All-Butter Flapjacks

Over the last few days, I’ve been craving flapjacks…  British flapjacks.  The ones made with butter, oats, sugar and golden syrup.  I guess to an American, I would describe them as a chewy granola bar, but with so much more flavour!

These flapjacks can be chewy or crunchy, just by changing the cooking temperature. I prefer the chewy version, but have given instructions for both below. They are perfect for packed lunches, afternoon tea, or general snacking. I also remember people putting raisins and/or chocolate chips in them, but I prefer the plain Jane variety – simple is the best!

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English Breakfast Muffins

English breakfast muffins should NOT be sour or tangy!  They should not have vinegar in them, and if they do, it should merely be a preservative and should not make your nostril hairs twitch in discomfort from the stink.  Eugh!

Since I have some muffins rings in my cupboard (from my crumpets experiment), I thought I’d whip up a batch. We were not disappointed!  The resulting muffins, were slightly crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and when prised open, there was just the right amount of nooks and crannies to

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English Custard Tart (Pie)

I was just sitting there minding my own business, when an ad came up for a recipe for “magic crust custard pie”. After reading the recipe, I suddenly had the urge to make and eat a lot of custard pie, albeit an English custard tart (… don’t get me started). Now the custard tarts I’m used to are English custard tarts; the ones that are speckled with freshly grated nutmeg, the ones that are fragrantly eggy, smooth on the tongue, lightly sweet and wobbly. We never had custard tarts for dessert, they were more like a ”cake” to be enjoyed with tea, and boy, do I miss Birds the confectioners!

Since the “magic crust custard pie” recipe was too easy to pass, I decided to make it the same day I saw it. I mean, why not? I had all of the ingredients at home, only the result was so bad, I felt sickened by the ingredients I had just wasted. For once, I followed the recipe to the tee, and the result was an abomination. Why on earth it had almost 300

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Almond Biscotti

Biscotti are Italian twice baked biscuits (cookies) that are dry and crunchy. They are the classic dunking biscuit (cookie). Traditionally, they are served with espresso or dessert wine, but they can also be dunked in milk. With commercialization, biscotti now come in all sizes, with a variety of additions including chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit and more.

These biscotti are easy to make and crammed packed full of flavor and almonds. You can spruce up this basic recipe by substituting the almonds

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Thick Crust Pizza Dough

I’m racking my brain to think of someone I know who doesn’t like pizza. I suppose there could be a couple of people I know, but they are usually the people who are on a low-carb/gluten-free diet. Anyways, safe to say, I love pizza. In the past, I’ve worked hard to perfect a thin, crispy, yet light pizza base (crust). It took me over 4 years to do so. When challenged

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Rijstevlaai – Dutch Rice Pudding Flan/Pie

If you’ve ever been to the Netherlands, you’ve most likely stumbled over a shop that sells Dutch flans/pies, vlaai (pronounced “fly”). Vlaai originates from the Limburg province of the Netherlands, but they can be found almost everywhere. The variety of vlaai is a dieter’s nightmare, but I don’t really care for that! My favourite variety is the creamy rice version. These flans/pies are different from others that are traditionally known, the pastry case/shell is made from a lightly yeasted, bread-like dough, not a crisp short pastry.

There’s a warning that comes with this recipe: do not make this with soy milk. If you do, the filling is absolutely vile,

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Apple Crumble

So, it seems that my sister, J, has started taking a passion into cooking. This doesn’t at all surprise me, considering I come from a family that is passionate about food. On Saturday, she was ranting about making apple crumble with custard on Facebook. I haven’t had apple crumble in yonks. She was going to have it with Ambrosia custard, oh yum. I just couldn’t get it out of my mind, I had to bake something!

I had lemons in the fridge, I was going to make lemon bars again, but then I thought sod it, I have all of the ingredients to make apple

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Devonshire Scones

In the summer of 2005, I was on vacation in the West Country in the UK. To be honest, it didn’t really feel like a vacation, because I was living in the UK at the time, but it was a great getaway for a long weekend. There were a few things that I wanted to do during this trip, which was accomplished, including eating real Cornish pasties and having a cream tea.

I did wonder why a “cream tea” was so darn expensive. Only to realize that it contained tea, scones, clotted cream and jam. I remember it was rainy and dull, and the cream tea was welcomed with open arms. The scones are slightly dry, but go so well with a thick layer of clotted cream and strawberry jam. They were SOOOO good. It was funny because I thought that I could feel my arteries clogging up with every mouthful, but the taste, flavor and texture was so worth it!

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Perfect Panettone

I was first introduced to panettone in 1999 by an Italian colleague. Panettone is the most wonderful bread ever. The last 2-3 years, I made an effort to buy one to scoff over Christmas. Before you know it, the whole panettone had gone! I mean, what is there not to love? The bread is light, fluffy, lightly sweet, slightly dry and fruity. The weird thing is why do people only enjoy it over the festive season? It is such a wonderful bread, that it should be enjoyed all year around!

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Gevulde Speculaas – Dutch Spiced Biscuit (Cookie) Filled with Almond Paste

These are my favorite Dutch specialties. They bring wonderful warm memories of December and Christmas. I daren’t even think about the sugar, fat or calories in these things. However, they do have a redeeming feature – they contain almonds, although I doubt this counteracts the naughtiness of them. They are definitely worth the splurge once in a while.

I find these the perfect. Why? I love the Dutch spiced biscuits (cookies), speculaas, and I also love almond paste. When you get layers of speculaas wrapped around a thick layer of almond paste, what is there not to love? It’s like heaven for me. I would gladly work out for a longer amount of time just to enjoy these goodies!

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