Nadine bakes

Cupcakes with Vanilla Mousseline Cream for Mother’s (or actually Grandma’s) Day

Last Friday we all had a day off so my family and I decided we would made a cultural and gastronomical expedition to Amsterdam. This meant I could seize the opportunity of going to Patisserie Holtkamp and sample their amazing baked goods! Over the past year I have made many of Cees Holtkamp’s recipes from his book De Banketbakker, to which I refer here every so often. The bakery is now owned by Cees’ daughter and her husband but the master is still present. While I was gasping at all the lovely pies he went past me in the shop, wishing his staff and customers a good weekend. So, I can now safely say I have met of my culinary heroes, even if I only saw him for a split second. While the cakes and pies all looked fantastic I made a choice I will never regret, the terrifically calorific ”Oriënt”. According to the website, this pie consists of

“a brittle, baked frangipane crust, lightly covered with whipped cream, with on the edges balls of hazelnut bavaroise, enclosed in a thin layer of milk chocolate. In the core a ball of walnut cream, in which thin shards of orient mass (caramel with nuts) have been placed.”

Yes, it tasted every bit as good as is sounds - it was easily the best slice of pie I have had in my life. Unfortunately, the recipe is not in the book so needless to say I will spend the rest of my life like some sort of Dr Frankenstein, bringing to life and perfecting my own version of that impossibly delectable walnut cream. 

I made Laugenbrezeln, traditional German pretzels with a bite that’s similar to bagels but carrying a unique flavour thanks to the lye solution in which they are poached.

The idea for this cake was a bit tongue in cheek. As of yesterday, The Netherlands has a new king: Willem-Alexander. I felt like making something cheesy like a Koninginnerol (no actual cheese involved) but then I came across the Pavé du Roy, which translates as “The King’s Cobblestones”. The chocolate mousse originally meant to resemble the cobblestones but of course mine decided to collapse so it ended up looking rather more like the king’s asphalt. I didn’t really care because the cake was absolutely delicious. With the little pieces of mixed fruit I meant to symbolise the crown jewels.

I made pistachio and almond Baklava with my sister :)

Apple, Pear & Almond Flan on a strange Sunday.

Today was, well, strange. Meteorologists had promised great things, so I had already taken precautions by getting up real early to do some essay writing. After that, I thought, I might go outside and do some gardening. So, I got up at 7:30 and sat behind my desk for a couple of hours doing absolutely nothing and feeling completely miserable.

I decided the most sensible thing to do with my time was to use up some food that had been lying around for too long. I still had some home-made puff pastry in the freezer and I found some apples that had seen better days. The idea for a flan was born. Whilst I was baking I sensed there was a lot of commotion in my neighborhood. I won’t discuss it here since I don’t know the exact details, but it made the overall atmosphere of the day even more bizarre.

Once the flan was ready to be turned over I was quite disappointed seeing it had a soggy bottom. Blind baking puff pastry, as it turns out, is not really my forte. It tasted good nevertheless and, now fully energised, I set out into the greenhouse and planted some hundred seeds, each in an individual little pot. “Bo-ring” I hear you think. Well, it wasn’t. I totally lost track of time and when I went back inside it was already too late to bake my usual bread to go with the soup. I then opted for a quick soda bread, which turned out a bit too sticky but again tasted fine.

Only a few moments ago, when I wanted to upload a photo of my flan for this post, the nightmare of every food blogger nightmare became reality: Whilst I was cutting and pasting the photos from my camera it ran out of power and as a result I had only five very mediocre photos left to choose from. I wasn’t very pleased. At all.

I must say nothing today went like I had imagined it would. If anything, I do hope the seeds I planted will thrive. Perhaps I can look back upon this day and say something good sprouted out of it.

Cappuchino Chip Buckwheat Cupcake

Topped with crème pâtissère-based mocha cream and a dark chocolate ganache.

Strawberry and Vanilla Mascarpone Cream Cake

I made this cake for my grandmother’s 89th birthday. The only indication for the cake she gave me was ‘something sweet’ so basically I could bake anything I wanted. The recipe and design of the cake are my own. I coated the three layers of vanilla almond sponge with strawberry jam before adding the mascarpone vanilla cream. I finished the cake with white chocolate shavings and whole strawberries which I made glossy with jam. I piped the butterflies myself using candy melts, following this tutorial. Needless to say my gran absolutely loved the cake :)

Mary Berry’s Simnel Cake

Paul Hollywood’s Hot Cross Buns

Quantitive testing has proven that human beings are incapable of resisting these cookies. The sheer simplicity of the recipe means that baking them is already very rewarding. Though the ultimate reward is, of course, tasting one. Or two. Or three. 

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Chocolate and Orange Cake. I made this one for my birthday ;)