Bake With A Smile

After a long search for the perfect Vegan Portuguese Egg Tarts (Pasteis de Nata), looking online, but not found anything close to the originals, I have finally mastered my own recipe after a few months of trying out, failing, and finally, one recipe that I am very pleased about that has the lovely pudding texture sitting on a flaky pastry crust. Am I dreaming? Nope, totally not! Here’s my dairy free and egg free Portuguese egg tarts recipe- a complete showstopper for your next gathering, and fool your friends!

Keep smiling & happy baking!

Nath xoxo

I’m in love with these Japanese (alcohol infused) truffles, Nama Chocolate. It’s silky, smooth, and melts in your mouth.

It’s a great and presentable gift to make someone’s day if you are looking to bring something to a Christmas gathering.

After you make a batch of these, let’s see how long it lasts!

I hope you’ll give this easy recipe a try.

Happy baking!

I have been addicted to eclairs for a few months now as far as I can remember, but I get quite bored of the usual vanilla/whipped cream eclairs with the chocolate ganache on top. I thought, why not be creative and make my own? I came up with the Speculaas Eclairs recipe and it tasted really good! Speculaas is a traditional Dutch Spiced Cookie, and you read it, spiced. It is still fall and the smell of spices is just amazing around this period of time.

I’m so in love with this speculaas eclairs and I hope you’ll give it a try and love it as much as I do (or did.. oops).

Keep Smiling!

After I posted my Pepernoten recipe, I received comments that many of you have eaten a chocolate coated pepernoten before and would like to know how to make it. I made Chocolate Pepernoten with 3 unique flavours. Of course, you can make them with the basic White, Milk and Dark chocolate too. I hope you’ll give it a try!

Keep Smiling!

The Sinterklaas season is on and of course, it’s time to bake some goodness too. One of the most popular Sinterklaas snack in The Netherlands is the Dutch Spiced Nuts (Pepernoten). It has a crucial Speculaas Spice ingredient and I will also be sharing how to make your own.

I hope you will give this recipe a try! 

Keep Smiling :)

I have another amazing Dutch delicacy recipe, Dutch Butter Cake (Boterkoek)  and this is one of my favourite cakes that reminds me of my childhood.

This cake is very rich, dense and gooey on the inside. Serve in small portions, but let’s see how long it will take to empty the plate!

I hope you will give this easy 4 ingredient recipe a try.

Keep Smiling!

I am a big fan of Switched at Birth and I have followed the series since 2011. I love the story line, the actors and I’m really pleased the show is coming back in spring 2016!!

I made the Sorrento Family inspired Lemon Cake that was featured in two episodes, Season 3 Episode 15- "And We Bring the Light" (aired on 7th July 2014) and  Season 4 Episode 14- "We Mourn, We Weep, We Love Again" (aired on 14th September 2015)

Hope you like it.

Keep smiling!

Hey everyone!

I received many questions about my Almond Paste recipe. I thought since some of the questions are similar, I created a Q&A page on my new FAQ tab. I hope it answers your questions. If not, feel free to contact me with your question.

I have also shown how I prepare Store bought almond paste and how to blanch almonds, halve almonds and ground almonds on separate pages on my new Methods & Techniques tab.

Keep Smiling!!

I’m really excited to share this recipe of my Almond Pastry, or in Dutch, Amandelstaaf. This pastry is usually eaten during Sinterklaas or Christmas, a sweet festive pastry.

I have a separate recipe page for the Almond Paste, which can be found in the Methods & Techniques or Almond Pastry page

This is also a great gift to give to your friends or family. As usual, homemade is made with love!

I hope you will give this recipe a try!

Keep Smiling and Happy Baking!

This is my version of the Apple Roses Pastry. I was introduced this by my good friend from university, Ioana. She told me to give it a try and I did. It is actually easier than what it looks like.

This pastry is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The center reminds me of cinnamon roll centers, soft and buttery.

I hope you will give this recipe a try. I must say that it is really delicious and I will be making these again.

Keep smiling & Happy Baking

Here’s my version of the Chocolate Lava Cake. It was a request from my sister’s housemate in California. I’m glad to be able to share this recipe with you, and I hope you’ll give it a try.

What I love about this recipe is that you can use any chocolate, whatever your favourite is.

This is a very quick recipe and you’ll get your lava cake in less than an hour. Perfect if you have last minute guests coming over, and you don’t have to bake it in advance as you serve them immediately.

Give this easy recipe a try!

Keep Smiling & Happy Baking!

Here’s my first fall/autumn recipe, Salted Caramel Apple Pastry with homemade Caramel Sauce. 

It’s a quick recipe for if you have guests over for Coffee or Tea, or just to serve it as a dessert. It’s best served straight after it comes out of the oven.

Give this easy recipe a try.

Keep smiling!

Hey Everyone, I haven't been posting recently as I was busy with uni work and other things, but here I have my Oreo Cheesecake recipe and I'm really excited to be sharing them with all of you :)

After so many requests, here is my Oreo Cheesecake recipe-finally!

Like I said, it takes a day for it to set, but totally worth it! I hope you'll give this recipe a try.

Keep smiling and happy baking :)

I'm back with a new recipe, Pineapple Tarts. I baked this together with my friend Leo, who was really helpful with helping me out. There are many photos in this recipe page to make the making process less complicated (I hope)

These pineapple tarts are delicious, soft dough with a sweet cinnamon-y pineapple jam. If you like shortbread you will definitely like this cookie, and if you like cinnamon, you'll love the filling. Perfect!

Give this recipe a smile and try something different for a change. 

Keep smiling :)

Hey everyone, I will be away tomorrow until the end of the week for a conference in London. I have a few recipes coming up when I'm back and I'm already excited o share them with you. 

Thank you for sending me smiles through facebook and contact page. It makes me really happy to read them. Meanwhile, have a look at my precious recipes and get some baking done to put a smile on another person's face.

Have a great weekend & Keep Smiling :)