Nadine Bakes

My sister and I baked these plant-based treats for her birthday today! The brownies are made with whipped aquafaba for airiness, are sweetened with dried fruits and enriched with chocolate chunks. The frangipane tart has a coconut butter shortcrust pastry, almond frangipane made with aquafaba instead of eggs, and is topped with dried figs.

This morning I went for a walk in the park, carrying a bowl in one hand and a ladder in the other - ready for some serious blackberrying! My friend Ramona and I used the blackberries to make this delicious tart. It has flaky shortcrust pastry, freshly made jam, a layer of walnut and pecan frangipane, and slices of apple marinated in a blackberry sirup!

It’s my mother’s birthday today and I made her this fruit tart with homegrown berries, mango, dark chocolate, vanilla crème pâtissière, cashew frangipane and a lemon pastry crust.

The places I visited during my holiday in Morocco were incredibly varied and yet there was one constant factor: the fresh, round loaves of khobz which we ate with almost every meal. Most of the time the bread was of a soft, white variety but sometimes they came in the shape of coarser, whole-wheat or barley loaves, dusted with bran. I always enjoy replicating traditional baked goods at home so I tried a recipe which calls for semolina flour, as I figured this would be the main ingredient giving the bread its characteristic texture. I only had durum semolina at hand, which works equally well as stone-ground flour but absorbs a bit more moisture. Because of this the bread turned out sturdy while retaining a nice airy crumb. All it’s missing is a good vegetable stew, which means I should probably get myself a tajine before long.

Veel bakplezier!

More experimental bread baking with my mom.

These soft bread rolls are known as ‘krentenbollen’ in Dutch, and I am pretty certain that every Dutch person has a memory of finding one of these on the bottom of their backpacks during a school break, squeezed flat like a disk (with facultative margarine and chocolate sprinkles or sweaty Gouda cheese). I’m not a huge fan of the storebought variety as they are too saccharine for my taste, but my parents have one for breakfast every day. My mother is trying to get the hang of bread baking and ordered a foldable proofer - my new favourite thing in the kitchen! We made our own wholemeal krentenbollen together using the proofer and it worked like a dream. They rolls turned out incredibly fluffy and tasty!

Christmas cake! Mascarpone and cranberry sauce sandwiched between two layers of brownie cake. Finished with chocolate ganache, crushed candy canes, and sugared cranberries.

On 5 December the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas’ Eve. But a couple of weeks before the festivities begin, Sinterklaas’s ship has to arrive at a designated harbour, where hundreds of kids wait in eager anticipation. To celebrate this joyful time I baked gevulde speculaas, a treat typically associated with the holiday. The other cookies are a different type of speculaas that keeps its shape after unmolding and taaitaai, a baked treat with aniseed and honey.

It’s #inktober and I’m test-baking loaves shaped like star anise for a competition...

My sister and I made a cream tea for her birthday, featuring fresh scones with lots of different home made jams. Unlike last week’s attempt, I used a fluted cutter and put the right amount of baking powder in! We also made these   dreamy, creamy profiteroles covered in cointreau ganache. 

This is the first time our tayberry bushes bear fruit, so what better way to use them than for my mother’s birthday cake! It’s a no-bake cheesecake made with quark, a soft cheese which is close to a very thick yogurt like skyr. Instead of using crumbs for a base I baked a thin layer of pâte sablée and coated it with dark chocolate. The berries (save for the strawberries) are all homegrown!

Still, I had a wonderful time meeting all the other bakers and taking part in the workshops that were offered. On top of all this, I received a goodiebag which contained an item that has been on my wish list for a while: an inflatable custard slice air bed! ‘Lekker gek’ or what?

This is my take on the ubiquitous Nutella cookie. I wanted to use the remainder of the hazelnuts which I harvested last autumn, which by now had fully developed their flavour. Instead of filling these American-style cookies with sweet hazelnut spread, I mixed gianduja (more hazelnuts, no palm oil) into the batter. I also added some instant espresso and chocolate mocha beans for an extra coffee kick.

Instead of celebrating my birthday as usual (with just two cakes) I decided to amp up my baking game by hosting a lavish brunch for my family. While I drew my invitation cards, I began to imagine what I wanted my table to look like. I came up with the idea to combine traditional Easter treats with elements of an afternoon tea. Thus decided, I stood up this morning at 6am and made hot cross buns, matzahs, pasteís de nata, egg ‘n cress and cucumber sandwiches (both with homemade spelt bread), and a glazed orange bread. Somehow, I also managed to scramble some eggs whilst juggling bowls of fruit salad, and got everything on the table at 10.30 when my family arrived. At the moment of writing, I can barely stand on my feet, but it was all worth it - I had a wonderful birthday and my guests enjoyed the food as much as I enjoyed watching them tuck in.

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I normally avoid commercial holidays like the plague, so let me explain the idea behind these worryingly Valentinesy-looking tartelettes. We had a big bag of blood oranges lying around and I just couldn’t resist the idea of making a jam to put inside a heart-shaped pastry case. See? Perfectly macabre, really!