Mevrouw Cupcake

Yesterday E and I spent the day out and about in our city, on what was the first really beautiful warm and sunny day that Amsterdam has seen this spring (and it's about time too). First stop, one of my favorite breakfast/brunch/lunch spots, De Bakkerswinkel (their Amsterdam Zuid location), to fuel up for our day out.

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This delicious salad caused quite a stir when I pulled it out at lunch yesterday. One of my colleagues kept exclaiming, "It's just so pretty!" Not only is it pretty, but it tastes great and is healthy to boot! Recently Lucy over at Nourish Me posted  recipes for two of her favorite lunchtime salads, subsequently rescuing me from my lunchtime doldrums. I've made both this week and they practically had me skipping to the dining room of my office, so excited was I to have my lunch.

Although I'm known for putting more effort into my lunches then most of my colleagues, I tend to spend a lot of money buying ingredients on the day at the small grocery store near my office. Preparing my lunch at home is without a doubt kinder to my wallet; but better yet, it gives me the opportunity to eat certain foods that E doesn't care for, like olives (or as E calls them: devil's nipples), beets, mushrooms, and anything in the genus Brassica.

So a big thank you to Lucy for inspiring me to start preparing my lunches at home again! Stay tuned for more lunch box tales in the future. 

 

Recently a friend turned me on to the Chocolate Warehouse site, a Dutch webshop for hobbyist bonbon makers who want to purchase the necessary ingredients without having to buy massive quantities at one time. They sale all their chocolate in one kilo packaging, which is perfect for my baking purposes too!
I've got a little obsession going with perfecting white chocolate (Swiss meringue) buttercream, and this means that white chocolate itself must be of the highest quality. As far as my taste buds are concerned, a well-balanced white chocolate is not cloyingly sweet, nor too milky in flavor. In an effort to find the elusive combination that I desire, I 've been working my way through white chocolates from different chocolate houses; so far I've used Callebaut, the revered Valrhona, and this week Opal from Chocovic's Selección Couvertures. I was intrigued when I came across this 31% cacao white chocolate hailing from Catalonia, one of my favorite regions in Spain, on the Chocolate Warehouse site. I was totally unfamiliar with Chocovic as a name in chocolate and thought I'd give it go for a cake gig I had on the books.

Chocovic, situated in between Barcelona and the Pyrenees in the city of Vic, started as a small family-run business under the name of Chocolates Arumi in 1872. Not only was Chocovic responsible for introducing the concept of single origin chocolate to the world, but they also started the first school in Spain that specialized specifically in chocolate, Aula Chocovic.

Facts aside, the taste was perfect and exactly what I was looking for. It whips up luxuriously pearly white in the buttercream, has a heady fragrance and a rich flavor. Well suited for a vanilla and almond laced yellow cake with fresh raspberry filling.

White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream --- re-worked from two different Martha Stewart recipes

10 oz / 284 grams good quality white chocolate

1¼ cups / 250 grams sugar

whites of 5 large eggs / ¾ cup (pasturized) egg whites

1 lb (4 sticks) / 454 grams unsalted butter, softend and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Melt chocolate in double-boiler or in a stainless-steel bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and keep warm. Combine egg whites and sugar in a large stainless-steel bowl and place over a pan of simmering water, whisking constantly until the temperature has reached 150°F / 65°C. Pour the egg white mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until the whites have doubled in size. The whites should be stiff but not dry. Switch out the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment. Add half the butter to the bowl and turn the mixer off and on in short bursts until the white have covered the butter. Repeat with the second half of the butter, then turn the mixer to high and beat for until smooth and silken. Add vanilla extract. Slowly pour white chocolate into the bowl beating on medium-low. Raise speed to high and beat for 3-5 minutes. Makes 4-½ cups.

Can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for a week or frozen for up to a month. Bring up to room temperature and  beat on low speed until smooth.

Well, it seems as though my biggest wish for 2006 is coming true in 2007. I'm starting to come into contact with more and more food-mad folks like myself and I feel, how should I put it, understood. Last night was just such an occasion, as my boy and I attended the mid-week (birthday) soiree of some new found friends and food lovers. Good food and wine aplenty were to be found, but the highlight of the evening were the kaasbroodjes (cheese filled soft rolls) created right before our eyes, by a good friend of our hosts. I had the honor of assisting in the production process, and happily joined the other guests who stood round the oven in mouthwatering anticipation. The hot, yeasty, lovely rolls filled with young garlic and red pepper Dutch cheese were moan worthy, but the icing on the cake was the salty condiment that emerged from the refrigerator to enhance the whole experience.

If you don't love anchovies, then don't even try it, but if there is a bit of adventure in you then try to find it wherever you are. There is a reason that Patum Peperium, otherwise known as Gentlemen's Relish has been produced in England since 1828.