love.life.eat
a relentless pursuit of the perfect home + dish
re-engineering a classic: coconut blueberry banana loaf
Posted on May 13, 2013
Believe me when I say that this loaf has seen more transformations than Madonna in the 90s. One morning in 2009, I searched for a simple banana bread recipe, and after baking said loaf, finding it just okay, I decided to tinker with it. Over the years, I’ve had tremendous triumphs: the nutella banana loaf, the banana chocolate chip nutella loaf, the pistachio coconut banana loaf, and on it goes. However, nothing awakens my cold, dead heart than a smattering of blueberries, a pile of bananas and sweet coconut.
In this go-around, I decided to begin the slow transformation from a loaf that is heavy with white flour and sugar to something richer, something more complex. I’ve made many flour substitutions, which have ended violently (read: me tossing the wreckage in the bin, me wailing in front of a hot oven, me wondering what was I thinking when I decided to incorporate quinoa flour? WHAT WAS I THINKING?!), so I’m going slow with this. So far, I’ve swapped out the oils, reduced the sugar (rationalizing that the coconuts and blueberries will help), and added in agave. I’m moving toward brown rice syrups, honey (in my heart I KNOW honey will make this loaf SING), and coconut, tapioca and almond flours. I’ll keep you posted on all my attempts (and inevitable failures), along the way.
For now, know that this is the sort of loaf that will wake you up at night. The sort of loaf that I’m carrying, right now, so I can pawn off to someone else. Simply put: this kid is DANGEROUS.
INGREDIENTS (makes two loaves)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup agave
3/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup ripe mashed banana (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cups almond milk
Nonstick coconut oil cooking spray
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 9×5 inch loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, agave and coconut oil on medium-low speed until combined. Beat in the flour mixture. Add the vanilla, banana, coconut, almond milk, and beat just to combine. Fold in the blueberries.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and let cool completely. Bread can be kept at room temperature, wrapped well in plastic, for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months. But honestly, are you going to do this? Shove a delicious loaf in the freezer and abandon it so cruelly? Hardly. You’re going to end up cutting small slices in the middle of the night, and eat this, standing up, in the kitchen, in the DARK.
the sweet life in biarritz + a ‘do not disturb’ sign
Posted on April 28, 2013
Biarritz was only this morning but it feels like decades past. The train back to Paris hurtled so fast through the countryside, you’d think it was on the run, and I couldn’t help but think that the ocean now felt small, like some sort of tableaux in sepia, a blue dream I had in the morning to then wake in a cold metropolis. Truth be told, I’m having a tough time making adjustments, of finding my way back. It occurs to me that I’ve spent much of this time thinking, so much so that it sometimes feels dangerous, as I have a habit of so easily slipping into a life vibrantly lived in my head.
Instead, I share the pretty diversions, the edited for television version of these past three weeks, simply because there are things that should always be kept offline. I don’t want to be figured out or resolved. I want to be the person who sorts out my life, and lately I’ve been recoiling from people who dole out unsolicited advice like sweets, tell me I should be doing this, that or whatever. At times my reactions have been visceral, irrational, abrasive because I can sense in their words and facial expressions that they want a kind of closure, a finishing of sorts. They want me to snap to it, be the Felicia they want to know or think they know. They want a refreshed LinkedIn page that puts an end to all that. They want to say, so, we’re done here, right?
Even if their words imply none of the above, right now I just need to hold up my DO NOT DISTURB sign. I need to surround myself with people who are comfortable with the words, I don’t know. I need to be around people who put down their phone while we’re eating.
Oh dear. I just realized I was supposed to write about pastry, wasn’t I?
The good news is that you can’t really get a terrible sweet experience in Biarritz. While it’s true there are fanciful shops that will make you gasp over the cost of a piece of chocolate (most of which are located along the waterfront), Biarritz offers incredible chocolates, breads and Basque treats that had me shaking from sugar. My favorite was the very simple gateaux basque, a cake-cum-tart with a crumbly, semolina consistency that is filled with cherry compote, cream or chocolate. From the cracked crust to the delicate filling juxtaposed with the dense texture of the cake, you’ll fawn over the texture + flavor plays. It’s so simple, yet, SO PERFECT.
My choice spots are Real Chocolate (bark chocolate that will have you keeling over from the richness), Maison Adam (finally, a macaron I can actually tolerate!), Le Secret des Pain (the best loaves of bread, beignets and cakes you’ll have in Biarritz), Gateaux Basque at the Miremont (with an ocean view that isn’t too shabby) + all the local boulangeries in Les Halles.
Trying so hard to slow that train down…
the finest chocolate mousse you will ever have: chapon, paris
Posted on April 24, 2013
I’m still dreaming about Chapon’s luxurious mousse. So much so, that when considering whether I should remain in Biarritz instead of hauling my luggage to Paris, Chapon’s mousse continues to be the singular hold-out.
risotto with greens + a decadent chocolate cake — it’s all virtuous!
Posted on April 6, 2013
The hardest part of telling people about the goodness in Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook is getting past the hot mess that is Gwyneth Paltrow and that rarified world of which she believes to be our reality. In Gwyneth’s world, we’re sporting $850 leather shorts, charring paper-thin pizzas in our outdoor ovens, and frolicking through reeds of grass whilst munching on Amagansett apples. Part of me hopes that Winona Ryder will resurface from her stupor and launch the anti-GOOP, a noir-hued website where a chain-smoking, cheeseburger-eating life is as good as it gets. However, this idyll is very much a Waiting for Godot situation, and I’ve admitted, albeit grudgingly, that Paltrow’s book is quite good. My friend Hitha has decided to ignore Paltrow and instead give credit to Paltrow’s co-writer, Julia Turshen.
I very much like this strategy.
To say that Hitha and I adore food is an understatement. Devoted followers of the gospel that is Michael Pollan, ardent believers in the notion that our body is the home in which we want to live rather than the apartment we’re renting, my sweet friend and I often get together and spend days cooking, eating, and photographing our food. You’ll find us standing on top of chairs, adjusting plates, contemplating linens and trying to find that shot, and I’m humbled to have found such a kindred spirit. So on a day that whispers spring, we decided to give a bunch of Gwynnie’s recipes a go.
On the menu? A virtuous verdant risotto, a kale salad dressed with seasoned turkey bacon (I hope my Twitter friend Michael isn’t reading this!), and a decadent two-layer chocolate cake with “buttercream.” Hitha made the killer risotto and salad, while I focused on dessert, and I have to say that we did a pretty fox job! We marveled over the rich, satiny texture of the risotto (sans cheese!) and the buttercream that had no dairy or butter, yet tasted very much like the real deal. Here’s to eating mindfully and a meal that left us satiated.
Risotto with Greens: Adapted from It’s All Good, with modifications
INGREDIENTS + DIRECTIONS
1 quart vegetable stock
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced (about 3/4 cup)
1 leek, white and light green parts only, throughly washed and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
leaves from 6 sprigs of thyme
coarse sea salt
1 cup Arborio rice
2 cups baby spinach (we didn’t have this on hand, but will definitely add this next time)
1/4 cup chopped basil
Freshly ground black pepper
Warm the vegetable stock in a small pot and set it on the back burner over low heat. Using a Microplane grater or a zester, zest the lemon and set the zest aside. Cut the lemon in half, juice it and set the juice aside.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot set over high heat. Add the onion and leek, turn the heat down to medium, and cook until the vegetables just begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme along with a big pinch of salt and cook until all the aromatics are, well, aromatic, another 2 minutes.
Turn the heat to high, add the rice and the reserved lemon juice and stir to combine all the ingredients. Cook until the lemon juice is just evaporated and then stir in a ladleful of the warm stock. Continue to stir the risotto until the stock is absorbed, then stir in another ladleful of stock.
Continue in this manner until the rice is cooked through and you’ve used all your stock, about 20 minutes. At this point your arm should feel as if it’s going to fall off and the rice should be luxuriously creamy and rich.
Stir in the reserved lemon zest, the greens (these will cook with the risotto’s residual heat), the basil and a few healthy grinds of pepper. Serve immediately.
Kale Salad with Gwyneth’s “Momo’s Special Turkey Bacon”
INGREDIENTS + DIRECTIONS
6 cups of mixed kale leaves, chopped
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt/pepper
8 oz pack of turkey bacon (8 slices)
2 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp maple syrup
Mix the greens with the carrots and toss in the olive oil, salt + pepper to taste. Set aside.
Pre-heat the broiler (or oven to 450F). Lay the bacon on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Whisk together the mustard and the syrup. Using a pastry brush (or spoon), “paint” half of it on the slices. Broil for one minute, then turn it and coat the other side of each slice with the remaining mixture. Broil for another 1-2 minutes, or until crispy. Break up the bacon into chunks and toss into the salad.
Chocolate Cake + Darleen’s Healthy Buttercream
INGREDIENTS + DIRECTIONS
For the Cake: Click here for the recipe. Instead of using a cupcake/muffin tin, grease two nine-inch cake pans. Bake for 18 minutes at 350F (the recipe calls for 20, but I thought the cake too done. I’d start checking after 15 minutes), and allow to completely cool for 20 minutes before icing with the buttercream. I like to layer some cream in the middle and on top. Since I like my cakes to be a little rough around the edges, I tend to not go in for the luxe side-sweep, allowing for you to see the contrast of cake and cream from all sides. A woman loves a little crumble on her plate.
One thing Hitha + I noticed that we should bring to your attention. This cake dough is incredibly delicate. I thought this was a result of my flubbed measurements in yesterday’s cupcakes, but since you don’t have egg as the binding agent, the cake will fall apart pretty easily, so handle with care.
Another point to make, the recipe notes that one could use 8 and 9 inch pans interchangeably without denoting the change in cooking times, which is a MAJOR MISS. The density is a marked difference, and I would venture that I’d need 20 minutes for an 8inch pan (as you have a denser cake) and 15-18 minutes for the 9 inch. Although I love the book, I’m starting to see minor errors that can affect the dishes. Not critical for cooking, but tantamount for baking.
For the Buttercream
2 cups Spectrum organic shortening (room temperature). This is a non-hydrogenated palm oil, available at speciality and health food stores, as well as Whole Foods.
1 cup tapioca starch (or tapioca flour, which is the same thing)
1 cup agave nectar (or Grade A light maple syrup)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Place all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric (or stand) mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until light and fluffy. The frosting can be refrigerated for up to one month, but bring it back to room temperature and rewhip before using.
While this whipped cream doesn’t taste exactly like the buttercream to which we’ve been accustomed, my knee-jerk reaction was that it resembled whipped marshmallow or marshmallow fluff. The texture is spot-on and the taste light and sweet. Hitha brought her hubby over and this was definitely a crowd favorite.
guilt-free + delicious chocolate almond cupcakes (true story)
Posted on April 5, 2013
A few weeks ago I had a rather heated conversation with my doctor. Our relationship has always been fraught with drama on the level of theatre or absurdity (usually both), for I’m always convinced that I’ve fallen victim to one affliction or another. When I learned I had a Vitamin D deficiency last summer, I spent weeks on the Internet trying to diagnose myself with an ailment that I was certain my doctor had obscured from me. Chalk it up to a childhood sans health insurance, where hospital visits were epic affairs replete with late movies and hours fidgeting in a waiting room. Back in the day you didn’t see a doctor unless you were on the verge of death, and even then you considered your options.
But back to the conversation at hand. My doctor phoned me with the results of my blood work. I asked, Am I dying? To which my doctor replied, No, but… Naturally, I shrieked because one did not allow for coordinating conjunctions on such occasions. And while my doctor assured me I was fine, just fine, he did notice that I had an abnormal spike in my sugar levels, and upon further investigation, I have a gene that predisposes me to diabetes.
Believe me when I say I was flummoxed. I don’t eat processed or packaged food; I avoid the middle aisles of supermarkets. I EAT KALE! But it didn’t matter because I’m a baker who uses cane sugar. I am a woman who loves carbs. Genetics are genetics. After a few seconds of dramatics, I calmed down and focused on solutions.
Since that conversation, I’ve been the business of sugar reduction. Never have I fallen prey to dramatic dietary changes, but I have made some modifications to my diet. Instead of daily pasta dinner (yes, I know, I know), I have whole wheat pasta three times a week. Instead of bagels and toast, I blitz up a morning protein smoothie that tastes very much like a milkshake.
However, baking proves to be a bit of a challenge. I need to get real with you guys and say there is no true substitute for what sugar, butter and white flour can deliver in a cake, cupcake or loaf. We can make all the modifications under the proverbial sun, but the classics are mainstays for a reason. Yet, I need to get real with myself and admit that the mainstays, while not harmful now, will be in ten years time.
Enter the wretched Gwyneth Paltrow cookbook. Those who know me know that I’ve been going through the tortures of the damned because I have a love/hate relationship with the pedigreed-actress-cum-faux-Martha-Stewart, but her new cookbook is pretty strong, offering smart, virtuous recipes that are free of white flour + sugar.
After I swooned over the banana “ice cream,” I thought I’d try fixing her chocolate almond cupcakes. While they don’t taste like Reece’s Pieces (bless your heart, Gwyneth), they are quite good. These are not your average cupcakes with their airy, feather-light cake consistency, rather they’re fudgy, bordering on a brownie-like texture, and the tops have a lovely crunch to them. My only gripe is that the recipe didn’t convey that the batter makes 18 cupcakes instead of the standard 12 (I found this out researching the recipe online), so some of my cupcakes fell apart after the cooling process.
However, that didn’t stop me from eating one and playing with my kitty.
I invite you to give these cupcakes a go, and I’ll be posting more recipes from the book in an effort to play around with new flours and sweeteners (brown rice syrup is a new, delightful find), sharing my journey along the way.
INGREDIENTS: Recipe adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow’s It’s All Good, modified slightly
Makes about 18 cupcakes
300g (2 cups) white spelt flour (if you can tolerate a little gluten) or all-purpose gluten-free flour (if it doesn’t include it in the gluten-free flour, add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum)
100g (1 cup) high-quality cocoa powder
1½ tbsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
4oz (½ cup) grapeseed oil or Vegenaise
8oz (1 cup) good-quality maple syrup, plus an additional 4 tablespoons
4oz (½ cup) brown rice syrup
4oz (½ cup) strong brewed coffee (cooled)
4oz (½ cup) almond milk
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
4 tbsp roasted almond butter
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas 4. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and another tin just with 6 liners. Set it aside.
Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powders and salt together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil or Vegenaise, 1 cup of the maple syrup, the brown rice syrup, coffee, almond milk and vanilla. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones, being careful not to over-beat (that’s how you end up with tough cupcakes!). While I’m usually pretty delicate with the dough, I was able to add all of the wet ingredients at once and stir until the flour mixture fully absorbed the we mixture.
Meanwhile, whisk together the almond butter and the remaining 4 tbsp of maple syrup and set it aside.
Fill each muffin cup halfway with the basic batter. Evenly divide the almond butter-maple syrup mixture among the muffin cups and top with the remaining batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool completely before serving.
virtuous banana soft-serve ice-cream from the wretched gwyneth paltrow cookbook
Posted on March 31, 2013
This is what happens when you sit in a chair while someone blow-dries your hair for an hour: you read Self magazine. Specifically the cover story on Gwyneth Paltrow, nature’s candy and the purported lithe antecedent to Martha Stewart. Let it be known that I’ve held nothing but contempt for Paltrow, who was dancing to The Spice Girls with my beloved Winona Ryder and pilfering the Shakespeare in Love script while poor Ryder was probably in the bathroom. Let it also be known that I was this close to acquiring a Free Winona t-shirt because I felt I understood the J.D. Salinger-adoring, winsome goth princess. I’d been betrayed by back-stabbing blondes; I had a watch, I knew what time it was.
Please know that I’ve observed Paltrow with mild contempt. From dreadful movie roles (I did, however, enjoy her in Hard Eight, and Sylvia, because no one can play self-centered, whiny artist like Paltrow) to her GOOP newsletter (you guys, I’m just like you!) to her cookbooks, I’ve been a passive observer, perhaps waiting for Ryder to usurp her with a chain-smoking ode to the virtues of the cheeseburger, bun et all.
But back to the salon. As I read through the usual fawning profile of Paltrow, replete with photos of her frolicking through the grass, I spied a recipe that intrigued me beyond measure.
My friends, this soft-serve faux ice-cream is the best damn thing I’ve had in days. As I type, I’m eating this thing and it is GOOD. It has the consistency of whipped ice-cream, with the sweetness that has more depth than sugar could provide. I loved the smokiness of the maple syrup, and this will definitely be in my summer repertoire.
SMITE YOU, GWYNETH! {SHAKES FISTS! FREE WINONA!}
INGREDIENTS: Recipe courtesy of HER
4 bananas, sliced in rounds
1/4 cup roasted almonds, finely chopped {I used pistachios}
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tbsp + 2 tsp maple syrup, divided
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Place banana slices in a single layer on a plate or tray lined with parchment or wax paper; freeze at least 3 hours. In a bowl, combine almonds, 2 tsp syrup and salt. In a food processor, pulse frozen banana slices, milk, vanilla and remaining 2 tbsp syrup, scraping down the sides as necessary, until mixture is the texture of soft-serve ice cream. Spoon into bowls; sprinkle with almond mixture.
creature comforts: coconut bread
Posted on March 26, 2013
To say that this winter has been Odyssean, cold and cruel would be an understatement. Five months of misery is enough, but yesterday, I felt a chill to bone and wet snow that swept into my eyes. In between appointments, I held an old friend close and said, this is the best day of your life. I’m finding that if you lead a situation with your heart, the outcome will be nothing less than extraordinary. After, I went home and whipped up a bread that I knew would deliver me comfort.
While this loaf isn’t your normal softened banana bread fare (it doesn’t yield, the crumb is a tad tougher than what I’m accustomed to), I had a slice of this toasted with almond butter and it was perfection. Simple to make, simple to relax and enjoy, and simple to know that every day should be regarded as the best day of your life.
INGREDIENTS: Recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, with slight modifications
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups (295 ml) full-fat milk
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used 1 tsp of nutmeg as I was out of cinnamon)
1 cup (200 grams) cane sugar
5 ounces (140 grams) sweetened flaked coconut (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted or melted and browned, if desired
Vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray for baking pan
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add sugar and coconut, and stir to mix. Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture, then stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. Add butter, and stir until just smooth — be careful not to overmix.
Butter and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Spread batter in pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, anywhere from 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool in pan five minutes, before turning out onto a cooling rack.
Serve in thick slices, toasted, with butter or almond butter spread.
living the sweet life @ little cupcake bakeshop, new york
Posted on March 20, 2013
I may have needed a crowbar or two, but suddenly my eyes are starting to open. I can see the shape of things, faces are coming into focus — was that you with that great mess of hair and skin that smelled of lilacs and tobacco?, — but I want to take it easy, easy and allow myself to look at the world as if it were the first time I’ve seen it. Over the years I’ve been in alternating states of chrysalis, and part of the journey is understanding and accepting the alterations. Life tailoring, if you will. Those eyes that you’d always known to be brown suddenly blink blue. That Madame Bovary, once a woman for whom you felt sympathy, is now a wanton trollop. That smiling baker who handed you a thick slice of Brooklyn Blackout Cake will transform into Luigi, a Soul Cycle zealot with an affection for batter.
But you have to be ready for the altering, ready to shed what you thought you knew to discover what’s next.
Today I returned to Little Cupcake Bakeshop (that’s my photo in the rotating slide show!), a magical place replete with towering cakes in glass domes and cupcakes with tufts of blond icing. I’ve been to this shop more times than I care to admit, but today was different. Today I paused, got to know some of the lovely folks who run the shop, and savored my cake and coffee.
And wouldn’t you know that the cake I’ve always loved tastes a little different, richer, smokier, sweeter. You just have to open your eyes to it. Each day, I tell myself, the world becomes clearer.
the snow white loaf: coconut milk banana nutella swirl
Posted on March 10, 2013
For the past three years, my friends always got the leftovers, the exhausted remains of me. The friend who feverishly checked her phone, hit refresh on the web page, who feigned being present but never was. I could tell they were frustrated, but I couldn’t help myself — I unknowingly gave the best part of myself to the wrong person. And wouldn’t you know, as soon as I said goodbye to all that, I passed hours with old friends, phone tucked away in my bag. One brave, sweet friend sighed extravagantly when she said: THANK GOD YOU’RE BACK. WE’VE MISSED YOU.
Granted, I’ve still more faces to see, lives to catch up on, but in the interim I baked this luscious cake for a colleague’s birthday, and I hope she savors every. single. bite.
Listening to: The Morning After Girls’ Hidden Spaces
Reading: Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove
INGREDIENTS: Recipe adapted from Nobile Pig’s delicious recipe, with modifications
For the bread
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cane sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1 cup + 1 tbsp light coconut milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup Nutella (or any chocolate spread), lightly melted
For the glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp coconut milk
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 x 5 x 2.75 (correct size is important) baking pan with butter + flour, or coconut spray will suffice. In a small skillet melt the butter and set aside to cool.
Mix the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl beat egg with a fork and stir in melted butter and coconut milk. Combine well. Pour egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just enough to combine. Fold in coconut and smashed banana.
Spread a third of the batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Add half of the melted Nutella, covering the batter as best you can without mixing the two together. Add another 1/3 of the batter and cover the mixture completely. Finish with the other half of the Nutella and then more batter to top it off.
Use a table knife and stick it down, all the way through the batter at one end of the loaf pan. Work your way from one side of the pan to the other in a zigzag motion.
Bake 55-65 minutes, until done, ensuring that you turn the bread halfway through the baking process. As my oven is hot, unpredictable and cruel, I start checking at the 45 minute mark. Press on bread and if it feels springy to the touch it is likely finished baking. Let cool 20 minutes in pan before flipping over to a rack to cool completely.
For the glaze, add confectioners sugar to a medium sized bowl and add the milk. Mix until it is a thick, pourable glaze. Pour over bread and sprinkle with coconut. When glaze is dry, slice into 12 pieces.
blood orange coconut loaf with blood orange syrupy glaze
Posted on February 6, 2013
Baking is home to me. Whenever there’s an air of disquiet I find myself covered in flour, mixing batter in bowls. I like the tactical nature of baking, sifting dough, shaping it with my hands. There’s something soothing and melodic about the alchemy of baking, how it allows you to create something from nothing. Cakes and cookies and pies have been my constant through the years, and I often feel there’s nothing that some time alone and a batter can’t cure. Well, almost. Hot ovens comfort me in a way that’s sometimes difficult to explain, and there’s nothing, at least for me, that replicates the feeling of putting on the mits, getting a blast of hot air on my skin as I unearth the next great object of devotion.
While I’ve taken a holiday this week, I’m experiencing a bit of personal frenzy. Amidst the wintering, I’m trying to find some space, some quiet, and although I feel the next few months will be challenging, I’m hopeful for the magic that lies on the other side. So today I spent the morning baking my heart out. Baking it out like song, like sermon.
And I couldn’t stop reading this passage from Alice Munro’s story collection, wondering if the reason why I cleave to it so has something to do with my current state of affairs. We’ll see, see, see:
It still seemed as if we could make our way out of the crowd, that in a moment we would be together. But just as certain that we would carry on in the way we were going. And so we did. No breathless cry, no hand on my shoulder when we reached the sidewalk. Just that flash, that I had seen in an instant, when one of his eyes opened wider. It was the left eye, always the left, as I remembered. And it always looked so strange, alert and wondering, as if some whole impossibility had occurred to him, one that almost made him laugh.
INGREDIENTS
For the loaf
1 1/2 cup (150g) all-purpose flour
2 tbsp freshly-grated blood orange zest (you’ll need two large blood oranges for this recipe)
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp (30ml) blood orange juice
1/3 cup coconut milk
For the glaze
2 tbsp brand orange juice
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9×5 inch with coconut oil cooking spray (feel free to butter the pan if you don’t mind dairy).
In a large bowl, rub the blood orange zest into the sugars with your fingertips. Not only does this release the grapefruit essence and some of the juice, you’ll find your sugar wonderfully damp and fragrant. Add the sugar mixture to a large bowl. Whisk in the oil until smooth, and then add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk until combined. Scrape down the bowl.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a second bowl. In another bowl, combine 2 tbsp blood orange juice and coconut milk, and whisk together until combined. Add the flour and the coconut milk mixtures, alternating between them, to the oil-and-sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
Spread the batter in the pan, smooth the top, and rap the pan on the counter to ensure there are no trapped air bubbles. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
For the glaze, whisk the sugar and juice until a thick glaze forms.
When the loaf is finished, let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting it onto a rack set over a tray or tin foil. Poke holes in loaf with a skewer or toothpick, then spoon or brush the 2 tbsp of reserve juice over the loaf. Let the loaf cool completely while it absorbs the syrup. Pour over the glaze once the bread has cooled. I couldn’t wait, as you can see, so I had a bit of a mess. But WHO CARES? It was still good.
luscious cream cheese cinnamon rolls
Posted on February 4, 2013
Last night I made cinnamon rolls for a sweet friend I met on Twitter, and today, I’m going to sample one before I ship them out.
chocolate chip scones: a scone only a mother could love
Posted on January 29, 2013
Make no mistake — these scones are ugly as sin but believe me when I say they were delicious. I’ve been battling this lately, the notion that all food photos have to be beautiful and awe-inspiring, sometimes unrealistically so. We’re drawn to the pretty and the perfect; our hearts covet the things that we see. We crave the idyll, we’re voyeurs who love to pore over photographs of the contents of someone’s home, closet, pantry or wallet. This is also why you’re seeing a slew of bloggers talk about “keeping it real” in 2013, how they want to show the boring, unseemly sides of their lives to give some color to the carefully-honed “reality” they architect in their online spaces.
Make no mistake — I’m a victim of this need for perfection just like anyone else. I held back posting this recipe for a month because every time I looked at the final scone shots I found myself shaking my head, thinking: This is too ugly for type. This is a scone only a mother could love. And the excuses piled on.
However, this morning I woke up and started thinking about the imperfect, and how that is so much more beautiful than the artificial stuff we see in movies and magazines. In the mess lies the passion. In the misshapen lies the devotion. Nothing is every worth it if there is no struggle, if it’s too easy, too pretty, so with that I hit the publish button and here you go.
Yummy, semi-frightful looking, scones.
INGREDIENTS: Adapted from Karen DeMasco’s The Craft of Baking
1 3/4 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cups plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
6 tbsp (85 grams) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup (84 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp Demerara sugar
DIRECTIONS
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, and salt. Add the butter. Put the bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes. Then beat the mixture on low speed until the butter is broken up into pebble-sized pieces, about 3 minutes.
Add the chocolate chips. With the mixer on low speed, add 1 cup of the cream and mix just until the dough comes together. Using your hands, knead the mixture in the bowl to bring the dough completely together.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a 7-inch round, about 3/4 inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 wedges (8 if you like bigger pieces), like pieces of pie.
Place the pieces on a baking sheet, spacing them 1/2 inch apart. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 15 minutes or chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. While the scones are chilling preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Brush the scones with the remaining 2 tablespoons cream and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar. Bake the scones, rotating the baking sheet once, until the baking tray once, until they are golden on the edges and firm to the touch, about 20 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool. The scones are best served the day they are made, but they will keep in a airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.
