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Baba Au Mandarine Napoléon

27 April 2024

On April 27th, we celebrate the birthday of the King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. The Dutch royal family is also known as ‘de Oranjes’, which is reflected in the use of the colour orange when referring to Dutch royalty. Actually, there is no link between the royal family and the colour. The ‘orange’ in their name refers to the French city of Orange, a Principality one of his ancestors inherited in 1544.

Over the years we prepared Orange Sabayon, Queen’s Soup, Orange and Almond Cake, Bouchée à la Reine, Orange Flan and Canard à l’Orange on this day. What better way to celebrate a birthday than baking a Baba, a flavourful and moist cake? Traditionally a Baba au Rhum (preferably with raisins or currents) is served with a syrup based on brown rum. Today we use a delicious Belgian liqueur: Mandarine Napoléon. It’s a unique mandarin liqueur, made from macerated Sicilian mandarins and cognac. It was originally created in 1892 by Napoleon’s physician. Rich, long, intense en delicious!

What You Need

10 large Baba’s
- 4 grams of dried Yeast
- 100 ml Milk
- 15 grams of Sugar
- 200 grams All Purpose Flour
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 2 Eggs
- 100 grams of Butter
- 80 grams of chopped Candied Orange Peel
- 2 grams of Salt
- Butter to coat the moulds
- Finely chopped Candied Orange Peel
Syrup
- 500 ml of Water
- 200 grams of Sugar
- 200 ml Mandarine Napoléon

What You Do

The milk should be lukewarm and the butter melted but not hot. Start by combining milk, yeast and sugar. Mix well. Add the sieved flour and mix. Now it’s time to add the eggs and the egg yolks. Use kneading hooks to mix very, very well. This may take 10 minutes. The result should be an elastic, sticky dough. Add the butter, mix and then add the salt. The dough is now even stickier. Coat the moulds with butter. Add the dough to the moulds and let rise for approximately 2 hours. They should double in size. Preheat your oven to 200 °C or 400 °F and bake for 15 minutes depending on the size. Keep an eye on the baba’s, you may want to reduce the heat after 10 minutes.
In the meantime add water and sugar to a pan. Warm the mixture until nearly boiling. Stir and make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. Now add Mandarine Napoléon to taste. Leave to cool. Add an extra splash of Mandarine Napoléon to give the syrup an extra push. Allow the baba’s to cool somewhat, remove from the mould and let them soak in the syrup for a few hours, or longer. A day or two will be perfect, Sprinkle with finely chopped candied orange peel and serve at room temperature.

Panna Cotta with Agar

18 April 2024

A few days ago Suzanne’s Mom wrote about Piper McAloon. At 17 she became Pastry Chef at Foglia, an award-winning plant-based restaurant located in Bristol, Rhode Island. A truly inspiring story!
When asked what she is making right now, she mentioned Panna Cotta. At Foglia she makes a gluten-free version with agar. Which was something we wanted to do for a long time. We love Panna Cotta, but using gelatine (made from animals from the meat industry) is far from ideal. Agar is made from the cell walls of red algae. Popular throughout Asia and fortunately also available where we live.
We served our Panna Cotta with a coulis of red berries. Very tasty, but was it a real Panna Cotta? It didn’t seem as creamy as the version with gelatine. The texture was certainly different. The version with gelatine was smoother and firmer; more how we think panna cotta should feel in your mouth. We were happy with the result, but we’re not sure if we will use agar next time we’re preparing Panna Cotta. To be continued!

What You Need (for 4)

500 ml fresh Cream
1,5 grams of Agar (powder)
1 Vanilla Bean
30 grams of Sugar

What You Do

Add the agar, the seeds of the vanilla bean and the sugar to the cream. Mix very well, the agar must to be completely dissolved. Bring to the boil on slow/medium heat. Stir frequently. Keep close to boiling for 1 or 2 minutes. Continue stirring. Transfer to a water bath with cold water. Cool the liquid somewhat before filling the forms. This is where you need to be careful. Gelatine gels at a lower temperature than agar. You need to transfer the mixture when it’s relatively warm. Use silicone molds; they work very well panna cotta. Let cool and then store in the refrigerator. Don’t forget to seal with cling foil, otherwise your panna cotta will absorb aromas from other food in the refrigerator.

PS

Cook the red berries in some water for perhaps 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a sieve and use the back of a spoon to squeeze out the liquid. Add sugar and lemon juice to taste. Reduce the liquid somewhat. Let cool. You could also start by blending the berries. This makes squeezing out the liquid easier plus you will get a richer taste and some bitterness.

Pear and Chocolate Pie

12 October 2023

A few weeks ago, we were very pleased to win the Great Bloggers Bake Off award in the pie-category with a Pear and Almond Pie. A delicious, uplifting combination that works very well thanks to the crème fraîche and the calvados. The Bake Off is organised by A Jeanne in the Kitchen.

Pear and chocolate is a match made in heaven, that’s why we decided to make a Pear and Chocolate Pie. The result is a rich, intense flavoured pie. A small slice with an espresso will make for a very nice dessert.

What You Need

Dough
- 50 grams White Caster Sugar
- 100 grams soft Butter
- ½ teaspoon grated Lemon Peel
- Pinch of Salt
- ½ Egg
- 3 grams Baking Powder
- 150 grams All Purpose Flour
Almond Paste
- 225 grams of White Caster Sugar
- 250 grams of Almond Flour
- One Egg
- Lemon zest
Filling
- 200 grams Chocolate
- 50 grams Double Cream
- 50 grams Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- Pears, preferably Doyenné du Comice (or Conference)
Decoration
- Whipped Cream
- Cinnamon Powder

What You Do

Start by making the Dough. Beat the egg. Combine sugar and butter until smooth. Add Lemon zest and salt. Mix. Add the egg. Mix. Combine baking powder and flour. Pass through a sieve and add to the mixture. Best is to use a kitchen mixer with kneading hooks. Wrap in foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least two hours. The dough freezes well so not a problem if you’ve made too much.

Now make the Almond Paste. Combine almond flour and sugar. Add one beaten egg and (optional) lemon zest. Mix until you have a paste. Keeps well in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for months. You could also use 250 grams of white almonds. Grind these and continue as if almond flour. In this case you need half the quantity (or less).

Preheat the oven to 180 °C or 355 °F. Coat your pie tin with butter (we used a 15 cm, 6 inch tin). Roll out the dough, it should be 5 mm (0.20 inch). Line the tin with the dough. Don’t worry if the dough breaks; it’s easy to repair. Remove the excess dough. Line with aluminium foil or parchment paper, add baking beans and bake the pie blind for 15 minutes.

When the pie is in the oven, it’s time to make the Filling. We used cooking chocolate, that makes life a lot easier. Add the broken chocolate to the cream and melt gently in the microwave (set to low power) or au bain-marie. Add sugar. Allow to cool. Lukewarm is fine. Beat the egg.

Use almond paste to make a thin layer on the bottom of the pie. Take half of the chocolate mixture and (using a spatula) add a layer of chocolate on top of the almond paste. Add the egg to the remaining chocolate, mix well and make a third layer. Peel the pears, quarter and push the pears into the mixture. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes (depending on the pears and the mixture).
Allow to cool and then remove from the tin.

Pear and Almond Pie

24 August 2023

Only a few weeks to go before we can enjoy fresh, new pears and apples. Time to start thinking about a traditional Dutch apple pie, about stuffed apples with raisins and cinnamon, about a chocolate-pear pie and of course about this classic pear and almond pie. Rich in taste with a crunchy crust and a soft, light, creamy filling. A very taste dessert but also great with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

We begin by making the dough. It freezes well, so it’s a great idea to make a bit extra.

What You Need

50 grams of White Caster Sugar
100 grams of soft Unsalted Butter
Egg (beaten)
½ teaspoon of Lemon Zest
1 gram of Salt
3 grams of Baking Powder
150 grams of All Purpose Flour

What You Do

Adding an egg to the dough makes its flavour richer and the dough will be easier to handle when lining the baking tin. The lemon in the crust will work very well in combination with the pear and the sweetness of the filling. Start by combining the sugar and the butter. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks. When mixed, add halve of the beaten egg, then add the lemon zest. Combine salt, baking powder and flour. Pass through a sieve and add to the mixture. Use the kneading hooks to mix. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

The filling is a combination of almond paste, crème fraîche and pear. We used Conference, but you could also use the very aromatic Doyenne du Comice.

What You Need

50 grams of Almond Paste
½ egg
100 grams of Crème Fraîche
10 grams of Calvados
2 or 3 pears

What You Do

Preheat your oven to 200 °C or 390 °F. Roll out the dough, it should be 4-5 mm (0,15-0,20 inch). Coat your pie tin with butter (we used a 15 cm, 6 inch tin). Line the tin with the dough. Don’t worry if the dough breaks; it’s easy to repair. Remove the excess dough. Peel the pears and slice in nice chunks. Combine the almond paste, the egg, the crème fraîche and the calvados until the mixture is smooth. Add the mixture to the tin, Add the pear. Transfer to the oven for in total 40 minutes. After 20 minutes reduce the heat to 160 °C or 320 °F. Allow to cool and then remove from the tin.

PS

In case you want to make your own almond paste, then combine 250 grams of almond flour with 225 grams of sugar. Add one beaten egg and (optional) lemon zest. Mix until you have a paste. Keeps well in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for months.
You could also use 250 grams of white almonds. Grind these and continue as if almond flour.

Tartelette aux Myrtilles

10 August 2023

We love seasonal products and although blueberries seem to be available all year round, however, we think they are best during summer. We use them to make a tartelette. Works very well as dessert, but also nice with a cup of afternoon tea.
Earlier we baked the tartelette shell ourselves, based on a recipe of Dutch patissier Cees Holtkamp. You could of course also rely on a French classic, for instance Tarte Tatin by Ginette Mathiot. You could also buy the shell and focus on the filling.

What You Need (Filling)

500 grams of Blueberries
Gelatine
Sugar
Lemon Juice
Cream Cheese
Double Cream

What You Do (Filling)

Wash the blueberries. Keep a handful apart (to be used as decoration). Cook the blueberries with a touch of water and sugar for let’s say 5 minutes. Blender and keep on low heat. Add lemon juice to taste. Follow the instruction on the package of the gelatine. The idea is to thicken the blueberry mixture somewhat, but not to create a gummy layer. Add the gelatine, stir, transfer to the refrigerator and allow to set.
Whip the double cream and the add some cream cheese. We used Philadelphia Original Soft Cheese but you could also use Mascarpone for a fresher result. Taste and perhaps add more cream cheese or some lemon juice.

What You Need (Pâte Sucrée)

50 grams of Butter
125 grams of All Purpose Flour
40 grams of Sugar
1 Egg
Pinch of Salt

What You Do (Crust)

We use tartelette moulds with a diameter of approximately 7 centimetres (2,75 inches). The butter must be soft but not warm (18 °C or 65 °F). Beat the egg. Combine flour, sugar and salt. Dice the butter and knead with the mixture. You could use a hand mixer with kneading hooks. When well mixed, add the egg and knead until you have a nice dough. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Coat the moulds with butter. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Place it on a floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin. Perhaps dust the dough with flour. Divide the dough into 6 portions and make small circles. Press the pastry onto the bottom and to the sides. Cut of overhanging dough. Transfer to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 175 °C or 350 °F.
Line with parchment paper and use dry beans to fill the moulds. Blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and the beans. Bake for another 10 minutes. When golden brown, remove the tartelette from the mould and let cool on a grid.

Assemble

When cool and ready to serve, add the blueberry jam, the cream cheese mixture and decorate with remaining blueberries. The tartelette keeps well in the refrigerator for an hour or two. If you store them longer, then the blue of the berries will blur the cream cheese mixture.

Classic Dutch Apple Pie

27 July 2023

Let’s enjoy some real Dutch comfort food, let’s make a classic Dutch Apple Pie, one that is rich and full of flavours. Could be eaten warm, could be served with whipped cream, as long as you use lots of apples, just the right amount of cinnamon and don’t forget to add some lemon zest to the dough.

Apple-wise you’re looking for a tart apple, one that will keep its structure when cooked. If the apple is very high in acid content (for instance the Belle de Boskoop, another Dutch classic, also known as Goudrenet) then you risk having compote in your pie. We prefer using Jonagold. Widely available, tasty, just the right firmness and not expensive.

Making a classic Dutch apple pie is a bit of work, especially when everything is homemade: the dough (shortcrust), the almond paste and the pie itself. Just keep thinking of the delicious result!

What You Need (Dough)

50 grams of White Caster Sugar
100 grams of soft Unsalted Butter
½ Egg (beaten)
½ teaspoon of Lemon Zest
1 gram of Salt
3 grams of Baking Powder
150 grams of All Purpose Flour

What You Do

Adding an egg to the dough makes its flavour richer and the dough will be easier to handle when lining the baking tin. The lemon in the crust will work very well in combination with the cinnamon and the sweetness of the filling. Start by combining the sugar and the butter. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks. When mixed, add halve of the beaten egg, then add the lemon zest. Combine salt, baking powder and flour. Pass through a sieve and add to the mixture. Use the kneading hooks to mix. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. The dough freezes well, so it’s a great idea to make a bit extra.

What You Need (Almond Paste)

250 grams of Almond Flour
225 grams of Sugar
1 beaten Egg
(optional) Lemon Zest

What You Do

You could also use 250 grams of White Almonds. Grind these and continue as if Almond Flour.
Combine the flour and the sugar. Add the beaten egg and lemon zest. Mix until you have a paste. Keeps well in the refrigerator for a week and in the freezer for months.

What You Need (Classic Dutch Apple Pie)

300 grams of Shortcrust Dough
60 grams of Almond Paste
700 grams of Jonagold
30 grams of Sugar
Cinnamon
30 grams of Raisins
30 grams of Currents
Butter
1 beaten Egg

What You Do

Start by soaking the raisins and currents for 10 minutes in hot water. Drain and squeeze gently. This way the raisins will be tasty and moist. Preheat your oven to 200 °C or 390 °F. Peel the apples, remove the core and chop coarsely. Combine with the raisins, currents, sugar and cinnamon. Roll out the dough, it should be 4-5 mm (0,15-0,20 inch). Coat your pie tin with butter (we used a 15 cm, 6 inch tin). Line the tin with the dough. Don’t worry if the dough breaks; it’s easy to repair. Remove the excess dough. Roll out the almond paste and cover the bottom of the pie with it. Now add the apple mixture, make sure it’s a bit compact. Make strips from the remaining dough and use them to make a criss cross pattern (lattice) on top of the pie.

Transfer to the oven for in total 40-50 minutes. After 20 minutes reduce the heat to 160 °C or 320 °F and brush the strips with beaten egg. Allow to cool and then remove from the tin.

Royal Orange and Almond Cake

27 April 2023

April 27^th we celebrate the birthday of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Hip hip hooray!
The Dutch royal family is also known as ‘de Oranjes’, which is reflected in the use of the colour orange when referring to Dutch royalty. Actually, there is no link between the royal family and the colour. The ‘Oranje’ in the name refers to the French city of Orange, a Principality one of his ancestors inherited in 1544.

Nevertheless, over the years we prepared Orange Sabayon, Queen’s Soup, Bouchée à la Reine, Orange Flan and Canard à l’Orange on this day. What better way to celebrate a birthday than by baking a cake, a flavourful, moist Orange and Almond cake?

What You Need

One large Orange
3 Eggs
100 grams Fine Caster Sugar
125 grams of Almond Flour
3 grams of Baking Powder

What You Do

Wash the orange and cook it (meaning the whole orange) for 2 hours in some water. Let cool.
Preheat the oven to 170 °C or 340 °F. Coarsely cut the orange, remove the pits and blender the orange until you have a marmalade-like consistency. Add the baking powder to the almond flour and mix. Beat the eggs and the sugar until light and airy. This may take 5 minutes. Add the blended orange and mix gently. Add the almond flour and the baking powder. Mix. Coat a baking spring form (18 cm or 7 inch) with butter, add the mixture and transfer to the oven for 40-45 minutes. The cake will rise only a little during the baking process. When ready, leave the cake to cool in the tin.

Eton Mess

2 February 2023

For some reason we were talking about summer, about typical summer food, about strawberries, green peas, melon, okra, peaches, spinach and new potatoes. Of course, most of these are available all year round, but we like to enjoy the season. Today was different, we really wanted to eat strawberries and we decided to make Eton Mess.
According to Hilaire Walden in her excellent Book of Traditional English Cookery the strawberry dessert is eaten on June 4^th in Eton during a picnic for pupils and parents of Eton College, as part of the annual prize giving ceremony. Others say it was first served during the annual cricket match between pupils of Harrow School and Eton College.
One anecdote is that a chef planned to make Pavlova but it collapsed, the other anecdote is that the Pavlova was perfect but a dog sat on it, making a mess, an Eton Mess.

Mascarpone is sometimes added to the cream, but that’s a bit over the top. No need to add sugar to the cream because the meringue is sufficiently sweet. Hilaire Walden suggests soaking the strawberries for two hours or longer in kirsch, an idea we liked. She also suggests using ready-made meringues, which make it even easier to make Eton Mess.

What You Need

Strawberries
Raspberries (optional)
Kirsch (or Brandy)
Cream
Merengue
Lemon Zest

What You Do

Clean the fruit, chop, place in a bowl and sprinkle with kirsch or brandy (one or two small tablespoons per portion). Leave in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Whip the cream. Add some lemon zest, mix. Start assembling the Eton Mess: first a layer of merengue crumbles, then fruit, then whipped cream, then a second layer, same order but make sure you can see some of the red fruit. Serve immediately.

PS

In case you want to make your own (French) meringues: you need 2 egg whites and 100 grams of (finely granulated) sugar. The weight ratio should be 1:2, egg white to sugar. Set your oven to 90 °C or 190 °F. Whip the egg whites until somewhat stiff. Start slowly adding the sugar and continue whipping until the egg white mixture shows stiff peaks. Pipe the mixture on a baking sheet, transfer to the oven for 2 hours. The shape of the meringues is not important because you will need crumble for the Eton Mess

Book of Traditional English Cookery – Hilaire Walden

Mousse au Chocolat

9 January 2023

Crème Brulée, Ile Flottante, Crêpes Suzette and Mousse au Chocolat: four classic French desserts. It’s tempting to buy them ready-made, especially Mousse au Chocolat is popular in supermarkets, but why not make your own?

From 1992 until 2002 Belgian cook Herwig van Hove and host Dré Steemans (better known as Felice Damiano) had a weekly program on television called ‘1000 seconds’. In these 1000 seconds (just under 17 minutes) Herwig van Hove would prepare a three-course meal. Sometimes he took a short cut by serving cheese as dessert, but very often he would prepare three courses. His recipe for Mousse au Chocolat is quick and easy. The result is a delicious Mousse au Chocolat, one that will keep well for at least 24 hours.

What You Need (for 4)

2 fresh organic Eggs
35 grams of fine Sugar
100 grams of Dark (Cooking) Chocolate
165 grams of Cream
Raspberry (to decorate, optional)

What You Do

You will need 2 bowls plus one larger bowl. Start by separating the eggs. Beat the egg white until firm. In the larger bowl beat the egg yolks and the sugar until ‘ruban’ (meaning thick and pale). Whip the cream until firm. This order allows you to use one wire whisk for all three steps in the process.
Melt the chocolate with 65 grams of cream in your microwave on very low power. No rush, the result should be lukewarm. This will take 3 minutes or longer. Use a spoon to mix the cream and chocolate until smooth.
For the next steps you need a spatula. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg yolks and combine. Now fold in the cream using a spatula and then fold in the egg whites. Don’t stir or mix, just fold.
Fill four nice glasses with the mousse, cover with cling foil and transfer to the refrigerator. Just before serving decorate with raspberries and perhaps some freshly whipped cream.

Tiramisù

21 November 2022

Such a simple, tasty, fairly easy to make dessert. No oven needed and the result is always a pleasure to serve. We rely on the recipe of an expert, in our case Dutch pastry chef Cees Holtkamp. Renowned for his excellent patisserie and his truly delicious croquettes. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the shop in Amsterdam, please do so.

After his retirement he started working on his book Dutch Pastry (De Banketbakker in Dutch). The recipes are very clearly written and easy to follow. One of the remarkable aspects of this book is that he prepared all pies, cookies, doughs etcetera in his own home kitchen with basic home cook utensils.

If you want to see his amazing technique and his gently style of creating wonderful patisserie, then visit FoodTube and enjoy how chef Cees Holtkamp and his granddaughter Stella Meijles prepare Pavlova, Black Forest Cake, Lemon Meringue Pie, Saint Honoré, Cheese Butterflies, Tiramisù and many more.

Dutch Pastry is available via the usual channels or via the publisher for 20 euro.

Liqueur

Let’s go back to the Tiramisù. It’s all about eggs, mascarpone, sugar, ladyfingers (savoiarde, sponge fingers or boudoirs) coffee and cocoa powder. Most recipes suggest adding a liqueur to the coffee, for instance rum, cognac, amaretto or marsala. Obviously, we want to add an Italian liqueur to our Tiramisù, so perhaps marsala? This is a fortified wine from Sicily, dry or sweet. A good choice but for some reason the idea of an almond based liqueur is tempting, perhaps because of its slight bitterness in combination with the coffee and the cocoa?

Unfortunately, most amaretto’s taste nasty and artificial. We decided to spend a bit more money and bought a bottle of amaretto produced by Lorenzo Inga. The distillery is located near Gavi, a city known for its amaretti cookies. They produce grappa, bitters and liqueurs such as sambuca and limoncello. Their amaretto is all about almonds. It has a soft structure with a sweet and full mouth feeling. We added it to our Tiramisù and the result was delicious.

Leftovers

The next day we noticed that we had some leftover ladyfingers and also some coffee-amaretto mixture. Why not combine them with whipped double cream and perhaps some vanilla sugar? Would that work? We followed the same approach and stored it in the refrigerator for half a day. We were pleasantly surprised!

The Art of Flavours

What You Need

What You Do

What You Need (for 4)

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PS

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What You Need (Filling)

What You Do (Filling)

What You Need (Pâte Sucrée)

What You Do (Crust)

Assemble

What You Need (Dough)

What You Do

What You Need (Almond Paste)

What You Do

What You Need (Classic Dutch Apple Pie)

What You Do

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PS

What You Need (for 4)

What You Do

Liqueur

Leftovers