Cooking With the Dutchess:
By Hanneke Eerden
Do you know the biggest difference between the State of California and The Netherlands? It’s definitely the weather! The climate we have here, in the Netherlands, consists of four calendar based seasons. Right now it’s officially still winter, but spring is just around the corner! If you watch closely you’ll notice that Mother Nature is already preparing for the warmer and hopefully sunnier days: the tulips in my garden are already peeking a few inches above the ground and most trees and plants are starting to sprout. That’s a good sign! Every year it’s always a relief to see most of them survived the freezing cold of winter and cold it was this winter. We had a lot of snow and many many days with temperatures below the freezing point…brrrr… but; the best sign of spring is expected to arrive any day now: lambs in the meadow! Ain’t that cute! (Yes very cute, yet I’m sorry, but they’re also very tasty!).
My house is situated at the edge of a very small village and located right behind the dike. As soon as the days get warmer and the chance of frost is getting less, the sheep will be back in the meadows, along the dikes, together with their little lambs. They will stay there until it starts getting too cold (late fall or early winter- around October/November).
Another important feature of spring and summer in the place where I live is tourism. On the other side of the dike there’s a large marina, and as soon as the boat season starts (with Easter) many yachts will enter here to stay for a few days. On the opposite side of the lake, there are also 3 large camping sites. Along the river and the attached lake, you’ll find a lot of sandy beaches but when the temperature rises, it’s very tough to find a quiet place in the sun.
Then of course, don’t forget about the bikers! Maybe you didn’t know this already, but the Dutch people love to ride bikes! One of the many national bike routes passes right by my house and I can’t count the times that people stop at my fence and ask if I would be so kind to fill their bottles of water or ask for directions. Not really my thought of a quiet day outside, but it’s very charming.
During this period, the number of inhabitants of the village will be doubled (normally there will be around 2800 inhabitants), and that means there’s a lot of activity going on. Many events are organized during this time: flea markets, music festivals, boat and yacht shows, and the yearly Mill Festival. Yes we do have an old genuine Dutch mill in our village, and it’s still working too!
This mill is a so called corn mill and was built in 1888 and completely restored in 1982. Every Saturday it’s open to the public and of course I love to go there too! Not only to buy the freshly ground flour but also fresh eggs and honey too. There’s really a big difference in the flour you buy in a supermarket and the flour from the mill! No doubt you’ll understand which one is my favorite…
But spring hasn’t arrived yet, so I’d better turn the heating system to “high” and make myself some warm comfort food. In fact, I’m thinking about grilling some juicy lamb chops right now….. I wonder why?! That would be very nice, but let’s do that some other time. By the way, the best and most tasty lamb chops aren’t available yet anyway! Therefore, for this week, I’m going to treat you to the most delicious chocolate cherry cake! To celebrate the end of winter, well… almost!
As always ~Bon Appetit!
Chocolate Cherry Cake
1 jar cherries in syrup, drained
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
½ cup cacao powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
7 liquid ounce red wine
Rum
Soak the drained cherries for 15 minutes in rum.
Preheat the oven to 375F. Use Pam cooking spray for the bunt pan.
Mix butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and the eggs with a mixer until it’s creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, cacao powder and cinnamon. When this all mixed in, you can add the chocolate chips and red wine.
Drain the cherries (don’t throw away the rum, you can use this for example in the frosting or whipped cream), add the cherries to the batter and give it a few stirs using a spatula.
Bake the cake in 50-60 minutes. Let it cool for 15 minutes before you remove the cake from the pan.
A few finishing touch ideas: sprinkle with powdered sugar, add a cream cheese frosting or whipped cream.