Chocolate, ginger and orange biscuits with golden syrup

S discovered a new word while surfing Urban Dictionary the other day: procrasturbaking (meaning, baking as a form of procrastination). Yesterday I was a little short of sleep / hungover after aerial show and subsequent drinks, and just really didn't feel like working (it was Sunday!). So I read some Guardian online instead, and found this biscuit recipe. And then I procrasturbaked.

The recipe was easily veganisable, which tempted me. And I love golden syrup. Also it's another good opportunity to use stuff up - this time weird hot chocolate in the form of dusty chocolate chunks, and homemade crystallised ginger and candied peel.

(makes approx. 20 biscuits)

50 g golden syrup
150 g light brown soft sugar (I used a mixture of this and raw sugar and it was fine)
90 ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
60 ml fake milk
210 g plain flour
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
100 g candied ginger (used a mixture of candied ginger and candied peel)
100 g dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
Zest of 1 orange (added candied peel to the ginger instead)

Heat the oven to 180C / 350F and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Measure the golden syrup, sugar, oil, vanilla essence and fake milk into a large bowl and mix. In a separate bowl mix the flour with the bicarb and salt, then add this to the wet ingredients. Stir until the just combined, then add the candied ginger, chocolate and orange zest (or candied peel).

Put teaspoons of the batter on the prepared baking trays, leaving space for spreading. Bake for 15-17 min, until the cookies’ edges are golden brown and the centres are puffy. Leave to cool for ~10 min then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.


I had to put one tray in the bottom of the oven, which it turns out is really hot. So those ones were a little burned. The rest were excellent though - nice texture, and the ginger / orange / chocolate combination is definitely a good one. Clever idea to use syrup to make a chewy texture. I think these would be easily made gluten-free as well (I'd sub plain flour with an almond-rice-cornflour mix similar to this) - the golden syrup may help with binding.

Oyster mushrooms

We went on a Musical Bike Ride the other day: starting at Longwood T, progressed from there to first music stop above Jamaica Pond, next JP Honk Band in the Arnold Arboretum, then a spot in Franklin Park overlooking the golf course, and finally the bear cages. We looped around Forest Hills Cemetery for a while on the way to the golf course spot, and I spotted at least two trees carrying oyster mushrooms. One in particular had masses (they looked exactly like the picture above taken from my mushroom book, even down to the delicate cobwebs), and I couldn't resist stopping quickly to grab a handful. Unfortunately they fell out of my pocket and I had to stop again and by the time we got going we'd lost everyone except a chap called Jonathan towing the music trailer...

Despite the drama we found the next spot (with music, thanks to Jonathan, even before everyone else), and the mushrooms made it home. We stir-fried them over high heat with garlic, chilli and soy sauce, and ate them with rice. I don't love oyster mushrooms. They are great in that they are substantial, have good texture, and come in large amounts, but the taste doesn't really do it for me.

Kahlua cakes

It's baking season now. Nights are getting cold and dark. The urge to switch on the oven is here. Also trying to use things up: in this case it's kahlua and cocoa powder. I tried this recipe.

(makes 12)

1/4 cup fake milk
2 tsp cider vinegar
1/4 cup cold coffee (used an extra 1/4 cup kahlua instead)
1/2 cup kahlua
1 tbsp ground linseed
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup veg oil
3 tbsp coconut oil (softened)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350F and prepare a muffin tin.

Whisk together the fake milk, vinegar and coffee. Add kahlua and ground linseed and whisk some more. Let sit for 5-10 min. Add the sugar, oils and vanilla, and beat with a fork.

In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add dry to wet and mix until combined. Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 min, until a skewer comes out clean.


These were OK. Not great. Perhaps using the coffee instead of extra kahlua would have been better.

Cajun spiced potato wedges with dilly cream cheese dip

These were an afterthought - I had the oven on to make roasted brussels sprouts with birch syrup, and thought I may as well root through the fridge and see what else I could bung in the oven while I was at it. I found potatoes.

For the potato wedges:
3-4 medium-large potatoes
pinch of salt
~1 tbsp cajun spice mix (mostly paprika I think)
1-2 tbsp olive oil

For the dip:
~5 tbsp vegan cream cheese
juice of one small lime
~1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (or chives)
pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 400F. Wash (don't peel) the potatoes, trim off any dodgy bits, and cut into regularly-sized wedges. Toss the wedges with the salt, cajun spice and olive oil, then lay out on a baking tray, if possible with a skin side down. Put in the oven and bake for ~20 min, then take out and turn, checking they are golden underneath, and put back in for another 15-20 min. Let cool for a few minutes before eating.

While the potatoes are cooking, make the dip. Beat together the cream cheese, lime juice, dill and salt in a small bowl.


Really simple and good - these disappeared like lightning when S found them. The dip really made them (nb it is just as good although different with chives instead of dill... and TJs vegan cream cheese is so very surprisingly good).

Acorn squash with pecans and birch syrup

Ever since I bought birch syrup I had been meaning to make something with it that really let it shine. As autumn rolled around squash appeared, and reminded me of a recipe I'd seen in a leaflet that came with the birch syrup. This is an approximation, filtered through my memory, S's ideas, and what we had in the kitchen.

2 small acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
~ 2 tbsp chopped pecans
1 apple, cored and finely chopped (or use dried apricots, soaked for 10 min in hot water)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
~ 2 tbsp birch syrup
salt+pepper

Heat the oven to 400F. Lightly grease a baking sheet then put the squash halves on it, cut side up. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl, then scoop into the hollows left by removing the squash seeds, distributing between the four halves. Put in the oven and bake for 30-45 min, until the squash is soft right through and lightly browned. Take it out and devour.


It's somewhere between real food and a pudding, sweetly lovely.

Food for when you cannot really chew

I had an impacted wisdom tooth out a week or so ago. I had been reluctant to have it done, since it had never hurt at all. But dentists kept telling me it was going to cause trouble one day, and having pursued the assessment far enough it seemed like I may as well get it done before I have to go start negotiating a whole other health system.

I was pretty trepidatious about how it was going to affect me - this was the only surgery I'd ever had, almost the only time I'd been in a hospital apart from being born. A bit about the pain. But mainly about eating - would I be unable to eat afterwards? That would suck. I tried to think of soft foods. These were all useful, especially the savoury ones - sweet things were relatively easy.

Breakfast:

Porridge / instant oatmeal
Banana smoothie
Açaí bowl (made with added oat yoghurt / without granola)

Real food (lunch / dinner):
Yellow split pea dal
Avenotto

Pudding / snacks:
Chocolate tofu pudding
Oat yoghurt

Sorbet / frozen yoghurt

So, I ate a lot of dal and a lot of sorbet. I don't feel like I've really cracked avenotto taste-wise, but it cooks up quickly and was a good way of getting some greens in (spinach, salad leaves or alfalfa/clover sprouts soften up nicely and become edible). I'd forgotten how delicious that chocolate pudding is.

Actually, it was not as bad as I feared. I could still chew perfectly well on one side since I only had one tooth out. And it was not that painful - after the painkillers wore off I was surprised by the lack of pain. Still a bit achey, especially when I open my mouth wide-ish, though. And I am a little paranoid about stuff getting stuck in the hole.

Pink Pearl Apple

This was a surprise. I bought one apple from Harvest Coop because I did not recognise the variety. While it was pinkish on the outside I didn't for a moment expect such a vibrant colour inside. I just looked at our phone and realised all the photos on it are of unexpectedly-coloured living things - the rest are my attempts to photograph an albino squirrel I came across yesterday in splendid autumn sunshine.