Daring Baker's: the Challenge in an eggshell..

14! Count. Count again. Write down. That many eggs? I'm afraid so, and that is even before I saw the amount of cream needed for this challenge. For your information..... 3.3/4 cups!... read again..... that is 3.3/4 cups which is equal to .... No, we don't want to know that do we?
I am beginning to get a faint notion that the challenge for me lies within keeping my weight in check, next to baking all these delights.
All these eggs were needed to bake our October challenge, a dessert called Bostini Cream Pie. This month hosted by sweet Mary at Alpineberry, just click for the recipe and also to see how we've grown! I am not sure Mary but is that my personal weight chart, or the success of this fabulous Daring Baker's group you're showing?

This dessert derives from the Boston Cream Pie which in it's original shape is not really a pie but a cake, filled with pastry cream and covered with a chocolate ganache. The recipe we had to follow dates back to 1996 when it was created by Donna Scala and Kurtis Baguley at Bistro Don Giovanni, they converted the cake into a dessert. The cake here is changed into an orange chiffon cake, set on top of a very rich pastry cream (not really a custard since it won't firm up like custard does) and then the fun isn't over yet, this all is coated with a chocolate glaze.

Again, we dug into the challenge together, a date was set and into our respective kitchens we went, Tanna, Ilva and me. They both got off to a roaring start, having their custard cooked before I even had a chance to assemble my ingredients... only to discover that I had only half the amount of cream needed. So...I cheated, didn't feel like going out to the store and substituted with milk. Used a whole vanilla pod because I like custard to be real vanilla and I just love the little tell tale dark spots. Even with all these eggs, the vanilla and the cream, I thought this particular recipe tasted quite bland, hoped for a more pronounced flavour once cooled.

The recipe called for straining the custard but I didn't see any reason to. It was a soft and silky pale yellow and it thickened unexpectedly fast in the pan so that gave me high hopes for a firm custard. Not. That was all what I was going to get, it stayed as it was in the pot, flowing.

Cake was next, on paper I already liked the addition of fresh orange juice and zest in the recipe, I even thought of replacing the required vanilla extract by orange extract but was afraid it was going to be too much of a good thing. Since we were allowed to play around with size and plating, I decided to make mini-mini cakes, a layer and some small cupcakes. This batter really was enough to play around with. And boy, did I play!

Chocolate glaze was the final stage, very simple straightforward, a 1:1 ratio of chocolate and butter. I only made a very small part of the glaze, just enough to drizzle some on because I felt this was rich enough on it's own.

Now, the hard part... my test team consists of one chocolate monster, a cake lover, a custard addict and a give-me-dessert-anytimer and a if-it's-food-I'll-eat-it and not one of them was satisfied. I liked the custard when it was still hot (happy to spoon out the pan) but thought it was bland even with the vanilla bean and all the eggs, structure was beautiful though. Cake was said to be airy, light and rubbery at the same time and my chocolate monster wasn't enchanted enough to ask for extra drizzles.

I think the fact that the major part of this dessert stood on the counter for a day untouched pretty much sums it up. Challenge completed, happy with the experience but no repeats.

Check out my fellow Daring Baker's on the Blogroll to see their creations, this dessert sure lends itself to some magic and creative platings! Can't wait and you? Go on, click!

Shifting gears

Have you ever been making lists, but before checking them twice, life got in the way? Well that sort of happened to me last week (and I have a notion this will go on for a little while....quick quick, type, momentum!).

Last week I could almost hear the gears clicking in my head, the moment I had my goals set, something happened and one list rolled away to be replaced by another, suited to fit the circumstances of the day. It was good though, to be able to just be there.

So, yes there has been much cooking going on, versatile, spur of the moment, ever expanding cooking and yes, it was good. But as it happens the stuff you bring to the table in these circumstances must have a lot of qualities; it should feed a crowd, able to expand in minutes should there be more mouths to feed, best prepared in advance, oozy with comfort, easily neglected and reheated in an instant, happy to be on the stove/oven somewhat longer.... trusted recipes that won't let you down.

There was vegetable soup, wraps, lasagna, green beans, roasted chicken, the best roasted potatoes ever, stifado, home baked bread, cinnamon buns -yet again!-, miracle pie, and probably some more. All in all, food that said: come on in, have a seat, let your guard down and relax, I'll make you some coffee, tea, make the beds.

There was more than the one lonely chicken this time, I used a plethora of chicken legs, but the recipe is basically the same. A couple of onions, peeled and quartered, some unpeeled garlic cloves, fresh herbs of your choice (I used rosemary and thyme), lemon quarters, unpeeled, a sprinkle of sea salt and fresh ground pepper, some smoked paprika, a drizzle of honey and olive oil and just a few little knobs of butter to get things started. On the bottom rack of the -fan- oven at 150C. On a rack above there was a similar large oven dish filled with thickly sliced potatoes, pre-cooked for just 7 minutes, dash of olive oil, some ground cumin, salt and some ground ancho chili flakes....roast away for an hour or so. You'll have your hands free to do some other stuff and ready the green beans to accompany in under 20 minutes.

Take care all of you!

Fish, a tutorial (smelly post no. 2)

It's all about smoke today. These are the lime kilns at the museum, the food starts down here!

This lovely piece of fish Floris is cradling in his lap is something some of you might be familiar with, I think in English it's called "kipper", which we call "bokking" in Dutch (böckling in Swedish and German), although my Mom told me that when she was a little girl and visiting family in Zwolle, one of the highlights of her visit was the visit to the market where she was treated to a "kippetje" which sounds familiar enough to recognize the word. (Funny enough, "kip" in Dutch is "chicken"...).

(Showing the kippers being smoked in the blackened smoke house)

So yes, it's herring and for those of you who have been visiting Holland and have been treated by well-meaning Dutch hosts to our delicacy the raw herring it must be a relieve to find we smoke the things as well. (Truth be told, there is not much food that makes me want to run away fast, but raw herring is one of them. Yuck!). No surprise that upon entering the fish smokery I thought better of ordering one of these, I had my eye on something else entirely! Floris however was coaxed into trying, although I warned him that these suckers sport lots and lots of icky tiny bones and they need an almost surgical eye and steady hand to remove and even then he had to eat them bite/choke/spit/bite fashion. I really can make things sound appetizing don't I? He had one anyway (good for him!). He was all attention and managed to pick through the bones and enjoy the succulent meat, even handed me some pieces to sample... To my surprise, I really liked it. Never too old to learn!

On to my personal craving that day: smoked -freshwater- eel. A real Dutch delicacy, one that is offered as fillet in any Dutch fishmonger (and most supermarkets), quite expensive these days, prices range anywhere from 20,-- € per kilo and that is in their natural state, looking like this:

The way to get at the meat is as follows: break off the head, try to get a hold on the slippery skin and peel away from the flesh like so:

Usually, if you have real good ones, the skin will come off fairly easily. Then, and this needs some dexterity, you'll proceed by pinching and feeling your way to the central bone (eels have only one so that makes it rather easy) and the "feeling" bit comes in because you need to decide which way the spikes go so you can pinch and slide the right way down (imagine stroking a cat against the hairs...). The flesh is firm, very rich and smokey in flavour. We used to eat them like this, old newspapers on the dining table and have an eel fest (mind image: the face of my dear husband seeing these eels.... he really thought eels were born as fillets). Best to serve this lukewarm, I like to leave them on the radiator for a while (wrapped in paper). We eat them as they are, but usually it's served on bits of toast, or as an appetizer on rye bread. Pulsed into a paté mixed with herbs and horse radish is also very good, but somehow we never get to that stage.

Resulting bits and pieces of eel meat, I made a mess but the flavour was soooo good!

A word of advice; try to get the skinnier ones, although it might look like a good deal to pick thick eels, these tend to be dry and sometimes taste bland (or muddy). Best size is finger thick. In earlier days my grandma used to make stewed eel from the -untreated and fresh- thicker ones ("Paling in 't groen"). I still remember riding the bike with my grandfather to the fish stall, my feet firmly planted in his bike bags, buying fresh eel. Biking back home with a wriggling bunch of eel rolled in newspaper. Then, I got to sit on the kitchen counter, armed with a large wooden spoon while the eel swam in fresh water (to make sure they were clean inside and out). My job was to push them back in the sink.... Suffice to say I never ate the dish, the memory plus the smell of fish stewed in milk and herbs....no thank you. My oma and mum however thought it was a real treat! Sure!

Edit: my mom read this and told me that the white liquid I remembered seeing in the pan (I think I was only 5 or 6) wasn't milk, it was butter.... 'kay....still not something I'd like to try. Thanks Mom, for helping me out here!

Cheese (smelly post no. 1)

(voor nederlands, even scrollen)

The cheese store in the Zuiderzee museum was small but in all it's smelly-ness a treasure trove for a cheese lover, and cheese lovers we are! Still the Dutch aren't the biggest "kaaskoppen" , we eat approx. 20 kg per capita not as much as the Germans (22kg) and the French (25 kg)!

The twins headed out the door pretty quickly, overpowered by the smell but Floris and I stayed put and sampled some nice pieces of cheese, which the man in the white coat was happy to provide us with. (no, not those men! The cheese makers in Holland tradionally used to wear white coats, similar to those worn by doctors). For more pictures of the cheese makers and their store please click here.

I bought a very well aged farmer's cheese, which had a characteristic salty and sharp flavour; true to it's nature. Usually these cheeses are brittle due to their ageing and thus almost impossible to slice, this one however was quite soft in texture, a pleasant mouthfeel. At the right temperature (room temperature; leave it out on the counter for a couple of hours before you use it) you'll get perfect slices and maximum taste.

Couldn't resist buying this little fellow, a small round mature cheese flavoured with fenegreek. Fenegreek is native to countries bordering the Mediterranean and is regularly used in the Indian cuisine as well (called methi). It lends a walnut-like flavour to this cheese which I really like, the seeds might have been toasted to enhance the flavour, in itself this herb tends to taste quite bitter.

Deze kaas kochten we in het Zuiderzee-museum, een klein rond kaasje met fenegriek-kruid. Erg lekker met een noot-achtige smaak, die een beetje aan walnoot doet denken. Ik geloof dat ik het maar in mijn eentje moet gaan opeten als ik dit zo lees! Wie weet is er nog hoop!


Fenegriek is een kruid dat met name in de keukens rond de Middellandse Zee wordt gebruikt in stoofgerechten en curries, en ook zijn plaats heeft in Indiase gerechten. Ik vermoed dat de noot-achtige smaak komt doordat de zaden geroosterd zijn voordat ze toegevoegd worden aan kaas. Het kruid zelf smaakt nogal bitter en is vooral in combinatie met bijvoorbeeld korianderzaad een lekkere smaakmaker voor bijvoorbeeld kip curry.

Denkend aan Holland... / Thinking of Holland..

(In het Nederlands? Even scrollen)

With the grey skies we are having of late it's time to remind myself (and you maybe) Holland can be beautiful, provided you have gorgeous weather like we had this last weekend. We were at the "Zuiderzee museum" in Enkhuizen along the IJsselmeer which is an open air museum and -besides ships and vessels- features a village with original houses from various villages alongside the IJsselmeer, volunteers re-enact old professions in the school house, the sail maker, the smith... Don't worry, I will report on the cheese maker and fish smoker..(hehehe)

Wish I could translate this beautiful poem here which is basically about a Dutchman remembering his beloved country while he is away from home (well I can, obviously, but fear I will ruin it in the process)

Denkend aan Holland

zie ik breede rivieren

traag door oneindig

laagland gaan,

rijen ondenkbaar ijle populieren

als hooge pluimen aan den einder staan;

"--"

de lucht hangt er laag

en de zon wordt er langzaam

in grijze veelkleurige

dampen gesmoord,

en in alle gewesten

wordt de stem van het water

met zijn eeuwige rampen

gevreesd en gehoord.

Hendrik Marsman 1936

Om je even gerust te stellen, dit is een van de weinige gedichten die ik uit mijn hoofd ken, ik loop niet de hele dag al declamerend mijn vensterbanken te stoffen! Zoals een van de kinderen ooit eens riep: Mam, je hebt een Triviant hoofd! Waarmee hij wilde aangeven dat ik van alles een klein beetje weet.... En van een heleboel niks...zo werkt dat nou eenmaal, het zou in sommige opzichten handig zijn als er een aantal zaken net zo goed bleven hangen, zoals daar zijn verjaardagen, tandarts afspraken, boodschappenlijstjes... Maar je moet toegeven, dat maakt een stuk minder indruk op feestjes! Zie je het voor je? Feestje, hapje, drankje en dan terloops je hele verjaardagskalender opzeggen. Ben bang dat men mij ter plekke aan de dichtsbijzijnde fles alcohol hangt om erger te voorkomen.

Trouwens, wist je dat je in het Zuiderzee museum gezinskorting kunt krijgen? Mits je inderdaad verschijnt met de vader van je kinderen! Ik was daar dus alleen met de kids (en mijn ouders) en vroeg als echte Hollandse of ik (volwassenen met 3 kinderen) gebruik kon maken van deze regeling. Waarop de kassiere met een stalen gezicht antwoordde dat dat niet ging, dan diende er namelijk een vader aanwezig te zijn....

Waarop ik me omdraaide en luid pssst! kom! mijn vader riep, niet gelovend dat ze echt meende wat ze zei. (Dit is de 21 eeuw jongens, dit kan toch niet?) Waarop de kassiere lichtelijk geirriteerd e.e.a. duidelijk maakte: "nee mevrouw, het moet de vader zijn van de kinderen"!

En hoe, beste kassiere, gaan we dit aanpakken? Met paspoort, sofinummer en trouwringen? Hoeveel gezinnen, beste kassiere, bestaan er op dit moment in Nederland van wie de vader om verschillende redenen niet aanwezig is? En hoe, beste kassiere, denkt u dit overeind te houden als er, God verhoede, iemand aan uw kassa verschijnt van wie de echtgenoot overleden is? Of net een scheiding heeft doorgemaakt?

Absurd!!

Het is overigens een erg leuk museum om te bezoeken, zeker met kinderen, dat dan weer wel! En nee, geen gezinskorting gekregen, wel gemeld bij de informatiestand binnen in het museum dat deze manier van doen niet van deze tijd is.

Swimming lessons

Picked through a lot of grapes yesterday night. Boiled, mashed, food milled, jelly bagged.
Gorgeous dark red grape juice to be grape jelly and the last fly of the season is so not a good combination.
Doing backstrokes.
In my grape juice.

No jelly post

Blogging is so Awarding

You probably haven't noticed but it seems I'm a truly nice person. Says who? Ilva! Peel off the layers and underneath in the dark corners of my mind, there it is: an angelic person dressed in pink frills with permed hair; Miss Nice!

Kidding aside, this award was given to me by Ilva, and I am so proud! In part because I really like that: nice people who think I'm nice as well. Yes. I do. But not at any price. I'm getting better in saying what I feel must be said, with genuine attention for the other of course and -some- consideration. A lot of things come with age, not all pretty but this is one of them. I find that people who stay where they are when that happens to them, in your inner circle, are the people you want to be around. The people that can't stand the heat....too bad! I've learned and am still learning to deal with that. It's what I try to teach my children as well, they are still so young, but what I try to instill in them is to stay true to themselves and if they don't know how to react that instant? It's okay to step back and say: I will get back to you when I have thought about it.

The other part of being proud is about what the award stands for:

This award is for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world. Once you’ve been awarded, please pass it on to 7 others who you feel are deserving of this award.

It's my turn now to pass on this award to people I've met through blogging, in real life or virtual, who all left their mark with me in a different way:

Lien at Notitie van Lien; who I've met just once but meet regularly through e-mail or by comments. Always there to help or support; I think she pairs kindness with lots of humour which in my opinion is a winner combination.

Mary "Breadchick" at The Sourdough, for the gorgeous breads she bakes, the comments and the generosity that shines through in person and stories.

David at Wish I were Baking, who offers support, opinions and humour in a unique way.

Sue at Sue Cooks Wild; another friend made through blogging and what a friend she is! She is the only one I know that hunts, fishes, goes to the gym and cooks with her nails done, make-up spotless and can cite scenes from Monty Python. This award was made for you!

Monique; I'm bending the rules here, she is no blogger but a hell of a nice person (who'd probably roll over the floor laughing her head off when she hears she is called "nice") but you simply can't beat the humour, the laughter we share and the support! We've met through the internet on a baker's forum so there's Internet involved, and to stay true to the nature of this award: she promised to do a quest appearance on this show in the near future! If you'd like to meet her, have a look at the mindboggling bagelwomen.

Farmgirl Susan at Foodie Farmgirl; her blog was the first ever I read and it threw me in the blogging world. Her love on the rocks expresses her view of the world and the creatures that live there. Combined with a love for baking bread.....

Lindy over at Toast is another choice: she always inspires me with new discoveries, other kitchens and her down to earth approach to recipes and food. Tongue in cheek and not taking herself too serious, her posts are always a joy to read.

Hmm, looking back on my shining stars... I can see a common denominator...can you?

Cinnamon buns inside and out Part 2: Zeeuwse bolus

What Bolus? I won't expect you to pronounce the first, but when you say "bogus" with an "l" you're close enough!

Inside out refers to cinnamon and sugar on the outside of the buns. When we were allowed some playing time doing the September challenge, this old fashioned Dutch bun came to mind. I found that although in Holland this particular bun is baked in the South-Western islands province called "Zeeland" (gee...that sounds like we have a grand country!), the origins might go back as far as the 16th century stemming from the Portuguese "bolo" and made their way to Holland by means of Portuguese Jewish bakers.

Base for the buns is a fairly regular sweet bread dough, like the one we made for the cinnamon buns. In fact I made twice the amount of dough and made half of it into these bolus-buns. What you will be looking for is a handsome ball of dough, just slightly slack, somewhat softer than you would want for a regular bread because this dough needs to be rolled into long ropes.

Recipe in a nutshell: knead white bread dough, roll out in ropes through sugar mixture, form and bake.

Dough recipe:

500 gr ap flour
1.1/4 ts salt
1.1/2 ts yeast
300 gr water or 320 gr milk (I like milk!)
75 gr butter
zest of one lemon or - prepared lemon-sugar zest
or - lemon extract, 1 tsp
for rolling: 250 gr dark brown sugar and 2 tbs cinnamon, mixed*

(*the Dutch basterd suiker.... I know I know....it contains inverted sugar syrup, is very moist to the touch and has a slight molasses-like flavour, substitute with traditional brown sugar or maybe muscovado sugar).
Make a straight forward dough, combine ingredients, knead, either by hand or stand mixer! Again, we are looking for a slightly slacker white bread dough, malleable and windowpane test-proof). You might want to play with the liquid here, but I think the 300 water / 320 milk should do the trick for you as well.

The first rise is a fairly short one, approx. 45 minutes. It doesn't necessarily need to double, half way there is fine. Now, proceed to divide the dough in pieces of equal weight. I like to have pieces of 40 to 50 gram each which will give you around 14-16 pieces of dough. Form into little ball shapes, cover and let relax for 20 minutes or so. This short rest will literally relax your dough and makes it easier to roll into ropes.

We are going to roll ropes in stages (depending on how "willing" your dough is you'll need two or three stages).
First stage is roll into short ropes.
Second -and third stage: in comes the sugar-cinnamon mixture!

Cover your work surface with the sugar mixture and proceed to roll the ropes to a greater length, aiming for 30 to 40 cm (12-16 inches), rolling the ropes in the sugar mixture. This will give you not only longer ropes but also provides your ropes with the tell tale sign of stretch marks (we all know how that looks like....I do!). You might discover that the sugar hinders you to stretch the ropes to full lengths and it may help you to spray an area with oil first, sugar on top and then roll.

Next is to form the ropes into their final shapes. This time I made knots as shown here: Traditionally these "Zeeuwse bolus" is turban shaped, or if you wish a snail’s shell, I did one just to show you how it looks like (see pic next to the dough recipe). For obvious reasons (3 teenager boys in da house... I choose to make knots.)

The finished coils need another rise, on a lined baking sheet, about 60 minutes until visibly doubled/puffed. Here's another thing: this sugar I use is fairly moist and will attract even more moisture....so you don't want to store them in the fridge while rising, try to keep them dry as possible; a tea-towel to cover preferred over plastic. See what I mean by moisture? (and stretch marks?)

Bake in a hot preheated oven (250C/475F) for 8 minutes. Timing is crucial here, you'll want them done but not crusty. Still soft but not gooey...you know what I mean. :D. Traditionally eaten with coffee or tea, and spread with a knob of real butter (not on top but smeared on the flat under side) or dunked in a cup of cocoa. Either way, enjoy!

Still not enough of cinnamon and bread? Check out this recipe as well!