Chocolate-vanilla 'zebrafish' buns

My lab will celebrate its 5th birthday tomorrow. Apparently when S (my boss) started he thought it might all be a joke because his start date was April 1st. A and I decided, last minute on Friday, to have a little birthday celebration tomorrow. I made marbled (ie stripey, like a zebrafish?) chocolate buns, with chocolate ganache and iced decorations.

I found almost exactly the buns I wanted to make in 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World' - my stepsister gave me the book for my birthday and so far it seems like the ultimate vegan baking bible - their gluten-free buns were a huge hit, and I identified some yummy vegan cupcakes (almond+apricot) at L's rollerskating birthday party as being from it too!

(makes 12)

For the cakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp almond essence
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp cider vinegar
4 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp boiling water

For the chocolate icing:
1/4 cup fake milk (almond)
4 oz plain chocolate (<70%), chopped
2 tbsp maple syrup

For the decoration:
icing sugar
fake milk

Heat oven to 350F and put liners in a muffin tin. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and oil together, then add the vanilla, almond and cornstarch and beat some more. Measure the fake milk into a cup measure and add the cider vinegar, giving it a minute or two to curdle. Alternately add some of the flour mixture and some of the milk mixture to the oil mixture, stirring as you go. In a separate bowl, beat together the cocoa and boiling water, then add a cupful of the cake mixture to the cocoa mix, and stir until well combined.

Put a teaspoon of vanilla mixture and then a teaspoon of chocolate mixture into each paper liner, continuing to alternate between the two batters until the liners are full. Then use a skewer (or thin metal knitting needle) to swirl the batters together. Put in the oven and bake for approx 25 min, until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

To make the chocolate icing, heat the fake milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the chopped chocolate and the maple syrup and beat with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is all melted and it makes a thick sauce. Let it cool at room temperature, to room temperature.

Ice the buns with the chocolate icing when they are both at room temperature. Then mix some icing sugar with fake milk until it is a thick, pipe-able consistency. Spoon carefully into the corner of a plastic bag, then snip off a little bit of the tip of the corner and pipe whatever decorations on top you like (I did binary and real style zebrafish, and some #5s).

Fresh, eggless pasta

S loves pasta, but not the eggy variety: good quality dried pasta is his favourite. I thought it might be fun to try making him fresh pasta without egg. I used this recipe as a reference, and then guessed from there

(makes enough for two people)

1 cup plain flour
1 cup pasta flour (extra fancy durum wheat plus unenriched golden semolina)
1 tbsp gram flour
1 tsp salt
water

Put the flours and salt in a pile on a clean work surface and mix them a little with your fingers, keeping it together as a heap. Make a hollow in the middle and pour in a few tbsp of water. Mix with your fingers. Add more water, mixing and kneading until the dough just comes together. Knead for a few minutes until it is smooth and pliable. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 20 min or a bit longer.

Pull off about 1/3 of the dough and make it into a little ball. Dust a clean work surface generously with flour. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it is thin: 3 mm or less.

Cut the rolled out dough into pieces of the shape you want. I just made fettuccine type strips, cutting with a dinner knife from S's grandmother's set. Move the shaped pasta to a well-floured baking tray until you are ready to cook it. Repeat the rolling and cutting steps until all the dough is prepared.

Bring a large pan of slightly salted water to a boil. Add the fresh cut pasta. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until it is al dente. Drain and toss with some olive oil. Serve however you like.


This worked pretty well: the dough rolled out quite thin, better than I expected, and was not at all sticky either before or after cooking. It was whiter in colour than egg pasta, due to the lack of orange egg yolks in it. Perhaps adding a couple of tbsp gram flour would be a good thing to try (edited in as I tried this and liked it)? Infinite scope in the shapes we could make too: perhaps some ravioli, or pappardelle, or anything really. I dried some we didn't cook by spreading it out on a floured baking tray and putting it in the oven (off, but it has a pilot light so is always a little warm) overnight. We ate it the next day so not sure yet about how long it lasts when dried but S I think preferred cooking it from dried.

Hot cross tart (little marmalade tart with tahini-almond crust)

Easter. This weekend feels strange. These last couple of days have really felt like Spring. But it is not a long weekend here - think those extra holiday days really make the end of Winter feel real.

I didn't feel like making hot cross buns this year, much though I love them. But, still racked by guilt at the vast quantity of marmalade I've made over the last couple of months and the slow rate at which we seem to be eating it, I'd got into the idea of baking with marmalade, and had noted this recipe as a potential way to do it.

I figured that since orange zest / candied peel is one important component of a hot cross bun, perhaps if I added all the hot cross bun spices (cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg) and made the topping into a cross shape it would feel festive? My usual favourite (slightly weird) way to eat marmalade is layered with tahini, either on toast or just off a teaspoon. So couldn't resist putting tahini in the pastry.

Makes a little (6 inch diameter) tart.

50g ground almonds
65g plain flour
75g light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cloves, ground
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
pinch salt
25g tahini
25g mild-flavoured olive oil (plus 1 tbsp)
1 tsp almond milk
100g marmalade

Mix almonds, flour, sugar, ground spices and salt in a bowl with a fork. Add oil, tahini and milk (withholding the last tbsp oil to see if you need it), then mix up into a dough (it will be a little crumbly), adding that last tbsp of oil if the dough doesn't come together. Break off a 25g piece and wrap in cling film. Press the rest into a greased 6 inch cake tin with a removable base, making a firmly-pressed, even layer with a slight lip at the edge. Put the ball and the tin in the fridge for 30 min. In the meantime heat the oven to 340F.

When ready to bake, spread the marmalade out from the middle of the tart, leaving a gap of about half an inch at the edge. Use the remaining dough ball to make a cross on top. Bake for 30 min / until the edges and top are golden brown. Let sit on a wire rack for 5 min, then remove from the tin and let cool completely.


I really like this: like a cross between a jam tart and a biscuit; crunchy, crumbly and gooey in all the right places; sweet yet not too sweet yet also sharp; bold flavours that go well together. S says the marmalade is too bitter. I think it is good. A little divisive...

The more I eat of this, the more I love it: it is getting better as it sits in a box for a few days - the marmalade-y bits are deliciously gooey, while the outer pastry remains crunchy. Although I think this may be a child only I could ever love - the tahini-marmalade-spice combo is very much tailored to my own weird tastes.

Curried cabbage and coconut

Got a big white cabbage that needed eating fast from last week's Alvin farmshare. Turned over a few ideas in my head: perhaps Polish style stuffed leaves (had been talking about these with my labmate who made them with his Polish-descended mother recently)? Or pickled? But then the idea of a dry, yellow curry with coconut came into my head and seemed so delicious I couldn't drop it.

I more-or-less followed this recipe, because it seemed to be quite straightforward and almost exactly what I had in mind - even including curry leaves, which I bought a bag of a month or so ago and had been storing in the freezer until an opportunity to cook them arose.

3 tbsp safflower oil (or other non-flavoured, high temp cooking oil)
1/4 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 heaping tsp mung dal, urad dal or small yellow lentils
1-2 small green chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
10-20 fresh curry leaves (used 11)
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 a medium white cabbage (approx 1 lb), cored and shredded
1 piece fresh ginger, 1-inch long, peeled and chopped or cut into matchsticks
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp finely grated fresh coconut or grated dried coconut

Heat the oil in a large, tall saucepan over med-high heat. When it’s hot and shimmery add the mustard seeds. When they have almost all popped (30 sec or so), remove the pan from the heat, then turn down to medium, put pan back on, add cumin, dal, chilli, curry leaves, and saute until everything looks lightly golden (~ 45 sec). Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it’s soft and limp but does not change colour: two to four minutes. Add the turmeric and stir well to mix. Add the cabbage, ginger and salt, and mix thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, slightly translucent, tender, still crunchy but not mushy: about seven minutes. Add the coconut, and mix well. Taste for salt. Let sit for at least 5 min before eating.


This is really delicious, and makes a beautiful pan of yellow shreds studded with brown seeds and dal. The curry leaves lend a very particular aroma and flavour which I like, and the combined dal, cooked cabbage and coconut make a wonderful set of contrasting textures. Yum.

Onigiri

As we planned our GF baking day, I remembered about K's awesome onigiri, and asked her to teach us how to make those at the same time... Excitingly, she agreed. We made them first, and ate them for lunch. They were a lot of fun to make and damn fine to eat too.

1 1/2 cups sushi rice (brown or white), cooked in 2 cups water until al dente, unseasoned
~ 10 full sheets of toasted nori (the same seaweed as used for making sushi)
sea salt

Any or all of these fillings / seasonings:
umeboshi plums*
pickled shiso
sesame seeds, black and white, toasted
chickpea miso
brown rice miso
umeboshi-sesame-shiso seasoning for rice

Wet your hands and rub them with a pinch of sea salt. Fill your left palm with a clump of cooked rice: about 4 tbsp. With your right thumb, make an indentation in the middle of the rice. Put a plum and some shiso, or a tsp of a mixture of miso and sesame seeds, in the indentation and then close up the rice over and around the filling so it is buried in the middle.

Then shape the onigiri. To make a triangle shape, simultaneously squash the rice gently between the base of your left thumb and your left fingers (to make the flat sides), and bend your right hand over the top and squash the rice gently between your bent right hand and your left palm to make a point of the triangle (see (1) in the photo above). Flip the rice and squash gently on all three sides to make a triangle until the rice is holding well together (see (2), above). Continue until all the rice mixture is used up. If you like, you can mix seasoning (the umeboshi-shiso-sesame one was delicious) through the rice at some point to make a variation.

To cover the onigiri, crease the seaweed sheets and split in half (see (3) above). Take one half and place the rice triangle in the middle. Fold the seaweed up around it (rough side in) and use to cover the whole surface (see (4) above), tearing the seaweed to fit and removing pieces if necessary. Repeat for all rice triangles.

At this point you can eat straight away, or keep them covered or wrapped in cling film for up to half a day.

*If you don't have umeboshi make a cheat version by soaking halved, dried, non-sulfur apricots in a warmed half-half mixture of rice vinegar and umeboshi vinegar (or just rice vinegar with a good pinch of salt) for about 10 minutes (or longer).

Gluten-free baking

Photo by Alvin

My friends A and K asked me to teach them what I knew about GF baking. I was unsure at first: unconvinced that I knew any more about it than they did. But they persuaded me that even what little I knew would be helpful to them, and I figured it would be fun whatever happened - I like hanging out and drinking tea and cooking, and they are good company. So we got together for a day of GF baking.

I think the main thing I have figured out about GF baking is that you often need a combination of flours - something like glutinous rice flour or tapioca flour or cornstarch or potato starch to stick it together, and then a combination to give good texture: rice flour alone is light but tastes dusty, gram flour is heavy and its taste is overpowering (although lends a pleasant eggy flavour when used in small quantities), oat flour I like, others such as quinoa or millet flour are different again, and some combination (varied depending on the taste you are looking for / what goes with the other stuff in the mix) is what will make it good. Getting a good rise is doubly challenging when doing vegan+GF (no eggs, no gluten).

I thought of three things:

1) Oat-sunflower-raisin biscuits
(I knew these would work (and they did), also thought they were interesting because of the lack of flour / most of the fat coming from the nut/seed butter)

2) Savoury corn muffins
Wanted to do a basic muffin type thing. A mentioned he got coarse cornmeal from his CSA and this idea suggested itself - though it would be nice to do something simple and savoury as most of the GF things I have baked are sweet... I also recently noticed that Trader Joe's started doing a GF flour blend (brown rice flour, potato starch, white rice flour and something else), so thought it would be fun to try something with that. This is based on my favourite basic cornbread recipe, made in a muffin form and with lots of additions.

2 tbsp ground linseed mixed with ~5 tbsp boiling water
1 TJ’s GF flour mix (see above)
½ tsp xanthan gum
1 cup cornmeal
4 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
2 tsp paprika (note, spice combination is very flexible; adding dried chili or finely chopped fresh chili would also be good)
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 tbsp honey (or sugar)
1 cup fake milk + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
¼ cup oil (used grapeseed, any oil would work here really - even stronger flavoured ones - as these are savoury)
Handful sweetcorn kernels, defrosted
~4 spring onions, cleaned, trimmed and chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Heat oven to 425F*. Prepare muffin cups by lining with paper cases. Mix flour, cornmeal, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, dry spices and seeds (and sugar if using) in a bowl. Add vinegar to the milk, then mix this with the linseed mixture, oil and honey (if using). Add the sweetcorn, coriander and spring onions to the dry ingredients and toss. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just combined. Bake for 20-25 min.

These came out well: pleasant, savoury, corny taste, with a robust texture from the cornmeal and a slight sweetness from the kernels. Quite dense, but held together well and rose enough to give a nice shape. *Could perhaps try a slightly lower temperature next time: they browned up on top quite quickly (not a problem really).


3) Little nutty cakes (an educational semi-disaster)
I'd seen these a while ago, and thought they sounded interesting: liked the nuts and the olive oil. But noticed the reliance on eggs and thought maybe they'd be too difficult to adapt. For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to try anyway - I think partly because I got into the idea of mixing nut flour and buckwheat flour.

3 tbsp linseed mixed with 7.5 tbsp boiling water (or 3 eggs)
1 cup (200g) sugar
2/3 cup (90g / 3 ¼ oz) ground almonds (or hazelnuts)
1 ½ cups flour – sub ¾ cup oat flour plus ¾ cup buckwheat flour plus ½ tsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp (200 ml) mixture of extra virgin olive oil and grapeseed oil
About ¼ cup (25g) mixed chopped untoasted nuts for sprinkling (used hazelnuts)

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare muffin tins. Beat linseed (or eggs) and sugar together with a whisk, a lot – til doubled in volume. Mix ground nuts, flours, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt in a bowl with a fork. Add olive oil to the linseed-sugar mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fill muffin cups halfway. Sprinkle mixed chopped nuts on top. Bake for 15 min / until springy (might take a bit longer without muffin tins).

These kind of rose up massively and spilled out of the muffin cups across the surface of the tin, leaving a sunken middle - ended up looking a bit like little bird's nests. But they actually tasted delicious: the top parts were all crispy and like a nutty meringue or something, the middle/bottom was squishier but also lovely and nutty, with a hint of grassiness from the olive oil (although quite well stuck to the paper liners). Could have been fun as Easter nests with Greek yoghurt and fresh fruit (grapes to look like eggs?) in the hollows.

My guess as to what went wrong: they rose due to the baking powder and the air from the beating, but lacked enough of anything (no gluten, no eggs) to hold them up and give structure, so sank right back down again. I forgot to add the xanthan gum, so that was probably part of it, but I feel like that might not have been enough anyway. Perhaps adding some cornstarch or glutinous rice flour would have helped (or using eggs instead of linseed, if that's an option). I also found them a bit too oily and a bit too sweet (reminded me a bit of these) - try dialling down the sugar and oil if making again. And, I wondered how the mixture would have fared in a cookie form: perhaps they would have turned out as delicious, nutty, meringue-like things like the top parts tasted like...

Ruby grapefruit and star anise marmalade

I bought four ruby grapefruit weeks ago, with marmalade in mind. Then I got home and looked in my preserve cupboard and realized how crazy full it was. So I spent those weeks wracked with indecision about whether to make it or just eat them. In the end I made it. My basic marmalade method is this one, and the increase in citric acid was according to the grapefruit marmalade recipe in the AFRC Home Preservation book. The star anise just seemed like it might marry really well with grapefruit (perhaps because of this recipe), as well as being the single prettiest spice to add to a jar. I sometimes find its liquoricey-ness overpowering so I wasn't sure...

(makes about 7 medium sized jars)

4 ruby grapefruit ()
1 1/2 tsp citric acid
1.3 litres water
2 kg sugar
2-3 whole star anise (or pieces adding up to that)

Wash the grapefruit thoroughly. Chop into quarters. Cut out the pulp. Squeeze the juice into the pan. Put the remaining pulp and seeds into a muslin square in a colander over a bowl. Repeat for all the quarters of all the grapefruit. Then thinly slice the rind pieces (do not remove pith) and add them to the pan. Tie up the muslin with all the pulp and seeds in it into a tight bundle, then add it to the pan. Add the water and citric acid. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 2 hours or until the rind pieces are soft.

Remove the muslin bag and squeeze it between two plates to get as much liquid back into the pan as you can, then discard the contents. Add the sugar and star anise and stir while dissolving / coming to the boil. Boil hard (taking care to check it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan) until setting point is reached.

Let stand for ~30 min before putting in sterilised jars.


...so I actually split the batch (just before adding the sugar), making one half simply grapefruit and adding star anise to the other half. I loved how it turned out with the star anise - the anise flavour comes through just enough, and its thick, heady sweetness plays off the tangy grapefruit beautifully. Only sad thing was that the ruby red of the grapefruit didn't really come through in the marmalade colour - it is a similar colour to orange marmalade, slightly lighter.

Carrot, orange, sumac and olive rolls

I hadn't made any bread in a while, not sure why, it's been Winter and a good time for hanging out in the kitchen and baking. Anyway, I saw this recipe (with additional fancying-up here), and thought it was time to make bread. I decided to go for the rolls with olive and sumac.

175g carrot
150ml warm water
100ml orange juice, at room temperature
7g sachet fast-action yeast (used 2 tsp)
25ml olive oil, plus more for kneading
450g strong white flour
50g wholemeal or spelt flour
2 tsp salt
250g dry pitted black olives, roughly chopped (if making rolls)
2 tsp sumac (if making rolls)
50g black or white sesame seeds, plus extra to finish

Peel and grate your carrots and put them in a mixing bowl. Add the warm water and orange juice.

Stir in the yeast, leave 5 min til dissolved, then add the oil, flours, salt and seeds (also sumac and olives if making rolls) and mix well to a firm-ish dough. You can add slightly more flour or water according to your preference, but use the amounts here as a starting point. Leave the dough covered for 10 minutes.

Gently knead the dough for 10 sec or so, then leave in the bowl, covered, for about an hour / until risen by half.

To make a loaf: Take a large loaf tin and line the base and sides with nonstick baking paper. Dust a surface with flour, then pat the dough into an oblong. Roll the dough tightly like a scroll, squeeze the ends together as you pick it up and lower it, seam-side down, into the tin. Cover and leave for about an hour. Heat oven to 200C//400F. Lightly wet the top of the dough, then sprinkle it thickly with sesame seeds. Cut a deep slash down the middle and bake for about 50 minutes. Remove the loaf from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Or, to make rolls: divide into a dozen 100g pieces for large rolls (or 75g for 16 medium-sized ones), shape into balls with a little flour and leave to rise on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Leave to rise for about an hour, or until risen by at least half. Heat oven to 180C/350F. Before baking, brush the top of each roll with water and sprinkle on sesame seeds. Using a pair of scissors, or a small serrated knife, snip or slash the top of each roll. Bake for about 25 minutes for soft rolls, or up to 35 minutes for crustier ones. They freeze well and can be reheated direct from frozen in a hot oven.


I liked these, but they didn't rise very well (time for new yeast?), and I found the olive taste overpowering - perhaps next time stick to the version without olives?

Plantain and coconut polenta with tomato-coriander salad

The polenta here is really just a variant on basic polenta - this time made with milk and coconut oil. I remembered how well polenta and plantain go together when eating these fritters recently, so this is also kind of a variant on those.

For the polenta:
1/2 cup polenta (cornmeal)
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup fake milk mixed with 1 cup water
1 ripe plantain, peeled and diced small
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cajun spice (or just paprika)

For the salad:
1 large tomato, diced small
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
piece of firm tofu, diced (optional)
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt+pepper

To make the polenta, heat the milk and water together in a pan to boiling point. Mix the polenta and salt together in a small bowl then whisk the polenta mixture gradually into the hot milk. When it is all added let it simmer until it becomes thick (this usually takes 5 min or less). Add diced plantain and mix thoroughly. Add the coconut oil and cajun spice and mix well. Check for seasoning and cover until you're ready to eat it.

For the salad, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

To eat, dollop some warm polenta on a plate and top with salad.

Fried plantains with cinnamon salt

A quick thing for a weeknight (about 10 min beginning to end), and so, so more-ish.

2 medium plantains, very black
grapeseed or canola oil to fry
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly ground sea salt
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
2 tsp chopped fresh coriander
juice of 1/4 lime

Peel the plantains and chop on the diagonal into chunky slices 2-3 cm thick. Heat about 7mm of oil in a small-medium frying pan until spitting hot. Lay the plantain pieces in the oil and fry for a few minutes (until well browned but not burned) on each side, turning with a fork. Be careful not to let them burn: they are sweet when black so the sugar can easily catch. When done, remove the fried plantains to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Mix the salt, sugar (if using) and cinnamon together, then sprinkle it on. Squeeze the lime juice over the top and lastly sprinkle with chopped coriander. Eat quickly - cooked plantains are nowhere near as good cold.

Eat with boiled rice, fresh avocado, beans and hot sauce (or a subset of those) to make into a full meal. Ripe plantains are naturally sweet, and the cinnamon and sugar make them more so. You can dial back the sweetness a little by skipping the sugar and cinnamon (and lime), but they will still be pretty sweet.

Steamed asparagus, sesame, miso

Asparagus is wonderful stuff. I like it just as it is, lightly steamed or fried. But for maximum enjoyment I think it needs a little bit of a smooth, creamy sauce. Hollandaise is traditional, but I find it bland, slimy, overly rich and cloying. I tried a version with miso before and wasn't sure about it. This is an variation on that idea, and I really like it.

1 bunch of asparagus

2 tbsp white miso
2 tbsp tahini
1 tsp honey (or sugar)
1 tbsp mirin or white wine or vermouth
1/2 tsp sesame oil
juice of 1/2 a lime
water

2 tsp white sesame seeds
2 tsp black sesame seeds
1-2 tsp chopped fresh coriander

Wash the asparagus. Trim it: starting at the base keep bending the stem until you reach a point where it breaks, discard the base part and keep the tip. Put the tips in a steamer and steam for about 10 minutes, until tender but still bright green (check along the way to make sure it isn't overcooking). Put straight into cold water to stop cooking.

While the asparagus is cooking, make the sauce by mixing together the miso, tahini, lime juice, honey, wine and sesame oil. Add water until you get a thick, creamy, just-pourable consistency. Separately, mix the two different kinds of sesame seeds together.

Arrange the cooked asparagus on a plate and drizzle the sauce all over. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and chopped coriander over the top. Done!


This is delicious, and takes about 15 min from beginning to end so great for a weeknight supper. It's a bit early in the year for asparagus but I found some in the reduced section and figured it was only going to waste if I didn't eat it...

St. Patrick's Day: Potato-Stout Cake

When I realised St. Patrick's Day was today I got this idea into my head, and I couldn't stop thinking about it until I made it. I couldn't find Guinness sold singly, so ended up with chocolate stout, which was perhaps even better for the job. The mashed potato sounds weird, but less so the more you think about it - it's just another starch really, with the added advantage of moistness, and I think it worked brilliantly. I've had Guinness-chocolate cake before (I'd consider it a classic, originally introduced to me by my former colleague Des), and I'd seen potato in cake here and stored the idea away (this recipe is loosely based on that one).

1 cup plus 2 tbsp mashed potatoes (unseasoned)
1 1/4 cup chocolate stout (or any kind of stout)
1/4 tsp coffee granules
2 cups flour (incl ~2-3 tbsp cornstarch)
1 cup cocoa powder
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup veg oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 cup fake milk

icing sugar to finish

Heat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9 inch cake tin with removable base. Mix mashed potatoes, stout and coffee in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the flour and cornstarch, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt. In a third, large bowl, beat together the oil, sugar, vanilla, vinegar and milk. Add the flour mix and the potato mix alternately to the sugar mix, starting and finishing with the flour. Check consistency and add a little more milk if too thick. Pour mixture into the tin and put in the oven. Bake for 60-90 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool until touchable (about 10 min), then pop off the outer ring and leave until completely cool.

To serve, I cut a shamrock shape (um, perhaps it was more like a 4 leaved clover) out of paper to make a stencil, laid it on the cake, then dusted icing sugar over the top before carefully removing the template.


This cake is moist and intense with chocolate and stout flavour. I was really happy with both texture and taste. It rose nicely and didn't sink. Only thing is, it's huge! I mean, a good size for a cake, but huge for S and I to eat alone. I'll be giving some away...

I am tweaking an idea for a thick icing with mashed potato in it - used as a thickener the same way you would cornstarch, also Irish Moss / carrageenan. So then you could ice the cake with a fluffy, vanilla-y icing to make it look a bit like a pint of Guinness (which would perhaps work better with cupcakes - it'd cook quicker in that form too). But I wasn't quite happy with the icing. Also, the cake is so rich and dense that I actually prefer the simplicity of the shamrock patterned icing sugar dusting.

St. Patrick's Day: Mushroom-stout shepherd's pie

Really, this is an effort to use up various odds and ends of things laying around - the fridge, freezer and pantry have all been feeling rather full lately. So, leftover mash and the stout from this, plus some carrots, mushrooms and parsley that needed eating, the last of a jar of tomato puree, stock I couldn't fit in the freezer, a couple of odd ends of packets of pulses... It all came together surprisingly well to make a pie packed with powerful, punchy flavours: a very St. Patrick's Day kind of a thing. About as close as I'm ever going to get to green beer and leprechaun hats, despite living in Boston.

For the topping:
~ 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp fake butter
2 tbsp olive oil
~1-2 tbsp fake milk
salt+pepper

For the insides:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
~10 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1-2 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
3 tbsp mushroom powder (hedgehog+chanterelle)
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 cup stout
1 1/2 cups veg stock
1 tsp dark mushroom soy sauce
1 tbsp vinegary red wine
3/4 cup chana dal
3/4 cup brown lentils
salt+pepper


To make the filling, heat the oil in a large, lidded saucepan, then add the onions and fry, covered, until starting to soften (a few minutes). Add the garlic and the carrots, cook a few minutes more, then uncover, add the mushrooms and cook until they turn dark and give up their liquid. Add the spices and dried herbs and saute until fragrant. Add the remaining ingredients, taste for seasoning, then cover and simmer until the pulses are tender (about 40 min).

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400F. Make the topping: cover the potatoes with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15-20 min, until tender. Drain and mash with a fork until smooth, then add the remaining topping ingredients and continue mashing until a good, smooth consistency. Taste for mustard and seasoning.

When the filling is cooked, pour it into an ovenproof dish and level out. Splodge the mashed potato mixture on top and level it out, patterning it with a fork if you like. Put into the oven for about half an hour, until the potato is starting to brown and the filling is bubbling up. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 min before eating.

Wasabi guacamole

Avocados in the fridge door needing eating. A few minutes to make food before going out. Avocados beside green paste that looks a bit like guacamole = wasabi. Wasabi in guacamole? Would save me chopping chilli, could be interesting...

1 1/2 small ripe avocados, peeled and destoned
1/2 tsp wasabi paste
1/2 a medium tomato, finely chopped
1 tsp light miso
1 tbsp coriander, chopped
juice of 3/4 lime

Put all ingredients in a bowl together and mash with a fork. Taste and add more lime, salt, wasabi accordingly. Eat immediately. To keep, make surface area as small as poss and squeeze a bit more lime juice over the top.

Herby-couscous-crusted Portobello mushrooms

I hardly ever cook with couscous, despite its obvious advantages (so quick and easy!), as S is not a fan, texturally (one of the few things he doesn't like, so I can't complain). He was into this idea though, so we gave it a whirl.

~6 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed
1 cup couscous
boiling water
olive oil
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
~10 capers, chopped
~10 black olives, chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp za'atar
juice of 1/2 lime
red wine vinegar
salt+pepper

Heat the oven to 450F. Put the couscous in a bowl and cover with boiling water (up to about 5 mm above the level of the couscous in the bowl). Cover the bowl with a lid or plate and leave to steam.

Meanwhile, heat ~1 tsp olive oil in a pan and then fry the sunflower and pumpkin seeds with a little salt. When lightly browned, transfer seeds to a bowl. Add another tsp of olive oil to the pan and when hot add the onion and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring often, until softened. Add the remaining ingredients (except the mushrooms), including the couscous (check it is soft and fluffy first), and taste for seasoning, adding vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Place the mushrooms on it, gill side up. Using a teaspoon, squish as much couscous mixture as you like all over the gill surface of each mushroom (I made them about an inch thick with couscous in the middle, curving down towards the edges - if you leave the stem on build the couscous mixture around it, if not just put it all over). Put in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the mushrooms are fragrant and have softened to release their juices, and the couscous on top is golden and crisp (the underneath couscous will still be soft, try a thinner layer if you'd rather it was all crispy).


Turns out that as the baking makes the upper layer of couscous crispy this creates some textural variety and defuses S's texture issues. I also enjoyed the combination of crispy outside and surprising, softly steaming, inner couscous with the juicy mushroom. Could have perhaps used even more herbs (double?), I thought, but anyway this was simple, comforting and subtly tasty.

Hamantaschen (vegan and gluten-free)

L-R: normal dough with prune-poppyseed filling, GF dough with apricot-almond filling, GF dough with spiced fig-cocoa filling

Before I came to the US I knew little about Jewish culture. Then we moved into a historically Jewish neighbourhood (our nearest shops are a Jewish bakery and a Jewish butchery; most of the businesses around here close on Saturdays). And I discovered that really quite many of the people I'd befriended here are Jewish. However much they do or don't practice the rest of the year, they've done a good job of educating me about important festivals (and the food involved). My friend A in particular (my partner in baking for awesome cakes) has invited us for her version of Passover and Rosh Hashanah celebrations every year, and also fed me my first Hamantaschen.

Ever since I tried Hamantaschen I wanted to make them, and to make them vegan (and GF so my friends A+H can eat them). They are basically a free-standing jam tart, folded into a triangular shape, with some sort of fruity or seedy filling in the middle. They are traditionally eaten for Purim.  Loosely, Purim: is 'like the Jewish Halloween' ie people get dressed up; you're supposed to get so drunk you forget the difference between good and evil (or something like that); Haman is a villain involved somewhere; Hamantaschen are supposed to represent Haman's hat (?). Purim is always around this time of year, although it varies and this year it was actually late February, when I was very much distracted by Pancake Day and S's birthday, so I didn't get around to Hamantaschen until I was reminded by this post - it seemed like exactly the recipe I had been dreaming of. I decided to follow the recipe to ensure success for some, and make a series of deviations for others.

Normal dough
(makes 20-25 - taken from this recipe)
1/3 cup coconut oil (solid state)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 7/8 cups flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Gluten-free dough
(makes 20-25)
1/3 cup coconut oil (solid state)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup almond milk
1 3/4 tsp vanilla essence
1/8 tsp almond essence
1/2 cup almond meal
3/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp chickpea flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum

Prune and poppyseed filling*:
4 oz dried prunes, chopped
1/8 cup poppyseeds
1/8 cup sugar
1 tbsp rum
1 tbsp orange juice
water

Apricot and almond filling*:
4 oz dried apricots, chopped
1/8 cup almonds, finely chopped
1/8 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp rum
water

Spiced fig and cocoa filling*:
(inspired by the delicious Fichi Girotti (stuffed fig sweetmeats) we ate in the town of Amelia in Italy)
4 oz dried figs, chopped
1/8 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/8 cup sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp mahlab
2 tbsp candied orange peel
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/8 tsp almond essence
1 tbsp rum
water

* Each filling recipe given here makes enough to fill approx 1/3 of the total from the combined GF + normal dough quantities above. Other alternative fillings are any kind of jam, thick stewed fruit, nutella, anything you like really.

To make dough, beat the coconut oil and sugar together in a mixing bowl with a fork until well combined (will still be a bit crumbly). Warm the milk to about hand hot and add it to the bowl gradually, beating to incorporate. Add in the essence(s) and zest (if using). Separately, mix together the flour(s), cornstarch, baking powder and salt (and xanthan gum if using) with a fork. Add about half of the flour mix to the oil mix and beat until combined. Then add the rest of the flour and mix until a stiff dough is formed. It will still be a little soft. Wrap the ball(s) (make two if doing a double quantity of either dough) in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 30-60 min.

In the meantime, make the filling(s). Put the dried fruit in a small pan with the nuts or seeds, sugar and any dried spices. Measure the liquid ingredients into a measuring cup and make the quantity of liquid up to 1/4 cup by adding water, then add the liquid to the pan. Cover and simmer until the dried fruit are soft and squishy. Add more water if it seems to be getting too thick - it should end up like a thick jam.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two or more baking sheets with baking paper. Flour a clean surface, then take a ball of dough out of the fridge, remove clingfilm and roll out to about 3mm thick. Cut into circles about 3 inches diameter (I used a Coke glass). Put a tsp of filling in the centre of a dough circle, then fold up three sides to create a shape like a tricorn hat, pinching the corners together tightly. Repeat for all the circles, moving the completed tricorns to the baking sheet when done. Gather the excess dough and roll out again to make more circles and continue with the process until all the tricorns are filled. Bake the biscuits for 18-20 minutes, checking and rotating the sheets after 10 min. The bases will colour golden, but the tops will remain quite pale. Cool on a wire rack.


My favourites of all these variants were the GF dough with apricot filling - if you were going to make one kind of dough and one kind of filling that's what I would recommend. The GF dough held its shape much better than the normal one - I think mainly because it puffed up less. Half to two thirds of the normal dough ones came undone at the corners while cooking, and where I'd used a runnier filling especially they ended up as circular cookies covered in jam. In those cases, plenty of jam slid off onto the baking sheet and I was very glad I'd lined the sheets with paper - would have been a huge pain to clean otherwise.

All in all, I thought these were great (they took me a while to make, but that would be much reduced if you stuck to one kind of dough and one kind of filling). And all the ones I took to a seed swap this morning disappeared (a particular hit with one little girl), so they seemed to be a success. There's loads of scope for varying the recipe (even more than I did already) - was thinking a savoury version might make a great canape. I love the cleverness of the simple folding - you can make an open tart without needing any kind of a baking mold.

Radish relish (and radish pickles)

Came by lots of watermelon radishes. The words 'radish' and 'relish' seemed to fit together so beautifully I had to make it happen. This also turned into an experiment in canning processing - can I can using my basic kitchen equipment?


Radish Relish 
(based on this recipe)

1 lb (2 medium sized) watermelon radishes, peeled and shredded*
1 medium onion, diced
2 inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup coconut vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp red Hawaiian salt
1/2 tbsp coriander seed
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard seed
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp white peppercorns

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and spices in a large pan and bring to the boil. Add the radishes, onion, ginger and garlic. Bring back to a simmer, stirring until heated through. Remove from the heat.

Spoon relish into sterile jars, leaving ~0.5cm space at the top and poking down with a clean knife to remove bubbles.  Put lids on cleanly and tight. For canning process, you need a large, tall pan with enough space to place a holder in it so that the jars don't touch the bottom of the pan, and still have space for 1-2 inches of water on top of the jars resting on the holder. My tallest pan combined with a metal steamer rose and squat jars allowed me enough space to process two ~400ml jars. Fill the pan (with the steamer in it) with water and bring to the boil. Carefully place the jars in it, bring the water to the right height and bring back to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes (covered if possible). Remove jars carefully and allow to return to room temperature. The button on the lid should pop down if a seal has been made successfully.


Radish Pickles
(based on this recipe)

2 medium sized watermelon radishes, chopped into thickish slices 1-2 in diameter*
1 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns
½ tsp brown mustard seed
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced longitudinally
1 small green chilli, halved longitudinally

Bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar or honey to a boil in a medium saucepan and simmer until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat and add the peppercorns, mustard seed, garlic and chilli. Pack the radishes in two sterile ~500g jars and pour the hot liquid over them, dividing the garlic and chilli between the jars. Put the lids on and let cool to room temperature, checking if the button on top has popped down - if it has they are sealed. They should be ready to eat after 24 hours. Whether or not they have sealed, it is probably wise to keep them in the fridge.

*could use red radishes (no need to peel then) or daikon instead


One sad thing is that the colour all leaches out of the radishes. It remains in the liquid, so there is still prettiness, but you do lose the breathtaking beauty of the freshly sliced watermelon radish. They are a lovely pink, but I don't love them. I prefer the sweeter radish relish (also prettier due to the shreds), but think the white pepper was a mistake - it smells weird. I'm trying really hard to like it as it was hand delivered to me all the way from Borneo though, so I can deal. The other one smells weird too - just a vegetably, radishy smell, but strangely offputting (I notice a similar smell from prepared horseradish, there must be some chemical reaction happening...).


Notes on water bath processing:

As far as I understand, the aim of water bath processing is to create a seal. This is particularly important when you are jarring up something that is high in neither sugar nor vinegar. So I am a little unsure about whether it is really necessary for something like this relish, which is high in both sugar and vinegar. Also, since putting hot stuff in hot sterile jars usually gives me a good seal anyway (button on lid pops down), I do wonder whether the water bath processing is needed for this or not. Plus, if the stuff has gone off it should be obvious? However, botulism is nasty, and I wouldn't want to get it or cause it. So I am still trying to figure out when water bath processing is necessary (and what for).

My pan+steamer system worked fine, but I can only process squat jars (or jars laid on their side) in the water bath as my pan isn't very tall. I could in theory process a whole lot, although only 1-2 at a time. To be really efficient about this I would need a taller pan (perhaps one day I will buy myself a proper preserving pan) and some accoutrements (tongs, rack etc). But for now I am happy to have worked out a system using regular kitchen equipment.

Whole okra with tomato and spices

We ate okra and tofu curry from Yoma last Friday, then bought okra from the Haymarket on Saturday. I think these facts were connected (the curry was good). Last time we bought okra I forgot about it until it was too late, this time I did not let that happen. My usual way with okra is to slice it finely and saute with chopped onion and garlic, mustard seed and other whole spices. This time I wanted it whole and tomato-y, still curry-ish but not the same as the Yoma one. Simple and warming. This is a long list of ingredients but most of them sum up to curry powder.

(total cooking time approx 30 min - make sure to get the rice on first and chop veg in order as you cook)

1 tbsp veg oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 in piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 clove
1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
1 400g tin tomatoes
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp light soy sauce
slug of (vinegary) red wine
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp salt
black pepper
~30 medium sized whole okra, washed and stems trimmed but otherwise left uncut
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, cover and cook for a few minutes. Add ginger and garlic and soften a few minutes more. Meanwhile, make the spice mix: grind the clove, chilli flakes and seeds together and mix with the ground spices. When the onion, garlic and ginger are softened uncover and add the spice mix to the saucepan. Stir and fry a couple of minutes more, until the spices are fragrant. Then add the tomatoes, water, puree, soy sauce, wine, bay leaf, and some salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Lastly, add the whole okra. Cover and simmer for ~15 min, stirring occasionally (careful not to break the okra), until the okra are soft and well cooked. Taste for seasoning and stir in the fresh coriander. We ate this with raw red rice cooked with cumin seeds and a cinnamon stick and tossed with 2 tsp coconut oil when done.


This came out exactly as I hoped, and was ready just as S walked in the door. We also had salad with papaya seed dressing (similar to this one).

Buckwheat-coconut-blueberry pancakes

I woke up this morning and this pancake idea kept me awake: S really deserved a fancy Saturday morning breakfast - last night I was feeling a bit crappy and he went out to get Yoma (= one of our favourite food places) takeaway to try and sort me out.

This is another experiment with buckwheat: buckwheat flour crepes are obviously a classic, but I got into the idea of a thick, lumpy pancake full of whole buckwheat groats and other exciting, tasty bits and pieces.

(makes 5-6 medium size, thick pancakes)

1 banana, mashed with a fork
2 tsp coconut oil
3 tbsp plain flour*
3 tbsp wholewheat flour*
1 1/2 tbsp chickpea (gram) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cooked buckwheat groats
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water
pinch salt
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

coconut oil for cooking
maple syrup to serve

Mash the banana and coconut oil together in a bowl with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients except the blueberries and mix together until well combined, adding a little more or less water until you get a good (American-style) pancake consistency (ie fairly thick). Add the blueberries, mix lightly and let sit for 5 min.

Heat some (~1 tsp) coconut oil in a frying pan. Add a big spoonful of pancake batter and spread it out to make a ~8mm thick pancake about 10cm across. Cook on the first side until it starts to look done at the edges, lift the edge to check it is brown underneath, then flip and cook on the other side until browned. Serve with maple syrup on the side.


I really liked these, and they went down well with S too: the buckwheat / coconut / cinnamon / blueberry go great together, and the texture is really sound (quite a dense kind of a pancake, but with so much texture that's fine). You only need a little maple syrup, but it really brings it all together.

*I like the idea of making these gluten free by subbing the plain and wholewheat flours with GF oat flour - I didn't feel like grinding the oat flour, otherwise I would have made them that way.