Care package

I want to start off by saying that I love getting mail. Post cards, letters, care packages, anything. Well, except for bills.

This past week I received a package from a lovely woman named Bev who came to one of my whoopie pie workshops at The Kitchen in Amsterdam. She's American and she lives in Oregon and her sister-in-law lives her in The Netherlands, so she visits a few times a year. She knows that there are some things that you can't get easily here in Holland, and if you're lucky enough to find it, it's going to cost you 4 or 5 times the price it would in the U.S.

On Friday this package arrived on my doorstep. I opened it up and I could immediately smell the sweet aromas of light brown cane sugar and coconut. There were also butterscotch chips, boxes of baking soda and really cute baking cups. It was also packed with military caliber efficiency, which was so awesome that I just had to mention it. Sometimes when my father sends me packages things are haphazardly thrown in. It wouldn't surprise me to find an anvil resting on top of a Faberge egg in a package from him. I'm not complaining, I find it funny and endearing but I have to say that receiving such a well packed box was quite refreshing.

Friends and relatives have sent me some wonderful packages since I moved here in 2009. I've gotten boxes with my favorite magazines, Easter candy, hard to get baking ingredients, my favorite cereals, baby gifts and candies that I love.

Oh fudge

Like I mentioned in my last blog post, the weather here has me waxing nostalgic about Autumn in New England. Well, since that post we've had no shortage of fall-like weather here in The Netherlands. For instance, the other day I was wearing a sweatshirt and a jacket. In July. The end of July.

My lust for certain confections hasn't waned so I decided to do something about it. Today I made fudge for the first time. Now, a couple of years ago I was at a candy counter here in Holland and ran across something that looked like fudge. It was even labeled "fudge." My heart began to race and I began to salivate a bit as I ordered a piece. Sadly, it wasn't even close to the fudge I've enjoyed my entire life. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but the taste was vile. For the past few years I've had to settle for annual trips to the Old Country Store in Mansfield, MA for my fudge fix. The OCS has the best fudge I've ever had, and, according to my late grandmother (who worked there as a teenager), my very first piece of fudge came from there.
http://www.oldcountrystoreonline.com/

Making perfect fudge the old fashioned way requires a candy thermometer. I don't have one so I figured I could make do with a regular meat thermometer. That was a mistake. Fudge needs to be heated up to 242 degrees F in order for the sugar to properly dissolve.
My fudge, while actually very delicious, came out slightly grainy because it wasn't heated up to the proper temperature. All in all, I'm pleased with the results and I'm going to continue to experiment with different kinds of fudge. Rocky road, penuche, vanilla, maple, cookies and cream, dark chocolate with M&Ms, peanut butter with chocolate ganache. Oh yes. I know what people are getting from me for Christmas this year.

Autumn in New England

I chose the title for this post based on the weather we've been having here in The Netherlands. It's the kind of weather that elicits the warm and fuzzy feelings I have for Autumn. In New England, Autumn is a special time of the year when the hillsides burst with kaleidoscopic colors, children eagerly anticipate Halloween and families carve pumpkins and go apple picking. It's a time for new beginnings, a time when we start a new school year, and the cooler air comes with the promise of a a wonderful upcoming holiday season. I have never seen anything more beautiful than Massachusetts in the fall and I don't think that I ever will, as long as I live. No matter where in the world I am, I will always go back.

I find myself getting nostalgic during walks through the city when I'm breathing clean, cool and crisp air and basking in the beautiful sunshine that we've had here on most days this summer. I've been craving all the delicious foods that go along with Autumn, like hearty soups, sweet banana bread, candy apples, pumpkin pie and most of all, apple crisp. Apple crisp is a classic New England dessert and you'll find it on the menu of most restaurants and diners, served with a heaping side of vanilla ice cream. The only way to eat it is warm and preferably snuggled up on the couch on a brisk Fall evening with your best friend reminiscing about times past...

This is a recipe that was given to me by my beloved friend Heather Burns.

Apple Crisp

5 cups sliced tart apples
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 tbs. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Peel, core and slice the apples; toss in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon; add to the apples and toss to combine.

In another bowl combine flour, sugar and oats and soft butter.

Butter a 9-inch square baking dish. Spread apple mixture in bottom of baking dish then sprinkle with flour mixture. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes, or until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned.

S'mores

I was at Hanos when I spotted a bag of large marshmallows and decided that it would be poor parenting if I didn't make Diesel his first s'more today.

To make a proper s'more, you need to have graham crackers, milk chocolate and marshmallows. I need to conserve my precious graham crackers for a particular recipe so I used digestive cookies instead. I placed part of a milk chocolate candy bar on top of the first cookie, then I added two marshmallows on top of that. I hit them with the culinary torch until they were gooey and I slapped the second cookie on top. A feeling of sheer bliss took over after my first bite and my mind was flooded with memories of childhood and campfires. Diesel was squealing with excitement so I gave him a little piece. He gave me the same quizzical look that he always does when he eats something new but almost immediately started his little "i like this" dance. He's hooked.

S'mores are wildly popular in the United States and are associated with camping. They're traditionally made by roasting the marshmallows over a campfire and then assembling them quickly so the heat from the marshmallows will melt the chocolate. The first recorded version of the recipe can be found in the 1927 book "Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts."

It's been a while

It's been a while since I've updated this blog, but I'm happy to say that it's because I've
been so busy baking!
I've got an exciting piece of news: my website is currently under construction!
Soon you'll be able to order my cupcakes online in a variety of flavors and designs.

The address is www.courtneyskitchen.nl

In other news, I had a birthday party a couple of weeks ago and I made Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes. They were a big hit and I'm going to be adding them to the regular cupcake menu
on my website. In the coming weeks I'm going to be experimenting with whiskey and Guinness cupcakes and if all goes well, I'll be offering them on my website as well. Does anyone want to be my guinea pig? :)

Bars and cake

Yesterday I made some brown-butter marshmallow bars dipped in chocolate. They're slightly different than traditional Rice Krispies treats; I brown the butter and add mini marshmallows right before I put the mixture into the pan. This time I cut them into rectangular pieces and dipped one end in dark chocolate.

I also made a double-layer coffee cake which was fabulously dense and sweet. I like to add a layer of streusel through the middle of the cake for an extra layer of deliciousness :)

The picture of the coffee cake isn't very good but I can assure you that it was very tasty.

Valentine cuties

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, surprise your sweetie with some adorable cupcakes!

Some cupcakes I made in December

I was looking through my camera today and I found these pictures of some cupcakes I made in December. I'm looking forward to February so I can get creative with some Valentine's Day cupcakes! I'm thinking lots of red velvet cakes with cream cheese frosting.

Ganache with panache

Have you ever had an orgasm from eating chocolate? Try this recipe and you might.

Today I made my regular Devil's Food cupcakes but I switched up the frosting. Normally I use my own recipes but today I thought I would try out a recipe for ganache that I saw on the Martha Stewart website. It's called Mrs. Milman's Chocolate Frosting and it's amazing. I requires a lot of time and patience but in the end, it's worth it. The recipes states that the frosting needs to be cooled in the fridge for 2 hours; I had to leave it in overnight. Mine became runny and separated and at one point I almost threw it away but I'm glad I didn't. Stick with it, don't cut corners on the stirring time and leave it in the refrigerator overnight and you'll have yourself an orgasm-inducing chocolate ganache.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/mrs-milmans-chocolate-frosting-2