Archive for the 'Baking' Category
August is the season for figs in Vancouver. I know this because on a bi-daily basis, my neighbour comes over with a huge bowl of figs for me to turn into something delicious. He has 5 trees that bare 2 kinds of figs of which I don’t know the name, but each one has green skin, one variety is large with sweet, mild white flesh that turns golden as it gets really ripe, and a smaller variety that has red flesh and is a bit tangier.
Two years ago I used the white-fleshed figs when they were really ripe to make fig ginger jam. I skinned every fig and just used the flesh for this jam with lots of texture from the seeds and chunks of candied ginger. It turned out so well that I saved and savoured the jars knowing they would have to last. One sad, sad day my last two jars hit the tile floor on the laundry room and smashed in a glassy figgy mess. As I was contemplating licking it off the floor (and picking the glass off my tongue from the splatter that hit my leg), I decided I better make some more to avoid this sort of desperate craziness.
In 2009, I used both kinds of figs together to make jam, again making Fig Ginger Jam , but this time I left on the skins. This changed the colour and texture of the jam as I needed to pulse the jam with an immersion blender to chop up the skins this time making it thicker. And because I had added the candied ginger in the jam before blending, there were no yummy candied ginger chunks. The colour was not nearly as nice as the 2008 jam (which was a rich, shiny, golden colour) but it tasted just as good.
I made a second Jam in 2009 as well, Fig, Brandy and Honey Mandarine. This had a lot more citrus and some richness from the brandy both of which went very well with the figs.
Then came August 2010:
I don’t know if it is a love for figs, the daily harvest delivery from my neighbour, or the squirrel in me but I made 7 recipes from the figs this year:
Oh, and I froze some halved figs too. Whew. I actually went out yesterday to see if the trees had any more ripe figs (um, crazy) and thankfully, that’s it for the year. I can put this figgy month to bed enjoying a pantry full of riches, of the fig persuasion.
August 31 2010 | Baking and Canning and Gardening and Growing Food and Harvest and Projects | 22 Comments »
Once again I have pulled out the Original Plum Torte Recipe and added a new fruit. I’ve tried strawberry coconut, blueberry lime, and now caramelized figs.
Follow the original torte recipe but top torte with quartered figs and brown sugar. To make this torte with whole wheat flour, start with 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 regular and some add moisture (milk or caramel syrup will do very well) ensuring that the batter still pours into the pan like cake batter.
This recipe also seemed to call out for Amaretto caramel drizzled over it so I made some of that too.
Amaretto Caramel Syrup:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup Amaretto
Directions:
In a small sauce pan, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Boil on high until it reaches a dark amber colour. Stir frequently and keep an eye on it to prevent burning. When colour is achieved, move pot to a deep stainless steel sink and very carefully but quickly pour in the amaretto. Wear long sleeves and get your arm out of there fast – the caramel will sputter and jump as soon as the liquid is added. Bring the pot back to the stove and whisk over medium heat until it reduces slightly. It’s ready when it feels sticky between your fingers.
Mmmm – plate lickin’ good!
August 26 2010 | Baking and Growing Food and Harvest and Recipes | 9 Comments »
Ever had those pumpkin scones at Starbucks? Here is a recipe for a much healthier version that is so much better with a flaky texture due to the mixing technique. Best hot from the oven – so freeze half of them after baking, and warm in an over at 350°F until just crunchy on the outside and warm on the inside. If you make this recipe I would very much appreciate if you leave me a comment and tell me how it turned out.
Ingredients
- 4 cups organic whole wheat pastry or all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 cup cold butter
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 4 tablespoons black strap molasses
- 6 tablespoons half-and-half
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1 cup walnuts
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking pan with parchment and sprinkle it with flour. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter and with fingertips, pastry knife, or food processor gently cut the butter in until it is well combined and resembles course crumbs, some lumps are fine. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, cream, pumpkin and molasses. Add to the dry mixture and gently combine. Gently fold in walnuts and cranberries until just mixed.
Shape the dough into 2 equal balls and flatten to 3/4″ thick on the floured parchment or pan. Using a knife slice each circle into 6 wedges and carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them to 1/2″ space around the outer edges. Optional: brush each scone with milk and sprinkle with sugar for a sweet and crunchy top. Bake until golden about 16 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
Makes 12 extra large scones
April 11 2010 | Baking and Recipes | 10 Comments »
As part of my current series of experiments with sourdough I’ve committed to making a few loaves every weekend. Hubby and I can only consume about a small loaf in my house so into the freezer and over to neighbours houses go the extra buns and loaves. By the end of the week a third loaf remains and its pretty firm on the outside. It usually gets tossed in the bin or if I think of it I’ll head out to the park and give some to the ducks. I love the ducks and geese. The Mallards always sound like they are laughing at you. The bossy geese push all the little ones out of the way. They all run to greet you when you arrive at the pond. So when I chose to feed them my stale bread, I certainly didn’t take it lightly. I used to buy Goose and Duck Food from a local pet store but since I chock the bread so full of whole grains I think it’s much healthier then the pressed food pellets that I’m sure are more filler than grain.
Ducks & Canadian Geese in the Winter
Back to the sourdough. I’ve been surprised to find no fuzzy sweater, or even t-shirts, growing on the bread after long stints in the cupboard. The loaves stay soft a whole lot longer than the store bought ones; I doubt I’ve ever had a fresh bakery loaf last more than a day or two. So when I pulled out the loaf I made 10-days ago I expected it to be revolting. It wasn’t. It was firm on the outside but after filleting it like a fish and a very close eyeball and nose inspection I decided all it needed was some re-hydrating. French toast! I soaked that bad boy in a mixture of 2 organic eggs and a 1/4 cup of cream while I heated up a pan with a small knob of butter. The end result made me feel for a few moments that I was back in France. The whole grains in the bread produced a denser texture and nuttier flavour; the staleness of the bread re-hydrating with the eggs and cream making an almost custard / bread pudding-like decadent French toast. Topped with a bit of my Fallen Applesauce and some Vermont maple syrup, I gobbled up my breakfast before even leaving the kitchen and found myself with the overwhelming urge to lick the plate. Who knew I would be left with such a satisfied belly, sugar high, and the French CBC on the radio? All this from a 10-day old sourdough remnant. I suppose I will have to continue on with my weekly bread making adventure for a while longer. Winter is coming and stale bread in my house is no longer only for the birds.
November 24 2009 | Baking and Photography and Vancouver | 2 Comments »
Another acquisition from New England was a sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour. Since I’m learning to be a dedicated baker I’ve been testing out new recipes and visiting places where bakers go. If you are a baker then the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Store is your candy store. The shelves were piled high with every gadget, appliance, and (surprise) flour you could imagine. From interesting cookie cutters to specialty ingredients the place was amazing, and overwhelming. The one thing that did catch my eye was the 250-year old sourdough culture peeking out from the refrigerators. Assured that it would make it back to Vancouver safely, I figured it may as well keep my pound of chevre company so I packed the little guy up and brought him home.
This little sourdough starter is much like a pet that you keep in the fridge. You feed it and it grows. You have to discard some waste. If you are neglectful it will die. If you are nurturing it will thrive. Just like any new pet my sourdough starter was a lot of work in the beginning. Once I started the process of feeding it I had to keep dividing and feeding at intervals, one of which I didn’t time right so I had to wake up at 2AM to make sure I did it on time. Seriously, my sourdough starter needed a 2AM feeding.
Three days later (that’s right, three) I had finally produced my first loaves (twins!) and put the starter in the fridge for week of rest. Since then I have experimented with a number of different recipes including rustic sourdough, tangy sourdough, whole grain caraway, and olive loaves. I’ve been slowly increasing the amount of whole grain and alternative flours with no reduction in texture and lots of improvement in taste (I’m not really a fan of plain, gluey, white flour). The yummy whole-grain spelt waffles and a braided dinner loaf made out of ground 7-grain cereal were proof of that.
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King Arthur Flour Sourdough Starter
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Olive Sourdough
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Rye Caraway Sourdough
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Stack o’ Sourdough Waffles
I’m proud to say that baking with my sourdough starter has been an overall success. And my new little pet has matured into a typical family member: requiring occasional feedings and a bit of cleaning up afterwards but all the while giving back lots of entertainment and some company…to a nice soup or sandwich that is.
November 23 2009 | Baking and Photography | 1 Comment »
I have made these muffins many, many times over the past few years. Once I was happy with the recipe I started make little changes to the flavour for the seasons. I’ve made Pumpkin-Apple Muffins, Pumpkin-Orange Muffins, Pumpkin-Coconut-Macadamia Muffins, and many others but the original recipe is my favourite with its warm spice, rich molasses, crunchy walnuts and sweet cranberries. The flavours are perfect for this time of year. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup butter (very soft or melted)
- 1 cup pumpkin (canned or fresh pureed & drained pumpkin are both fine)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 3 free-range organic eggs
- 6 tbsp black strap molasses
- 2 tsp real vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cup whole spelt flour
- 1/2 cup whole kamut flour (kamut flour adds extra nutrients to the muffins, but can be substituted by increasing the spelt)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp each of ground ginger, cloves, and nutmeg
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 cup dried or fresh cranberries (dried adds a sweet flavour, fresh adds a tart flavour)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 4oo°F. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the first 6 (wet) ingredients and beat until smooth. I use my immersion blender and that makes quick work of the blending. In a large mixing bowl, add the flours, sugar, powder and spices and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Add the walnuts and cranberries and fold in careful to not over mix. Spoon batter into a greased muffin tin until the cups are heaping; this gets nice big fluffy muffins. Bake 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Yields 18 large muffins or 24 medium muffins.
November 22 2009 | Baking and Recipes | 2 Comments »
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking pan with parchment and sprinkle it with flour. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the butter and with fingertips, gently cut the butter in until it is well combined and resembles course crumbs, some lumps are fine. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, cream, and vanilla. Add to the dry mixture and gently combine. The very last thing you’ll add is the frozen blackberries. The more frozen the better and make sure you work the shaping step (listed next) quickly as to not have them begin to melt into the dough.
Shape the dough into 2 equal balls and flatten to 3/4″ thick on the floured parchment or pan. Using a knife slice each circle into 6 wedges and carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them to 1/2″ space around the outer edges. Optional: brush each scone with milk and sprinkle with sugar for a sweet and crunchy top. Bake until golden about 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
Makes 12 medium-sized scones
November 11 2009 | Baking and Photography and Recipes | 6 Comments »
This was originally printed in the New York Times, Wednesday September 9, 1992 in an article called Eating Well by Marian Burros.
Ingredients:
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3/4 c sugar
- 1/2 c unsalted butter
- 1 c flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt, optional
- 2 eggs
- 12 Italian prune plums
- Sugar and lemon juice for topping
- 1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well. Spoon the batter into an 8”, 9”, or 10” spring form pan. Split and pit the plums and place the halves, skin side up, on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon, depending o the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake about an hour. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and then serve plain or with whipped cream. Yield: 8 servings. Note: to freeze, double wrap torte in aluminum foil place in plastic bag, and seal. To serve, defrost and reheat briefly at 300 degrees.
For variation:
Strawberry Coconut Torte
Blueberry Lime Torte
Whole Wheat Caramelized Fig Torte with Amaretto Caramel
September 28 2009 | Baking and Harvest and Recipes | 3 Comments »
