're not starving.

Ho ho, something on here not consisting exclusively out of sugar and carbs? Impossible! Contrary to popular belief though, I do actually also cook a lot, only I find the process of cooking too 'fast' sometimes to take pictures off. I'm always doing three things at a time, I quite honestly forget to take pictures and I like pictures! I'm trying to learn.

600 grams salmon filet - you can use less, I had quite as much salmon as I had salad, which, in the end, was nice - but salmon was on sale. Use anything from 400g on.
2 bunches asparagus
260 grams chickpeas (drained)
1/2 lemon, zest & juice
1 tsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1.5 teaspoon olive oil
handful of spinach leaves
salt & pepper

To make the dressing, mix lemon zest and juice, honey, dijon mustard, olive oil and salt and pepper in a bowl. Set aside. Do not dress the salad until right before serving: leaving a dressed salad for too long will cause it to wilt.

Cut the asparagus in large chunks, and boil in water, for about 5 minutes or until large pieces are tender, but still slightly crisp. Drain and let cool.

Heat a skillet with some olive oil and when hot, cook the salmon, about 5-4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness.

I had quite a thick piece of salmon, so in the end I removed it from the pan, cut it in to chunks, and transfered it back to the pan to make sure it would get fully cooked. I needed chunks anyway for the salad, so no loss.

When even the largest chunks are cooked and flaky, transfer the salmon chunks to sieve to remove excess oil.

Drain chickpeas, and transfer to salad bowl.

Add in dressing, asparagus, salmon, and spinach leaves; mix to get everything coated with dressing. That's about all - it's a salad, after all, and requires little work.

The recipe is still worth the little effort though, since it's quite delicious, and very healthy. For an ever healthier result, you could cook the salmon in the oven (as the original recipe instructs), but I already had something else in the oven that I didn't want to end up tasting like salmon. I reduced the oil in the dressing to compensate with the oil used cooking the salmon, but I did also drain the salmon after cooking to remove excess oil.

Anyway, this salad was delicious. I urge you to make it.

Parker House Rolls

2009-08-13T14:47:00.006+02:00

This recipe is a classic, and is available all over the internet. I used a version that called for about half of the amount of flour and butter (and everything else) the other recipes did; since I didn't really need more than about 6 rolls. This recipe makes about 12; I made a tiny loaf with the remaining dough, to eat for breakfast!

3 tablespoons warm water (105-110°F)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 packet instant yeast
3/4 stick unsalted butter + about 2 tablespoons
1 cup whole milk (I used 2%)
3 1/2 cups bread flour (possibly more, depending on how dough comes together)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Stir together warm water, one tablespoon of sugar, and the yeast in small bowl, and let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter. Add milk and take off heat.

In another bowl, mix remaining sugar, about half of the flour, and salt.

Stir together yeast mixture, butter mixture with the flour mixture with a spoon or spatula. Add more flour as you go to create a soft and but still sticky dough. Keep in mind that the more flour you add, the tougher the resulting rolls/bread will be, so keep your hands buttered to work with the sticky dough.

Knead the dough until it comes together well - but is still a little sticky. Shape into a ball and place in buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise, about 1 to 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Take a muffin tin and butter the cups. Punch down the dough to deflate, and cut (don't tear!) off walnut-sized balls of dough to roll into neat little balls, placing three at a time in a cup. Cover and let rise again, 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat oven to 375F/190C degrees. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving, or just eat them up right out of the oven!

These rolls are simply lovely. They are actually only one of numerous attempts to recreate some lovely, lovely rolls I once had at a fancy restaurant. I think I'm quite close - they were nearly exactly the same, only that the restaurant-ones were slightly more buttery - or underdone - and far more salty. So next time, I'll experiment with more butter and more salt, and maybe a little less baking time. These are still delicious though - perfect, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth rolls.

Blueberry Pie

2009-08-08T14:34:00.004+02:00

Crust adapted from Smitten Kitchen, filling adapted from several general blueberry pie filling recipes. It's very basic, no credit is actually due.

For crust:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 sticks butter (8 ounces, or 225 grams)
1/4 cup ice cold vodka
1/4 cup ice cold water

Mix together flour, salt, and sugar. Preheat oven to 400F / 200C degrees.

Cut butter into small cubes, and cut into flour with pastry cutter. Make sure that there are still visible (pea-sized) lumps of butter.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, bring together dough, use your hands as little as you can - the heat of your hands will melt the butter in the dough and make for much less of a flaky crust.

When dough comes together, divide in half, make two discs, and wrap them in plastic foil. Store in refrigerator for at least 45 minutes (or up to two days)

For filling:

4 cups blueberries (fresh, or if frozen, thawed)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Very easy: mix together. That's all.

I won't go into the details too much, expecting you all to be capable enough to make a decent pie crust. When you have your pie crust ready (made, of course, with only one of the chilled discs of dough) pour filling into the prepared pan.

Roll out the other disc into a large enough circle; and place on top of pan, covering the filling. Crimp together sides, and cut in vents to allow steam to escape.

Make egg wash with 1 egg and 1 tablespoon milk, and brush entire surface of pie with the mixture.
Place pie in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to chill. Place in the oven on baking sheet lined with parchment to catch drippings.

Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350F/175C degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes more, until the crust is deep golden brown, and juices are bubbling and thick. If the edges of the pie brown too much, cover with foil ring.

There are a lot of people who never seem to want to bother with making pie crusts themselves - but I quite like the process. Honestly, it isn't as hard as you'd expect, as long as you master the proper techniques. Just basic things, like keeping the dough as cold as you can (by not touching it), keeping your work surface well-floured, and by knowing when to put down the pastry cutter. This recipe which uses vodka also makes for an even flakier crust, and while smitten kitchen encountered problems with stickyness, I found no such problems. I found this a delightful dough to work with! I just really like working with dough.

Of course, this pie was delicious. Crazily enough, this was the first blueberry pie I have ever had - I've only ever made apple pie. Pies aren't a common thing over here in the Netherlands, and to enjoy them, I need to make them myself. This cake is classic, and delicious. I will definitely keep this recipe in my repertoire.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

2009-08-08T14:32:00.005+02:00

Chocolate cake recipe from Joy of Baking. It's my to-go chocolate cake recipe, after having tried many others in the past. It's absolutely delicious - everything a cake should be. It holds up well to decorating, if you make sure that you grease the pan well and it comes out right. It's very chocolate-y, yet light and airy. I'll never change! Ganache recipe is adapted from Allrecipes, and is also lovely.

For cake:
4 ounces (120 grams) dark bitter chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cup (315 grams) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter
2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (240 ml) milk

Preheat oven to 350F/175C degrees. In a heatproof bowl, place chopped chocolate and cocoa powder. Pour boiling water over mixture, and stir until melted. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar with hand mixer, until fluffy. (3 to 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and melted chocolate, beat to combine.

Add the milk and flour mixtures in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until just incorporated.

Pour batter in pan (or pans) and smooth top. Bake for 35-40 until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, and the top springs back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven and cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan. I made cupcakes with the excess batter (since I was only making a one-layer cake - I was lazy). I like making cupcakes with excess batter because it makes me a 100% sure that the cake isn't a failure, taste-wise, before cutting into it with company around.

Invert cake on the plate you're going to use, lining the edges of the plate with strips of parchment paper, to keep everything clean while you decorate.

For ganache:
5 ounces (150 grams) bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1.7 ounces (50 grams) butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon rum

Place the chocolate (chopped), butter, and cocoa powder in a bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium-heat. Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat. Pour cream over chopped chocolate, butter, and cocoa powder. Stir until smooth and chocolate is melted. Stir in the rum.

Whisk until fluffy, and allow to cool in refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Take out, whisk again, and decorate cake.

This frosting is extremely easy to work with, so I suppose actual instructions are unnecessary. Use a spatula, and have fun!

I have to say - this cake is one of the best ones I've ever done. I've been baking cakes since I was about 12, always having loved making them. I daresay I spent whole summer vacations baking cakes and cookies. It wasn't long until I was known as the 'cake-baker' among friends - I'd always bake cakes for friends' birthdays.

I've become steadily better over the years - learning things like ganache, frosting, icing. I'm a Dutch girl, and Dutch cakes quite honestly are either covered in whipping cream or marzipan, if they're fancy - a more common type of cake is 'appeltaart' - a pie-like apple cake that one can find in the most dingiest of bars.

American-style cakes with frosting have always entranced me because well, they look nicer. I have nothing against a cake with marzipan - like some people - but frostings and ganaches make for such an attractive cake.

I've had trouble before trying to get a frosting to work, but I've quite mastered marshmallow fondant. With this cake, I dared to attempt ganache again - and by golly, it worked perfectly. Okay, I turned it into more of a frosting by adding butter. Still - I daresay that this is one of my better cakes.

This cake is only a one-layer cake - I didn't feel like trying my luck attempting to slice it in half. I have a very tiny oven, and no multiple square pans (and I was set on using a square pan) so therefore I chose to make a one-pan, one-layer cake. Too compensate, I layed the ganache on quite thick.

I am quite pleased though. So pretty, and delicious. There's no going wrong with this cake recipe - it's light, airy, yet chocolate-y and delicious - and the frosting worked out beautifully, unlike some recipes have for me, giving the cake a smooth and rich finish. This is a recipe to hold on to!

Olive Tomato Focaccia

2009-08-04T21:30:00.000+02:00

Adapted from a Dutch magazine. I am not sure how authentic this focaccia is, and I suppose that it would be nicer with an overnight rise. I was however bored right now, so there you go.

300 grams white flour
200 grams whole wheat flour
7 grams (1 packet) of yeast
250 ml lukewarm water
100 grams green olives
100 grams semi dried cherry tomatoes
2 + 1 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
olive oil

In a bowl, sift flour, add in yeast.

Mix in 50 ml of olive oil, 250 ml lukewarm water, 2 teaspoons of sea salt.

Knead together, adding in more flour or water as needed to create a smooth dough. Add in olives and tomatoes.

Knead into one supple dough. Grease with olive oil. Leave on floured work surface, cover with moist towel and leave to rise, about 1 to 1.5 hour.

Roll out the dough on the floured work surface, about 1 cm thick. Transfer onto oiled baking sheet, cover and let rise. Preheat oven to 200C/400F degrees.

Make dimples into the surface of the dough with your fingers, and sprinkle over the final teaspoon of sea salt. Stick sprigs of rosemary into the dough, and oil the surface with some more olive oil.

Bake the bread, about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Focaccia is easily one of my favourite breads, and I had never attempted to make it myself before. For a bread, this recipe is quite easy, and yields some very delicious results. Your house will smell lovely and there isn't much that can go wrong with this bread. If you're not an advanced baker (and willing to change that), go ahead and try this! There are a ton of variations possible with this recipe - try topping the focaccia with tomato slices before baking, or caramelized onions. It's very good, but gets stale fast - I cut it into slices and froze about three quarters in freezer bags.

Redcurrant Scones

2009-07-31T19:52:00.003+02:00

Adapted from Joy of Baking. I substituted dry cranberries for fresh redcurrants.

Yes, I confess. I needed to get rid of my redcurrants. They're too sour to eat, but they give a nice tangy note to baked goods. Since they're in season, I had a ton of them, and while they keep for a pretty long time considering they're berries, I really needed to get rid of them. So there. Scones.

I expect that these scones would also be great with whole wheat flour - as they are they have rolled oats, giving them some fiber. The sugar and butter also aren't present in ridiculous amounts, so maybe these are almost healthy. If you care about those things.

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
113 grams butter, cold, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon lemon aroma
3/4 cup rolled oats
1.5 cup redcurrants
2/3 cup buttermilk (or make your own by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to regular milk)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder, and whisk to combine.

Add in butter, using two knives or a pastry cutter.

Cut in until it resembles coarse meal, like so.

Add in rolled oats, dried cranberries, and lemon zest. (o.k. - I cheated and used aroma.)

Stir in buttermilk, and mix through. Add in more milk if needed. Mix until dough comes together, like so.

Turn ball of dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheet, and create a flat disc. Cut into 8 pieces.

Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middles comes out clean.

They are quite lovely - not very sweet, crunchy on the outside thanks to the rolled oats, soft in the middle with tangy redcurrant. They make quite the breakfast!

Redcurrant Pudding Cake

2009-07-26T16:22:00.003+02:00

Disclaimer: this recipe has nothing to do with pudding. The use of milk, however, makes for a very pudding-like, soft, rich cake. So there - pudding cake.

2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
0.5 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 sticks butter, melted
2 eggs
2 cups redcurrants (or other berry - who cares!)

Preheat oven to 375F/190C degrees. Prepare baking pan. Remove redcurrants from stems with a fork.

Meanwhile; melt butter.

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients.

Add in milk,

eggs - and butter, then mix!

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan, and sprinkle over redcurrants.

Bake for about 50 minutes depending on the size of your pan, keeping an eye on the cake and adjusting heat if necessary.

What you end up with, is a very rich cake, with edges that are slightly caramelized, and a middle that is pudding-like and soft. Maybe this isn't the perfect dessert for summer due to the richness, but who cares. I had a whole bunch of berries to get rid of! (It seems to be a theme, my freezer currently stocked with 3 liter ziploc bags filled with strawberries and blueberries.)
This may not be a culinary high-brow dessert, but it's good. That's all I've got - it's good.

Beer Bread

2009-07-24T11:33:00.002+02:00

Depending on the size of your can; you can adjust flour in this recipe. The original recipe calls for a 12 ounce can; I only had one those double-decker type huge cans. I also modified the recipe by adding assorted seeds and flax seed, to make for a healthier bread.

This is one simple recipe. It takes virtually no dirtying of bowls (merely two) and just a spatula for mixing. There's just dry and wet ingredients, the wet unceremoniously dumped into the dry, mix, bake. Couldn't be easier, right? It does, however, make for a delicious bread.

- 4.5 cups self rising flour
- 1/4 cup flax seeds
- 3 tablespoons assorted seeds and nuts (whichever you have on hand)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 big can of beer, if using a smaller, 12-ounce/35 cl can; reduce flour to 3 cups.
- 2 tablespoons melted butter.

Preheat oven to 375F/190C degrees; grease a loaf pan.

Mix dry ingredients together. If you don't have self-rising flour, use regular flour with a teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour. I have seen the recommendation to sift your flour - I however, did not. Ah well. Meanwhile, melt butter in microwave in a tiny microwavable bowl.

Stir in beer; mix together until just combined. Less mixing leads to a lighter loaf; just like with muffins. After all, just like muffins, this is a 'quick bread', not a yeast bread. So no kneading, leave it alone as much as possible!

Pour mixture into loaf pan; dividing evenly. Pour over butter; and place into oven.

Bake for 35 minutes; remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

The possibilities with this bread are endless - varying the beer, for example. I used what I've had in the fridge for ages, which are these massive cans of Palm beer. I would however consider using Guinness - think of the lovely colour you'd get! I really reccommend using the flax seed or a cup of some kind of Red River-type cereal with flax seed and wheat germ, so this bread gets some kind of nutritional value besides 'carbs', and even some fibre.

It is so delicious, though. With flax seed and nuts, you get a type of nutty taste which is lovely; while the bread also still has a faint beer taste. The crust is lovely and crackly. Oh, also - my low carb diet is over. Mmmmmm.

Hot Sauce - Or wait, Harissa

2009-07-18T19:38:00.002+02:00

I got this recipe from a website advertising it as harissa - but at closer inspection; it's more just of a fancy hot sauce recipe rather than authentic harissa, I guess. It's hot enough to be hot sauce; and definitely bright red enough. You can eat this with crisps if you like spicy; actually use it as a condiment; or add it into your dishes when cooking - it's very versatile!

In a blender, or the cup that accompanied your immersion blender (as here), throw in one jamaican pepper - seeds removed; and two garlic cloves.

Meanwhile (or before), roast some peppers. Don't they look pretty?

Remove the skins,

And chuck in with the pepper and garlic.

Blend!

That is all there is too it! Look how vividly red it is - and it sure is spicy. You can use this for virtually anything; I served it as a dip for some veggie sausages on Thursday; and yesterday I used it in a vegetable stew. I have to be honest: don't make it if you don't like spicy. I do. I really do.

Cornbread

2009-07-18T19:10:00.005+02:00

Makes about enough cornbread for 4 people if you are serving this as a side for dinner.

That's right - simple, good old cornbread. Now, cornbread isn't really anything 'old' to me since I have honestly only had it once before - and I really didn't like it then. I had sweet corn bread, and the notion of eating anything cake-like with my food just really didn't appeal to me. But I was set on having a good corn bread experience, so when I spotted a bag of yellow corn meal at my local Turkish grocer, I decided to make my own, and make it savory!

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (screw actually buying buttermilk: take a cup of milk and two tablespoons of white vinegar, let stand for a little bit. Voila! Buttermilk.)
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup shortening (or butter), melted.

Preheat oven to 400F/200C degrees

Now, pay attention, because this is painfully easy.

In a bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, and salt.

In a measuring cup, mix together buttermilk and one egg with a fork until well mixed.

Add in baking powder and baking soda, and watch how the mixture fizzes into a lumpy airy mixture.

Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture, and mix (with fork, if you like) until just combined,

like so. Take your melted shortening or butter, and mix in.

Pour into greased baking form - any you'd like, really. Bake for 30 minutes depending on the size of your pan; until golden brown.

Now, whip up some beans to go with it, and you're set for dinner. Really, it's that easy. Especially if you just rip open two cans of tinned beans, like I did.

Mmmmmmm. So good. And seriously, it's this easy. This stuff is classic comfort food, I can't even explain. So simple to make, but so incredibly delicious. I am definitely making this dish again - especially with the beans.

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

2009-07-15T13:19:00.006+02:00

This makes soup for about four people - the quantity is easily adjusted by using more tomatoes, broth, and tomato juice (using canned or packaged would be fine), as long as there is a sufficient tomato-mixture to tofu ratio, of about 4:1. I really reccomend using soft silken tofu over other tofus, since too tough a tofu might take away from the creamy end result of the soup.

- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 onions, chopped
- 3 bay leaves (I really like the aroma, ok?)
- 4 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cans chopped or whole tomatoes, in juice
- 0.5 litre vegetable or chicken broth (made from one cube)
- splash of vodka
- 1 package of silken tofu
- fresh or dried herbs like oregano, rosemary, thyme
- pepper and salt
immersion blender, or regular blender.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat about two tablespoons of olive oil; and add in the garlic and bay leaves, cook until fragrant.

Add onion and cook until soft; adjust heat as to not burn garlic.

When onion has become soft, throw in the chopped tomatoes. Do not adjust heat. Cook until steam rises, and add in the can of chopped tomatoes, including juice.

Stir through, still over medium-high heat, and adjust seasoning: I added pepper, salt, fresh (and dried) oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

This would also be the time to add in a splash of vodka: don't worry - the alcohol will evaporate, but the vodka takes away some of the tomatoes' acidity.

When the mixture is plenty mixed, add in broth, and stir. Adjust heat to high until mixture starts to boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Let soup simmer for about 15 to 30 minutes, until very fragrant. Remove bay leaves. Adjust pepper and salt. Simmer for some five more minutes, and remove from heat.

Add the package of silken tofu to the soup - no need to chop the tofu first, really. With your immersion blender (or transfer liquid and tofu to blender) blend the soup until very smooth. There is no need to strain the soup, unless you'd really like to.

Of course, I forgot to take more significant end-result pictures. Trust me when I say that it looks far more appetizing than this badly lit photo.

Either way - this soup is absolutely great. It tastes creamy and comforting and wonderful, the tofu making for a delightfully smooth (and did I say creamy?) soup. My little sister, who is never enthusiastic about such things as soup, immediately demanded that I make this again - and freeze some.

What may be even more great is the fact that the tofu doesn't add any extra fat, like cream would, but instead only makes for a higher protein - and healthier - soup. I served this with some homemade croutons and a caesar salad, and a grilled cheese sandwich for my little sister who refuses to eat salad still, at 18. The second time I made it (a week later) I served it with some ciabatta. Makes for a great meal either way.

All I can say is that you need to make this soup, and soon. It's more delightful than anything I've ever had out of a can, and more healthy by miles.

Kiwi Lime Bars

2009-07-09T11:14:00.009+02:00

Original recipe here. I've changed some things around, though. A macademia crust sounds delicious but I only had almonds and pecans on hand.

Do you ever have that problem of buying fruit and forgetting about it? It getting so ripe that you won't eat it anymore? Thinking, hey, this is a great opportunity to bake? Google recipes for 'mashed [insert fruit]'? Yeah, I do.

For the crust:
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
170 grams (about 13 tbsp) chilled butter, cut into cubes

For the filling:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp sugar
5 large eggs
1/4 cup lime juice
4 small kiwis, pureed (or mashed with a fork, if they're ripe enough)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp orange zest
1/2 tsp lemon aroma
Powdered sugar or flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350F degrees, or 175C.

In a food processer, blend together nuts and sugar into a fine crumbly mess, like so:

Add into a bowl with flour and salt, and cut in butter with a dough cutter or two knives. Or one of these weird whisk things, if your country doesn't sell dough cutters anywhere, like mine. Alternatively, you could continue making the dough in the food processer - but I used my tiny one for the nuts, and I didn't feel like getting out the big one. (It's in a very high cabinet.)

Press dough into a square (or rectangle) pan. Bake crust until golden, about 28 minutes:

Cool completely. Meanwhile, keep the oven at 350F/175C degrees.

When crust is cooled, prepare the filling: whisk together sugar and eggs until well blended. Whisk in lime juice, kiwi; flour and orange zest. Will be a fairly liquid mixture. (I forgot to take a picture of that step - this is just kiwi mush.)

Pour over crust into pan, return to oven. Bake for 35 minutes. If using coconut, remove pan after 25 minutes and sprinkle over coconut; return to oven for 10 more minutes.

Bake until filling is completely set.

Cool completely; then transfer to fridge, and chill uncovered for at least 2 hours. (Cover with powdered sugar.) Cut into bars, keep chilled until serving.

These bars... There's two more weeks that will have to go by before I can tell you what I thought they were like. Right now, all I have is anecdata, and the best anecdata there is: namely my dad carefully telling me that I need to stop baking so much because he's getting too fat. It's good anecdata because it means he really, really likes the stuff and can't stop eating them. My mom was eating them out of the fridge this morning and she's on a diet too, so it's safe to say that they're good.

Chocolate Tofu Pie

2009-07-06T15:55:00.008+02:00

Adapted from several online recipes. I tweak. I always tweak.

For the crust:
2 cups (200 grams) crushed digestive biscuits
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons honey

For the filling:
1/2 cup flaked coconut
8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese
8 ounces (225 grams) silken tofu
1 large egg
6 ounces (170 grams) dark chocolate, chopped. (or use chips).
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons vanilla flavoured soymilk

In a food processor (optional) combine biscuits, butter, and honey, until combined. Press into a pie pan.

In a saucepan, toast the coconut until lightly browned. Turn down heat, and throw in chopped chocolate, plus two tablespoons of vanilla soymilk. Melt chocolate.

In a food processor or blender, blend together cream cheese, coconut, tofu, egg, chocolate, vanilla. Blend until completely smooth.

Pour filling into pie pan, and bake at 350F/175C degrees for 30 minutes. Chill before serving.

The result?

What did it taste like? I have no idea. Anticlimax! Sadly enough, I have three more weeks to go on my low-carb diet. The horror! However, the lucky testers for this baby were my dad and my little sister, who liked it - didn't love it. Now, it's rare for my family to love something unless it's extremely fattening and or drowning in butter, so a pie like this with a main ingredient like tofu has little chance of ending up in the love it category. They did, however, like it enough to chow down! Their reviews: Not too sweet, a little filling. If you like your pies extremely sweet, I'd add some more sugar to the filling. My mom and grandmother however, really liked it as it was!