Almost forgot to show you the cakes I made for my birthday. I think I did a fairly reasonable job for a not so sweet-toothed girl. The carrotcake was served on Friday together with some mascarpone-orange frosting. As carrotcake is an unusual feature here in Holland the reactions were ah, let's say, hesitant... First they made sure I wasn't joking, (there is an old joke about this rabbit that comes to the bakery on three consecutive days and asks for carrotcake which the baker obviously doesn't have and then the fourth day the baker decides to make a carrotcake and proudly presents the rabbit the result, after which the rabbit says: Gross! The funny part is of course in the bit I can't write: whenever the rabbit speaks you make this rabbit teeth plus accent....) and as all the seven ladies present have children and thus know of the joke, they were a bit weary, viewed the cake some more, agreed to try a small piece and then asked if there were really carrots used!
The next day I finished a cake with raspberry bavaroise filling and decided to use lime-bavaroise to frost. I wasn't too sure that it would turn out the way it did (and hold up against the weather), so early morning I decided to bake another one, this time a "vlaai" which is a type of pie, originating from the Dutch province of Limburg. Invented in Weert, (after baking the daily bread the women in the neighbourhood took their home made vlaai to the bakery to make use of the still warm ovens) it is nowadays available in all of the Netherlands. A vlaai (pronounce "fly") consists of a yeasted dough flat bottom, edged upwards at the end. It is filled with fruits, such as apple, apricot, rice or cherries and then baked, sometimes topped with sugar or whipped cream and chocolate or merinque. This is a "Rijstevlaai" (Rice pudding pie) a classic filling with rice cooked in milk, enriched with egg yolks and sugar. 
What an unbelievable way to treat yourself for your birthday!
ReplyDeleteAs a rice pudding fanatic (and I use the word without hesitation, I'm not kidding)-I need the recipe. Please.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday! Though I always make a birthday cake for myself too, I have never ever done that much baking for my own birthday. Three! And they all look and sound superb. You really are an incredible baker, Karen.
Sometimes people think that I make my own cake because I am nice-but in my case, it's because I am an awful, terrible fusspot about cake, and not nice at all.
At work, people bring in cakes, kindly, for celebrations, which are unbearably dire. They are these dry, box mix things with nasty canned icing. It is very difficult dodging them without being mean and/or rude. If someone made me one at home, I might permanently alienate a friend or relative.
But it is fun to make them, too.
If anyone has a recipe for the pastry called rijstevlaai from The Netherlands please let me know. I tasted it in Florence Italy. It is a rice pudding inside a thin pastry like a flat pie.............just fantastic..........
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Barbara Weiner
Please contact me with a recipe for "rijstevlaai" !!
ReplyDeletethis is the delicious recipe from The Netherlands with rice pudding in a pastry ....like a flat pie........just fantastic.
thanks,
Barbara Weiner