Bread and Pastry Archives - Pagina 2 van 4

Marshmallow with raspberries

Ingredients
2 egg whites
12 leaves gelatine
pinch of salt
500 g castor sugar
350 ml water
1 tablespoon flavourings rose water
1 punnet fresh raspberries

Method
Put the sugar and water in a pan and boil until they reach 127 C. Begin to beat the egg whites in an electric mixer when the sugar is at 121C. Soften the gelatine leaves is water and then dissolve the gelatine in the hot syrup.

Pour the syrup slowly on to the whisked egg whites and add the rosewater. Let it whisk until cold and working quickly, pour half the marshmallow mixture into a tin or container dusted with a mixture of equal quantities of cornstarch and icing sugar. Lay the raspberries on top and cover with the remaining marshmallow mixture. Let it cool completely and then cut into cubes. Dust with the cornstarch/sugar mixture and serve. Store, refrigerated, in an airtight container.

by Bernadette Evers

Traditional Oliebollen

An oliebol is a traditional Dutch food. They are called oliebollen (literally oil spheres) in the Netherlands. In English they are more commonly known as Dutch Doughnuts or Dutchies.

Oliebollen are a variety of dumpling made by using an ice-scooper or two spoons to scoop a certain amount of dough and dropping the dough into a deep fryer filled with hot oil. In this way, a sphere-shaped oliebol emerges. Oliebollen are traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve and at funfairs. In wintertime, they are also sold in the street at mobile stalls.

Makes about 25

Ingredients
125 g golden raisins
75 g currants
50 g butter
500 ml buttermilk
10 g dried yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
500 g flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 litre sunflower oil
cinnamon-sugar or icing sugar for dusting

Method
Place the dried fruit in a bowl and pour over 300 ml boiling water. Allow the fruit to swell up for 15 minutes, then pour off the water.

In the meantime, gently heat the buttermilk and butter in a saucepan over low heat until lukewarm. Place the yeast and sugar in a bowl and stir in the warmed buttermilk.

Place the flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Beat the egg in a small bowl. Add the yeast mixture and beaten egg to the flour and mix to a thick batter.

Roughly chop the fruit and add to the batter and mix well. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a large pan or deep fryer to 180 C. Dip an ice cream scoop or 2 tablespoons in the oil to prevent the batter from sticking and drop the spoonfuls in the oil. Fry for about 6 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

Drain the oliebollen on kitchen paper and roll in cinnamon sugar or dust with icing sugar. Serve with a glass of champagne or sparkling wine and toast the new year in.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours

by Bernadette Evers

Filled Focaccia

We're all thinking of ways to enjoy summer eating, whether that be in our outdoors. Here is a great recipe/idea for summer eating. You can practice your bread making skills and use your favourite vegetables or whatever is season.

Make a batch of focaccia.

Use an array of your favourite vegetables. We like a combination of peppers, courgettes, aubergine and red onion. Cut each into bite-sized pieces. Toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill in a grill pan until the vegetables have bar marks and are tender and cooked through. You can also finish them off in the oven to get them more tender.

Once they and the bread have cooled down, slice the bread in half. Spread with pesto (either homemade or shop bought). Top with the grilled vegetables and then tear some buffalo mozzarella over. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Dot a few fresh basil leaves over and a handful of rocket leaves. Close the bread to form a giant sandwich. Cut into pieces and serve.

by Bernadette Evers

Sinterklaas Cupcakes

Sinterklaas is a holiday celebrated in The Netherlands on 5th December where children are given presents to celebrate the arrival of Sint Nicolaas. Candy and spiced cookies are traditionally eaten. We've taken the idea of the spiced cookies, called Pepernoten and created a cupcake with the same flavours. A great idea for young and old and something the kids can help with.

Ingredients
220 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
220 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, whisked
220 g flour
8 g baking powder
pinch of salt
1 heaped teaspoon Speculaas or mixed spice

Frosting
250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
500g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
handful pepernoten or spiced cookies, crushed

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Cream the butter and the sugar together in a until light and fluffy. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Graudually add the whisked egg to the mixture. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and spiced together and fold in to the butter mixture. Spoon the mixture into a cupcake tin lined with paper cupcacke cases until two-thirds full.

Bake for about 20 -25 minutes until risen and bouncy to touch. Allow to cool.

For the frosting, beat the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract to flavour. If the mixture is a bit tight, add a splash of milk to thin it down.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle with the crushed pepernoten or spiced cookies and serve.

by Bernadette Evers

Upside Down Plum Cake

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
500g brown sugar
250 g soft, unsalted butter, chopped
12-15 plums, halved and stoned
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250 g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
160 ml cream

Method
Combine 300 g brown sugar with 120 g butter in a heavy-based saucepan and stir over low heat until well combined and smooth. Remove from the heat and pour into a well-greased, round, 26cm cake tin, spreading evenly. Place the plum halves on top, cut-side down.

Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining butter with remaining sugar in a bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then stir in vanilla. Sift combined flour and baking powder into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Fold dry ingredients into butter mixture, add cream and mix well.

Spoon mixture over plums and bake at 175°C for about 45-60 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand in tin for 5 minutes before turning out on a plate.

Serve with creme fraiche.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours

by Bernadette Evers

All Butter Croissants

There is nothing better than warm, butter, flakey croissants straight from the oven. Making them yourself takes a little practice, but the results are SO worth it. Serve with farmhouse butter, good jam and a cup of coffee. Heaven!

Ingredients
625g strong white flour, plus extra for rolling out
12 g salt
75 g sugar
40 g fresh yeast
500g butter, chilled
1 egg, beaten

Method
The day before you want to bake the croissants, place the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, or a large mixing bowl. Pour in 350-400ml cold water and mix until it comes together as a soft dough.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a good 8-10 minutes, or until the dough feels smooth, stretchy and elastic. Return to the bowl and set aside to rest.

Sandwich the chilled butter between two sheets of greaseproof paper and roll out to a 30x20cm rectangle, about 1cm thick. Chill in the fridge until needed.

Turn the dough out again onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll it into a rectangle 60x30cm. Peel the greaseproof paper from the butter and place the butter centrally on top of the pastry rectangle. Fold one edge of the pastry over the butter to half-cover it, then do the same with the other edge of the pastry so that the butter is covered. Fold the rectangle in half lengthways, then give it a quarter-turn and roll out again to a rectangle measuring 60x30cm.

Repeat the folding, turning and rolling process, as before, three more times (do not roll out the pastry the final time you fold and turn it). Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge overnight.
When the pastry has rested, roll it out to a thickness of 0.5cm. Cut the pastry into two 50x20cm strips, then cut each strip into triangles about 10cm wide at the base.

With the narrow point of one of the pastry triangles facing away from you, use your fingertips to stretch the two points of the triangle nearest to you out sideways so that they bow a little. Roll the pastry over itself, curling it into a traditional crescent shape, so that the furthest point of the triangle ends up curled over the top of the croissant. Repeat the process with the remaining pastry triangles to create about 20 croissants.

Place the croissants onto baking trays lined with silicone paper or baking parchment. Brush them all over with the beaten egg, then set aside to prove for 30-45 minutes. (The croissants can be frozen at this point, if desired.)

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan. Bake the croissants for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and golden-brown. Serve warm with jam and butter.

by Mischa de Winter

Pistachio-Olive Oil Cake

A delicious and unusual cake with a flavour of the middle east. The cake gets it's beautiful green colour from the pistachios and the olive oil keeps it moist. It's quite a rich cake, so a small piece will suffice. We usually serve it as part of a dessert with a parfait or some marinated pineapple. Yum!

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
50 g fine polenta
200 g ground pistachio nuts
50 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
125 ml olive oil
100 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 eggs
200 g caster sugar
juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 orange
icing sugar for dusting

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 C. Mix the polenta, ground pistachios, flour and baking powder together.

Add the olive oil to the melted butter. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then slowly whisk in the olive oil and butter. Whisk in the pistachio mixture, then add the lemon juice and zest and orange juice.

Pour into a greased and lined 24 cm springform tin and bake for about 40 minutes. The cake should be slightly underdone in the middle, so that if you insert a skewer it will come out with a little of the mixture sticking to it. While cooling down, the cake will finish off cooking through. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.

Once completely cooled, cut into slices and dust with icing sugar.

by Bernadette Evers

Lemon Polenta Cake

We've decided to divulge the secret and publish the recipe of a cake that has become quite famous. It's sharp and tangy and it's gluten-free too!

Serves 10-12

Ingredients
400 g soft unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)
400 g caster sugar
400 g ground almonds
200 g fine polenta
16 g baking powder
6 large eggs, beaten
zest of 5 lemons (save juice for the syrup)

for the syrup
juice of 5 lemons
250 g icing sugar

Method
Line the base of a 26cm springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.

Preheat the oven to 150°C

Beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, in a Magimix Patissier or freestanding mixer.

Mix together the almonds, polenta and baking powder and salt. With the machine running, add the eggs to the butter, a little at a time.

Add the almond and polenta mixture and blend the mixture well. Finally, beat in the lemon zest. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 60-70 minutes.

It may be slightly wobbly, but if the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out cleanish and, most significantly, the edges of the cake will have started to shrink away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in the tin.

Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small saucepan. Once the icing sugar’s dissolved into the juice, it's done.

Prick the top of the cake gently all over with a cake tester (or toothpick), pour the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool before taking it out of the tin. Serve in slices with whipped cream or creme fraiche.

by Mischa de Winter

Apple Pancakes

Serves 4

Ingredients
for the pancakes
¾ cup milk (about 200 ml)
1½ tablespoons vinegar
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil

caramelized apples
2 tablespoon butter
2 apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅓ cup maple syrup

Method
Whisk together the milk and vinegar and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

While the milk is curdling (the milk will literally start to separate. Don't be alarmed, this is supposed to happen!), whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk egg and oil into milk. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined (don't over-mix, it should still have some lumps).

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and grease with some sunflower oil. Pour large spoonfuls of the batter into the pan. Cook about 2 minutes until bubbles form and the edges start to look "dry". Use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook another 1-2 minutes on the other side. Set the pancakes aside and repeat with remaining batter.

Using the same pan, add the butter, apples, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir over medium heat 3-5 minutes until apples are tender. Add the maple syrup. Serve the apples over the warm pancakes.

by Bernadette Evers

Banana Cake

This cake is the perfect think to make when you have some bananas from the past week which are bit over-ripe. Not only will you be using them up and not wasting anything, but your friends and family will love you for doing so.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
125 g butter, softened
45 g brown sugar
220 gr castor sugar
3 eggs
300 g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
180 g sour cream
1 cup roughly mashed ripe banana
caramel sauce

Method
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Place the butter, caster sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy.

Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture. Add the cinnamon, sour cream and banana and stir to combine.

Spoon the mixture into a greased loaf tin. Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack.

Make the caramel sauce, according to the recipe given. Serve warm drizzled over the cake.

by Mischa de Winter