zondag 29 augustus 2010

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now (HD)


One of my favorite songs at this moment!!!

My first attempt at Ontbijtkoek: Failure!!!


Yes, there is a huge dent in my Ontbijtkoek and No, there's not supposed to be a dent in Ontbijtkoek. The worst part??? It wasn't even completely cooked.

Attempt #2 will follow soon, using a different recipe!!

donderdag 26 augustus 2010

CEiMB - Mixed Berry Cobbler

Just pics for now, will try to find some time tomorrow to write a little something-something about this gorgeous dessert!






zaterdag 14 augustus 2010

MSC: Triple Citrus Cupcakes - My Pick!!!


This month it was my turn to pick the recipe for Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club. Since it's August I tried to pick a cupcake that represents summery flavours, so I chose Triple Citrus Cupcakes that are found on page 64 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.



Because most of my coworkers were on vacation I decided to make 1/3 of the recipe, half of the batter I used to make miniature cupcakes and that made 24 miniature cupcakes that baked for 10 minutes.



The other half of the batter I used to make normal-sized cupcakes and ended up with 6 cupcakes, that were perfect after baking for 20 minutes.



Both the coworkers and my parents loved these. In my opinion the cupcakes definitely needed the glaze, they tasted quite plain without it. But with that glaze they tasted phenomenal! Check out MSC to find out what the other bakers thought of my pick!



Triple-Citrus Cupcakes
from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, page 64; makes 36

3,5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (from 3 lemons)
3 tablespoons finely grated orange zest (from 2 oranges)
3 tablespoons finely grated lime zest (from about 3 limes)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
9 large eggs, room temperature
Citrus Glaze (made with lime juice and zest; page 315, recipe below)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl every few minutes. Add citrus zest. Reduce speed to medium, and add vanilla. Add eggs, three at a time, beating until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in four batches, beating until completely incorporated after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full; tap pans on countertop once to distribute batter. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

To finish, dip tops of cupcakes in glaze, then turn over quickly and garnish with zest. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.


Citrus Glaze
from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, page 315; makes about 1 cup

1,5 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more if needed
1/4 teaspoon finely grated citrus zest
3 tablespoons fresh citrus juice, plus more if needed

Whisk together all ingredients until smooth. If necessary, add more sugar to thicken or more juice to thin the glaze. Use immediately.


woensdag 11 augustus 2010

An explanation for my absence and the $70 CSN Gift Card Winner

Yes, I do realize that this is the second post in a row I've started with an apology but bear with me! Sorry for not posting on a regular basis lately. I've had a lot on my mind the last few weeks and somehow the baking and cooking groups feel like a chore, so I decided to take some time off and post whenever I feel like posting.

Things that have been on my mind the last weeks were my trip to Paris, the operation my mother is facing for her neck hernia and going back to college to get a bachelor degree.

I feel now is the time to go back to college, however part of my problem is that I do have a mortgage to pay, so I must study part-time. The study that I find most interesting (International Business & Languages) is only taught part-time in Rotterdam, which is about 2 hours away from here. I'm afraid I won't be able to handle the travel twice a week 4 years long since I would have to attend classes two nights per week and study, do homework and go to work 36 hours per week... The sucky part is that this study is actually taught here in Zwolle too, but only the full-time version....

Other studies that I find interesting are Communication, HRM or Law. I would love to do something with languages, only option in college is Teacher English, German or French. Another great option was European Studies, since this is quite similar to International Business & Languages, but for a part-time student this is only possible as an online study, which I don't think is very suitable for me personally: I feel need the structure and commitment of having to attend classes.


So now that you know what I've been contemplating lately, let's get on to announcing the winner of that $70 CSN gift card!! Again I used the Random Integer Generator to pick a winner from the 20 comments on this post.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random integers, generated without replacement:

 4 

Timestamp: 2010-08-11 09:32:38 UTC

This means the winning comment was made by:
Hanaâ:

En ik volg inmiddels je blog (wat ik sowieso wou doen) :o) Ik Tweet van het weekend wel over je giveaway en dan kom ik wel terug op nog een comment te plaatsen hier.

Congrats Hanaâ!!!


Update on the college plans

Today I found out that there will be no part-time study International Business and Languages in Rotterdam... So I guess that option is definitely out. Going to an information evening at my local college on August 25th....

dinsdag 10 augustus 2010

No TWD this week

Sorry Katrina!!! All though I love chocolate I just couldn't push myself to make Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream for this weeks TWD. I am flawed you see... I don't like chocolate ice cream! I can't explain why, but I just don't like it... Go to Katrina's blog Baking and Boys for the recipe and check out what my fellow TWD-ers thought of the Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream here.