In between days

Our most recent winter, mild but prolonged, has finally passed.  The scorching summer heat I crave so much is a few short weeks away, leaving us to the wiles of Spring’s in between days full of mild temps and torrential rains.

Our orchard is in full bloom, greenhouse experiments have run amok, and my oven is humming away on weekend mornings, with no other purpose than to take the chill out of the air before the sun comes up and we head out to plunge our hands into the dirt.

The one thing I stop doing by winter’s end is bake my own bread – my co-op holds fresh baked wheat-free boules for me twice a week, a luxury I look forward to when the days grow long and I spend every waking moment outdoors.  As a baking addict, though, I still need a quick fix – biscuits.

I’m a firm believer that a combination of shortening and butter are better than all of one or the other; that everything – this includes your mixing bowl and baking sheet, not just the ingredients – should be very very cold; and that there is room for both drop and cut biscuits, sometimes in the same day.

As a wheat-allergic vegan living in a fairly non-vegan friendly town, I’m also a firm believer that flexibility is essential if I want to continue feeding my family.  Which is why I didn’t hesitate to make biscuits when neither shortening nor butter were on hand.

Coconut cream drop biscuits

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These biscuits have an incredibly soft crumb, perfect for soaking up butter or preserves, and will be the building block of many a strawberry shortcake this summer.  The sprinkling of sugar is not necessary, but brings out the otherwise barely perceptible coconut flavor from the cream.  As mentioned above, you’ll want to chill all of your ingredients, your mixing bowl, and your baking sheet ahead of time.  For the bowl and baking sheet, just pop them into the freezer for a couple of minutes and you should be good to go.  If you’d rather not use parchment paper (I do so because wheat items are baked on the same trays and no amount of dishwashing makes me feel safe), there is no need to oil your baking tray.

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2 cups white spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup solid coconut cream
3/4 cup unsweetened plant milk (I always use almond)
Large pinch of natural cane sugar

Preheat the oven to 400F/200C and position a rack in the center.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place in the refrigerator or freezer to chill while you mix up the dough.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Quickly rub the cream into the flour with your fingers until the pieces are the size of small pebbles; don’t worry if they aren’t uniform in size. Add the milk and stir until just incorporated; the dough will be sticky. Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least 10 minutes, or longer if your oven is not yet preheated. Once the oven is ready, divide the dough into six portions, dropping them at least one inch apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each biscuit lightly with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, or until just beginning to brown around the edges and golden on top.

Yield: 6 biscuits

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes

Ladies of leisure

Last weekend, Nina and I participated in the 2013 World Wide Vegan Bake Sale, and helped raise funds for our area’s farmed animal refuge.

In preparation, I baked off and on for an entire day; meaning, I began around 8:30 in the morning and finished up as Saturday Night Live came to a close, a mere 17 hours later.

There were, of course, breaks: for floppy hat adjusting, turtle scouting, Goblin chasing.

Between bites of cookie, Nina recorded a turtle in her field journal with the seriousness of a National Geographic reporter. Our resident Goblin was introduced to said turtle; she was unimpressed.

{Our grumpy-faced Goblin is neither grumpy, nor a goblin. Discuss.}

Clover fields. Floppy hats. Turtles. Diligent and completely necessary does-this-taste-gluten-free? treat sampling. Meyer lemon sugar cookies with orange blossom icing. Tartlets. Spiced apple hand pies. Jammy dodgers.

Being ladies of leisure suits us just fine.

Coconut almond tartlets with chocolate mousse

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This crust recipe makes approximately 30-35 mini tartlets, by way of mini muffin tins.  If you want to make one large tart, there is enough crust for an 8×11-inch rectangular, or 9-inch round tart pan.  If you’re making one large crust, be sure to poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork.  The baking time will not change.  If you’re making the minis, there will be leftover mousse.  You’re welcome.  If you’re making one large tart, you’ll end up using most/all of the mousse.

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Crust:
1/2 cup sweet sorghum flour
1/2 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1 cup almond meal
2/3 cup natural cane sugar
Small pinch fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
4 – 6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350F/180C with racks in the top and bottom thirds. If your mini muffin trays are not non-stick, lightly oil them.

In a large bowl, sift all of the dry ingredients together. Add the almond milk and 4 tablespoons of the melted coconut oil, stirring until the dough is crumbly and holds together when pinched. If the dough is too dry, add the remaining coconut oil one tablespoon at a time. Scoop out a scant two teaspoons’ worth of dough and press into one of the mini muffin molds, completely covering the bottom and all sides. When all of your dough has been used, pre-bake the crusts for 12-14 minutes, until just barely golden. Set aside to cool while you prepare the mousse.

Chocolate mousse:
1 1/3 cups best quality semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup coconut cream
12 ounces silken tofu
1 teaspoon almond extract

Using a double boiler over low heat, melt the chips, stirring continuously. When the chips are almost completely melted, add the coconut cream. Continue stirring until the chips and coconut cream are fully incorporated. Remove from heat. In a food processor or blender, puree the silken tofu, chocolate mixture and almond extract until completely smooth.

Add a large dollop of mousse to each crust, and refrigerate overnight. The remaining mousse will keep in an airtight container for several days.

Yield: 30-35 mini tartlets (with leftover mousse), one 8×11-inch tart, or one 9-inch round tart

Prep time: 60 minutes | Cook time: 14 minutes | Refrigeration time: overnight/6+ hours

Swoonworthy

On this Hallmark-designated day of love, I give you a list of some of the things I find swoonworthy.

Before Sunset, #1: Celine singing A Waltz for Tonight, and Jesse realizing that it’s about him.
Before Sunset, #2:The last two lines of the movie:
…”Baby, you are gonna miss that plane.”
…”I know.”
Reading about my hometown in the Time Traveler’s Wife.
Singles; Roger Dodger; Big Night; basically, Campbell Scott.
Coconut lattes.
“Cause she’s the cheese and I’m the macaroni.”
The cinematic boys of my youth: Troy Dyer; Lloyd Dobler; Ronald Miller.
Taylor Kitsch in Friday Night Lights.

This cake.

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s HomeBaking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition around the World.  I’ve tweaked it a bit to suit my family’s tastes, subbing olive oil and yogurt for the butter and reducing the sugar.  The result is a rich loaf cake that tastes divine straight out of the pan, or sliced thick and lightly toasted.

Coconut rum banana cake

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The trick to this loaf cake, I believe, is to purée – not mash – the banana. No rustic lumps and bumps for this batter; a smooth slurry makes all the difference. A dark, large grain sugar is preferable for sprinkling on top but not necessary. The demerara this recipe calls for will fill all the nooks and crannies of your batter, giving the top of this bread a nice bit of caramel-y, sugary crunch. A fine grain natural sugar tends to melt along the edges and crisp up down the center of the bread and tastes just as good. I suspect sucanat would be too dry. Lastly, frozen bananas are fantastic in this recipe.

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3 large, overripe bananas
2 cups spelt flour (I use 1 cup each of whole and white spelt)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of fine grain salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt
3/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/8 teaspoon apple cider or distilled white vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon rum (dark or light, your preference)
1/2 cup dried shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tablespoon demerara or turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C with a rack in the center. Line a standard-size loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly oil.

In a blender or food processor, purée the bananas and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), beat together the oil, yogurt and sugar until fluffy. Add the vinegar and rum, and beat to mix well. Add the banana purée and the flour mixture alternately, about 1 cup at a time, beginning with the banana and beating to just incorporate. Use a spatula to fold in any flour that has not been absorbed, and stir in the coconut. Do not overmix.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top, and sprinkle evenly with the demerara sugar. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes; then turn the loaf out of the pan and allow it to cool completely.

I suspect this loaf will keep, wrapped well, for a few days; however it never lasts more than 36 hours in our house. I find it best the second day, cut thick, lightly toasted and dotted with homemade vegan banana butter.

Yield: 1 loaf

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 60 minutes