Getting my bake on

It’s been a long time since I posted anything on here (Callum has been pretty much solely responsible for quite a while now) and I’ve been feeling rather guilty with my lack of participation, so here is a post with my latest baking efforts for you to enjoy.

I’ve been doing a lot more recently, as I have found that my colleagues are work are appreciative of my flour-based efforts so I always have an outlet to distribute the goods. (Prevents Callum and I from eating everything and becoming obese).

This week I decided to make biscuits, based on this BBC recipe. The only change I made was to use a vanilla pod instead of extract (ooh, fancy) and had to leave them in my oven a little longer but they taste really good. Mmmm… butter.

Cooled down and waiting to be iced

The icing isn’t perfect on them, but I had over 30 to do and not a lot of time in which to decorate them. Hopefully they’ll be enjoyed at work tomorrow.

Crackin’ curry

Taken from the BBC’s Good Food website, this Chickpea, tomato and spinach curry is not only awesome but really healthy, which (let’s be totally honest with ourselves) doesn’t happen that often. “You’ve made me healthy vegan food? Mmmm, I can’t wait to try this wet cardboard with damp, old vegetation.”

I made it for the second time this week, but substituted the broccoli with yellow pepper and potato. I reduced the amounts and still got three servings, chucking in some spicy chicken with the last of it. I am stuffed but very satisfied… now where’s the cake?

Our weekend in cake

Following on from ‘Our weekend in books’ post on our other blog, here is one about cake. Sundays were invented for cake. Not rest and church and all that other rubbish. As today is Sunday, I made cake.

Mini coffee and chocolate fairy cakes

Lots of cake…

This is a blueberry and lemon drizzle cake

The only thing missing now is cup of tea.

It’s got blueberries in, so there’s almost no calories. Fruit cancels out fat. Everyone knows this.

LM

Superleuke high tea

Being in another country forces you to realise how much you enjoy (some of) the culinary fare from home – I think we may have mentioned this before. Call me crazy but I believe there are still a fair few people out there unwilling to give British food the credit it often deserves.

Tonight, feeling a little nostalgic, we recreated a taste of home. We started sensibly, with sandwiches – crusts cut off of course. One could not possible eat crusts…

 

… because you need to keep room for the puddings:

Not quite as good as my mum’s scones, but still a pretty tasty treat. If you’re ever in England with a chance for a cream tea, this is what you should be served, along with pot of tea. (Try to make sure it’s clotted cream – there’s nothing quite like it. And it’s impossible to get over here.)

And if that weren’t enough we also had some pretty tasty brownies:

Along with big mugs of tea, of course. We’re English, don’t you know.

In De Wag

More than 300 candles light your evening in the former gatehouse on Nieuwmarket.

If you want to go somewhere that looks and tastes more expensive than it is, In De Wag is ideal.

The Dutch chicken (whatever that is) was complemented by a lekker plum chutney and the crispiest of pancetta. The burger was only OK, whilst the tagliatelle was a very fine standard: the walnuts offsetting the spinach and smoked ricotta perfectly.

The staff tried to fob me off with a sour tasting Jopen Bok Beer, assuming I was a tourist and a simple “That’s how it should taste” would suffice. But I’m not and it shouldn’t. Gratefully, they Ciney is kept rather well and was also scratched off the bill.

A free mouthful!

In De Wag is a fine example of how good Amsterdam can be so close to the typical gash tourists gravitate towards. The Red Light District backs onto Nieuwmarkt, yet seldom frequented compared to the much, much worse Damrak.

Venue: 7/10

The building is quite obviously stunning and very unique. However, this is set out to be a restaurant, and one could not pop in for a classy brew or while away the hours.

Beer: 4/10

A few good beers, but nothing special.

 

Bodily Bakes

Cake anyone?? Mmmm scrummy.

Photograph: Eat Your Heart Out

London’s Pathology Museum has a disgusting-looking event happening this weekend. Aiming to educate the public and diseases and anatomy, there will be plenty of unappealing culinary goods on offer.

These STI cupcakes are an excellent way to compel you to begin a diet:

Photograph: Two Little Cats Bakery/Eat Your Heart Out

A intracardiac injection cake looks like the perfect accompaniment to a mid-afternoon cup of tea:

Photograph: Leshie Loves Cake/Eat Your Heart Out

Perhaps this one would be good with fava beans and a nice Chianti? Ah no, that’s liver.

Photograph: Leshie Loves Cake/Eat Your Heart Out

LM

The Taart van m’n Tante

My Auntie’s Cake is a modern Dutch institution. I don’t say that lightly- Johan Cruyff eats there.

The creators have been making specialist cakes for over 20 years now, but their psychedllic offense of a shop is quite new and very garish. Which they have strangely opened up for overnight guests (here)- yes, you can sleep in a cake shop.

The interior of this place looks like they covered it in glue and dragged it through an outlet store called Camp Kitsch Things.

Dutch Apple Tart. Auntie’s recipe, I reckon.

 

The cakes are pretty good and the staff were friendly, so you could do worse for a sugar fix/guilty gluttoning/shelter from the rain.

It’s the law

When strawberries are discounted in the Netherlands there is a law* which states they must be eaten with some type of pancake or you face 25-30 years in jail. What else was I to do apart from follow orders?

The poffertjes come with a little sachet of powdered sugar and a tab of butter. Very considerate of them.

Two minutes later…

*Insert Homer Simpson drooling noise here*

Some of you may be aware that we do enjoy worshipping at the holy pancake altar once in a while and today I opted for poffertjes. An excellent choice if you feel like eating a dozen pancakes but know that you would fail miserably/throw up before getting half way.

These are my kinda strawberry fields

I went for the holy trinity of toppings: strawberries, powdered sugar and melted chocolate.

Due to their handy size, you can fit a lot of them in your mouth at a time. This means that it takes less than a minute to demolish an entire plate of them. And they’re completely devoid of calories**.

LM

*Not actually a law.

** 26 calories in each poffertje

Cup a La Cake

Here in Holland the appeltaart (apple pie/tart) is king. I don’t think I’ve been to a cafe where it isn’t on the menu. It’s fairly common in bars too. As good as it is, sometimes you want something else. Something a little… cakier (definitely a word).

Two minutes from the Anne Frank Huis, there’s a little bakery with plenty of sandwiches and savory goodies… and cupcakes.

Cup a La Cake

An excellent range of flavours await you: chocolate, coconut and vanilla, banana and chocolate, coffee… They also have two sizes (regular and mini) of every flavour, which means that if you’re having trouble deciding, then you can choose the mini cakes without feeling so guilty.

Which one (five) to choose....

Aside from the normal cupcakes, they also have cake pops. We are yet to try these so can’t give our opinion, but they look pretty awesome:

The Sugababes were in town and the cake men were very, very excited

Perhaps they look too good to eat? Nah….

Although this next cake was a contender, we (Callum: you decided!) decided it might have been a bit much for an afternoon treat…

On this particular occasion, we ended up chosing white chocolate and vanilla, red velvet and a carrot cake. Deciding we absolutely had to enjoy them with a nice cuppa, we carried them home (living in the centre has its advantages).

The big question is, which one first?

I’ll be honest, on this occasion, the cake was a little dense. We’ve had them before and they were nice and light. Perhaps it was because this time we were buying them on a Sunday and I doubt they had been baked that morning (the chef had been on a pretty heavy Heineken bender). The icing, on the other hand, was as delicious as ever.

Lady in reeeedddd...

Presents from Italy

Easter time in Italy must be great. They eat cake for breakfast.

Or at least we ate the Italian Easter cake for breakfast. Which was probably the right thing to do.

The La Colomba cake is soft and light with candied orange peel pieces inside, topped with sugared and sliced almonds, infused with rainbows. The cake is shaped like a dove because ‘la colomba’ = ‘dove’ in Italian.

 

It was the frog that ate it all. Obviously.