Bakecetera -

Strawberry Heart Macarons

Feb

I’m in love. With Morocco, that is.

My friend and I had the most amazing trip. Ever. Really. It was great.

We arrived in Fes on the Wednesday, where we promptly discovered that our “conservative floor length skirts” were really not necessary.

After hours of walking up and down the long, hilly stone streets, we successfully found (probably the only) wine in Fes. Served in glass coca-cola bottles. Obviously.

(P.S. Moroccan wine is delicious. And, the only way to drink Moroccan wine is with the also delicious vegetable Moroccan soup (wine and soup really isn’t as bad as it sounds, I promise).)

On Thursday we traveled by train to Marrakech. All seven hours were complimented so nicely by screaming children.

…

But, Marrakech was worth it! After some taxi bargaining, we reached our second hotel, which was right by Djemaa El Fna, a massive square in the old part of the city.

((Djemma El Fna by day))

((And by night))

More love. So much love.

The hotel in Marrakech (well, and in Fes, too) was beautiful, and the people running the hotel were extremely kind. (I had poetry recited to me while I sipped on mint tea.) We spent the next two days getting completely lost in the old Medina, wandering through markets of all kinds – jewelry, vegetables, street foods, and more, and drinking (SO MUCH) mint tea… or “Moroccan whiskey”. We walked from the old part of Marrakech to the new part, and back again after getting even more lost than the first time in the Medina.

Sigh.

Returning to Fes by train was about as much fun as the first time… gotta love screaming children.

Two more days of market wanderings completed our stay. We did nothing big (ahem, Morocco on a budget), but it was so peaceful.

Of course when we arrived in Paris it was snowing and the temperature was sitting at freezing.

Aye. Welcome back to real life.

Now, since we’ve gotten past my dreamy words about the lovely Morocco, let’s talk Valentine’s Day.

If you’re single, or if you’re taken… Valentine’s Day can work for everyone!

There’s so much love going on in my life between my friends and family, that everyone deserves a little Valentine’s lovin’!

These macarons have been on my “to-make” list, and after shaping them into hearts, they really do make the best lovey-dovey treats!

(Adapted very slightly from:

http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2011/10/strawberry-milk-macarons-with-cookie.html)

Strawberry Heart Macarons – What you need:

100 grams aged egg whites (rested at room temperature in a sealed container for 24 hours)
110 grams almond poweder
150 grams confectioner’s sugar
50 grams strawberry Nesquik
35 grams caster sugar

Strawberry Heart Macarons – What you do:

I would recommend first drying out the almond powder by placing it in a pre-heated 100 degree celsius oven for about 10 minutes, stirring it occasionally. I always have better results if I dry out the almond powder. Just a note! Make sure you weigh the almond powder AFTER you dry it out – a lot of moisture will evaporate in the drying process.

Pulse the almond powder, confectioner’s sugar, and strawberry Nesquik in a food processor for 30 seconds to a minute, then sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric beater on high until foamy. Slowly add the caster sugar, and continue beating until stiff peaks form. The egg whites are ready when you can turn the bowl upside-down without the egg whites sliding down the bowl.

With a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the almond powder mixture. First stir rapidly to incorporate all the ingredients, then slowly finish stirring the macaron batter until it is ribbon-like and shiny! Make sure not to overbeat – I count my stirs to make sure they’re under 50.

Separate the batter.

You want to place 1/3 of the batter in a pastry bag fitted with a very thin tip. This will be for outlining the hearts.

Place the rest of the batter in a pastry bag with a wide tip. This will be for filling in the outlined hearts.

I used a heart template (that I made) to trace hearts on the parchment paper.

Allow the outline to set for a few minutes, and then pipe in the rest of the macaron.

Tap the macarons a few times on the counter to remove any air bubbles.

Allow the macarons to sit at room temperature for around an hour. This prevents the shells from cracking in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 140-150 degrees celsius.

Bake the macarons for 12 to 14 minutes, depending on size, rotating the baking sheet in the oven half way through.

Allow the macarons to rest on the baking sheet for a minute after they are finished baking, then pop them off onto a cooling rack. If the macarons stick to the parchment paper, allow them to bake for a few minutes more.

Cool completely.

These aren’t my prettiest macarons… I think I have to work on my heart shaping techniques… but I think they get the point across clearly enough! At first I thought it was the macaron recipe, or some weird variable that was off in my macaron baking… but my normal shaped macarons turned out just fine!

For the filling…

Mascarpone and Honey Filling – What you need:

75 grams butter, softened
125 grams mascarpone cheese, softened
3 tablespoons honey
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

Mascarpone and Honey Filling – What you do:

Beat together the butter and mascarpone until creamy. Add the honey, beat well. Add the confectioner’s sugar, and again, beat well.

Spoon the filling into a pastry bag and pipe the filing onto one macaron cookie. Sandwich the cookie with another macaron.

L.O.V.E.

As I mentioned before, I made some normal macarons too from this recipe. With sprinkles. Obviously!

Valentines baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner (romantic) baker:

Cassius – I Love U So

Breakbot – Baby I’m Yours

Nicholas Jaar – Stay in Love

Chocolate Cookies

Feb

It’s Febrary! January wasn’t really my strongest and/or happiest month, so I’m going to rock out hard in February.

Reasons why:

1. Because Valentine’s Day is in February, I am allowed, and personally encouraged (whatever that means), to make everything pink/purple/sparkly/covered with hearts.

2. I am going to MOROCCO!

3. I am going to MOROCCO!

4. My mother comes to Paris to visit my sister and me.

5. I am going to MOROCCO!

I feel that’s a sufficient amount of proof that February will be awesome.

These cookies are the first example of my love for pink and sparkly heart shaped things for February.

The cookies themselves aren’t super sweet, but they’re covered in a royal icing which strikes the perfect sweet note in my mouth and belly.

They have a light and powdery texture, and a flavour that hints at chocolate without being too strong.

My sister claimed they tasted like hot cocoa… another perfect treat for the cold days of February, and a pretty accurate description of the cookie’s flavour.

And, if all of those wonderful thoughts aren’t getting you in the cookie baking mood yet, they’re really easy to make!

Chocolate Cookies – What you need:

2 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
225 grams margarine (for a vegan cookie) or butter, softened
the seeds from ½ of a vanilla pod, or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vinegar
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Chocolate Cookies – What you do:

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine (or butter) and vanilla.

Add in the vinegar, beat well.

Add in the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder, and again beat well.

In three additions, beat in the flour mixture, incorporating the dough well after each addition.

Stir well until all the flour is absorbed.

Roll the dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 Celcius.

For rolling out the (chilled) dough, flour a clean surface well. Split the dough into two pieces to make it easier to roll out. Roll the dough out to be ½ centimetre thick.

Using a cookie cutter, cut out shapes.

Place the cut cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake the cookies at 180 Celsius for 10 minutes.

Allow the cookies to cool completely before icing them.

I used a royal icing recipe (<click for the link!) to fill and “flood” my cookies. This was the first time I ever flooded cookies, and despite their imperfections, I’m happy with them! I used this really handy tutorial for cookie flooding that you guys can consult here. That blog is super helpful and has all sorts of tutorials! Check it out. I also followed the “spritzing” technique that the tutorial mentions – so great!

I halved the royal icing recipe, which ended up being enough for all of my cookies. I coloured the icing with about a tablespoon of beet juice, and then needed to add about a half cup extra of confectioner’s sugar to the outline mix because the juice made the icing much thinner. There’s also the seeds from half a vanilla pod in my icing, so you can see some natural pretty black polka dots!

And now I’m off to Fez and Marrakech, Morocco for a nice little 4 night/5 day holiday with one of my great friends! Stay tuned for some more pink recipes and Morocco photos!

Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Local Natives – Heavy Feet

Such a beautiful song. My friend who introduced me to the band War On Drugs also introduced me to Local Natives… gotta love having musician friends! My Swede and I are going to Strasbourg, France at the beginning of March to see the Local Natives in concert. It will be great!

(vegan + raw) Matcha Green Tea “Cheese”cake

Jan

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Oh raw desserts.

I have a funny opinion about them.

I think they’re beautiful, I love the idea of them, I TOTALLY respect those that swear by them (and the raw lifestyle), and, well, shucks, the cake I made today is quite tasty!

This is my first “cheese”cake, and I think first dessert that I’ve ever made of the raw type. It’s inspired by a beautiful raw cook(?)book that I own and all of the amazing raw food blogs that I frequently creep on. I’ve seen heaps of raw desserts that I would genuinely LOVE to try…

…

… but

…

I may have to say that at the end of the day, I do indeed prefer a piece of (baked) cake.

That being said! This “cheese”cake has endless possibilities for flavour addition, and it suits every diet (ahem, unless one is allergic to nuts). Most importantly, as stated before: it’s really, really good.

I look forward to trying more raw desserts. I’ve recently seen a beet tartelette that looks like it is right up my alley.

I think in the near future you guys may see a mixture of raw desserts mixed with baked goods. I’m having a lot of ideas, and I just recently bought cheesecloth (ooh the possibilities!) that needs to be put to good use.

Until then… today we have a matcha green tea “cheese”cake. The cheese part actually comes from a lovely blend of cashews, coconut oil, and agave syrup (with matcha!).

Rawwwr. (Hippo for I’m hungry?)

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Matcha green tea “cheese”cake – What you need:

For the base:

1 cup of raw Brazil nuts, soaked* 8 hours
1 cup of raw cashews, soaked 8 hours
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
½ cup of chopped dried figs, packed (8-9 medium figs)
¼ tablespoon salt

For the filling:

3 cups of raw cashews, soaked 8 hours
½ cup lemon juice
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted**
2/3 cup agave syrup
1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder
zest of one lemon
1/8 teaspoon, or just a pinch, of salt

* Soak your cashews (or any nut that you want to blend or use as a base for 8 to 10 hours in enough water to completely cover them, and then some. Keep them in the fridge while soaking.)

** To make it “truly” raw, melt your coconut oil in a bowl that is resting in hot (but not boiling) water. If you don’t mind about the genuine raw aspect, you can pop it in the microwave, and check on it frequently. You want the oil barely melted. I did it the raw “genuine” way to stick to the spirit of the raw cake!

Matcha green tea “cheese”cake – What you do:

Soak your cashews and Brazil nuts for 8 hours in a sealed container in your fridge.

Rinse them very well with fresh water after the soaking period, set aside.

In a food processor, combine the nuts, figs, cocoa, and salt (all of the base ingredients). Blend until the mixture sticks together well, and starts to form a ball. This should take about 2 to 3 minutes.

Press the base mixture into a spring form pan firmly.

Rest in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

To prepare the filling, gently heat the coconut oil until barely melted. Add the agave syrup and mix well.

Put the cashews, lemon juice, matcha powder, salt, and the oil/agave mixture into a food processor.

Blend until everything is EXTREMELY smooth. I first blended for about 3 minutes, and then I scraped down the sides of the food processor and stirred it up a bit by hand.

Then, I blended for about 3 to 5 more minutes, repeated the stirring procedure, and then finally let it go for another minute or two.

Taste the batter as you go along… add more matcha if you want a stronger matcha flavour, add more agave if you want a sweeter cake, etc.

Remove the base from the fridge and pour the cashew filling into the pan.

Smooth it all out and tap the pan on the counter a few times to spread the filling evenly in the pan.

Ideally, place the cake in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours, minimum, or over night for best results. I don’t have a freezer, and just used the fridge – it turned out fine! If you do use a freezer, allow the cake to thaw slightly (20 to 30 minutes) before serving.

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I didn’t use any parchment paper. It didn’t stick to the sides at all, but if you want to transfer the entire cake out of the pan to a platter (and be fancy, unlike me : D), I would recommend using parchment on the bottom.

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I was so scared it wouldn’t cut easily because I didn’t freeze it! But, voila:

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Yes, despite all my raw-indecisive noted above, I’m definitely going to try some more of these cakes with different nut combinations and flavours. Something I was slightly disappointed about was the thickness of the cashew filling layer.

I don’t think this has much to do with the recipe, I just have a MASSIVE spring form pan. I’m going to see if I can invest in a smaller pan to try and get a larger filling to crust ratio.

Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Wowah-we-wah. I adore NPR (National Public Radio – an American radio station, but you can find it on the internet!). First I adore the stories found here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

And now I stumbled upon these:

Foster the People – Tiny Desk Concert

They have “Tiny Desk Concerts” for so many amazing artists. Other ones I’m in love with are:

Rufus Wainwright

Phoenix

Alt-J

And, well, OBVIOUSLY: Patrick Watson <3

Oh gosh, and the Beirut one.

I LOVE THEM ALL! … And I love cake. nom.

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Socca (Chickpea Flour Flatbread)

Jan

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Ode to the chickpea.

Without the chickpea, I would cease to exist.

As much as I love sweets in all forms, shapes, and sizes… in all colours, flavours, and textures… with all types of ingredients, baked all sorts of ways… (I think you get the point now.)… I REALLY, REALLY love chickpeas.

I love them in hummus, I love them in falafel, I love them roasted, I love them on top of my salads, and I love them in cake. Heck, I love them straight out of the can. I eat chickpeas more than another food (well, maybe they’re tied with apples and spinach – my other two non-dessert loves (and yes – I do indeed make apple, chickpea, and spinach salads.)).

Now I can love them (AND you can love them, too!) in the form of bread, pancakes, and/or wraps.

Holy moly. Is this too good to be true?

WHY have I just discovered socca now? I am disappointed that it took me 23 years to find this food, but now that I’ve found it, I’ve had it every.single.day.since.

Yes. Every day I’m socca’ing.

Let’s have a quick chat about socca.

It’s made from chickpea flour. Which is made 100% from chickpeas. Honestly guys, CHICKPEA FLOUR?! Some people are so freaking smart it hurts my brain to ponder their intelligence.

Ok, then you add water. And a touch of oil. And salt.

That’s it.

It’s gluten free, it’s vegan, it’s magical, and it has just changed the way I carb-load.

Incredible.

I feel like an evangelical preacher. It’s so chilled. I preach the word of chickpeas. And, I practice what I preach.

socca

Socca – What you need:

½ cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (Because I use zaa’tar which has a touch of salt, I use 1/4 teaspoon)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil (or any oil really… I used 1 tablespoon today.)
optional: spices… I’m addicted to zaa’tar (sesame seeds, sumac, and herb mix), so that’s what I use (1 tablespoon, usually), but throw in some rosemary, pepper, cumin, or what ever fancies your taste buds!

Socca – What you do:

In a large bowl, add the chickpea flour.

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Slowly add the water, whisking constantly.

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Add the salt, oil, and spices. Whisk until all the lumps are gone.

Allow the batter to sit for around an hour to let the water absorb all of the flour.

The batter bubbles!

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Preheat the oven to 200 celcius. Prepare a pan by greasing it with olive oil.

Whisk the batter a few times after it has rested. The batter will be super thin, fret not!

Pour the batter into the pan. Pop it in the oven.

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Bake for 30 minutes at 200 celcius, then flip the socca over, and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

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(flip!)

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… fifteen minutes of oven lovin’ later…

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I have seen 1000 variations of socca recipes. Basically, this is the one that has worked the best for me. This recipe makes a 1/2 to 1 centimeter thick bread… which is perfect for me… but if you want a bit less, just use ¼ cup flour and ½ cup water… If you want more, to feed more people, or an exceptionally hungry socca lover (we don’t judge socca consumption at Bakecetera), double the ratios. However! Beware! A thicker bread may result in a crunchy outside with a very custard-y vibe on the inside. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you won’t be getting the same bread-like texture (because it will be like custard).

Socca can also be made on the stove top… like a pancake… yes, it’s this magical.

Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Alt-J – Something Good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNYjOVo5IEw

Alt-J – Tessellate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg6BwvDcANg

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Mini Hazelnut Cookies

Jan

So the past week was pretty crazy re: life making decisions.

My friend and I spontaneously booked tickets to Morocco (woohoo mini vacay in two weeks!).

I also booked flights arriving in Kenya, and then three weeks later leaving from Tanzania (… with a little Zanzibar in between). And well, the reason for the east Africa trip is that I also booked my trip to climb (ahem, ATTEMPT to climb) Mt. Kilimanjaro!

(My mom is so not pleased right now with my life decisions.)

If someone were to take a photo of what’s going on inside my brain, there would be some universe-like vibe with tons of bright colours and flying debris.

Because of my wild excitement, I decided to balance out my life a little bit via my baking. The cookies today are so simple. They’re adapted from: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2012/11/baci-di-dama-cookies-recipe/, and I didn’t really change the ingredients much, but I modified the method to make the cookie preparation much easier.

hazelnut_cookies

Mini hazelnut cookies – What you need:

75 grams hazelnuts, toasted and without skins
½ cup all purpose flour, sifted
½ teaspoon nutmeg
50 grams butter (or margarine for a vegan cookie), softened
¼ cup cane sugar
1/8 teaspoon (or just a pinch) of salt

Mini hazelnut cookies – What you do:

I started off using blanched hazelnuts, so the skins were already removed. I toasted the hazelnuts at 110c for 10 minutes, shaking the baking pan occasionally. The short amount of toasting really makes the flavour pop!

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In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts into a coarse meal.

In a large bowl, stir together the hazelnuts, flour, and nutmeg.

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Cut the butter up into pieces, and add the butter, sugar, and salt into the nut mixture. Using your fingers, blend the dough until it begins to stick together. At this point, gently knead the dough until you can form it into a ball. The dough should hold together easily. If you find the dough is too dry, and a touch more (melted) butter or margarine.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate the dough for around an hour, so it’s nicely chilled. Warning! I didn’t make all of the dough, and when I went back to check on it the next day (you know, for a cookie dough breakfast), it was hardened. If this happens, just leave it at room temperature for a bit.

Pre-heat the oven to 160c.

Once chilled, break off small pieces from the ball of dough and roll each one into a small sphere. Flatten each cookie slightly.

If you have a scale, the recipe recommends that each cookie should be 5 grams. You only need to weigh it once, and then use the weighed cookie as a template for the rest of the cookies. If you don’t have a scale (or can’t be bothered to weigh one cookie as a template), the cookies should be about the size of a marble.

Place the prepared cookies spread out on a baking sheet.

Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets half way through the cooking process.

Cool completely on a cooling rack. Once cool, fill the cookies with chocolate.

The recipe (linked above, you can check out their chocolate recipe there) uses melted chocolate (simple and fast!), but I had a ton of left over ganache from these macarons: http://bakecetera.com/pistachio-orange-macarons/, so I used ganache. Honestly, these guys were really good without the chocolate… so if you want to leave them plain, they will still please the taste buds!

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Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHEOF_rcND8

Amadou & Mariam – Sabali: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KhFv1qJcao (< definitely in my top 5 favourite songs of all time!)

Pistachio Orange Macarons

Jan

I like a good mystery.

I mean, I grew up watching the X-Files. It’s been engrained in my soul to fervently attune my spidey-senses to suspicious activity. Honestly, I should be a spy.

(Ahem, maybe I am?)

So, now that I am in the position to solve a mystery. I am stoked.

Thus, I bring to you: The Mystery of the Phantom Falling Television.

The first week that I moved into my new apartment in Paris last August, I was walking up the stairs and noticed a strange sight:

A small TV, like a mini-kitchen-TV sort of vibe, was in the hallway on third floor, face down. It looked like someone from the fourth or fifth floor had leaned over their railing and plopped it over the side. There wasn’t any broken glass… but there it was, screen down, in the hallway. Odd? I thought so.

Well, it stayed there for a few days, and then finally it was gone.

Ok? Well, fast-forward a few more months. I’m climbing up the stairs again, and, LOW AND BEHOLD!, the phantom TV is back! This time it only stayed around for an afternoon, but this visit was just as strange as the first.

The TV magically landed on the third floor, hung out for a bit, then POP – disappeared.

Since the second visit was so short, I kind of forgot about the phantom TV… until last week with the third strike of the TV.

Again – going up the stairs and there it is. It stayed on the floor a few days, but by the weekend it was gone.

If this happens again, I will not only solve this mystery, but I will take a photo of the phantom TV and share it with you all.

This is truly bizarre. I needed to share my puzzlement with you.

And now, I’m going to ponder various theories of the phantom TV while snacking on these macarons. Brain food!

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Pistachio Orange Macarons – What you need:

90 grams of almond meal
20 grams of ground pistachio
200 grams of confectioner’s sugar
50 grams of caster sugar
zest of one orange
pinch of nutmeg (1/4 to ½ a teaspoon)
100 grams of aged egg whites (leave out the egg whites in a sealed container on your counter for 24 hours)

Pistachio Orange Macarons – What you do:

Dry the almond, pistachio, and orange zest out in the oven by baking it all for 10 minutes at 100c (stirring a few times throughout the process).

Pulse the nut mixture with the confectioner’s sugar and nutmeg a few times in a food processor, then sift the mix into a large bowl and set it aside.

<<My sister gave me this really cool pastry pump (?, not sure of the word?) for Christmas this year! I, unfortunately, melted my baking scale onto my cooking plate (don’t worry, I fixed everything!) a few weeks ago, so I wasn’t able to make macarons until I bought a new one. Now I FINALLY tried out this pastry bag, and it’s amazing.>>

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In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Then, slowly add in the caster sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form.

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Fold the egg whites into the dry mixture, and carefully incorporate the two together. Make sure to keep your stirs to under 50! You never want to overbeat the macaron batter.

Fill your pastry bag and/or pumping machine with the macaron batter. Pipe out macarons onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Tap the sheet on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles.

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Allow the macarons to sit at room temperature for an hour prior to baking.

Preheat the oven to 140-150c, depending on the size of your macarons (I always bake mine at 140-145c).

Bake the macarons for 14-16 minutes (again, depending on size… these guys were small so they actually only needed 13-14 minutes). Once finished, the macarons should easily pop off the parchment paper. If they stick, put them back in the oven for a few more minutes. Rest on a cooling rack until completely cooled.

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I paired these guys with a chocolate-orange ganache. My mantra these days has been “chocolate.orange.chocolate.orange.chocolate.orange”. It’s so winter to me?

Chocolate-Orange Ganache – What you need:

200 ml cream
15 grams caster sugar
250 grams dark chocolate
40 grams of butter
zest of one orange
pinch of nutmeg

Chocolate-Orange Ganache – What you do:

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a medium heat-proof bowl. Add the orange zest and nutmeg to the chocolate.

Bring the cream and sugar to barely a boil (a strong simmer, let’s say) on the stove top, and then remove it from the heat.

Pour the cream over the chocolate, and allow it to sit for a moment. Then, once the chocolate begins to melt, whisk the cream and chocolate together until a thick ganache forms.

Allow the ganache to settle at room temperature, or speed up the process by popping it in the fridge for an hour.

When it’s thick – you can fill your macarons!

I like how the ganache looks like little stars!

Normally I smooth out the tops of the macarons before baking to get a clean top, but I let these guys run loose! I’m really happy with the more organic shape.

Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Granville – Jersey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aXFgnM0KGM

Vegan Cornbread

Jan

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I have a few self-imposed rules that were established based off the premises that I believe in attempting a healthy lifestyle and/or that I have absolutely NO self-control when it comes to my favourite foods.

None.

Nada.

Although some may seem silly, I promise you these rules have a purpose, and, for your sake, I won’t divulge my inner workings, but I will remark that one of these rules is:

no baking of cornbread unless I can immediately share it.

Sigh. Breaking rules is bad. Very, very bad.

I have this weird thing for cornbread. If you saw my Thanksgiving post (BAMB: http://bakecetera.com/cornbread-macarons-with-cranberry-cream-cheese-filling/ ), you know. But, at Thanksgiving I followed the rule, and lots of people came over to help me eat the cornbread (in all of its various forms).

I thought this past weekend would be an excellent time to take my favourite cornbread recipe and make it vegan because I was going to have a small dinner with a few friends. I looked at all the ingredients, and I ended up changing almost everything about it. Cashew milk (homemade!) and vinegar replaced the buttermilk, my new find of flax meal in baking was used for one egg, and some apple sauce replaced the other egg and the sugar. Finally, I took out the butter and used olive oil instead. It was a beautiful transformation… until my dinner ended up not happening, and I was left alone with an entire pan of cornbread.

Yikes.

The good news? I thoroughly tasted the cornbread, repeatedly, so I can assure you that this cornbread is indeed just as good (or even better) than my old favourite!

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Vegan cornbread – What you need:

1 cup cashew milk* minus 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon flax meal dissolved in 3 tablespoons of water
¼ cup applesauce
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup olive oil
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt

Vegan cornbread – what you do:

Preheat the oven to 175c, and grease a dish. (20cm x 25cm, or I used a 25cm round cake pan)

Combine the cashew milk and vinegar, set aside for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flax meal and water mixture. Whisk in the apple sauce, then, once combined, whisk in the olive oil.

Add the cashew milk/vinegar mix, and then immediately after stir in the baking soda.

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Stir in the cornmeal, flour, and salt. Combine well, but don’t over mix!

Scoop the batter into the prepared dish and smooth to create an even surface (the batter will be thick!).

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Bake at 175c for 25-30 minutes. The top will be golden brown, but the inside will still be moist.

This SHOULD serve 8-10 people.

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(nom. nom. close up. nom.)

Look! The cornbread made it out of the pan! (Pretty big feat for me, just saying.)

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*Cashew milk – Now, I’ve heard heaps about this stuff, and I’ve always wanted to make it and use it in recipes, but I have NEVER found raw cashews (in Paris) and I’m terrible at remembering to pre-prep ingredients. Typically, cashew milk is made with raw cashews that are soaked for 8-10 hours prior to preparation.

Umm… my style:

Cashew milk – What you need:

1 cup of (raw?) cashews
1 cup of water

Cashew milk – What you do:

Well, let’s see. Since my cashews weren’t raw, I rinsed them twice, trying to rub off all the salt and roasted goodness. Then, I completely covered them with water, and placed them in the refrigerator for 3 ½ hours.

After, I rinsed them off, and then with the cup of fresh water (noted above) I blended them in my food processor until a creamy cashew milk was formed. It made about 1 ½ cups of cashew milk… but it was super thick, so if you were after a thinner cashew milk, add some more water!

NOW – what everyone else tells you to do is use raw cashews, soak them for 8 to 10 hours, rinse, then blend.

Either way – cashew milk is super simple, and it worked wonderfully in this cornbread!

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I made fennel, pumpkin, and comte cheese (spiced with paprika!) empanadas to go with my cornbread! These: http://givemeflour.com/?p=599 have been bookmarked for about a year on my computer, and once I saw these: http://www.sproutedkitchen.com/home/2013/1/10/squash-goat-cheese-empanadas.html, I knew it was time to try.

This recipe is unbelievable (and fun AND simple!). I will definitely make it again!

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Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Oh gosh. I was stressing about this part of the post because ALL I’ve been listening to lately are the Lumineers. But then! I realized that I haven’t yet used this album on Bakecetera yet. Phew, problem solved.

The Lumineers – Flowers in your hair: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sb6LduFwRM

The Lumineers – Flapper girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Cyqxvlvew

Happy Sunday!

Chaos Cookies (vegan)

Jan

Happy New Year!

Man. It’s been hard getting back in the game. I think I’ve temporarily damaged my brain due to excess cookie intake. Baking hasn’t been a top priority with my schedule flip-flapping around over the last two weeks, especially since my sweet tooth has been satisfied by external sources. (Thanks mom and dad!)

However, now I’m back to school, back to life, back to chaos.

Now, some people need to retreat from the cookie scene after Christmas. Some people experience cookie overdoses. Thankfully, I’m immune to overdose. I’m a pure addict. I keep coming back for more. Try and wean me off via macarons, cake, and/or muffins, and you bet I’ll get addicted to those too. Tread lightly!

EXCEPT, this time these “cookies” can hardly be labeled as such.

Instead, I’m going to go with health food.

Honestly, what cookies can YOU think of that have no flour, no eggs, no added sugar besides a little bit of dark chocolate lovin’, and fruit… yes, FRUIT! I mean, these guys are so packed to the brim with diet foods, that I think, for once in my life, I can actually grasp the idea of dieting.

These cookies are inspired and recreated very closely from this recipe: http://www.shutterbean.com/2012/carnival-cookies/

I’ve changed a few things, and renamed them to suit my current mood, and thus we have:

Chaos Cookies – What you need:

3 ripe bananas, mashed
¼ cup of melted coconut oil
1 ½ cup rolled oats
½ cup of ground peanuts (pulse peanuts in a food processor until finely ground)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup roasted peanuts
1 cup of dark chocolate, finely chopped (I got the yummy dark chocolate chips from the vegan store!)
4 rice crackers, crumbled finely

Chaos Cookies – What you do:

Preheat the oven to 180c. Prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the bananas and coconut oil. Set aside.

In another large bowl, stir together the oats, ground peanuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients (oat mix) into the wet ingredients (banana mix), and combine well.

Stir in the peanuts, chocolate, and rice cracker crumbs.

Again, combine well.

Roll the cookie dough into balls, and place on the cookie sheet. Flatten them a bit, because they don’t spread out much while baking.

Bake at 180c for 15 minutes. After removing the cookies, allow them to sit on the cookie sheet before placing on a cooling rack to cool.

(It gets dark so early in Paris! And it gets dark oh so quickly! By the time the cookies were done baking, it was nighttime – look at the different lightings!)

This recipe makes around 20 cookies. They should stay perfectly divine and tasty for up to a week if you refrigerate them in a sealed container.

Side note! I adored the natural flavours of these guys, but they weren’t terribly sweet (well, obvvvviously, because we didn’t add any sugar!!!), so if you’re after a sweeter cookie, add a few tablespoons of maple syrup or a dollop of honey!

Dieting in 2013 just got easy. Nom.

Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

The Kooks – Young Folks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqUcvqHNy9k

The Crookes – Yes, yes we’re magicians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4xRuJtJmHo

(AMAZING SONG!)

Vegan Dog Treats

Dec

This is Walter!

Sir Walter Raleigh, to be most specific.

Walter is my sister’s dog, and I used to live with him as well. He is probably the most spirited, personality-filled, four year old pup you ever could meet.

We have a complicated relationship. He likes to chew my things. Especially when they’re expensive and leather. But, I mean, look at those little eyes… you really can’t be angry with him for too long. Believe me, I’ve tried. It just doesn’t work.

So, for Christmas I made Walter some treats. Miam miam doggie treats. (Yes, I tasted the batter, don’t judge me.)

Everyone deserves a little something on the holidays! AND, if he’s eating tasty dog treats, then he won’t be eating my belongings! (Or so we hope.)

Peanut butter and carrot dog treats – What you need:

1 cup of oats, ground (or if you don’t have a food processor, I’m sure you could just leave them whole)
1 cup of whole wheat flour (Walter isn’t gluten sensitive, but I know that some dogs are, so go for gluten-free if need be!)
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup peanut butter (I made my peanut butter from scratch. If you feed your doggie peanut butter, make sure it isn’t the super processed stuff.)
2 tablespoons maple syrup (Too much sugar isn’t good for dogs, but a little bit of natural sugar won’t hurt.)
½ cup of water

Peanut butter and carrot dog treats – What you do:

Preheat the oven to 180c.

First, shred the carrots and grind the oats.

Then, literally, throw everything together in a bowl. I used my hands to combine it all.

Pack it up into a ball, then wrap it in plastic wrap and chill the treat dough in the fridge for around an hour.

Push out the dough onto a clean surface until it’s about 2 cm thick (I didn’t even use a rolling pin), and cut out shapes for the dog treats.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake at 180c for 15-20 minutes (depending if you want a softer or crunchier treat).

Allow the treats to cool completely before feeding them to your pup!

I had a sleepover with my sister the night before Christmas. We made a Christmas tree, and Walter helped out!

Ta DA! Christmas morning.

Walter had to wait while the grown-ups ate brunch and opened presents.

Walter is secretly SO SO SO excited. He can behave if he knows that food is involved.

Merry Christmas!!! Walter adored the treats. Happiness for everyone, people and pooches alike!

Now I’m on vacation, in Montreal, eating my Mom’s Nanaimo bars (FINALLY!). I think Bakecetera is taking an extended holiday… so see you all in 2013. Happy holidays and happy new year!

Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Ok, ok… this ISN’T music… but since I’m in Canada for the first time in a year and a half…

Eugene Mirman – Canada: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L37rwcg8EY

Nanaimo Bars

Dec

Na. Naim. O. Bars.

It can be tricky to say. After introducing these bars to my friends, I typically get a “whatttt?”, and once, I even got a “neiiighhhh?”. Yes, horse noises.

Fortunately, I have been saying these two words (over and over, every year) ever since I’ve been able to talk, so it’s pretty easy for me. Nanaimo bars are sort of the most important thing in my family. A Christmas is NOT complete without Nanaimo bars. They are, and this I promise you, the most delicious things that I have ever tasted. Ever.

My mom has been making these since forever. I won’t be seeing her until AFTER Christmas, and therefore I won’t be having Nanaimo bars from her at Christmastime. I can’t go one full year without these little guys. It would just be bad karma.

Thus, I requested the recipe and gave it my all. Needless to say, there must be some serious tacit knowledge in perfecting the Nanaimo… mine aren’t even comparable to my mom’s, but, they hit the spot until I can have the real thing.

Nanaimo bars – What you need:

Part 1: the base

1/2 cup butter or margarine
5 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (store bought, or these ones: (http://bakecetera.com/graham-crackers/)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, or your choice of nut
1 egg, whisked

Part 2: the filling

60 grams (4 tablespoons) butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
1 heaping teaspoon of Bird’s Eye custard powder
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Part 3: the chocolate top

115 grams semi-sweet chocolate
30 grams (2 tablespoons) butter or margarine

Nanaimo bars – What you do:

Part 1:

In a large bowl, mix together the coconut, graham cracker crumbs, and chopped pecans. Set aside.

Melt the butter over a double boiler. Add the cocoa powder and the sugar. Mix well. Add the whisked egg slowly, while whisking constantly, and stir until smooth.

Add the butter-cocoa mixture to the coconut mixture and combine well.

Put the mixture into a pan (I used a 20 cm by 30 cm, or 8 in by 12 in pan). Pat the mixture down firmly and evenly. Allow the mixture to sit in the fridge for 3 – 4 hours.

Part 2:

Cream together all of the ingredients until smooth and fluffy. Spoon the filling mixture evenly over the base layer.

Allow the 2nd layer to rest in the fridge for 3 -4 hours.

Part 3:

Melt the butter and chocolate together. You can either do this on a double boiler or in the microwave (I used a microwave).

Pour the chocolate over the filling layer of the Nanaimo bars and spread the chocolate evenly.

Again, and for the final time, allow the Nanaimo bars to sit in the fridge for 2 hours.

Before cutting the Nanaimo bars, allow them to sit out at room temperature for 15 – 30 minutes so the chocolate doesn’t crack. Cut the bars into even squares. These store well in the fridge or freezer. My mom easily ships them across the ocean, so I’m assuming that they stay well for at least a few weeks in the fridge. Although, don’t worry, they won’t last that long!

Ok, let’s do a close up of those freshly cut layers. It’s love at first sight!

One more time?

These ones lasted about 0.5 seconds.

Baking soundtrack – Tunes to inspire your inner baker:

Fanfarlo – Shiny Things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26_J5vaoXVU

Fanfarlo – Tightrope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEQHF1sPHr8

Oh, gosh, and P.S.: the reason why these are “THE BEST” Nanaimo bars in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, is because, well, they really are. I’ve tasted some Nanaimoes that weren’t home made, and they were, for lack of a better word, gross. You should really try to make your own if you haven’t liked the store-bought versions! COMPLETELY different.

Strawberry Heart Macarons

Chocolate Cookies

(vegan + raw) Matcha Green Tea “Cheese”cake

Socca (Chickpea Flour Flatbread)

Mini Hazelnut Cookies

Pistachio Orange Macarons

Vegan Cornbread

Chaos Cookies (vegan)

Vegan Dog Treats

Nanaimo Bars

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