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If you’ve caramelized sugar before, you might recall there are two ways to do so: the ‘dry’ and the ‘wet’ method. The only difference being the presence, or absence, of water. Both work fine and turn your previously white sugar…
This rich, creamy, sweet, brown, milky sweet is downright delicious. Dulce de leche is immensely popular in Latin America and there exist a lot of ways to make it. We experimented with several methods: using a pressure cooker, oven, and…
Every New Year’s Eve, families all over the Netherlands grab their frying pots, oil, and flour. Ready to make, a lot of oliebollen – the ‘Dutch donut’, if you will. Best eaten with (lots) of powdered sugar, they’re an integral…
New year’s celebrations have resulted in a lot of, once-a-year snacks, all over the world. In the Netherlands, you’re bound to find a pile of oliebollen in most homes. But, aside from this typical staple, don’t discount its fruity alternatives,…
Crispy, spiced, papadums (or papads) make a great starter or side dish to a meal. But what is the best way to make these thin Indian ‘crackers’ – and why are they so crispy? Let’s figure it out! Aside from…
Vanilla beans are expensive and have been so for a long time. So, to satisfy our desire for vanilla-flavored foods, we humans have found a way to make our own vanilla. Or at least, something that tastes like it: vanillin.…
Trying to decorate cookies or a cake with royal icing? But having issues getting the icing just right? If so, you’ve come to the right place! Even though royal icing might seem to be finicky, it is actually quite a…
If you’re into decorating cookies you’ve probably had to decide more than once whether you were going to use a Royal Icing or a Sugar Glaze/Glacé Icing* to decorate your cookies. Both can be used for decoration purposes, though they…
Have you ever made icing to decorate your cookies, donuts, or maybe a cake? Were you also amazed at just how much powdered sugar you had to add to only a very little bit of water? It’s common for recipes…
A common snack for breakfast, or in between meals, in the Netherlands is a product called ‘ontbijtkoek’, ‘kruidkoek’ or ‘peperkoek’*. It’s best translated as a soft gingerbread cake. It’s soft, and moist, and contains a mix of spices. It’s so…
This is a guest post by Carla Zarazir, a fellow food scientist, with a PhD in Food Science and Technology. You can find her on LinkedIn. A wide variety of reasons (e.g. sustainability and health & nutrition) is shifting people’s…