the hungry expats

It is now the season for cherries, and they are absolutely delicious this year. I already made a classic clafoutis last week, so I felt like trying something new and my partner found this great recipe online for strawberry shortcake roll. Turns out, it works just great when you substitute freshly stoned cherries for strawberries! Here's my recipe. CAKE   3 large eggs   3/4 cup granulated sugar   1 tablespoon vegetable oil   1 teaspoon baking powder   1/4 teaspoon salt   1 teaspoon vanilla extract   3/4 cup all purpose flour FILLING/FROSTING   16 ounces PHILADELPHIA cream cheese 3/4 cup confectioner's (icing) sugar   1 teaspoon almond extract   1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream 1 pound fresh black cherries, stoned Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 15x20 inch pan with baking paper or a silicon sheet and spray or spread with butter. Place eggs in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed with mixer for 5 minutes

Living in Amsterdam, you cannot escape its famous appeltaart, and one of the best places to enjoy it is a little corner café named De Winkel 43. The line of people waiting outside on Saturday morning (across the weekly organic market) doesn't lie! Even though the original recipe is kept secret, there is a number of versions available on the net. I tried a couple of them (disappointing) and after tweaking a few measurements here and there, I finally came up with something extremely close to the original. CRUST 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar 250 grams unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature (approx. 1+1/8 cups) 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used sunflower) 4 cups of all-purpose flour  2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 large egg   FILLING 7 apples ( I used Elstar, but a combination of sweet and tart apples works great too ) 2 Tbsp cinnamon Zest of ½ orange Zest of  ½ lemon Juice of ½ lemon 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon corns