Home again

We are back from a lovely, very relaxed holiday at Wooyung Beach. I am still sorting the hundreds of photos that I took, but here is one of a shell that I found.

Today is hubby's birthday. I baked him a Dutch appeltaart (apple cake):



It tasted as good as it looks! The recipe can be found here.

I reopened my Blue Jacaranda shops and made a few small things today to add to the Etsy shop. This week I hope to start on a new quilt...

Polka dotted backpack

It must be at least two years ago, when I was in the middle of my bag-making phase, that I asked my best friend Hylkia (she of the famous Dutch Apple Cake) if she would like me to make a bag for her. She would, and could it be a backpack in polka dot fabrics please.



It has taken me those two years to make that backpack, but yesterday, on her 40th birthday, it arrived at her address in the Netherlands. She told me she loved it and so did her three daughters (who are roughly the same age as my three sons). I'm glad, because this is the first and last backpack I will ever make! (I started out with a pattern in this book, but gave it my own twist) No, seriously, it was a pleasure to make something for her - she once knitted a beautiful jumper for me, with cables! Backpacks are just not my thing... And I am really glad she likes it - just in case she didn't I also sent her another present; The Household Guide to Dying, one of my all-time favourite books, by Australian author Debra Adelaide.

Meanwhile I have almost finished one of the gymnast quilts; will show you some pics in the next posting. I really need to get started on the Flora quilt for Art Quilts Around the World, but seem to be stuck... The initial idea I had for a lino cutting didn't work out and I am not too sure about the second... Maybe I need to try something else - only 3 weeks to go!

Dutch Apple Cake

Yesterday we celebrated DH's birthday with some friends and colleagues. I made this appeltaart (Dutch apple cake) that everyone loved. The recipe is the one my best friend Hylkia, the Apple Tart Queen, sent me (zenks, Van Meer). I have had a go at translating it - cooking language is not my forte, but I hope you will be able to understand it!

Ingredients:
Just under 2 kilograms of apples*
300 grams plain flour, sieved
200 grams cold butter, cut in cubes
150 grams caster sugar
2 eggs
juice of 1 lemon
cinnamon
raisins

Preparation:
Put flour, butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and add to the bowl, keeping a few tablespoons apart. Knead the dough with a firm, cold hand (as it says in Dutch cooking books) until it forms a ball. Put aside in a cold place.
Peel and core the apples, cut into small pieces, put in another bowl. Add lemon juice, a few tablespoons of sugar and a lot of cinnamon. Add some more cinnamon (these are the exact instructions of my friend Hylkia).
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Grease a large springform pie dish and use 3/4 of the dough to cover the bottom and sides. Add a layer of the apple mixture, then a layer of raisins, then another layer of apple mixture etc. End with the apple mixture (if the raisins are in the top layer they will burn).
Use the rest of the dough to make a lattice topping on top of the cake. Brush with the remaining egg and place in the oven for 1 - 1,5 hours.
Traditionally, appeltaart is eaten cold with whipped cream, but it is also very yummy when it is still hot, with vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!

* Traditionally in the Netherlands goudreinetten are used for appeltaart. I haven't been able to find these apples in Australia and use Pink Lady apples instead.



PS I generally don't like to read recipes on quilt blogs and I certainly do not intend this blog to become a food blog, but after mentioning that I was going to bake a Dutch apple cake on Facebook I had so many requests for the recipe that for just this one time I will put it here!