make life sweeter!

My mum and dad returned from Croatia this morning, happy to be back in the Netherlands in time for grandchild no. two to be born. They brought back these delicious organic cherries from their garden. Very happy to be tasting them because I'm usually in Croatia when the season is already over. I don't know what kind they are, only that they are bright-red on the outside and light yellow on the inside. They taste a bit less sweet than the dark-red cherries we usually have in the Netherlands. Still have about a kilo to enjoy....yum!

I found these peaches in my supermarket. In Hebrew they're called 'pita peaches'. I presume that's because of their shape. They are about a third of a regular peach but seem to have all of its taste...yum! As you can see on the picture their shape makes it a very convenient peach to pack as you can pile them. I've looked for this peach on the Internet but couldn't find any info...maybe an Israeli variety?

Another recipe from the wonderful Coffee & Bites by Susie Theodorou. These individual tartlets are filled with frangipan and apricot. I didn’t use her recipe for sweet pastry but used my favourite Donna Hay recipe. I was a bit disappointed by the – in my opinion - too subtle almond taste. Maybe it was because I cheated and used slithered almonds instead of whole ones. It could be that slithered almonds have less taste. If you like a stronger almond taste I suggest adding a little bit of almond flavouring or maybe adding one or two bitter almonds to the mixture. The apricot however was really delicious; the baking enhanced its natural sweet- and tartness. They look like they might be a little dry but that’s just appearances.

(Again) I didn’t roll out the sweet pastry, it’s not that I have a rolling-out-dough-phobia but I don’t like doing it. The rolling out part is okay but the whole transferring to the tin is nerve-wracking to me. Donna Hay recommends rolling out the dough between baking paper. Very good tip only in Israel I cannot find baking paper on a roll. They sell it ready cut into rectangles and folded twice. The folds cause problems when rolling out the dough. Rolling it out without the baking paper is not really an option because I only use all-butter dough and my kitchen is pretty hot. I promise that after we move back to the Netherlands I shall practice rolling out dough ;)

Sweet shortcrust pastry (from Modern Classics Book 2 by Donna Hay)

270 g (2 cups) flower
3 tbs caster sugar
150 g (5 oz) cold butter, chopped
2-3 tbs iced water

Process the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough and process until just combined. Knead the dough lightly, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.


Frangipan tartlets (from Coffee & Bites by Susie Theodorou



150 g (5 oz / 1 ¼ cup) whole blanched almonds
115 g (4 oz / ½ cup) butter, softened
75 g (3 oz / 1/3 cup) caster sugar
2 medium eggs
6 large fresh apricots, halved, stoned, then cut into 10 wedges
4 tbs apricot jam
2 tbs water

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Place twelve 6 cm (2 ½ in) diameter rings onto 2 baking sheets. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Thinly roll out each piece (between no-stick baking paper) to line the metal rings. Trim the top, prick the bases and chill for 10 minutes. Line each pastry with non-stick baking paper or aluminium foil and fill with baking beans or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper with the beans. Bake the pastries for a further 5 minutes or until the bases are pale brown and dry.

Lightly toast the almonds in a heavy-based pan for 1-2 minutes until they begin to release their aroma. Cool the nuts slightly, then process them in a food processor until finely ground. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the almonds. Gradually beat in the eggs.

Reduce the oven to 170ºC (325ºF). Spread 3-4 tbs frangipan into the base of each tartlet. Press apricot wedges into the mixture. Bake the tartlets for 25-30 minutes until the frangipan is just set and the fruit is starting to caramelise at the tips.

Heat the jam with the water and pass it through a sieve. Allow the tarlets to cool for 1-2 minutes before brushing the glaze on the fruit, frangipan and pastry edge. Allow to cool before serving.

1 tartlet – 380 kcal
100 g – 400 kcal

carbohydrate 32 g – protein 6 g – fat 27 g (saturated fat 13 g) – fibre 3 g

Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice practically forced me (and her many other readers) to bake her all time favourite muffin recipe this morning when I read her most recent entry. And the good girl that I am, I listened and did what she asked me to ;)



As you can see, my muffins were not as good-looking as Ivonne's.

They were indeed very good, the best-tasting muffins I have baked....but....and I must be honest here...not the best I have ever tasted...that was the one I ate for breakfast in Hotel San José in Austin, Texas (wonderful hotel and city BTW). But Ivonne’s came pretty close... (before I forget to mention, the recipe is actually an adaptation by Ivonne of a Marcy Goldman recipe)
What I loved most about this muffin is the delicious streusel that was on top. I never ever made something with streusel before...I’ve read plenty recipes that use streusel but was never really tempted to make any of them. Mainly I think because it takes extra time to make. Ok, it looks nice but besides that it’s more or less extra dough you’re putting on top, right? But now that I actually made something with streusel I understand that it’s not only looks, it adds a lot of taste too or at least this one did.

I did my own adaptation of Ivonne’s adaptation:
- I used melted butter instead of oil (I can’t help it, I’m a butter addict)
- I didn’t have buttermilk (and didn’t feel like going to the grocery store) so I used yoghurt instead
- I omitted the vanilla
- I didn’t have enough walnuts so I used about half walnuts and half pecans
- I think Ivonne used light brown sugar, I used dark
- I used cherries

Let me start out by saying that it’s my mums’ birthday today so: Happy Birthday mum!!! Unfortunately I can’t be with her on her birthday but I did book a ticket to Croatia (where they live part of the year, the rest they live in the Netherlands) for me and my son. I’m really looking forward to going to Croatia!! Here are some pictures so you know what I’m looking forward about...




As it is my mums’ birthday I had to post something today to celebrate. I’m sure she’ll love this refreshing summery dessert.



So here is another dessert...have been practicing a bit since I posted this dessert. In one of my practice rounds I made dessert that consisted of cantaloupe sorbet, ‘liquid’ truffle and mini butter cookies. It looked really great but unfortunately the taste-combination wasn’t well chosen. The sorbet didn’t go too well with the chocolate. In other words, not blogworthy…back to the drawing table!
Having plenty of cantaloupe sorbet left over to play with, I made the dessert you see in the picture: Cantaloupe sorbet in strawberry mint soup. A summery dessert that even fits the Eat Local Challenge launched by Jen of Life begins at 30. It’s a very refreshing (fat-free) dessert that would be great to serve after a heavy meal. The sweet fragrant taste of the cantaloupe contrasts well with the sweet and tart taste of the strawberries. And the mint in the strawberry soup gives it a little an extra bit of zing.

I had some difficulty making pictures. My camera stopped cooperating with me the moment I needed to make the shots. Not very convenient when working with sorbet! Saved the dessert by putting it in the freezer. After about 10 minutes my camera gave up nagging me. Just had to wait till the frost layer on the plate melted to wipe it away.

Cantaloupe sorbet (adapted from my ice cream makers manual)

150 g (5 ¼ oz) sugar
200 ml water (6 ¾ fl oz)
400 g (14 oz) cantaloupe flesh, diced
1 tbs lemon juice

Put the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir to allow the sugar to dissolve over low heat. When dissolved increase the heat and cook for 1 minute. Allow to cool.
Puree the cantaloupe in a blender and mix with the cold sugar syrup. Refrigerate the mixture.

Freezer method: Pour the mixture in a metal pan (eg cake pan) and put it in the freezer. Stir the mixture after an hour. Repeat this every half hour until the mixture is frozen. Freeze at least for 2 hours or more (depending on your freezer) before serving.

Ice cream machine maker method: Pour the mixture into a running ice cream machine. Follow manual for freezing time. Usually this is 20-30 minutes. Transfer to freezer for at least 2 hours or more (depending on your freezer) before serving.

Strawberry mint soup

1 ½ kg (3 ⅓ lb) strawberries
icing sugar, to taste
6 small mint leafs, chopped finely
6 x upper 4 mint leafs on a branch for decorating

Wash and hull the strawberries. Puree the strawberries in a blender. Strain the puree in a fairly fine sieve to get rid of the small seeds. You should have at least 900 ml (30 fl oz) left.
Pour 150 ml (5 fl oz) of the strawberry soup into each soup plate. Sprinkle with the chopped mint. Put 1 quenelle of cantaloupe sorbet in the middle of each plate of strawberry mint soup and decorate with mint leafs.

1 serving – 85 kcal
100 g cantaloupe sorbet – 95 kcal
100 g strawberry mint soup – 35 kcal

carbohydrate 20 g – protein 1 g - fat 0 g (saturated fat 0 g) - fibre 3 g (combination of the 2)