I wish you all a happy and healthy 2017 with delicious food and wine. As my first contribution to this, I present to you homemade lychee ice cream. Lychees are a tropical fruit with a complex delicious aroma and flavor. When … Continue reading Lychee Ice Cream
This is the last post in a trilogy of posts with the recipes of the components for the dessert that I served at game & wine dinner parties over the last three Saturdays: marzipan mushrooms, almond madeleines, and in this … Continue reading Spiced Pear Ice Cream (Stoofperenijs)
Madeleines are classic French small cakes that have to be slightly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with a wonderful aroma of either vanilla, citrus zest, or, as in this case, almonds. They are not difficult to … Continue reading Almond Madeleines
Marzipan and almond paste are pretty similar, as both are made by grinding almonds and sugar together. The differences are that marzipan is sweeter than almond paste (almond paste is 50% of almonds by weight, whereas marzipan is 35-45% almonds), … Continue reading Homemade Marzipan Mushrooms
Recently, Mimi blogged about pumpkin mousse, a decadent mousse with mascarpone. I liked the idea of pumpkin mousse, and made my own version, leaving out the mascarpone. The result is feathery light with a good balance between the pumpkin flavor … Continue reading Pumpkin Mousse
Yes, you’ve read it correctly, a cake that contains beets (also known as beetroot). When I saw this recipe on Polianthus’ blog, I was intrigued and knew I had to try it. I am glad that I did, because the … Continue reading Hazelnut and Beet Cake
Rosenmuskateller is a rare dessert wine from Alto Adige/Südtirol, the German speaking north-east of Italy. It is made from the rare grape of the same name, related to other muscat grapes but with the distinctive quality that it smells of … Continue reading Blackberry Rose Water Sorbet
Summer has finally started (not just on the calendar but also the weather) and that means that cakes for which you don’t have to turn on the oven are the preferred solution for dessert. Although this recipe is tagged “baking”, … Continue reading Quark Cake with Cherries (Kwarktaart met Kersen)
Strawberries with pastry cream on a sweet shortcrust pastry crust are a classic. You could make a large tart, but it looks much better and is easier to serve when you make individual tartlets. There are some special techniques used … Continue reading Strawberry Tartlets
When I posted my recipe for crème brûlée, I got suggestions to try white chocolate creme brulee (which I did and liked) and passion fruit creme brulee as well. Blogging is a continuing source of inspiration for my cooking, and … Continue reading Passion Fruit Crème Brûlée
When I posted my recipe for regular crème brûlée, CampariGirl suggested I should try making it with passion fruit or white chocolate. Since passion fruit appears to be out of season, I opted to make it with white chocolate. White chocolate … Continue reading White Chocolate Crème Brûlée
As the dessert for our soul food dinner, Selena suggested we bake a sweet potato pie. This is like pumpkin pie, but made with sweet potato. Of course we made the pastry crust from scratch, using the new method that … Continue reading Soul Food, Part 4: Sweet Potato Pie
This is the latest result in my quest for a nutritious breakfast that is high in protein, fiber, and complex carbs, and low in sugar and fat. More importantly, it is also very tasty. Even though oat bran may not … Continue reading Oat Bran Cottage Cheese Muffins
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)
