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