I haven’t updated in… a while. I didn’t do a whole lot of baking over the summer, actually, for a variety of reasons: summer is a socially busy season, I don’t have air conditioning and my kitchen gets way too hot to be bearable (which has also led to many cupcake icing disasters), and my roommate’s girlfriend was visiting from France for half the summer so it was harder to claim the kitchen all the time. I did bake a few things and photograph them with the intention of putting them up here, but then they went on the back burner, and now I forget where some of the recipes came from.

So, I’ll start over. With pumpkin pie.

A soggy pumpkin pie.

I didn’t make it home this year for Thanksgiving, and I wanted to do something a little festive, so I tried my hand at baking a pumpkin pie completely from scratch.

I’m still a novice when it comes to baking pies, though. Before this pumpkin pie, I have only ever baked 3 other pies, so I don’t quite know all the tricks yet, but I do believe that this pie failure has something to do with the recipe. I followed it to a T, and also baked a second pie when the first one didn’t work out, and it still came out wrong. The crust was soggy, the filling was bubbly (which I now realize was a result of whisking it too quickly), and it took waaayyy too long to set. I think it might have had something to do with the homemade puree. Perhaps it was too watery. Next time I’ll try draining it (though the recipe didn’t call for that). Or I’ll just take the easy way out and buy a can at the store.

But despite the pie’s shortcomings, it still had a nice flavor, and I’d like to try it again. But maybe with a different recipe next time.

So, anyway, I’ll spare you the recipe, but I will share the photos I took because I did enjoy photographing this even though things didn’t go as planned.

And if anyone has tips to share for baking the perfect pumpkin pie, please pass down your wisdom in the comments!

Life has been pretty busy for me lately. On top of working my regular full time job at a camera shop, I’ve also been working part time as a stagiaire at a bakery near my place. It was a big learning experience for me. The most major (and surprising) thing I learned is that I do not like working in a bakery! It’s tough work, let me tell you! And for those several months, I only once baked in my own kitchen. It just doesn’t have the same appeal to me as creating in my own kitchen.

Despite all this, though, I did learn some things that will help me in my personal baking, and I’m really glad I took the opportunity to learn about the real food world without spending all the money on schooling, only to find out it wasn’t the life for me. I prefer doing what I do in my kitchen much more, and hopefully now that my time is up there, I’ll have more time to experiment on my own.

I actually made this ontbijtkoek several months ago, photographed it, and am just now getting around to uploading it. I specifically remember what urged me to make it, though: as strange as it sounds, it was a customer at my work that smelled deliciously of gingerbread, and it immediately made me crave the spiced goodness of ontbijtkoek.

Ontbijtkoek translates to “breakfast cake” in Dutch, and in Canadian supermarkets it’s simply called honey cake. It’s basically a dense, spiced loaf of bread, not so much a cake as the name implies. It’s not typically a home baked item, but being that I like a challenge in the kitchen, I set out on a quest to find a recipe that most closely mimicked the store bought loaf. I stumbled upon a blog called The Dutch Table which, judging by the ingredients, appeared to have the closest recipe. I gave it a whirl, and was extremely impressed to discover that it was almost exactly like the real thing! The denseness, the texture, and the taste were all so similar to the ontbijtkoek that I knew and loved. I really have to hand it to her because she came up with a perfect recipe. I’ve had her blog bookmarked since then so I can refer to it for all my Dutch food cravings!

The best and simplest way to eat ontbijtkoek is smeared with a generous helping of butter or margarine. Eet smakkelijk!

I don’t really do the whole New Years resolution thing. I feel like you shouldn’t need a new year to roll over in order to make positive life changes. Really, there is no better time than now to start doing what you want to do, right?

So I didn’t make any resolutions this year; however, midway through January something in my brain just clicked. I thought: it’s time to make some healthy life changes.

I used to be somewhat of a health nut. I exercised several times a week, made a lot of things from scratch, watched everything I put in my mouth, and I was even vegan for a short period of time. That point in time was probably the pinnacle of my health and I truly felt the best I’ve ever felt. Fast forward to several years later, living a much busier life, and my eating habits have taken the quick and nutrient lacking route, and by the time I make it home from work I’m just too exhausted to even fathom forcing in some physical activity.

But good things in life don’t always come easy, so I asked my friends to recommend what they thought to be the most fun and effective home workouts, and I started buying lots of good, nutritious food to make meals at home and lunches for work.

I’ve started doing a variety of workouts (including hula hooping, yoga, and cardio training), and have been bookmarking and trying a lot of really great recipes. It’s only been three weeks as of yet, but so far so good! I already feel less fatigued and more confident, and that is giving me the motivation to keep it up.

The one thing I told myself, though, was that I didn’t want to be super strict with myself. I mean, let’s face it: I love food. I don’t want to bite my nails off trying to suppress my feelings for that chocolate cupcake with peanut butter buttercream that I so badly lust after. Moderation is key, and as long as I’m eating healthy for the most part, I’m still gonna allow myself those little pleasures.

One of the first things I knew I needed for this new lifestyle was a healthy and yummy way to start my day. I also needed something quick that I could prepare and eat in 10 minutes or less on work mornings. Not only is granola a quick and easy breakfast, it’s also super simple to make, has a lengthy shelf life, and is a rather versatile breakfast or snack. Plus, it makes my apartment smell so warm and homey while it’s baking in the oven.

The other great thing about homemade granola is that you can tailor it any which way to suit your taste buds. I personally like a lot of dried fruits and coconut, so that’s why I added a lot in mine, but if that’s not your thing, you can substitute those for whatever you like.

I hope you all will enjoy this version that I’ve created, though. I know I sure do!

I have so many memories tied to oliebollen.

As long as I can remember, oliebollen has been a part of Christmas on my dad’s side of the family. I remember eating them with my brother when we were young while waiting for Christmas dinner to be served. We would dip them in powdered sugar, and beg our Oma for a glass of Pop Shoppe “red pop.” I guess we didn’t know it was called cream soda.

After we stopped celebrating Christmas with my dad’s family, every year I still begged my dad to make oliebollen. Last year, when I wasn’t able to go home for Christmas due to work scheduling, I still asked my dad to make some oliebollen, and when him and my mom came up to Toronto to celebrate, he brought my beloved oliebollen.

I remember the first time I tasted a professional oliebol from a carnival vendor in the Netherlands. I can’t even explain to you the delight I experienced after that first bite. I was officially hooked, and from that point on whenever I saw a vendor, I physically could not stop myself from buying one. (I guess that’s one of the reasons I gained 20 pounds in Europe!)

When my friend Josh came to visit, I still remember the look on his face when he sunk his teeth into that soft ball of sugary dough. It was the exact same face I made when I took my first bite! I remember the time my friend Courtney and I shared some oliebollen at the 3rd of October festival in Leiden and the vendor put a 2 inch thick blanket of powder sugar on top. I remember eating oliebollen on my first New Years Eve in the Netherlands.

I always thought homemade beat everything, but I was so wrong. I suppose this is why people line up for blocks on New Years Eve to buy from the best vendors in town. (If you don’t believe me, check out Ineke’s blog for proof!)

Now down to the facts: Literally translated, olibollen means “oil balls.” Sounds delicious, no? But it really does describe them perfectly. They are literally deep fried balls of dough. Yum! Or as they would say in Dutch: lekker!

In the Netherlands, they only pop up for a few months at Christmas time, and are most traditionally eaten on New Years. They can be filled with a variety of fruits such as raisins, currants, apples, pineapple, cherries, or left plain, but always covered in powdered sugar. Unless you don’t like powdered sugar, but that’s just crazy talk.

Up until this year, I had never attempted to make my own olibollen. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spend a proper Christmas with my family this year, so I had to keep the tradition alive on my own, and luckily my parents gave me a Dutch cookbook for Christmas last year.

I modified the recipe to suit my preferences. I left out the raisins and fruit zests, and added more apples (I love it when there are a ton of soft, warm apples in the center).

I made two batches of them: one on Christmas Eve, and one on New Years Eve. The first batch took a brutally long time, but I made some mental notes for the second batch, and it went much smoother. I still have to figure out the trick to keeping the balls round when they hit the oil, though, because once they’re immersed, the dough wants to spread like wildfire. Some of them didn’t even remotely resemble a ball when they were done! More like octopus tentacles. Next time I make them, I’m going to try using a big ice cream scoop, but I think mainly it just requires practice.

Regardless of their shape, though, they turned out deliciously. No, not as tasty as the pros make ‘em, but I will go so far to say they are as tasty as my Oma and dad made them. They certainly were a hit at the New Years party I brought them to, anyway!

(And mom and dad, you’ll be relieved the hear I didn’t burn the house down!)

Now, I know that sounds like a heck of a lot of sugar, but that’s just the way I like it! You can of course leave out the sugar if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

This Christmas post is a bit late, but to be honest with you, my sense of time has been completely skewed for at least the past month. That’s not to say that I forgot about Christmas. I mean, I think it’s literally impossible to forget about Christmas when people start putting up their Christmas lights before Halloween is even over (or in some cases, never even take them down at all, like one of our neighbors down the road), but when you work in retail at this time of year, and start working the exhausting hours, days just start blending into each other.

Today was probably the longest day I’ve ever had working at my current job. Boxing Day. I seriously thought 6pm would never roll around. Every time I looked at the clock, I was disappointed at how early it actually was. Luckily, things at work will start slowing down now, and hopefully I’ll have more time for baking and working on all those projects I said I’d do once winter rolled around.

I have to admit, I’m not huge into Christmas. I didn’t bake a whole lot of delicious Christmas goodies this year. In fact, this is the only Christmasy thing I made, and it’s not even really that festive. Without the crushed candy canes, it wouldn’t even be a reflection of Christmas.

I know, I know, I’m a horrible person.

But despite the fact that I’m just getting around to posting this now, I actually made these a couple weeks ago. Or was it only one week ago? To be honest with you, I can’t remember. Yes, I know this post is a day late (or two days late by the time I actually press the “publish” button), but if people are allowed to leave their Christmas lights up well past Christmas, then I’m still allowed to blog about Christmas treats!

I gave myself a pat on the back for how well these little guys turned out. I had never made biscotti before, so I had no idea what to expect or how well they would fare. Truthfully, I’m not that into biscotti, but when I saw these in a holiday baking magazine my mom gave me, they piqued my interest. Mint and chocolate is one of my favorite flavor combinations (despite not being a huge chocolate lover), and since I still had some leftover white chocolate wafers, I figured I could substitute that for the vanilla flavored candy coating the recipe called for. Mint-chocolate with a white chocolate coating: What more could I ask for in a biscotti?

1. Lightly grease two cookie sheets; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl. Beat in eggs and peppermint extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in the remaining flour and the chocolate. Divide dough into four portions. Wrap portions in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour or until easy to handle.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Unwrap each dough portion and shape into a 7-inch loaf. Place dough 4 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets; flatten each loaf slightly until about 2 inches wide. Bake, one sheet at a time, in the preheated oven for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheets on racks for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Using a serrated knife, cut loaves diagonally into half inch slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on cookie sheets. Bake in oven for 5 minutes. Turn slices over and bake for 5 to 7 minutes more or until crisp and dry. Transfer biscotti to wire racks to cool.
4. Dip one long side of each biscotti into melted chocolate coating. Place cookies on waxed paper. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes while coating is still wet. Let stand until coating is set.

I hate winter.

Yep. I live in Canada, and I hate winter.

I hate the cold. I hate how dry the air is. I hate the short days. I hate how expensive good quality winter wear is. Honestly, I could go on, but I won’t.

Despite all of this hatred, though, there are a few things I can love about this season. I love that my mom made me some hand-knitted socks to keep my feet warm. They’re super cute and cozy. I love snow days. I love hot apple cider after a day of skating. I absolutely love the smell of a wood burning stove against the crisp winter air (someone in my neighborhood must have one, because I often catch a whiff on my way home from work, and it is deeelightful!)

And boy do I ever love white hot cocoa! It’s probably my most favorite thing about winter, and it’s so super simple and quick to make at home that I can have it any time I want!

The recipe I used calls for “good quality” chocolate, but honestly, I just used leftover white chocolate wafers. Last year, I used leftover chocolate letters. Being that I’m not a chocolate connoisseur, I really can’t tell the difference! I also kept things simple and left out the garnishes from the original recipe, but that’s just my preference.

So, let’s get cookin’!

Just a funny little side note: If you do not serve immediately, and if you so happen to like drinking your hot chocolate out of a jar, the chocolate will actually solidify around the rim, allowing you to turn the jar completely upside down. Pretty neat stuff!

A few months ago, one of our neighbors down the road left a box of Canadian Living magazines on the curb. Being the garbage picker that I am, I crammed those puppies in my bike basket and brought them to their new home. I’m still slowly picking my way through all of them. Not only are they a great source of recipes (which is why I originally took them home), but they also have a lot of interesting articles to read and helpful little tidbits of info. It’s a little embarrassing, but it’s recently become one of my favorite relaxing evening pastimes to curl up with a food magazine and bookmark the recipes I want to try.

I love food way too much.

Anyway, my roommate and I were supposed to throw a Movember party this past month. You know, to celebrate everyone’s beautiful mustaches. I bought mustache candy molds to make chocolate mustache lollipops, and thought the perfect compliment would be cookies ‘n’ cream cupcakes, which I snagged from one of those Canadian Living magazines.

The party ended up getting canceled, but I still made the lollipops and cupcakes anyway. I was looking forward to making them, and besides, there will always be people to gobble up homemade treats!

The great thing about this recipe is that the cupcake part is actually vegan, so if you ever want to make some vegan cupcakes, it’s a breeze to simply substitute the icing for a vegan friendly option. I’ve never before made oil cupcakes (nope, not even the pre-packaged mixes), so I’ve never had my cupcakes turn out as heavenly moist as these did. It was pretty amazing! From now on, I’ll be more open minded about making oil cakes.

Ok, enough talk. LET’S EAT SOME CUPCAKES!

It’s no secret: I love Martha Stewart.

Yep, I do.

At first I was embarrassed to admit it, but as I got older, and it was more socially acceptable to like doing domestic things, I finally came to terms with it. She’s definitely one of my major trusted source for recipes, and naturally, I’m a subscriber to her Everyday Food newsletter (as well as her Organizing Tip of the Day and Craft of the Day newsletters. Yeah, I’m a geek.)

So when I received her weekly email and saw a collection of blueberry recipes, I knew that I just had to make something other than that blueberry cheesecake. Hey, if I’m going out to get blueberries anyway, I might as well pick up a few more, and bake some more goodies, right?

And thus, scones!

I have to admit, I’m very inexperienced with scone eating. I’ve probably only ever had scones a couple times in my life, so I really don’t know how they’re supposed to taste, or what the perfect texture should feel like, but I think they turned out great. They were delicious, and I ate them everyday for breakfast until they were gone (which admittedly, was only a few days since I also ate them at other non-breakfast times). I normally only like to eat something light and quick for breakfast on work mornings, so they were a great change from my regular old cereal.

I’ve been on a bit of a baking hiatus lately. It’s mainly due to the fact that I’ve been quite busy over the past couple of months. I moved about a month and a half ago, and I also took on the rather time consuming task of refinishing an antique desk that I bought. Now, though, the desk is almost finished, and I’m feeling more settled into our apartment (we probably moved our living room around at least 5 times before we settled on an arrangement we both agreed on and liked), so I’ve finally been able to spend some time in our much neglected kitchen.

This weekend was the birthday of a co-worker, and I thought it was the perfect excuse to bake up something a little fancier than my normal fare. When I inquired about his favorite baked good, I was delighted when he suggested cheesecake. Surprisingly, I’ve never attempted cheesecake, but it had been on my list for quite some time. He told me to stray from the typical cherry cheesecake, and I instantly remembered a delicious looking recipe on the Martha Stewart website for a cheesecake with blueberry topping. Perfect!

The only thing I don’t like about baking larger treats for an event is that you can’t try it before serving it, and I always feel nervous that something won’t turn out right, and I won’t know for sure until people dig in. I’m still an amateur at baking, so there’s definitely room for error every time I bake something new. This cheesecake, however, turned out scrumptiously. I don’t know if everyone was just drunk by the time I arrived, but they all thought it was delicious, and honestly, so did I!

Just a note about this recipe, though: some of the measurements are according to the American system, so I ended up modifying it a bit. More specifically, the sour cream and cream cheese are measured in ounces, and since we don’t use ounces on packaging in Canada, I guessed on the measurements. I used an online converter, but because I don’t have a scale, I’m sure it was off a bit. Basically, each package of cream cheese I bought was 250 grams. I used two full packages for the recipe, even though I technically should have used slightly less than that, but I didn’t want to put such a miniscule amount of it back into the fridge. For the sour cream, I used slightly less than 2 cups. I think technically it should have been more than that, but since I added more cream cheese than I should have, I think it evened out.

Apple Crisp is probably one of my most favorite desserts. I’ve always loved apple dishes. I don’t know if it has something to do with my Dutch genes (several traditional Dutch foods are made with apples), or if it’s because warm apple dishes evoke such a warm, cozy feeling. I remember loving to eat the apple peels when my mom or dad would slice them up for whatever they were making, and that’s still one of my favorite parts about baking with apples.

On top of being a delicious treat, apple crisp is super simple to make, and almost impossible to fudge up.

I snagged this recipe from Pillsbury’s The Complete Book of Baking, which used to be my mom’s, but was passed onto me when I moved away from home for the first time. I used this book a lot when I was younger, and I’m pretty sure it was my very first source for recipes.

I did modify a few things from the original recipe, though. I adjusted the quantities since I needed to make a much smaller crisp, but I also added some sugar to the apples since I like them that way. You can, of course, double or triple the quantities depending on how large of a dish you have. I personally wanted an excuse to bake something in in this cute little dish I bought recently, which basically only holds enough for one or two people. I also made more topping than the recipe in the book calls for because, again I like my apple crisp that way. The quantities on this blog are what I used for my version.

So, without further ado…

And that’s about it! Just a tip, though: When mixing the topping ingredients together, you can by all means use a wooden spoon, but I find it works best to get down and dirty and use your hands.

Also, if apples don’t tickle your fancy, you can naturally substitute them for another fruit of your choice. Personally, I also like peaches and blueberries for a crisp.