Rum Raisin Tart

Another Martha-inspired creation. This was the dessert we brought to Thanksgiving this year and it was a big hit! Completely decadent but seemingly light, like creme brulee with a crust. We made it a day ahead and refrigerated it, though we made sure to eat it at room temperature.

Pate Brisee

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces

cold water

Place flour, salt and butter in the food processor, or knead by hand. Gradually add water until dough holds together without being sticky. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out on a floured surface. Line a 10-inch buttered tart pan with dough. Pierce a few times with a fork. Trim the edges. Line with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

Pre-bake the shell until edges start to turn golden, about 15 minutes.

remove pie weights and parchment. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake another 15 minutes.

Filling

3 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

4 (organic, free-range) eggs and 2 egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup dark rum

1/2 cup raisins

In a small bowl, pour 1/2 cup of rum over raisins and let soak (the longer the better, perhaps even overnight, if you think of it in time).

Heat the cream until it is almost boiling. Remove from heat. Whisk the egg yolks, and while you are whisking, add the sugar and salt. Pour hot cream onto the egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly. Return everything to the saucepan, over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps. When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, stir in the remaining rum. Remove from heat.

Arrange raisins in the bottom of the pie crust. Pour hot custard on top. Bake until the center is set, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool.

Just before serving, sprinkle an even layer of granulated sugar on the custard and caramelize with a chef's torch or under the broiler (the latter is more risky because you can easily burn the crust and the sugar).

Oatmeal Pancakes

MarthaStewart.com is very much in my kitchen these days, though V's ipad is looking a little worse for it ("that floury fingerprint? Noooooo, that wasn't me!)

I was using Alton Brown's recipe for pancakes, but Erica inspired me to try oat pancakes, so I adapted Martha's recipe. It makes thick, slightly denser than usual, pancakes. We froze the leftovers and have been eating them with veggie sausages all week!

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar (I used white because it's all I had, but Martha calls for brown)

1 tblsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups milk (regular, soy or any other kind)

2 (organic, free-range) eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Soak oats in the milk for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight (turns out this makes them a lot more easily digestible).

Mix the remaining dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix until combined.

Spray skillet with oil and cook pancakes over low to medium heat, flipping when they start to bubble.

Holiday Cookies

These cookies have become a holiday must for me! The first are orange spice cookies with pistachios, sesame seeds and fruit. I usually use a moon-shaped cutter but I got this pig a while ago and hadn't used it, and nothing says "christmas" like pigs, so here we are.

The little ravioli-like cookies are filled with hazelnuts, cranberries and chocolate chips.

Both of these are a bit time-consuming, but totally worth it! And really, is there anything more festive than spending a whole day baking and listening to the radio (or in this case Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom")?

Both are German recipes, adapted from Brigitte magazine, so measurements are by weight, not volume.

Orange Spice Cookies

Dough:

300g flour

200g cold butter

100g hazelnut flour

grated peel of one orange

1 egg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground cloves

Topping:

50g dried fruit (like cranberries or apricots), chopped small

100g flavorful honey (like wildflower or acacia)

50g butter

3 tblsp milk

75g sesame seeds

30g chopped pistachios

Using your hands, knead together the ingredients for the dough. Roll into a ball, wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Roll out the dough and cut out your desired shapes. Lay on a baking sheet (the dough is buttery enough not to require buttering the pan).

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Warm up the butter and honey together and mix. Brush each cookie and sprinkle with sesame seeds, pistachios and fruit. Bake until the edges start to brown.

Christmas "Ravioli" Cookies

Dough:

200g flour (I made mine half whole wheat, as usual)

75g corn starch

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

60g sugar

1 egg

150g cold butter

Optional decoration: Chopped dried cranberries and 1 egg for eggwash

Filling:

1 cup strongly brewed spice tea

60g chopped dried cranberries

100g hazelnut flour

35g sugar

mini chocolate chips (amount at baker's discretion)

Knead together all the ingredients for the dough. Divide into 4, wrap and refrigerate for an hour or more.

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients for the filling. Add enough tea to make the mixture just hold together. Set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out dough, one portion at a time, working quickly to prevent it from getting too soft. Cut out cookies with a round scalloped cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet.

Using your fingers, place a small amount of filling on each cookie. Cut out more cookies and place them on top of the filling, pressing down the edges to make "ravioli."

Optionally, whisk an egg and brush each cookie with a thin layer of eggwash (making sure not to let it drip onto the pan, where it will burn and stick)! Place a piece of dried cranberry on each cookie.

Bake until edges start to brown, about 12 minutes.

Best Carrot Cake Ever!

It's our friend Michael's birthday next week and we met him and his wife for dinner last night, so what better occasion to make another cake! He wrote this bestseller about the perils of genetic engineering in the 80's so that became the theme.

Michael loves carrot cake, so I went on a hunt for a good recipe and found it! Carrot cake is easier to make moist because of all the fresh carrots, but this one is extra good because it substitutes oil for butter and adds canned pineapple. I didn't have too many raisins so I added some dried cranberries.....very yummy...and seasonal!

The frosting is a basic cream cheese frosting that has a great consistency for spreading.

I made this on a half sheet pan, because I was shaping it, but 2 10-inch rounds would have worked as well.

Carrot Cake

6 cups grated carrots

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup dried cranberries, or raisins, or a combination

4 (organic free-range) eggs

1 cup white sugar

1 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup chopped walnuts

In a bowl, combine the grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease, or line with parchment, whatever cake pan you are using.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the white sugar, then the oil and vanilla. Mix in the pineapple.

In another bowl, combine the 2 flours, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir into the egg mixture until combined.

Add raisins and cranberries to the carrots, then add this and the walnuts to the cake mixture. When everything is combined, pour into cake pans.

Cooking time will depend on the pan you are using (30-50 minutes). A knife should come out clean, when it's done.

Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract to taste

Combine everything in the mixer until there are no lumps.

Spread on the cool cake.

Apples Everywhere

The neighbors brought over a bag of apples from their trip to Long Island last week, so I wanted to use them to make something quick to serve as a weeknight dessert. I decided on an apple tart, and added a rim just to use up my extra dough.

Because I was making chili at almost the same time, I wasn't paying enough attention and ended up with only half the recommended amount of butter in the dough.
The result is a firm but crumbly crust. V. says it's the best tart or pie he's ever had. I wouldn't go that far - it's just not dessert-y enough. It also contains very little sugar, so I feel like I've discovered a delicious new breakfast item, as well as a dessert that we like, but that I might be hesitant to serve to guests (except for brunch)!

Here's the version that ended up in my oven:

I used a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (one of the greatest inventions of all time)!

Nutty Pate Brisee

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground hazelnuts

salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 stick cold butter, cut into thin slices

Apple Filling

6-9 apples, depending on size, peeled and cut into small pieces

cinnamon

nutmeg

powdered ginger

honey

sugar

I instinctively kneaded all the ingredients for the dough by hand, though putting them in the food processor would have been just as good (except for the extra dishes).

I rolled out the dough and lined my buttered tart pan.

In a bowl, I tossed the apples with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger to taste, and drizzled some honey over the top.

I pierced the tart crust we mixture with a fork a few times and filled it with the apples. Sprinkled a bit of sugar and butter over the top so the apples would caramelize.

Cut a wide strip of dough and laid it around the edge of the tart, pressing down the sides to adhere them. Cut out leaves and attached them with a bit of eggwash.

Baked at 350 degrees for about 45-50 mins.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

These were for a friend's niece's birthday party this weekend. Chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream. Sooooooo tasty!

I made my usual vanilla buttercream and then cooked a bag of frozen raspberries with some sugar (about a cup?...I eyeballed it), until everything became thick. I let the raspberries cool and mixed them into the buttercream. The flavor was so intense and fresh, without being overwhelming!

I also discovered the joys of vanilla bean paste, as opposed to vanilla extract. Again....very strong flavor, but smooth, like good vanilla ice cream! It's harder to find, and more expensive, but a little bit goes a long way. I think it's worth it in something like vanilla buttercream, where the vanilla is the star, and it certainly enhanced the raspberry! (For the chocolate cake batter, I still used vanilla extract, but maybe the paste would produce totally new and amazing results there too?)!

Applesauce...

Is applesauce worth blogging about? Everyone knows how to make it, right? (Peel and chop apples, add a little water, cook until soft). I might as well write about the toast I made this morning (place bread in toaster and turn on).

But I like applesauce, and it's one of the few things I actually made this week. And I'm having fun taking pictures of all the food that comes out of my kitchen.

And there are surprisingly many questions that come up when you tell people you're making applesauce...

Do you add cinnamon and nutmeg? (I did, but V said it made it taste too much like pie filling and he would have preferred it without. Personally I think this is a good thing...pie filling for breakfast, woohoo)!

Do you add sugar? Never!! The sugars concentrate as the apples cook and it was soooooo sweet as is!

Do you puree it after it's cooked? This is a personal preference of course, but I think the thing that makes homemade applesauce so unique is its chunkiness. So you could throw it in the food processor, but then it would taste like store-bought and you'd have more dishes to do! :)

So actually applesauce is a very nuanced and delicate thing to make and not like toast at all.

But I do like toast! And taking pictures! And it is another one of the few things I made this week...

4 Crostini make a party!

Crostini are officially my new favorite party food! One trip to the farmer's market and we could have made endless variations on this theme!!!

Here's what my friend Jeanne and I came up with this past weekend (everything was on thin slices of pre-toasted baguette):

Roasted Butternut Squash

We cubed the squash and roasted it in the oven for about 30 minutes (400 degrees) with garlic, chopped onion and salt. When done, I tossed everything with some chopped sage. Jeanne massaged some dandelion greens with salt, to wilt them, and chopped them too. A little olive oil on the bread, then the dandelion, then the squash! Yum!

White Bean Puree and Kale

In the food processor, mixed a can of cannellini beans with fresh garlic, fresh thyme, salt and pepper. Spread that on the bread. Sprinkled some lemon juice on chopped, steamed kale. Laid it on top. Done.

Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta

Chopped heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh garlic and a tiny bit of salt.

Cashew Cream and Sauteed Mushrooms

In a food processor, mixed raw cashews with enough water to make a spreadable paste. Added salt and pepper.

Sauteed chopped cremini and shiitake mushrooms in olive oil with garlic, salt and a little white wine. Let everything reduce till the liquid was cooked off.

For the non-vegans we had the same slices of baguette with melted organic cheese and sliced fresh figs.

Easy Lunch?

Is it just me or do salads seem like a lot of effort to make from scratch, for lunch? This is likely the New Yorker in me that says "why chop vegetables when all I have to do is pick up the phone and call for a $5 falafel sandwich?" But sometimes (granted, not that often) you don't feel like falafel. So the other day V and I went out to everyone's favorite Belgian organic chain restaurant, got 2 salads, a latte and a lemonade, and paid $50. And that seems comparable to all the other salad options that are close by. Not part of the daily budget!!

SO....I stocked up on beautiful veggies at the farmer's market and made this yummy salad in no time at all. Really...quinoa cooks in 15 minutes and you can make enough for the week. Fresh green lettuce, baby heirloom tomatoes and yellow string beans. Add a can of red kidney beans for extra protein. Done!

What a little meal planning can do! :)

Topped it with red pepper dressing, because I'm still grooving on that one (and there was half a jar of red peppers in the fridge, screaming to be used).

PS: There's that gosh darn yellow plate again :) ...goes a little better with salad than it does with plum tart though.

Marzipan birthday cake!

My friends called for a birthday cake with the specifications that it should contain a lot of cream and be covered in marzipan.

I had a lot of vanilla buttercream left over in my freezer but it seemed too dense, so I mixed it with equal parts whipped cream and pastry cream.

I baked Toba Garrett's yellow cake in 2 9-inch pans.

I cut each cake in half and leveled the tops. Each layer was generously brushed with simple syrup (flavored with peach schnapps), then covered in a thin layer of Sarabeth's peach jam. Then a layer of cake, reapeating the process with all layers.

I crumb coated everything with straight-up buttercream.

Finally I kneaded and rolled out the marzipan to cover the cake. All the decorations were marzipan as well (except for the piping, which was royal icing, painted gold).

Toba Garrett's Yellow Cake

3 cups (330 g) cake flour (King Arthur now makes an unbleached one...hooray)

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (8 oz or 230 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (454 g) granulated sugar

5 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups (10 fl oz or 300 ml) buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and line with parchment paper two 9 inch pans. Set aside.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut up the butter into 1-inch pieces and place them in the large bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or beaters. Beat for 3 minutes on MEDIUM-HIGH speed until the butter is light and creamy in color. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for an additional 60 seconds.

Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time.

Reduce the mixer speed. Stir vanilla into the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a knife. Lift up the pan with the batter, and let it drop onto the counter top to burst any air bubbles, allowing the batter to settle.

Center the pans onto the lower third of the oven and let bake 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is lightly brown on top and comes away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Toba Garrett's Vanilla Buttercream

I like to make a double recipe and freeze the left-overs because it is such a time commitment to make this.

1 1/2 Cups (345g) granulated sugar
3/4Cup (6floz or 180ml) milk
1 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4tsp salt
1Tbsp pure vanilla extract
3/8 Cup (3floz or90ml) heavy cream
1 1/4 lbs (567 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

Make custard by heating milk and sugar until sugar crystals dissolve. Add flour and salt and whisk over an ice bath until the custard has cooled, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1/2 hour to cool the mixture. Whisk in vanilla extract.

Pour custard mixture into a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment. Add cut-up butter and add heavy cream. Mix on low speed to incorporate ingredients. Gradually increase speed to medium-high until the mixture begins to thicken. It takes at least 7 to 9 minutes for the butter to be completely incorporated.

Put the icing in a plastic container with a lid and refrigerate. It will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator or freeze for 2 months.

Note: Don't panic if the buttercream looks like cottage cheese. The more you beat this buttercream, the creamier it gets.

Pastry Cream

2 1/4 cups whole milk

6 large egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

In medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch.

Transfer remaining 1 3/4 cups milk to heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add the pod. Add remaining 1/3 cup sugar over.

Set pan over moderate heat and bring to simmer without stirring.

Whisk hot milk mixture. Whisk half the milk into the egg yolk mixture. Pour everything back into the saucepan with milk. Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until pastry cream thickens. Remove from heat, discard vanilla pod, and whisk cream until smooth. Transfer to bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Chill until cold, about 4 hours. (Pastry cream can be made ahead and refrigerated, wrapped well with plastic wrap on surface, up to 3 days.)

Simple Syrup
2 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

Liquor of choice (optional)

Boil water and sugar until all the sugar dissolves. Add vanilla and liquor (such as calvados, kirsch or amaretto, depending on the flavors of your cake). Cool before use.

This keeps in the fridge for at least two weeks.

Vegan risotto!

This was another leftovers dish, because I thought I had way more veggies in the house than I actually did. Frozen peas and sundried tomato risotto it was!!

I have never understood chefs that insist risotto needs a ton of butter. It may be traditional, and I certainly love butter, but this is one dish that's so good with just olive oil and a generous amount of white wine for flavor!

Saute half a yellow onion in said olive oil, with about 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic. Add arborio rice and stir till it starts to become translucent. At this point I add about a cup of white wine at the beginning and and then about a ladle full of veggie broth every time the rice looks like it's almost absorbed all the liquid. Keep stirring and adding broth until the rice is cooked (several cups of broth, depending on the amount of rice you use).

Stir in chopped sundried tomatoes and peas. If the peas are still frozen add a little bit at a time and mix, so that the risotto doesn't get cold.

Optionally add a tablespoon or so of nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.

If there are leftovers, they re-heat well with a little water added (the rice will absorb more liquid as it sits in the fridge). Not too much though, or the consistency will be mush.

It's plum cake season!!

I love plum cake! It reminds me of my childhood, even though I didn't eat it then because the skins grossed me out. The German traditional version is a yeast cake, but I couldn't find my yeast, so I made a hazelnut frangipane tart instead, and it is delicious... and quite a bit richer! (That's a scoop of vanilla Coconut Bliss on the side! Yum!)

Turns out that yellow plates make food look dead. My friend Domenic returned his fiestaware for this reason. I can't go that far, because I love the colors in real life... they just don't photograph well! So iphoto had to provide some technicolor enhancement here, to at least make this tart look funky, if not entirely natural! :) Like the pictures in my mom's TimeLife cookbooks from the 70's.

Plum Tart!

Butter a 10 inch tart pan.

make crust:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or more all purpose, but the whole wheat adds a nice nutty flavor)

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup cold water

2 large egg yolks

Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor. Add the butter and mix, about 10 seconds or so. While the machine is on, drizzle in the water and add the yolks. The dough should hold together so you can roll it out. You might have to add more water or more flour to adjust the consistency.

Ideally the dough should rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, so that it can relax and become more elastic. I didn't have time for this so I didn't roll it out but pressed a thin layer into my tart pan, which worked out fine.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Filling:

2 lbs of plums (Italian are nice, or you can mix varieties). Cut in half and remove pits. Set aside.

Optional: spread a thin layer of plum jam or plum butter on the unbaked pie crust.

Frangipane:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

a pinch of salt

1-2 tablespoons amaretto

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 cup hazelnut flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

In the same food processor bowl you used for the crust, mix the butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs, salt and amaretto. Add your 3 flours and mix to make a smooth paste.

Spread the paste into the tart crust. Arrange the plums, skin side down. The closer together they sit, the juicier the tart will be!!

Sprinkle with some sugar and cinnamon, and maybe a few slivered almonds.

Leftovers biscotti!

Sometimes I end up with lots of little bags of dried fruits and nuts in the cabinet, left over from various baking and cooking projects. When I can't stand the clutter anymore, I make biscotti to use up all the little bits.

They're time consuming, but very easy to make, and they make the apartment smell so good!

My vanilla ones had dark chocolate chips, hazelnuts and dried cranberries.

The chocolate ones had macadamia nuts (there were only 10 or so left, so finding one in a cookie is like finding a golden nugget), walnuts, cranberries, white chocolate and dark chocolate.

Oh, and I used whole wheat flour, so they're almost healthy! Ha!

3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (regular all-purpose flour works great)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 cup sugar (I like the sweetness to come from the chocolate and fruit, so I use relatively little sugar)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Any additions that sound good to you. I add a little extra of everything, but 4 cups of nuts (any kind, preferably pre-toasted) and a 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips are a good place to start.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 F

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl, beat the eggs with the yolks, vanilla and sugar with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes.

Mix in the dry ingredients, then the chocolate, nuts and fruit.

Grease a sheetpan and shape the dough into 2 logs with floured hands. You're going to be slicing the logs later to make your biscotti, so again, any with and height that appeals to you is good!

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the logs start to turn golden.

Remove from the oven and let them cool, at least 30 minutes. Cut into slices with a serrated knife.

Lower oven temperature to 275 F. Bake the slices until golden and crunchy, another 30 minutes or so.

For the chocolate biscotti I replaced 1/2 cup of flour with cocoa powder.

Magical Roasted Red Pepper Dressing!!

This dressing is pure deliciousness! I hate roasted red peppers with their slimy, slippery texture, but when you throw them in the food processor with a little salt and pepper, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar they transform into something magical! Oh and don't forget fresh garlic!! I used 4 cloves with 5 red peppers, which made people run away every time I breathed out for the next 2 days. But it was tasty! Roasted garlic might have been a little milder andequally good.

It's good on salad, cooked vegetables, rice, potatoes....and probably almost anything you can come up with. Definitely going to be a condiment staple for us!

I used organic peppers from a jar and it was great, but if you have the time and patience to roast some in the oven, I bet you could get even more flavor out of the slick little guys!

Cupcake summer

I meant to make several fancy fruit and mousse cakes this summer, but whenever we're invited to parties I get requests for cupcakes. These are the last 2 kinds I made. The Mexican fiesta cupcakes were vegan chocolate and the ladybugs were lemon cake with lemon buttercream...my favorite summer flavor!

Everybody loves Martha!

It was Stephanie's birthday this past weekend so I went to Martha (via Erica and Kea) for some inspiration! When I was up in Ottawa I started to make the chocolate hazelnut meringue cake with Kea, but flew off before it was done, so I had to look it up when I got home! But clafoutis is Steph's favorite, so I had to make that too!

Clafoutis here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cherry-clafouti-2

Chocolate cake here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chocolate-and-hazelnut-meringue-cake

They were both a hit. Normally clafoutis is a pancake batter baked with cherries. This particular recipe tasted more like a flan with fruit in it...still good but not quite what we were expecting (those of us who knew what to expect...everyone else just happily ate it)! Apart from pitting the cherries (and really, as long as you're being slightly inauthentic, you could use any other fruit), this is a super fast tart, so great for a last minute project (you could almost make it when your guests are already over).

The other cake was a flourless chocolate cake, deliciously dense, with the lighter, crunchy meringue to top it off. Valerie said her friend just made it too, so the recipe is making the rounds (even though it was first published in 2003)!

Sunday morning was a perfect comedy of errors. I got up early to bake, but I tried to be quiet because Vernon was still asleep. As I opened the oven door all the bowls I store in there (yes, ovens are cabinets in NY) came crashing onto the floor. 5 minutes later I dropped my favorite mixing bowl and broke it (CRASH) and finally when I opened the oven to put the cake in, smoke billowed out. Mad dash for a chair so I could reach the smoke alarm, which was (of course) stuck to the wall, because we just painted. After it had gone off for about 30 seconds I finally yanked it off! Poor V. pretended he didn't hear a thing! :)

Just going to do this....

Hi!

So after lots of thinking and talking about it, I'm just going to get this blog started. For now it's going to be all about what's happening in my kitchen, though it may expand to explore other projects....art, craft etc....whatever inspires! And who knows what Erica will contribute...it's all very exciting!

I came home from my 4 day trip to Erica and family in Ottawa, inspired to cook more. I do already feel like I cook and bake more than most New Yorkers, but that really isn't saying much! So on Sunday morning I made Alton Brown's pancakes (so much butter and soooo perfect), which Vernon had with a Field Roast veggie sausage, and I slathered mine in plain yoghurt and fresh strawberries, with maple syrup. Totally decadent!

Then I finally made the vegan energy bars from the Rebar cookbook (which is a great book, by the way)! I adapted the recipe a little bit to what I had in the kitchen. They turned out great. The only thing I would have preferred is if they had been a little less soft, but the nuts gave them a good bite anyway.

I wanted to give a few of them away, so I wrapped them in parchment and baker's twine that my mom sent from Germany. They were cute, but it's a bit of a time-consuming way to wrap them!

Vegan Energy Bars (adapted from Rebar modernfoodcookbook)

dry mix:

2 cups muesli (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup - 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I like more!)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

wet mix:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup "flax eggs" (recipe below)

1 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

Flax Eggs

1/4 cup flax seeds

3/4 cup water

Grind flax seeds in a food processor until powdered. Add water and process for 5 mins.

Any extra can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degress and line a 9X13 inch pan with parchment. Combine wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls. Mix everything together. Spread the mixture on the pan and bake about 18 mins. Cool. Cut into pieces. Wrap, and store in the fridge. I think they taste best at room temperature, so take them out before you want to eat them!