Bircher muesli

Tried making bircher muesli once, ages ago, didn’t float my boat at the time. But since I’ve gotten so into overnight oats recently and we had some apples, I thought it might be worth another roll…

Seems like there are lots of variations out there… I wanted one with minimal prep in the morning, so decided to go with adding the apple the night before along with all the other stuff - more or less this one: 

Mix overnight: 

1 small apple, grated

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp sunflower seeds 

2.5 tbsp raisins 

130 ml oat milk 

 

To serve in the morning:

Skyr

Berries

Maple syrup (optional)

Grate the apple into a biggish eating bowl. Add the oats, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins and oat milk, mix, cover and put in the fridge overnight. Eat with skyr and berries and perhaps some maple syrup in the morning.

Overnight seedy bread rolls

My friend A-L makes delicious no-nonsense overnight bread rolls (morgenboller). I have a theory that every Danish person does this...

One of my lockdown goals, I decided, was to figure out my own overnight bread recipe. I asked A-L for her recipe, and she gave it to me, but it turned out she didn’t really have a recipe, it was more like the bake off technical challenges (‘add flour to make a dough’)...

I didn’t believe in my skills enough to start from her recipe, so I googled a bit and decided to try this one. I’ve made them a few times now and we love them!

(makes 12 medium-small buns)

250 ml water (1 cup)
250 ml milk (1 cup)
15 g fresh yeast (1/2 oz) - approx. 1/3 of a 50 g pack
2 tsp sugar
100 ml wholemeal flour (2/5 cup)
100 ml oats (2/5 cup)
100 ml mixed seeds / grains (e.g. sunflower seeds, linseeds, pumpkin seeds, hulled hemp seeds, poppyseeds, sesame seeds) (2/5 cup)
500 g plain flour (1,1 lb)
1/2 tbsp salt

In a large bowl, dissolve the fresh yeast and sugar in the cold water and milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead everything into a smooth and nice dough. Cover the bowl loosely and place it in the fridge for 8-12 hours (i.e. overnight).

Dip two tablespoons in cold water and use them to set buns on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Try to make them a little pointy - when they raise, they will flatten out a little.

Let the bread raise for an extra hour at room temperature. Heat the oven to 200C.

After the final raising, brush the bread with some beaten egg and decorate them with different seeds or grains.

Bake for 20-25 min, until golden brown. Move to a cooling rack to cool.

Parsnips / Thanksgiving

We were invited to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving with our friends M+G. We had heard so much about M's famous Pittsburgh family we just couldn't resist. G drove down - 11 hours through a blizzard. I quite like long car journeys so long as someone else is driving (and he likes driving). There was a lot of (American) football and a lot of food. A cornucopia. Sweet potatoes with marshmallows. All the stuff. The following day we saw turkeys in South Park, so I guess some of them made it.

And so, December is here. Tis the season for root vegetables and cheer. Although, soooo much to doooo. This recipe uses things we had in store - a necessary requirement when I am desperately trying to use up everything we have. Suggested here.

~ 6 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks
almond milk
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 small clove garlic, peeled
1-2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/3 lemon
salt+pepper
toasted flaked almonds (optional)

Put the parsnip chunks in a saucepan and cover with almond milk. Simmer until the parsnips are soft, turn off the heat, drain and let cool a bit. Transfer to a blender cup along with the ground almonds, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust. Good stuff, warm or cold. Decorate with toasted flaked almonds and use as a dip, if you like.

Bircher muesli

I've made bircher muesli before, and been totally unconvinced - it's like porridge, but without porridge's comforting warmth. And it's like muesli, but muesli that's been left overnight and lost its crunch.

Anyway, I read this article and thought maybe I'd give it another go.

(one serving)

25 g oats
handful of chopped unsulphured dried apricots
~6 tbsp fresh apple juice (fresh apple cider in American)
1 apple
almond milk (optional)
toasted flaked almonds

Put oats, chopped dried apricots and apple juice in a bowl and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning, grate the apple into the bowl and mix it all together. If it's too thick thin with a little almond milk. Add some toasted flaked almonds (to taste) and eat.


It's nice enough, OK for a change, but didn't change my mind about any of the above. I'll stick to normal muesli.

Buckwheat breakfast bowl

Our trip to Brattleboro naturally featured a trip to the Coop (best food shop ever)! I tried to be restrained (because of our imminent big move), and just picked up a few favourites (nori cashews, sesame sticks), plus a few random things to make me proud of remembering to bring reusable containers (roasted tahini butter; jasmine kombucha)... and a few things I couldn't resist (raspberry dust chocolate, figs, pecans). It made me realise I still had some stuff left from our last trip there around Easter, and resolve to use that stuff when I got back...

The most notable was raw buckwheat groats. I'd been interested in them but didn't really know what to do with them. I'd sprouted a few, and they were good, with a gentle aroma reminding me of buckwheat honey. But that was about as far as I'd got. I made the amazing seed+nut bread yesterday, and spotted a raw buckwheat porridge recipe on the same blog: tipping point on a recipe I'd seen one too many times - so this time I should make it...

(makes about 3 servings; start the night before)

1 cup raw buckwheat groats
1 tbsp cider vinegar
warm water
1 banana
almond milk
hemp seeds
buckwheat honey
blueberries
toasted flaked almonds
raisins
cinnamon

The night before you want to eat buckwheat for breakfast, put the buckwheat groats in a container with the vinegar and plenty of warm water. Let soak overnight. In the morning, they will be soft enough to nibble. Drain and rinse them. If you want to use them for salad etc just stop here.

To make into a buckwheat bowl (somewhere in between porridge and an acai bowl?), put the rinsed groats into a blender cup and add the banana, about 1/2 cup almond milk and a good sprinkle of hemp seeds, and blend. It should end up about the consistency of yoghurt (except not as smooth, unless the blender is high-speed).

To serve, transfer to bowls and drizzle with buckwheat honey (or other honey, or maple syrup, or no additional sweetener... I had  buckwheat honey though and the combination seemed too serendipitous to pass up). Sprinkle with blueberries (mine were frozen), almonds, raisins and cinnamon. Mix up and eat.


I was amazed by how good this was, and by how much of it I managed to eat!

When I asked S if he wanted to try buckwheat breakfast he was not excited, but he's the kind of chap who'll always give something a go. He did, and he liked it enough to request it for breakfast the next day too (this time mixed with cupuaçu, so even more like an açaí bowl hybrid)! Only downside is, we've now worked our way though that stash of buckwheat groats, so unless another trip to Brattleboro ensues, there'll be no more of this for a while.

Lavender cupcakes

In honour of our Grandma, Iz and I decided to make lavender cupcakes. She always loved flowers, and baking (especially for us). And we had access to plenty of lavender in the garden she and my uncle / her son S had nurtured together. So it seemed very fitting.

We made them in the kitchen at S's, which meant a few little screw ups due to unfamiliar equipment. But nothing that wasn't fixed by the time they were iced and decorated.

The recipe was from I's Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. It contains eggs and dairy (no one else eating them has vegan tendencies), but the key is the infusion of milk with lavender both for the cake and the icing, which could easily be done with non dairy milk and a vegan cupcake recipe.

(makes 9-12, depending how deep you fill the cups)

For the cake part:
120 ml milk
3 tbsp dried lavender flowers (we used fresh)
120 g plain flour
140 g sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
40 g butter, at room temperature
1 egg

For the icing:
25 ml milk
1 tbsp dried lavender flowers (we used fresh)
250 g icing sugar, sifted
80 g butter, at room temperature
A couple of drops of purple food colouring (optional)

For decoration:
~5 fresh, pretty lavender inflorescences

The day before, or at least several hours in advance, put the milk and lavender flowers in a jug, cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight if possible. Do the same with the milk and lavender flowers for the icing, in a separate jug. We used fresh flowers and I crushed them a bit as I put them in the milk as we could only leave it to infuse for a few hours, and the flavour came out well.

When ready to bake the cakes, heat the oven to 170C/325F. Line a 12 cup tin with paper cases. Beat the flour, sugar, baking powder and butter together until they are well combined and a sandy consistency. Strain the lavender-infused milk (for the cake) and slowly pour into the flour mixture, beating well until all the ingredients are well mixed. Add the egg and beat well.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full (ours were not this full, even though we only did 9 not 12, but they did rise right to the tops of the cases - perhaps the recipe used smaller cups?) and bake for 20-25 min, or until the sponge bounces back when touched /a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat together the icing sugar, butter (and food colouring if using: we did not) until smooth and well mixed. Strain the lavender-infused milk and slowly pour into the butter mixture. Once it is mixed in, continue to beat until the icing is light and fluffy (at least five minutes), ideally with a food mixer or electric whisk.
When the cupcakes are cool, smooth the lavender frosting on top. Pick off the flowers from the lavender heads and sprinkle them over the tops of the cakes (think mine ended up with 8-10 flowers scattered over the top of each one).


They looked very pretty with the flowers on top and white icing. Both icing and cake were quite light and fluffy, and there was just the right amount of lavender flavour. It is reminiscent of lemon in its fragrant sharpness: I think it's lovely, although it is not necessarily for everyone.

Easter eggs: Rhubarb clafoutis

I'd always fancied making a clafoutis, indeed was just looking at this recipe the other day and thinking it sounded nice and do-able. But definitely something to be filed away until I have good eggs and dairy (rare) - it really needs the eggs for consistency, and with such a simple recipe much of the flavour is coming from them so they ought to be good.

This weekend is Easter, and all of a sudden I had half a dozen beautiful Brattleboro eggs. Four became shakshuka for lunch, the remaining two I earmarked to try a clafoutis. As luck would have it our visitors last weekend had left behind some milk (which I turned into yoghurt) - so I was all set, ingredients-wise, for clafoutis to happen...

Again, I felt that clafoutis was something that would really show off the eggs - couldn't make it without them. I'd bought some rhubarb in Brattleboro as well - first time I'd seen it this season. So rather than the traditional cherries I thought I'd make a rhubarb clafoutis, spiking it with a little vanilla and using yoghurt in place of some of the milk, in the hope of ending up with kind of a fancy rhubarb and custard in cakier form. I tweaked this recipe (second recipe down).

(makes about 10 slices, I used 21 x 21 cm square Pyrex dish)

133 g flour
80 g sugar
little pinch of salt
2 eggs
53 g (fake) butter, melted
266 g milk (used a mixture of almond milk and yoghurt)
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
333 g rhubarb, washed, trimmed and chopped into ~2 cm chunks
1 tbsp demerara sugar

Heat the oven to 400F/200C and generously butter a tart dish (see above). Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl with a fork. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. When the batter is smooth, mix in the melted butter. Then gradually add the milk (followed by the vanilla), mixing well so no lumps form. If there are lumps, strain through a sieve. Toss the rhubarb with the demerara sugar, then scatter rhubarb and demerara mixture into the buttered dish and gently pour the batter over (the rhubarb floats!). Bake until golden and quite firm (FZ said this would take 30 min, in my hands it took more like 75 - perhaps the Pyrex, perhaps my oven is on the cool side, perhaps I could have taken it out sooner...). It can be slightly wobbly but a skewer inserted in the middle of the clafoutis should come out clean. Allow to cool (best eaten slightly warm or at room temp), and serve in thick wedges (with more yoghurt, if you like).


I don't know why it took so long to cook, but anyway, the finished article is not pretty (well, maybe in a rustic sort of way it is...), but it is delicious. The batter puffed up in the oven and then sank right down to make a really smooth base for the fruit, almost like a super thick custard. The rhubarb floated so it sits pinkly on top, beckoning you in among the golden custard. It sliced well once cooled, and pieces stayed together nicely. Lovely, and not too sweet. S ate three pieces in rapid succession so that's a good sign! 

Note: Apparently a true clafoutis is only with cherries so this is more like a flaugnarde. But such an ugly word!

Popcorn muffins

I made a lot of popcorn and started daydreaming about baking with it. I was running short of snack muffins so muffins were the obvious choice (referred to this recipe). These are fun!

(makes ~9 muffins)

5 cups popped corn (2 1/4 cups after homogenising)
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (use less if the popcorn was salted)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup fake milk
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp boiling water
2 tbsp veg oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Version 1 = dark chocolate, sour cherry and thyme - add 1 tsp dried thyme, handfuls of sour cherries and of dark chocolate chips/chunks in with the dry ingredients.
Version 2 = mango, coconut and cardamom - add 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom, 2 tbsp dried shredded coconut and ~4 tbsp diced mango (from frozen) to the dry ingredients.

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a muffin tin. Grind popcorn (I used the blender) until it is mostly pulverised (don't worry about a few remaining unground kernels - they will be fine+fun). Put ground popcorn in a medium bowl with flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and any additional dry ingredients (see Versions) and mix with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat together the fake milk, linseed mixture, veg oil and vanilla essence. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Dollop into prepared muffin cups and bake for 25-30 min, until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.


They are tasty but with so many additional flavours the popcorn is lost. I plan to tweak this to get a version that actually tastes like popcorn!

Creamy mushroom sauce (pancake day fail)

This is a basic white sauce made with vegan ingredients and intensified with mushroom powder. Then mixed with sauteed mushrooms, walnuts (and optional artichokes). The sauce comes out nice and thick and creamy, and the mushroom powder makes up for any flavour lost due to not using real milk or butter. My intention was to wrap pancakes around it (we attempted pancake day yesterday, one day late as I had no time on the day), but my pancakes completely failed and I don't understand why - they just kept sticking to the pan. I've used both pans and batter recipe many times before, am stumped. So anyway, we gave up and ate the sauce with noodles instead, which worked just as well - I guess pancake day this year was not meant to be.

For the sauce:
5/8 cup fake milk (used almond, soy might be better), heated
1 tbsp fake butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp mushroom powder
salt and pepper

For mushroom fry:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
~5 medium-large mushrooms
1-2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Heat the milk. In a separate, small pan melt the butter. Add the flour to the butter and stir / let bubble for a few minutes (do not colour). Add the hot milk and mix well for a few minutes, until smooth and starting to thicken. Keep stirring and heating gently for a minute or two more, then add mushroom powder, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a medium frying pan, heat the olive oil, then add the garlic and sizzle for a minute or so before adding the mushrooms and walnuts. Cook for a few more minutes, until the mushrooms are lightly browned. Finally add the parsley, stir for a minute or so more, add salt and pepper to taste and turn off heat.

Mix the mushroom fry into the sauce, toss and then serve, either as a pancake filling or mixed through pasta.

Açaí

S's friend Sascha has been staying with us this last week. He has been to Brazil a couple of times so was excited to find a couple of Brazilian grocery stores while roaming around the city (we had to work a bit). He came home with several forms of guarana, cashew and guava juices, and frozen açaí berry. S+I had eaten açaí once before, in Hawaii, so knew it was good and were familiar with the general format of it. But had never thought to look for it at our neighbourhood Brazilian store. It's Sascha's last day here today and at last we got around to whizzing up our açaí bowls.

(makes enough for three)

1 large packet of frozen açaí pulp
maple syrup (1-2 tbsp)
almond milk (1-2 tbsp)
~2 bananas
granola
roughly chopped strawberries (optional)
guarana powder (optional)
cacao nibs (optional)
flaked almonds (optional)
raisins (optional)

Put açaí in a blender with some maple syrup, some almond milk and one banana broken into big pieces. Blend until thick and smooth (add just enough milk to make it thick but smooth, and just enough sweetener to bring out the taste).

Scoop the açaí mixture into bowls and then add the other banana (chopped), granola, strawberries, guarana, cacao, almonds and raisins to taste. Mix up and eat.


I didn't know before that açaí is the fruit from a palm tree that is also cultivated for hearts of palm. It has a wonderfully deep, dark purple colour - almost brownish. It tastes berryish and exciting, and looks beautiful with granola and fruit scattered on top. The from-frozen preparation makes it this into a kind of intense, awesomely thick smoothie that you then pimp with fruit, nuts, granola and whatever else you fancy. The guarana and cacao will help get you going in the morning if that is what you are looking for. A delicious start to today / this week.

Celeriac pasta

We ate pasta with a creamy celeriac sauce at a place called Fressen in Toronto, years ago now (the restaurant has since been reinvented... but the celeriac sauce has survived on their menu). I didn't immediately realize quite how much S had fallen in love with it, but he had. So ever since we have been recreating versions - cooked celeriac, pureed and mixed through pasta. For this one, I cooked the celeriac just like this, before blending to a smooth puree.

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 a medium celeriac, peeled and chopped into ~1 cm dice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
salt+pepper
~2-3 tbsp fake milk (used almond)

enough dried pasta (twists or penne, used brown) for two people

Heat the oil in a medium, lidded saucepan then add the celeriac, garlic and thyme. Cover and cook for ~25 min, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile boil a big pan of salted water and get the pasta on. When the celeriac is tender, soft and a little sticky, take off the heat, taste and season, then transfer to a blender cup. Blend until smooth, adding fake milk to achieve the desired creamy pasta-sauce consistency. Taste to check seasoning. Drain the pasta when done, then return to the pan and toss with a little olive oil. Mix the celeriac sauce with the pasta and eat. If you like mix in chickpeas as well.


A good version. Happy to make pasta for S: he loves it so. The celeriac has a remarkable intense taste and creamy texture and this recipe brings both out beautifully while remaining simple, warming and satisfyingly comforting. Perhaps this celeriac sauce would make an interesting substitute for the white sauce in lasagne?

Spiced cocoa rice pudding

J left half a bottle of milk in the fridge. I wondered what to do with it, then thought I may as well cook with it. With the days getting crisper and the nights colder, rice pudding suggested itself. And, when it did, I couldn't resist putting all sorts of things in it - I guess I fancied hot chocolate or chai as much as I did rice pudding. I didn't feel like switching the oven on or waiting a long time so used a stovetop method, based on this rice pudding recipe.

150 g risotto rice
500 ml milk
500 ml water
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
pinch ground cayenne
pinch desert salt
1/8 cup raisins
1/8 cup toasted flaked almonds

Put rice, water and milk in a pan and bring to a steady boil. Boil (uncovered) for about 15 min. Add sugar, cocoa, spices and salt and simmer gently for another 15 min, until thick and creamy. Mix in the raisins and almonds before eating. Store in the fridge and eat whenever you like, warm or cold.


Well, it's what I wanted. All those spices and additions might not be everyone's idea of a good rice pudding but I'm enjoying it. I was thinking of the rice pudding at my first primary school - either chocolate (we loved the skin) or plain with jam swirled through (I ate some today with added plum jam). Probably the only thing I remember liking from school dinners.

Zwetschgendatschi (Bavarian yeasted plum cake)

As soon as S saw the plums I harvested the other day, he said 'Zwetschgendatschi'. And I said '?' - the word is quite a tongue twister, and I knew plums as Pflaume and quetsch as squeeze... But then he sent me this recipe, and it seemed like a perfect use for the plums. Apparently these plums are the type of plum you most often see in Germany, and in the South they are called Zwetschgen. Some friends are having a nostalgia-themed equinox party tonight, and this seemed an appropriate thing to take along: my family had plum trees in the garden when I was growing up, so the process of harvesting, preparing and eating plums is nostalgic for me, while this particular yeast-doughed plum cake is quite nostalgic for S as he hasn't eaten it since he was living in Germany more than ten years ago.

I did a little research and found that Zwetschgendatschi comes with a few variables - the dough can be yeasted or can be more like a pastry or tart dough; the base can be flavoured with lemon rind or the topping with cinnamon; a streusel or crumble topping can be added on top of the plum layer. I consulted S and he favoured keeping things yeasted and simple: the only flavours in this version besides the mildly bready base are plum, toasted almond and brown sugar. I pretty much followed the recipe he sent me.

Classic version
(makes one baking tray's worth: mine was 34 cm x 23 cm and technically a roasting tin)

300 g plain flour (plus a bit more for dusting)
2 tsp active dry yeast
50 g sugar
100 ml lukewarm almond milk
50 g fake butter (at room temperature)
1 medium egg (at room temperature) - or 1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2.5 tbsp boiling water
a pinch of salt
~700 g Zwetschgen (damson or prune plums)
~2 tbsp demerara sugar
50-75 g flaked almonds

Put the flour in a mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Put the yeast in the well, sprinkle some sugar over it and pour enough lukewarm milk in to cover the yeast. Stir briefly, then cover the bowl with a tea towel and put in a warm place for 15-20 min, until the yeast starts to bubble.

Add the rest of the milk and sugar, butter, egg and salt. Knead until the dough forms a smooth ball, then continue to knead for ~5 min (?). If it is too sticky sprinkle with flour, but try not to add too much flour. Cover the bowl again and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour, until doubled in size.

Meanwhile prepare the plums: Cut in half lengthwise, remove the stone and then cut each half lengthwise again to make quarters. Set aside.

Heat the oven to 355F (180C). Line the baking tray with paper (or brush with oil). Roll the dough out on a clean, floured work surface until it is about the size or the baking tray, then carefully transfer it to the baking tray and pull into shape.

Arrange the plum quarters in overlapping rows, cut side up. Sprinkle evenly with demerara sugar and flaked almonds (use as much or as little as you like, to your taste). Put in the oven and bake for 25-30 min, checking after 20 min to make sure it is not too dark underneath. Remove and let cool in the tray before cutting into squares.


Gluten-free vegan experimental version
(makes 4 mini tart-sized ones in a muffin tin)

50 g TJ's gluten-free flour mix
25 g ground almonds
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking powder
tiny pinch salt
12.5 g sugar
12.5 g fake butter
25 ml almond milk
1/4 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 3/4 tbsp boiling water
3 plums, quartered as above
~ 2 tsp demerara sugar
1-2 tbsp flaked almonds

Heat oven to 355F. Mix flour, ground almonds, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Make a well and add butter, milk and linseed mixture. Mix with a fork and then with your hands until it comes together into a pliable dough. Line muffin cups and press the dough into the bases / up the sides. Arrange the plum quarters on each (I found three quarters per cup fitted), sprinkle with demerara sugar and flaked almonds, and bake for 20-25 min.


Both were great. The classic one was awesome in its lack of intense sweetness (I could perhaps have been a bit more generous with the sugar but I liked it like this). S said it was authentic! And we both liked it - the bready part was slightly sweet and nicely risen, and the juices from the plum soaked in slightly to the bread base and to the almonds, making for a delicious thing somewhere inbetween a sweet bread and a cake - think typically German in the not-too-sweetness, the extensive use of fruit / nuts and simple flavours. The plum flavour really sung out because of that - the almonds and bread just served to complement their gorgeousness. The GF base was not as fluffy but stuck together well and the taste effect was similar. And they were cute in their little paper cases.

Note: this reminds me of Mum's apple cake that I attempted to make here. Perhaps another go at that is in order: I have some apples...

Kefir experiment: coconut milk kefir

Introduction:
I got curious about using kefir in non-milk situations - there is such a thing as water kefir, and I read that you can use milk kefir in non dairy milk. That sour-creamy (yoghurty) taste/texture is one of the few non-vegan things I actually miss eating regularly. The discoveries that the So Delicious coconut milk drinking yoghurt (the best non-dairy yoghurt I've found) was originally marketed as kefir, and that A makes kefir using what he calls 'santan' (which seems to be pretty much coconut milk) when he is home in Borneo sealed the deal: experiments are starting now!

Method / Results:
All experiments done in parallel at room temperature, which probably averaged ~23C during this period. I used clean glass jars with the lid left ajar (to avoid any gas build-up / explosions), and put them in the pantry away from direct sunlight.

Day 1: A brought me some milk kefir grains (in milk - he usually uses them in milk) in an old marmalade jar. When I got them home I split them between three glass jars: 1) the original jar, with milk in it; 2) one with a whole tin of full-fat coconut milk in it (I think Chaokoh brand: forgot to note - was a brown tin with coconuts on it); 3) one with about a cup of Almond Breeze almond milk in it. Left them at room temperature. Jar 1 (milk) already tastes sour and yoghurty, although still a bit milky.

Day 2: Jar 1 (milk) is well soured by now. Transferred to fridge. Jar 2 (coconut) is developing an interesting sourness and thickness, also separating a little. Jar 3 (almond) is separating but nothing much is happening to the taste, also the kefir grains don't look very healthy.

Day 3: Jar 2 (coconut) is good: thick, sour, slightly fizzy, separating (goes together when beaten with a fork) - A said all of these features were desirable - transferred to the fridge. Jar 3 (almond) is a loss: it did not sour properly, kefir grains looked bad, eventually mould developed on top and I threw it away.

Day 6: Jars 1 and 2 are currently stored in the fridge. To use the coconut kefir I have been stirring it thoroughly with a fork, then scooping out the quantity I desire to use, being careful to leave the kefir grains in the jar.

Day 8: Removed all the coconut kefir from Jar 1 and transferred it to a fresh jar, leaving the kefir grains behind. Cleaned and dried the jar, then put another tin of coconut milk (Goya brand, no additives, looked a bit like it had separated) into the jar with the kefir grains and put it at room temperature.

Day 9: Coconut kefir starting to smell and taste sour already. Room temperature is pretty high at the moment - approx 28C.

Next phases of the experiment will involve (1) attempting to strain the remaining grains out and (2) transferring them to a fresh quantity of coconut milk to see if I can maintain the culture without dairy milk.

(1) I haven't been bothering with straining: I have just been scooping the kefir out from around the grains / scooping out the grains and pouring off the kefir.

(2) Kept grains in coconut milk in the fridge for 2-3 days. Then transferred them to a clean jar with a new can (Aroy-D brand) coconut milk. The milk soured within 48 hours again (got so fizzy it almost boiled over). I transferred it back to the fridge.

Brands (all tinned, without thickeners added): Goya = $1.75 @ Brigham Circle Stop n Shop, very thin and slightly grainy; Aroy-D = $3.00 for two @ Super 88, very thick before but thin after culturing, Chaokoh = $2.50 for two @ Super 88.

Discussion:
Grains are not really growing while in coconut milk, and they are not all plump and gelatinous-looking like they were when they came out of cow milk. So, while they are efficiently souring coconut milk just now, I imagine this might not work forever. However, A has a constant excess of grains from his cow milk culture at the moment, so I can re-up my culture whenever I want.
The first batch I did thickened up, whereas the second and third batches remained thin. I think this was because of the brand of coconut milk: a second batch using Goya brand and some fresh grains from A was also thin. Seems like the thickness of the kefir mostly depends on the thickness of the coconut milk used. Shake the tin before buying and listen to guess at how thick it is - if it doesn't make much sloshing noise it is likely to be quite thick.
The big advantage of kefir-making over yoghurt-making is that works well at room temperature. I'm curious to try yoghurt culture with tinned coconut milk, as I only ever tried it with soy milk (which didn't work).

Conclusions:
I can make coconut kefir, although perhaps not indefinitely or at lower temperatures. It is still possible I could make kefir with other non-dairy milks, but the results with almond milk suggest that using a pure milk (without thickeners or other added ingredients) may be important. Seems possible to store kefir and grains in the fridge for at least weeks and be able to bring them out anytime and they still work straight away. Fizziness of freshly made kefir seems reduced after a few days in the fridge.

Dehydrator granola: almond, seed and spice

Another granola variation: the ones I've been making in the oven come out very toasty, which is nice, but I wondered about trying it in the dehydrator. This version is following the same super simple formula as the other granolas I have tried recently, but drying in the dehydrator instead of the oven. Could be good for those sweltering Summer days when turning on the oven seems like the worst idea ever (we're not quite there yet).

3 cups oats
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup toasted flaked almonds
1/4 cup dried unsweetened coconut
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp ground linseed
1 tsp mahlab
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp clear honey
3 tbsp refined coconut oil
1 tbsp grape molasses
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp almond milk

Mix the oats, seeds, coconut, ground linseed and spices in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix the honey, coconut oil, grape molasses, brown sugar and almond milk until they are well combined and any lumps of sugar are gone. Add the wet stuff to the oat mixture and mix until everything is coated. Transfer the mixture to dehydrator sheets (the ones with no holes; I used two sheets for this quantity). Spread it out evenly and put it in the dehydrator at 115F. Dry for ~20 hours, until completely crunchy, with no remaining softness.


Nicest thing about this version is that it clumps really well. However, it never goes really crunchy and is not very toasty. One thing to try would be toasting the oats/seeds/coconut separately in pan or oven before dehydrating (would kinda defeat the point of granola-making, as it makes it much more complicated). Another would be a higher temperature in the dehydrator - perhaps that's next...

Biscuits (or cookies?): chocolate-pecan vs brazil nut

I was bemoaning the lack of biscuits while I took a teabreak with my labmates yesterday. Last night, on reflection, I decided I should stop moaning and take action: just make some! The obvious place to find effective biscuit recipes was ppk, so there I looked and there I found - happily without margarine, I dislike that stuff (palm oil) - decided to try two, slightly different methods - choc-pecan with ground linseed, and brazil nut with tapioca. I guess these may be cookies really, but I still want to call them biscuits...

Chocolate-pecan
(makes ~ 20)

1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cocoa
2 tsp ground linseed
1/2 cup pecan pieces
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup fake milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Heat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl with a fork. Add the oil, milk and vanilla and mix until well combined, going in with your hands to make sure it's all together. Make into 1 inch balls and flatten into discs, arranging on the sheets so they have enough room to spread a little. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on the sheets for 5 min, then remove to a cooling rack and leave to cool.

Brazil nut-brown sugar
(makes ~24)

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup coconut oil (liquid state)
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brazil nuts, chopped

Heat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Mix sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl with a fork: beat for about 2 min,until it resembles smooth caramel. Mix in the vanilla. Add 1 cup of flour, bicarb and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the brazil nuts. Make into 1 inch balls and flatten into discs, arranging on the sheets so they have enough room to spread a little. Bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 (+less if they are small) – until they are just a little browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and let sit on the sheets for 5 min, then remove to a cooling rack and leave to cool.


The chocolate pecan ones were super simple and came out really, really good: rich and intensely chocolatey, masses of pecans and chocolate pieces, sweet and slightly salty. I followed the recipe to the word.

The brazil nut ones didn't go so well. The batter was really oily and sticky so I added a little more flour (total ~2 cups instead of 1 1/2), so then I could shape them, but they didn't really spread or brown in the oven. They taste OK but the texture is kinda cakey instead of biscuity, and they don't look so nice as they are really pale all over. Perhaps this is all because I used coconut oil instead of canola? Dunno, but if looking for a quick, effective biscuit recipe the choc-pecan assembly is the way to go... Edit: although... I took the first half of each batch to woodturning clean-up and the boys pounded the brazil nut ones and left almost all the choc-pecan ones. Different tastes? Also I ate a brazil nut one about 6 days later and thought they had really improved with age.

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).

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.

Custard

I had three egg yolks left over from making zimtsterne, needed to use them up. I have long been of the opinion that Bird's custard beats out real custard by a mile, thought I should check this out once and for all. Used this recipe.

1 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp sugar
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornflour in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When the cornflour is dissolved, slowly add the rest of the milk and sugar, and cook over moderate heat until the sauce starts to thicken and comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, beat egg yolks with a fork. Take a cup of the mixture, and slowly add to the eggs, beating briskly as you pour. Stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan mixture. Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add the vanilla.


Definitely far inferior to Bird's. Next time I have leftover egg yolks I shall make something else - perhaps a version of egg yolk ravioli.

4th July: No-bake chocolate pie

Independence Day is another one of those American holidays we never really know what to do for - we just don't have the back-history with it.  What I hear is you're supposed to have barbeques and eat pie and watch fireworks.  We failed to go out as I have a crappo summer cold, but we had a barbeque on the balcony (featuring the awesome marinated tofu and courgette again, plus a few mushrooms and potatoes, and S toasted bread on the grill).  And we did watch the fireworks from the Summit Park, which was hilarious: an awkward juxtaposition of middle-class families with pockets of super-drunk college students in Stars n Stripes bikini tops etc, all standing neatly organised in two long lines to see between the trees.  A huge lightning / rain storm started up pretty much the exact same time as the fireworks, it was awesome (we had an umbrella).

And, I decided we should have pie.  It had to be be a super simple pie, and should not involve switching on the oven, because it's still very hot and sticky, esp in our apartment under the heat-absorbing roof.  So that meant a raw-style pie crust, which I was totally in the mood for anyway.  And I felt like it should have fruit in it somewhere, although we didn't have much fruit in the house.  I daydreamed about pie while looking back through recipes I made before and at ppk, and ended up doing this...

Note: Today I made enough crust for a mini pie plus a half quantity of filling as I just wanted a wee one for S and me to share.  So quantities below haven't been fully tested, but should be about right for a full-size (8 in) pie.  If just making the filling for a quickie pudding snack a half quantity should be plenty.


Crust:
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup almond meal
3 tbsp linseed meal
pinch salt
1-3 tsp mulberry molasses

Filling:
3 cups fake milk
1/4 cup cornflour
1/3 cup sugar (half quantity = 2 tbsp)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch salt
3 tbsp chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla essence

good handful raspberries, fresh or frozen (or chopped fresh strawberries)

First, prep the crust: put the pecan pieces, almond meal, linseed meal and salt in a blender and grind til smooth.  Add the mulberry molasses bit by bit and pulse til the crumbs are just starting to stick together. Empty out of the blender and then press the crust into a pie tin or dish lined with foil.  Put in the fridge until needed.

(Note, the molasses is just to stick the nuts together and add sweetness, alternatives could be soft dates or frozen banana, or maple syrup.  Be careful when adding not to add too much as it would become too soft and sticky and make the finished pie not come out of the tin properly).

Next, filling: put 1 cup of fake milk in a pan with the cornflour and whisk together until the cornflour is distributed and there are no lumps.  Then add the cocoa, sugar, salt and the rest of the milk and whisk together.  Bring to the boil, whisking constantly until it thickens.  Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and mix until it is melted.  Then add the vanilla and mix.

Assembly: take the prepared crust and sprinkle the raspberries evenly over the base.  Then pour the chocolate mixture all over the raspberries and fill up the crust (any extra can just be poured in a separate bowl).  Leave to cool, then transfer to the fridge and leave for a couple of hours or so.


I actually used both frozen banana and mulberry molasses as sticky stuff in the crust, and ended up with something a bit too sticky but very tasty.  I went ahead and used it anyway - the pie didn't come out of the dish very easily but it still tasted good.  So the quantities described above reflect what I was aiming for rather than what I actually did.  The chocolate pudding mix was great - super easy, using stuff I always have in the cupboards / fridge, good just on its own as well as as a pie filling.  It's a good alternative to the silken tofu based chocolate pudding I've made often, perhaps even a more pudding-y texture (and doesn't require silken tofu, which I don't have any of at the moment).  Really into cornflour thickening in desserts right now - nice smooth texture with no flavour distraction.  All in all the pie was really yummy - S had thirds - and with a little tweaking of the crust mix I think it could be awesome.  Perfect for a hot day's pie craving!