I was thinking about S's birthday cake for a while, as usual. We had a good crop of walnuts this year so Plan A was to do a classic coffee and walnut cake. But then I stumbled on this cake (during my Anna Jones trawl), and it seemed to tick a load of boxes: we had a load of homemade apple cheese in the fridge; and the whole poppyseed-almond-lemon-yoghurt situation sounded divine. So this became the new Plan A. And I am glad it did - it was everything I hoped for (despite not being the prettiest cake ever - rustic charm though right?). I'd love to try it with other fruit cheeses - membrillo, that guava paste you get from Latin American shops, damson cheese... mmmm... Or the marzipan option!
70 ml rapeseed oil or melted butter plus a little extra (used sunflower oil)
250 g white spelt flour, plus a little extra for the tin (used plain flour)
1 tbsp
baking powder
70 g
golden caster sugar (used a mixture of caster and brown)
½ tsp
fine sea salt
60 g
poppy seeds
Zest of 2
unwaxed lemons
2 medium
eggs
350 ml
yogurt or buttermilk (used yogurt - actually it was a mix of skyr and oat yoghurt)
250 g membrillo (quince paste), cut into tiny cubes (used apple cheese)
2 tbsp
demerara sugar
20 g almonds, skin on, lightly toasted and chopped
Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Grease a springform baking tin, line the base and flour the sides.
Combine the flour, baking powder, caster sugar, salt, poppy seeds and lemon zest in a large bowl. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs and the yogurt, then whisk in the oil. Add to the flour mixture and stir briefly, until just combined. Gently fold in two-thirds of the membrillo cubes until they are evenly distributed. Transfer the cake mixture to the prepared tin.
Arrange the remaining membrillo across the top in a pleasing pattern.
Sprinkle with the demerara sugar, then the almonds. Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Decorated with a little water icing made with icing sugar and lemon juice, and a sprinkling of poppyseeds.
One note: I don't think it's worth toasting the almonds before putting on top - they'd get nicely toasted enough just sitting on top of the cake while it's baking.
We've bought seedy crackers a few times, was too lazy to make them. Then realized maybe it was easy. As I trawled Anna Jones recipes, I saw these ones, and decided to add them to the s-and-me morning baking session list.
50 g sunflower seeds 50 g pumpkin seeds 50 g sesame seeds 25 g poppy seeds 25 g chia seeds 100 g rolled oats
1 tsp psyllium seed husk 1/2 tsp sea salt 1/2 tbsp maple syrup 1 1/2 tbsp melted coconut oil 175 ml water
Optional: 1/2 heaped tsp fennel seeds and a little pinch of dried chilli or 1/2 tbsp raisins, roughly chopped, and a little pinch of cinnamon
Heat oven to 190 C/175 C fan/gas 5. Get all your ingredients together,
and line a baking sheet with baking paper (and have a second sheet the same size on hand).
Combine all the dry ingredients, including one of the optional flavourings if you are using them, and stir well.
Mix
the maple syrup, coconut oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add
to the dry ingredients and mix very well, until everything is
completely soaked and the mixture becomes very thick.
Scrape out onto the lined tray and even out a bit, then put another piece
of baking paper on top. Use a rolling pin to roll out the mixture until
it is about 1⁄2cm thick. Take the top layer of paper off and use
the tip of a sharp knife to score the mixture into rectangles.
Bake
the crackers for 20 min. Remove from the oven and flip the sheet
over, then peel off the paper to expose the underside of the
crackers. Put back into the oven for another 20 min (check after 15). They are ready
when they are firm and golden round the edges. Allow to cool, then break
along the lines where they have been scored.
I did a half quantity of the original recipe - one baking sheet's worth - this is a good amount for us. I also threw in some psyllium husk to help with sticking together.
I just made them for a second time, this time with raisins. They are good! You have to keep a careful eye on them though - I almost burnt this batch, while the last ones were a bit underdone. Perhaps the exact thickness makes a big difference? s didn't love them sooo much the first time but he seemed more into the raisin variant (despite them being a little bit over).
Was just looking back and enjoying how this is, if nothing else, a repository for all the birthday cakes I have made S (and now small S too) since 2011. Gosh, 9 years: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 + small S 2018 (we've been together for 13 - I guess a few cakes are missing from back in the mists of time). Then I realized that last year's is missing - I did bake a cake, even though he was away at a conference on his birthday and we were deep in baby fug... But I guess I didn't manage to write it up / decided not to... But I really think I ought, for completeness, so here we are...
For my birthday in 2017, I was still in hospital after giving birth to small S, so my birthday cake from Sebastian was a book of German baking recipes and a promise to bake me whichever one I liked when we were home. I made him a cake from that book for his birthday too... Luckily small S was going through possibly his best-ever napping phase then, so I had a little time for cake baking. I chose to make a mohntorte, with walnuts from the garden. It was pretty epic, I had to grind the walnuts and the poppyseeds before even starting on the cake, and it's kind of a long recipe. But here goes...
175 g butter, softened
50 g icing sugar
5 eggs, separated
2 tbsp rum
zest of 1 lemon
180 g ground walnuts (or almonds, or a mix)
210 g poppy seeds
pinch salt
125 g granulated sugar
100 g redcurrant jelly
Heat oven to 180C. Line the base of a 9 in / 23 cm springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides.
Cream the butter and icing sugar. Mix in the egg yolks one at a time and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the rum and lemon zest, and beat until thick and glossy. Fold in ground nuts and poppy seeds until just combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they start to form large bubbles. Add the granulated sugar 1 tbsp at a time, whisking all the time, until the mix is stiff and glossy.
Scrape 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the nut mixture and fold in to lighten. Then fold in the next 1/3; then the final 1/3, until no white streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking tin and smooth the top.
Put in the oven and bake 50-55 min, rotating halfway through (pretty sure mine took longer). It is ready when the cake is pulling away from the edges and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 5 min before turning out, peeling off the paper, and letting cool upside down on rack.
When ready to assemble (and the cake is completely cool), heat the jelly in a small saucepan until runny, then remove from the heat and let cool briefly. Slice the torte in half horizontally. Spread the jelly evenly over the bottom layer, then put the top layer on top. Sift icing sugar on top (use a stencil if you like). It will keep, lightly wrapped in clingfilm, for several days.
It was a good combination; different from anything I had before, not too sweet, as often the case for German cakes. How could I forget?!
For S's birthday this year, he requested a bienenstichkuchen (bee sting cake). We talked about it a bit, and he said it was the topping that he really likes, with honey and toasted almonds - the creamy filling not so much. I reflected, and browsed the internet a bit, and then spotted this and realized I'd found our cake - it has bienenstich topping and a mohn filling, thus combining two of S's fave cakes (the other being mohnkuchen). And we get to use honey from my bee club for the topping! I've not made many yeasted cakes before, so wasn't sure how it would turn out - also because I was translating a recipe from German, referring to another in English for tips, and buying ingredients in Danish...
Cake:
150 g whipping cream
50 g butter
400 g flour
1 pack fresh yeast (42 g) (= approx. 2 tbsp dried yeast)
50 g sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs (size M)
Topping:
150 g butter
100 g sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
50 g honey
50 g whipping cream
200 g flaked almonds
Filling:
74 g custard powder
40 g sugar
600 ml milk
50 g butter
250 g poppy seeds (partially ground)
Make the dough:
Heat the cream and butter for the dough together until butter is all melted. Put the flour in a mixing bowl and crumble the yeast over the top. Add the sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, eggs, and warm cream-butter mixture and mix until well combined. Knead for about 5 min, until the dough is smooth. Leave the dough covered in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 45 min).
Make the topping (do this while the dough is rising):
Heat the butter with the sugar, vanilla sugar, honey and cream, slowly with stirring. Then boil for about 4 min with stirring, until the mixture becomes a little thick and caramel (it should become a little darker, and go from yellowish to light beige). Mix in the almonds. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally.
Assemble and bake the cake:
Heat the oven to 200C / 180C fan. Lightly grease a large rectangular baking tray (30 x 40 cm).
Sprinkle the dough with a little flour, remove it from the bowl, briefly knead on a slightly floured surface and roll/press out on the baking sheet. Spread the topping out evenly on the dough and let it rise again somewhere warm, until visibly enlarged (about 30 min). When ready, put in the oven for approx. 15 min, until golden brown on top. When ready, take out and leave to cool in the baking tray on a cooling rack, until completely cold.
Make the filling (do this while the cake is rising / baking):
Mix the custard powder with the sugar in a medium bowl. Gradually stir in approx. 12 tbsp of the milk. Bring the rest of the milk to the boil in a medium saucepan, remove from the heat and add the powder-sugar mixture, stirring well. Put the pan back on the heat and bring to the boil, and simmer for about 1 min until thickened. Add the butter and poppy seeds and stir; then leave to cool.
Fill and finish the cake:
When the cake and filling are completely cool, you can assemble the cake. Loosen the cake from the baking tray and halve it vertically. Take out one half and carefully cut in half horizontally. Spread half of the poppy seed mixture evenly over the lower part, then put the top back on. Repeat for the other half of the cake and the other half of the poppy seed mixture. Best eaten within 24 hours.
I was really pleasantly surprised by this recipe - the busy work takes a couple of hours, but the rising steps don't feel like a drag because there is always something else to do - making the caramel topping; making the custard-poppyseed filling; going to the shop again because you forgot to buy milk the first time... And it was actually really simple - apart from not managing to mix in the yeast very thoroughly and getting a slightly uneven rise, it came together incredibly well. Did I mention it is delicious? Another great example of German cakey brilliance: really sweet parts (topping) are so well balanced with not so sweet parts (filling and cake); and there's loads of texture going on (light bread-cake; crunchy caramel almonds; toothsome poppyseed custard...). It was best within about 24 hours, but perfectly edible after that - it took us 5 days, but S and I ate it all.
A daydream of a salad: we had lots of salad greens, but the apple, beetroot and anise were begging to play together. Kohlrabi, onion, poppy and pumpkin seeds jumped into the mix...
2 small apples, peeled and cored
1/4 of a giant kohlrabi, peeled
1 small beetroot (I used candy striped but any would be fine), peeled
juice of 1/2 lemon
~3 handfuls of salad leaves (any)
~1 tbsp poppy seeds
~2 tsp anise seeds
1-2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
~1/2 tbsp finely chopped white onion
2 tsp white miso
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1-2 tbsp olive oil
black pepper
Cut the apple, kohlrabi and beetroot into matchsticks. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the apple to stop it going brown. Wash the salad leaves and put them in a serving bowl. Add the apple, kohlrabi, beetroot and seeds. In a separate, small bowl, mix the chopped onion with the rest of the lemon juice, miso, honey, vinegar and olive oil, beat together and taste for seasoning. When ready to eat, pour the dressing over the assembled salad and mix well.
And this turned out delicious. Really pretty: colourful beetroot, shards of apple and kohlrabi, speckles of seeds. Just enough sweetness, loads of textures and crunch. The anise, apple, beet and greens go great together, with the pumpkin and poppy seeds providing an earthiness to counteract the sweet. Love how exciting salads can be, whatever the weather (yesterday super windy and below zero).
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 awesomecakes) 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 PancakeDay 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.
I'd bookmarked this cake a while back, then ended up with some eggs (beautiful multi-coloured ones, thanks to D+K's tempura making), and was daydreaming about making it when along came Alvin with a bag of beetroot among this week's bounty.
'Frankenstorm' Sandy is due to hit us tomorrow, in fact today already felt wild and stormy - the winds are rising and squalling, and showers are whipping our apartment building - so I am getting apprehensive about what tomorrow might have in store for us. I've moved all my plants down off the roof and filled all the large plastic bottles I can find with water. S was concerned we might run out of food: this cake should, as well as satisfying my love of beetroot and nagging urge to follow that recipe, keep us going in the event of mishap.
For the cake:
butter or oil, for greasing
225g/8oz self-raising flour (used plain, plus 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
(1/2 tsp ground ginger)
180ml/6¼fl oz sunflower oil (used veg oil)
225g/8oz light muscovado sugar (used a mixture of brown and granulated)
3 eggs, separated (used 2 large eggs plus 1 tbsp linseed / 2.5 tbsp hot water mix)
150g/5oz raw beetroot, peeled
juice of half a lemon
75g/3oz sultanas or raisins (used golden raisins)
75g/3oz mixed seeds (such as sunflower, pumpkin and linseed) (used golden linseed, pumpkin seed and poppy seeds)
For the icing:
8 tablespoons icing sugar
a little lemon juice or orange blossom water
poppy seeds, to garnish
Heat the oven at 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a rectangular loaf tin (20cm x 9cm x 7cm/8in x 4in x 3in), and line the base with baking paper.
Mix together with a fork the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger.
In a separate bowl, beat the oil and sugar until well combined, then mix in the linseed mixture, followed by the egg yolks one by one. Grate the beetroot coarsely and fold it into the egg mixture, then add the lemon juice, sultanas / raisins and the assorted seeds, and mix. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Beat the egg whites until light and almost stiff. Fold gently but thoroughly into the cake mixture, using a large metal spoon (a wooden one will knock the air out). Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, covering the top with a piece of foil after thirty minutes. Test with a skewer for doneness. The cake should be moist inside but not sticky. Leave the cake to settle for a good twenty minutes before turning out of its tin onto a wire cooling rack.
To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough lemon juice or orange blossom water to achieve a consistency where the icing will run over the top of the cake and drizzle slowly down the sides (about three teaspoonfuls), stirring to remove any lumps. Drizzle it over the cake and scatter with the poppy seeds. Leave to set before eating.
It's quite lovely: bejewelled with deep pink beetroot, golden raisins, emerald pumpkin seeds... They taste great together too - layers of sweet earthiness. Only thing is, it is a little greasy (another time try less oil / a little more linseed mixture, beetroot, lemon or milk). During the assembly process I kept thinking it was going wrong as it often seemed unfamiliar in texture and consistency, but it came out ok. Might be good with orange zest+juice instead of the lemon juice. I iced half and left the rest un-iced (it makes a big loaf cake, a half quantity would be loads for just us in non emergency situations), both were good. I usually wouldn't bother icing a cake like this but fancied trying the orange blossom water. I've generally found orange blossom water perfumey and hard to work with, but here it actually works out being quite pleasant.
A dropped off beetroot (the real pink deal this time) and mustard greens yesterday, and we talked about Borneo and SE Asian history. I sauteed some mustard greens simply with onion. As I biked home this salad emerged in my head as how I wanted to eat the beetroot - lots of raw, autumnal crunch:
1 large beetroot, peeled, top-and-tailed and cut into matchsticks
1/2 large bulb fennel, sliced into approximate matchsticks
plus 2 tbsp of fronds from the fennel, finely chopped
1/2 medium apple, cored and cut into matchsticks
1 heaped tsp poppy seeds
3/4 tsp white sesame seeds
3/4 tsp black sesame seeds
1/2 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 tbsp raisins, optional
juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tsp cider vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
3/4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
Prepare the ingredients, put together in a bowl and mix. Taste to check for seasoning, acidity and sweetness.
I really liked the seasonality, the sweet-tangy-earthiness, the colours, and of course the crunchiness of this. I decided to matchstick the beetroot instead of grating to keep the bleeding of colour a little bit under control, and that worked - the whiteness of fennel and apple was still visible. Although grating would have released more juice and made the beetroot softer - I relied on the acid to do this instead. I wasn't 100% on the raisins - they introduced sweetness and a different texture, but I also kind of liked it as an exclusively crunchy / seedy affair. Keeps well (perhaps even improves) in the fridge.
As a pre-emptive reward for S coming in to my German class tomorrow (show and tell the germans in your life), I asked him what his favourite German cake was and then baked it. I actually really can't understand why I haven't done much German baking before - there's such a beautiful range of German cakes...
He said Mohnkuchen. I'm not sure if I've ever eaten proper Mohnkuchen - I've had some nice German cakey things made with lots of poppyseeds, but I don't think I've ever had the full streuselly whammy. So there was an inherent challenge in this - how to make something when you don't know what it should be like, but the person you're making it for most definitely does?
Ein Stück Mohnkuchen
First challenge, actually, was trying to find a large quantity of poppyseeds. Happily I managed to find them in the first place I looked: the Indian store in Coolidge Corner. The package had a very basic label, but with some interesting facts: the Latin name (Papaver somniferum) and the country of origin (Australia). The somniferum made me wonder if poppyseeds come from the same poppy plants as opium / morphine / heroin. And I wondered why they came from Australia, of all places. Consultation with Wikipedia indicates that yes, these are from the exact same type of poppy as opium (that I also remember growing in the garden in East Linton), and that although there is little opium in the seeds (the latex is the big hitter), there is still some. Are we going to get high? There's a lot of poppyseeds in this cake. Is this why it's S's favourite? And apparently the USA has a special trade deal with Australia (plus 2 other countries, neither of which is Afghanistan) for supply of poppyseeds, so I guess that's why they came so far.
Next challenge was finding a recipe I could understand sufficiently well to follow. Obviously most of the authentic ones are in German and are not vegan. My German is improving, but I can't skim a page like I can in English yet. The solution to that challenge was the happy discovery of this recipe on a wonderful blog by a German woman living in the UK - there are lots of other lovely-looking things on there I look forward to trying out...
This recipe gives quantities for a round spring form of 23 – 26 cm diameter. I only have a ~20 cm diameter one so used that, but perhaps a wider one would have given better results.
For the pastry base:
250 g plain flour
80 g sugar
120 g fake butter
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 3 tbsp hot water (egg substitute)
½ tsp baking powder
For the poppyseed filling:
40 g cornflour (used custard powder)
4 tbsp sugar
1 vanilla pod (used 1 tsp vanilla essence)
500 ml fake milk
250 g ground poppy seed (used a ~ 50 : 50 mixture of ground and whole - S said he preferred whole, I thought some ground might give better texture)
swig of dark rum (or a handful of raisins soaked in rum) (used Pimms as didn't have rum)
For the streusel (crumble) topping:
100 g flour
70 g fake butter
70 g sugar
Combine the base ingredients and knead until you have a smooth ball of dough. Leave to rest in the fridge.
For the filling, mix the corn flour / custard and sugar. Add a bit of cold milk and whisk until there are no lumps left. Boil the rest of the milk with the vanilla (seeds scraped into the milk if using a pod). When it is boiling remove the vanilla pod and whisk it into the cornflour mixture. Pour the mixture back into the pan and boil for a minute or so, whisking constantly until the mixture resembles thick custard. Add the poppy seeds and booze. Leave to cool slightly.
In the meantime make the topping by rubbing the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then mix in the sugar.
Roll out the pastry (between two layers of cling film) and use it to line the prepared baking tin. The edge parts should be about 3 cm high. Fill the pastry case with the poppyseed mixture and smooth the surface. Top with the crumble and bake at about 180C / 350F for 60 minutes or until the crumbly top is golden brown. Leave to cool thoroughly before removing from the tin.
I was quite happy with this. S was too. He said it could be a little sweeter, but I think we both quite enjoyed that it was not too sweet - the seediness stands out more, and it's a good anytime-even-breakfast-without-sugar-headrush cake because of it. The best bit is where the mohn meets the streusel. The worst bit is the pastry base. The pastry was a bit wet so I wasn't sure about it from the start, but persevered and it came out OK - successfully lined the tin. But it was a bit thick, especially around the edges where it was difficult to get it to stay in position. So another time I might use less pastry, and either use less egg substitute, make it less watery, or miss it out entirely. The relative smallness of the tin probably didn't help. I also might make the custard a wee bit thicker and sweeter. All that said, it came out really good - veganising was definitely successful, and I really like the mohniness.
I was daydreaming about these thin poppy seed crackers we used to have as kids: crispy, seedy and salty, we'd eat our way through a packet in no time. So I thought I'd try making something similar. I liked the idea of using olive oil as a fat, so went from there.
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp poppyseeds
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
~3 tbsp fake milk
more fake milk and sea salt to finish
Heat the oven to 300F. Put the flour in a bowl with the salt and sugar and mix with a fork. Add the olive oil and rub in to disperse evenly. Mix in the seeds. Add fake milk and mix until you have a stiff dough (modify volume of milk accordingly).
Lightly flour a worktop and roll out the dough to about 2-3mm thick. Cut into pieces (irregular polygons seemed like the way to go) about 6-8cm across.
Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Put the cut-out shapes on it, brush them with fake milk and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for about 30min, until crisp but not really coloured.
My lemon curd in the past has typically been disastrous - I know it's supposed to be easy, but I just seem to be jinxed with it. I never liked the egginess of curd that much either - perhaps vegan curd will break the curse. Basically followed this recipe.
Lemon 'curd'
1 cup lemon juice (~4 lemons / don't forget to zest first... used a mixture of sweet Meyer lemons and regular lemons)
1/2 cup water
1 cup white sugar
4 tbsp cornflour
1/8 tsp salt
zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
1/3 cup fake milk
2 tbsp margarine
Put lemon juice, water, sugar, salt and cornflour into a blender and whizz up til smooth. Pour into saucepan and add zest. Heat at medium heat and whisk until boiling (10-15 min). Boil for 1 min undisturbed until thickened and starting to clear. Remove from heat. Add milk and margarine. Whisk til fully combined. Allow to cool in pan, then put into clean jars and into fridge - should keep for a few weeks at least.
While considering curd, I got inspired to make lemon poppyseed muffins too. Found this recipe and it looked good. Didn't have that many poppyseeds so I did a mixture of seeds...
Lemon+seed muffins
2 cups flour (used 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1/2 cup wholewheat flour)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup poppyseeds (mixture of black sesame seeds, millet and poppyseeds)
2 tsp powdered ginger
2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup veg oil
3/4 cup fake milk (coconut)
Heat oven to 375F. Mix dry ingredients with a fork. Add wet ingredients and mix til just combined. Bake ~25 min / until done. Cool and eat.
Both were good! I wasn't sure about the lemon curd at first (mainly consistency-wise) but once it was chilled I really liked it. The muffins were really tasty (I liked the seed mixture, and the cooked texture was great). And they were good together. I wonder if they will keep better than nonveg muffins?
We had a mixture of traditional and not so traditional stuff for christmas lunch. It was just me and seb so it was pretty easygoing.
For pre-snacks we had some dehydrated veg chips that had been dehydrating overnight in our new dehydrator...
Some root veg: carrot, beetroot, sweet potato. Peeled and then either sliced v thinly with peeler or slightly thicker with knife. Blanched some in the steamer and put others out raw - trying out different treatments. Also did some tomatoes, some kale and some apple and banana, just laying them out as they were.
The apple, banana and tomato probably came out best. The other stuff dried out ok but didn't taste so amazing. Think that blanching was a good move. And it would prob be good to toss the slices / kale pieces in a little oil and salt before drying.
After presents and family phone calls we went to work in the kitchen...
First up was a celeriac and apple salad - followed Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe here:
Could add a handful of chopped walnuts and a few baby leaves. Serves four to six. 120g quinoa 3 tbsp white-wine vinegar 2 tbsp caster sugar 1 tsp salt 1 red onion, peeled and sliced very thinly (used half a large one) 60ml rapeseed oil (used olive) ¼ head celeriac (250g after peeling and slicing) (used half a small one) 60ml lemon juice 2-3 granny smith apples (350g after coring and slicing) (used 2 1/2 gala) 2 tsp poppy seeds 1 red chilli, sliced thinly on an angle 15g coriander leaves, roughly chopped (didn't have any so left them out)
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add the quinoa and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain into a fine sieve, run under cold water and then shake well to remove all the water. Leave to cool down.
While the quinoa is on the go, put the vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to dissolve. Add the onion and, using your hands, rub the liquid into it. Add the rapeseed oil, stir and set aside to marinate.
Peel the celeriac, cut it into 3mm thick slices and then cut the slices into long, 3mm-wide strips. Place these at once in a large mixing bowl, along with the lemon juice, and stir well – this will help prevent discoloration. Quarter the apples, remove and discard the cores, and cut the fruit into matchstick-shaped pieces similar to the celeriac. Add the apple to the celeriac bowl and stir well, so it, too, gets a protective coat of lemon juice. (The apples and celeriac can also be cut using a mandolin or a food processor.)
To finish, add the onion and any juices from its bowl to the apple and celeriac mix, then stir in the cooked quinoa, poppy seeds, chilli and coriander. Taste and add extra salt, sugar or vinegar, if you need them – you're aiming for a pungent, sweet and sour flavour.
Next parsnips - did a version of Delia's mustard and maple glazed ones (from Delia Smith vegetarian collection):
1lb parsnips
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp maple syrup and 2 tsp wholegrain mustard, mixed.
Heat oven to 475F (might use a little less hot next time). Put baking tin with oil in it in to pre heat.
Top, tail and peel parsnips and chop into wedges 1-2 cm square and 4-5cm long. Try and err on the chunky side. Put in steamer and sprinkle with salt. Steam for 6min.
Take tray from oven and put over a direct heat. Add the parsnips (careful, they spit). Baste them with the hot oil, then put pepper on top and put in oven for 25min.
Coat parsnip pieces with mustard and maple mix and put back in oven for 5-10 min. Serve immediately.
Two versions of brussels sprouts - first (and best) was the roasted with maple syrup classic - did them with hazelnuts this time, though they were just as good without. The other was with chestnuts and panfried (cross 4oz chestnuts and roast at 400F for 10min and peel straightaway; peel and halve 8oz sprouts and cook in a little olive oil for 17min; add chestnuts and cook 20min; add 2tsp veg stock, 2 tsp sugar, 2tsp cider vinegar and cook 10min), but the chestnuts were hard and not good - the panfried sprouts were pretty good though - similar texture to the roasted ones.
Also had bean stuff I made yesterday, and cranberry sauce, which had gelled amazingly well and tasted wonderful (note, tasted a bit like rose - perhaps contaminated bowl - which was interesting - in future could do this on purpose) - impressed with how quick and easy yet tasty that one was.
Can't really see anything, but L-R there's celeriac salad, brussels sprouts with maple, brussels sprouts with chestnuts, parsnips, bean stuff and cranberry sauce. We had it with water as we'd run out of juice. I realised at the end that everything (except the beans) had some sweetness added to some extent - I guess I like the sweet-sour / sweet-earthy playoffs, but perhaps should have gone for a bit more variety and less sugar? The celeriac salad was really good, and a half quantity would be plenty for the two of us (which would halve the time spent slicing). The parsnips were good but a little burnt - need to make sure pieces are chunky, and I'm not sure the glaze really added anything. The bad chestnuts were a shame, and generally that dish was good but the roasted ones were similar and better (hazelnuts definitely optional). The beans didn't really fit that well (and were better warm), although I guess it was good to have something less sweet.
For pudding the main option was Christmas cake, which I decorated last night (alternatives being clementines and mince pies) - see here for recipe:
