If you're looking for tangerine-tinged culinary inspiration for Queen's Day (the annual Dutch holiday on April 30, during which everyone and everything goes orange for a day in honor of the Queen's birthday), look no further. My Queen's Day smoothie with oranges, banana, plums and mango is so good, however, you might turn to it more than once a year.

Photo © Karin Engelbrecht

Celebrate Easter Dutch-style this weekend by making a traditional Dutch fruited bread. Called 'stollen', these breads often contain raisins and currants that have been steeped in brandy, and a luscious almond paste center. My chocolate version of the classic stol flirts with tradition, using raisins, currants and brandy, but the addition of dark chocolate chips lift and deepen the flavors, for something more decadently modern that the modest stollen of yore. Who needs the austerity of Calvinism when there's chocolate chips to be had?

Photo © Karin Engelbrecht

I'm not going to call this an Easter recipe, because salmon is good throughout spring, but after a heavy Dutch Easter brunch ('Paasbrunch' in Dutch) something light and simple is really all I can face.

Did you know that salmon is native to Dutch rivers? Although they are not as abundant as they once were, you can catch local Dutch salmon in our rivers today. While most of the salmon we eat in the Netherlands today is either farmed and/or imported, recipes for salmon have been appearing in Dutch cookbooks since at least 1514. This poached salmon with chive sour cream & fresh potato salad recipe makes a light and modern dinner; the salmon is poached in white wine, with a bay leaf and peppercorns, and served with a chive sour cream sauce and a light, dill laced potato salad.

Please don't judge the dish by the photo. It was late, the light wasn't right and my family needed to eat. Next time I make this, I hope to take a better photo.

Photo © Karin Engelbrecht

In the Netherlands, advocaat, that eggy brandy liqueur, is seen as an 'ouwe wijven drankje' (old wives' drink), but it makes an excellent substitute for custard in recipes. In this tokkelroom trifle recipe advocaat is teamed with pound cake, orange juice, freshly whipped cream, dark chocolate and a hint of bitter orange marmalade. It's a whole new way to enjoy this classic Dutch ingredient.

Photo © Karin Engelbrecht