Pecan Pie is a classic from the Southern US, and for good reason because pecan trees are native in that region (as well as Mexico). For this post I didn’t bake a traditional pecan pie, because I made three changes: … Continue reading Pecan Maple Squares (+ A New Method For Flaky Pastry)
I thought it would be nice to make acetani with pistachios instead of almonds, and the result was amazing. Unlike acetani, the flavor of the orange zest blends in to support the pistachios, rather than being the star. These delicious pistachio-orange … Continue reading Pistachio Orange Cookies
Crème Brûlée is one of the best known and most delicious of French desserts. I used to make it often about a decade ago, long before I started blogging. Back then I made it so often that I got tired … Continue reading Crème Brûlée
This French-style apple tart is special because of the almond paste filling. If almond paste is not available, you can substitute with ground almonds and sugar. It is best to use tart apples for this tart, for a nice contrast … Continue reading Apple Almond Paste Tart
The recipe for this cake with pears and dates is from Tuttacronaca, an Italian blogger who has unfortunately stopped blogging. It has some similarities to the sticky date pudding I posted recently, as it also has dates, caramel, and cognac. … Continue reading Date and Pear Cake
How about insalata caprese for dessert? Most of us love the famous combination of tomato, buffalo mozzarella, and basil as a savory dish. But it is also delicious as a dessert with the basil transformed into ice cream. The technique for … Continue reading Basil Ice Cream with Tomato Confit, Mozzarella and Balsamic Syrup
Today marks the 4th anniversary of this blog. This is the 859th post. There have been over 870,000 views in those four years, and the number of followers and daily views is still slowly but steadily increasing. It’s been a … Continue reading Sticky Date Pudding
Fresh figs have to be imported and because they are quite perishable they are not often of a great quality, but sometimes some nice figs are available in the Netherlands. A nice way to use them is to make ice … Continue reading Fresh Fig Ice Cream (Gelato di Fichi)
I’ve adapted this parsnip and walnut cake from a recipe I liked on Simona’s blog Grembiule da Cucina. The combination of parnip and walnut works very well, and to brighten up the woody flavors I added some ground aniseed. To make … Continue reading Parsnip Walnut Cake (Torta di Pastinaca e Noci)
A while back Silva posted a prune and frangipane tart on her blog that she referred to as Torta Delizia (delicious tart). She used to eat this cake when visiting signora Gigia in the town where she grew up, and years … Continue reading Almond and Fig Tart
I’ve joined nearby gym Lijfkracht exactly one year ago, and the reason that I’ve managed to keep going there several time a week for the past year is in large part thanks to the helpful, skillful and friendly staff there. … Continue reading Banana Peanut Cranberry Oats Cookies
Do you know which posts get the most likes? Cakes. Always cakes. And so I keep baking them. Because what food blogger doesn’t want lots of likes on his posts? Seriously though, cakes are great as dessert because you can … Continue reading Berry Tart (Crostata ai Frutti di Bosco)
Thanks to Nutella we all know that chocolate and hazelnuts go really well together. This flourless chocolate hazelnut cake is not only as delicious as it looks, it is also a lot easier to make than it looks. When I … Continue reading Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
Limburg is a province in the South of the Netherlands that is famous for its pies, known as vlaai. I’ve already posted recipes for a version with cherries, kersenvlaai, and one with apricots, abrikozenvlaai. One of the most famous types is … Continue reading Gooseberry Meringue Pie from Limburg (Kruisbessenvlaai, Krosjelevlaai mit Sjoem)
Doesn’t this cherry ricotta tartlet look great? It is not only as delicious as it looks, it is also very easy to make and does not require any baking (or any baking skills for that matter). So you don’t have … Continue reading No-Bake Cherry Ricotta Amaretti Tartlets
As dessert in our High Heel Gourmet-inspired menu, we prepared Thai coconut rice custard. This turned out very nice, with a nice contrast between the sweet palm sugar-flavored bottom and the salty creamy coconut top. This is an original dessert that … Continue reading Thai Coconut Rice Custard (Kanom Tuay)
My friend Antonella took a sabbatical to be trained as a professional pastry chef in Italy. Upon her return, she baked acetani for us, wonderful almond-orange cookies that are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and have lovely aromas … Continue reading Acetani (Italian Almond-Orange Cookies)
Hazelnut and coffee are a great combination, and this torte has it all: crunchy hazelnuts, crispy hazelnut meringue, and a luscious coffee-flavored buttercream. For this cake I used the recipe of the famous retired Dutch pastry chef, Cees Holtkamp. I’ve posted … Continue reading Hazelnut Mocha Meringue Torte
Pastiera is a traditional Easter cake from Naples, filled with boiled wheat, ricotta, and candied citrus. The wheat provides an interesting texture and also makes the cake quite filling. The candied citron, candied orange, lemon zest, orange blossom water, and … Continue reading Pastiera Napoletana
Research has shown that eating nuts on a regular basis is healthy. The best reason for baking these cookies however is that they are delicious! They are gluten free and dairy free, if that matters to you. Walnuts and hazelnuts … Continue reading Walnut-Hazelnut Cookies
This recipe is an embellishment on the easy flourless chocolate cake I posted about recently. I decorated the cake with whipped cream and amarena cherries, and used the syrup of the amarena cherries for the cake batter instead of hot … Continue reading Flourless Chocolate Tartlets with Amarena Cherries
Do you like chocolate? Do you like to impress your guests with your skills in the kitchen? Do you find baking a bit intimidating? Then this is the perfect recipe for you! This flourless chocolate recipe is much easier than … Continue reading Easy Foolproof Flourless Chocolate Cake
As every year, for my birthday I baked to treat my colleagues. This year I made a pound cake, almond cookies stuffed with amarena cherries, and an Italian apple cake. Other than Dutch appeltaart (the same as American apple pie), Italian torta … Continue reading Torta di Mele (Apple Cake)
A friend who came over for dinner announced he would bring a late harvest Sauvignon Blanc, a Sancerre to be more precise. This is the dessert that I came up with to accompany it: cheesecake made from goat cheese. Goat … Continue reading Goat Cheesecake
Cannoli are Sicilian tubes of deep-fried pastry stuffed with sweetened sheep’s milk ricotta. Traditionally they were prepared for carnevale, but nowadays they are prepared year round and not just in Sicily. The stuffing can be enriched with chocolate chips, candied fruit, … Continue reading Cannoli
Traditional strudel isn’t made with puff pastry but with its own special dough. Although its origins are Turkish (related to baklava), it now mostly known as a recipe from Austria. You can also find strudel in North-East Italy, because of … Continue reading Apple Strudel
One of my co-workers, a nice lady called Heleen, mentioned that she had a great recipe for carrot cake. That got my attention as I was looking for a dessert recipe with vegetables. She lent me a book from Slow … Continue reading Carrot and Almond Cake (Torta di Carote)
If you like chocolate, you will love these chocolate bombs. They use the same batter as the flourless chocolate cake I posted ages ago, but they bake more quickly and there is no need to glaze them. The secret ingredient … Continue reading Flourless Chocolate Muffins
This is what I came up with when I put my mind to creating a dessert made from vegetables. I sweetened freshly juiced beetroot, fennel, and ginger and then turned it into a sorbet. To keep the flavor as fresh … Continue reading Beetroot, Fennel and Ginger Sorbet
When we told Lucia of the B&B we stayed at in Roseto degli Abruzzi that we were going to visit the Calanchi di Atri, a beautiful landscape close to the town of Atri, she advised me to also check out … Continue reading Pan Ducale
