Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies (gluten free)

 

I was headed to a holiday cookie party and needed something gluten free.  This recipe is a riff on the Swiss cookie Basler brunsli.  The recipe halved easily, which produced 12 fairly large cookie balls.  Aside from that, the only way I deviated from the recipe as written was nearly doubling the spices (because I could barely taste them in the dry mix even before adding chocolate), using a mix of unsweetened chocolate and semi-sweet (almost 50/50, because it's what I had), and baking them on a greased, rimmed baking sheet rather than parchment on a flat cookie sheet.  I'll also mention that everything was at room temperature.

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
54 grams (¼ cup) plus 285 grams (1⅓ cups) white sugar
250 grams (2½ cups) blanched almond flour
21 grams (¼ cup) cocoa powder
½ teaspoon table salt
4 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

In a 12-inch skillet over medium, combine the almond flour and remaining spice mixture. Cook, stirring frequently and breaking up any lumps, until fragrant and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool until barely warm to the touch, 15 to 20 minutes. 

Heat the oven to 375°F with racks in the upper- and lower-middle positions. Line 2 baking sheets with kitchen parchment.

In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon, cardamom and ginger. Measure ¼ teaspoon of the spice mixture into another small bowl, stir in the 54 grams (¼ cup) sugar and set aside.

Once the almond flour mixture is cool, whisk in the remaining 285 grams (1⅓ cups) sugar, the cocoa and salt. Use a spatula to stir in the egg whites and vanilla until evenly moistened. Stir in the chocolate. The dough will be sticky.  Using two soup spoons, drop a few 2-tablespoon portions of dough into the spiced sugar, then gently roll to coat evenly. Arrange the sugar-coated balls on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Repeat with the remaining dough.  Bake until the cookies have cracks in their surfaces and a toothpick inserted into a cookies at the center of the baking sheets comes out with few crumbs attached, 12 to 15 minutes, switching and rotating the sheets halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

I had some questionable moments making these.  The first was knowing when the almond flour was toasted sufficiently, but I think I got it right through several tastings, the aroma, and change in color.  Then when I was measuring the cocoa powder, I first filled the volume measuring cup, but added it to the bowl while checking the weight.  I barely added half the volume before I'd met the weight quantity!  I suppose it stands to reason that different cocoa powders might have different weights per gram.  I used the weight quantity (as well as the weight quantity for the almond flour.)  Then I made the mistake of leaving my bowl of chocolate sitting on top of the oven while it preheated; when I went to add it to the dough, I found it warm and the bottom had melted.  I went ahead and mixed it in anyway, thinking it was just a small quantity, but I think the chocolate was warm enough that it dissolved into the batter.  I don't detect very many pieces (although I did chop it pretty small.)  

When scooping the dough, I wasn't sure how big to make the cookies.  "Soup spoons" can vary greatly in size, and of course there's the heaping factor.  How much to heap?  Since I was making only 12, I could quickly see that I wasn't making them nearly large enough; they should be about 1 1/2" in diameter.  I ended up jamming more dough onto the bottoms of some of the balls to end up with an even 12 that were more or less the same size.  I also nudged them a bit after sugaring to make them a little less bumpy, but I wish I'd picked them up and rolled them (gently!) between my palms to fully round them.  They didn't really change shape at all as they baked, so they ended up looking more like lumps of coal.  (Were they supposed to flatten somewhat?  It looks like it in their photos, but mine didn't.  That affects the baking time.)  The fact that you're supposed to test them with a toothpick indicates these should have some depth to them.  When I tested mine, they came out still wet inside.  I ended up adding about 5 -- 6 more minutes to the baking time before I felt safe taking them out.  (You definitely don't want to over bake these or you won't get that chewy interior.)

Because these are coated in sugar, you want to let them cool on the pan long enough to firm up a bit, but not so long that the sugar starts to harden or you won't be able to get them up.  Five minutes was a bit too long in my case.  They came up okay, but just barely.  They probably could have done with a minute less in the oven, as the bottoms were quite brown and overly chewy.  I debated about using an air-bake pan, which I use with cookies I think might burn easily (because my oven heats from the bottom), but since there was no butter I thought it would be okay just using a heavy aluminum pan and placing them on the next rung above the middle.  (Things tend to bake more slowly on an air-bake, so I use those pans with caution.)

These were a little sweet for their uncomplicated flavor.  The spices were very subtle, and the sugar crust on the outside added to the sweet impression.  They could have used more salt-- I would double it even, or at least sprinkle it on top.  Otherwise, they tasted a lot like a brownie, with a similar texture on the interior.  A little orange, tahini, chili and/or coffee would pump up the flavor as well-- pretty much any flavor that goes with chocolate-- however these additions take them further away from their inspiration to the point of being almost an entirely different cookie.

Conclusion:  I wouldn't be inclined to make these again unless I used a different flavor.  (I'm really leaning towards the coffee.)  They're so similar to a brownie, but not as good, and more work.  With more spices and more salt (and more finesse), they would be a nice chocolate addition to a cookie plate (or if you need a gluten-free option), but they're nothing to get excited about on their own.  

Recipe:   Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies via Milk Street

Buttermilk almond muffins

I disliked almond flavoring as a child, finding it bitter and odd tasting.  Somewhere down the road, though, I came to love it.  I think my detection for bitter has decreased with age, and now I associate almond flavoring with rich pastries, often filled with sweetened cream cheese.  Delicious!

Almond muffins used to be quite prevalent, usually paired with lemon, occasionally poppy seed (I prefer the latter), but they seem to have fallen out of fashion, as things go.  I came across this recipe in my collection while searching for a way to use up leftover buttermilk.  The original recipe included lemon zest and curd, but I left them out and instead increased the almond flavoring.  I meant to add poppy seeds, but forgot.  It was supposed to make a dozen muffins; I cut the recipe in half, but got only 5 muffins out of it.

Here's what I used:

1/2+1/6* cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/6* cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3/8 cup sliced, toasted almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a muffin tin or line with cupcake liners.  Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl lightly beat the eggs, buttermilk, butter, zest and almond extract; pour over the flour mixture and stir until just blended.  Divide the batter into the muffin pan cups. Top each cup with about 1 tablespoon each of the lemon curd and the almonds. Bake 15 – 20 minutes, or until tops are just turning golden and are firm to the touch.  Cool the muffins for 10 minutes before turning out and serving.

*1/6 cup = 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons

I like a high, domed top on a muffin, preferably cracked.  When I was filling the muffin cups, I quickly realized that the batter was going to yield 6 small, short muffins, so I filled the cups all the way and made 5.  Despite that, and what I think was excess baking soda, I did not get the nice tall tops as shown on the recipe source.

I questioned the use of 2 whole eggs in a dozen muffins; I found these too eggy.  I felt they also suffered from too much liquid, at least I think that was the problem.  (And I even think I slightly shorted the buttermilk amount.)  They were light, but a bit spongy-- I didn't care for the texture, and it didn't improve over time.  They did, however, have a very nice crispy exterior, although it lasted only while they were fresh.  There was a tad too much salt-- try unsalted butter-- and I could taste the baking soda. 

Conclusion:  Not the worst muffin I've ever made, but I'm not a fan.  Did I make an error in measuring?  Everything about these seemed a bit off, but I was extra careful while making them (because MORNING), so I find it unlikely.  (Although looking back, I think I used only 1/2 cup buttermilk, without the extra 2 tablespoons.)  Maybe my baking powder too old.  Anyway, I didn't like the texture, and the taste wasn't well balanced.  I guess the recipe was dependent on a strong lemon appearance and when I removed that, I lost the star.  (I see the recipe has since been removed from their web site, so perhaps it wasn't very good to start with.)

Recipe:  "Buttermilk Almond Muffins" via Go Bold with Butter

Grain-free pumpkin bread

It's a glorious fall morning---the kind that calls for something warm and spicy from the oven.  I've had such success with this grain-free banana bread, I wanted to try the recipe with pumpkin so I could indulge during the season without guilt.  Bananas have a natural sweetness that pumpkin doesn't have, so I did add some sugar to the recipe (I was out of erythritol) and dried fruit.  (I kept the dried fruit minimal in case I didn't like it.)

For round one, here's what I used:

2 cups almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon pre-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon molasses
4 large eggs
1/4 cup melted butter/ghee (combined)
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup sweetened, dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and whisk together until is well mixed and there are no lumps.  Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.   Add the dried fruit and combine.  Pour into loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake for about 45-55 minutes. (Bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.)  Remove loaf from oven, let it cool in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Store in the refrigerator.

My 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan is still in storage, so I used a 9x5, which really was too large.  But even though the loaf was thinner, it was underdone, heavy and dense.  I baked it for 50 minutes, but it needed another 5-10 minutes.  I could see that after about 10 minutes out of the oven, as it sunk in the pan.  Otherwise, the flavor was good.  Moderately pumpkiny, mildly sweet, good spice level, could have used a little more salt (I see I made that observation in the original recipe and had increased it)....  I like the raisins, but I'm not completely sold on the cranberries.  I've had other pumpkin items turn out heavy and dense; I wonder if cooking down the pumpkin to evaporate some of the liquid would help.  (I wonder if Libby's has started thinning their pumpkin puree, because this never used to be a problem.)

Conclusion: Not bad for a first try.  I need to find that proper pan size and make a few adjustments.  It will be reducing the moisture of the pumpkin puree that will be the trickiest.  I'm also wondering if any oil is needed in this recipe at all, since there's so much in the almond flour already. 

August ABC challenge: Croûte d’abricots (apricot and almond tart)

 

I have access to the BEST apricots ever, but the season is short and early here, so I knew I had to get on this recipe.  (And my lavender was in bloom.) Nonetheless, when I went to my favorite apricot vendor to buy the fruit, he was already out for the season.  But his peaches were in, so I bought several yellow and white peaches.  They looked a little green still, but he said they were ready.  I was skeptical.  Unfortunately, they did not fair well on the way home, and the riper ones became so bruised I barely had enough to get some decent slices.  (The unripe fruit was still perfect.)  Not only that, but they didn't taste good.  This was not a good year for stone fruits.  I was so disappointed.  But I salvaged what I could, dipping the slices in sugar to try to sweeten them up a little.

I've noticed that, so far in this challenge source, the consistency of my doughs never match that of the originator.  For example, she says to "pour" the batter into the pan -- I had a thick, sticky mass that I had to carefully pat down.  She must be using giant eggs.  I also noticed that my honey was rather stiff, so maybe that was the problem.  By the way, although there are dramatic differences in the flavor of various honeys, I've never been able to distinguish lavender honey from clover honey from any other variety.  I used sage honey.

I didn't have a small tart pan, so I used a pie pan from Marie Callendar's, which measured 7 inches across the bottom.  Other than the honey, the only other change to the recipe I made was to increase the salt.

Here's what I used:

50 g beurre noisette
120 g almond flour
50 g (lavender) honey
1 3 pinches of salt (using a pinch measuring spoon)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon dried, organic lavender
icing sugar to prepare the tart pan
4 to 6 fresh apricots, stoned and quartered

Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Brush an 8-inch shallow tart pan with butter and dust with icing sugar.

Make the beurre noisette by slowly melting the butter over a low flame until nut brown and the milk solids have toasted. (No need to strain.)  Set aside and leave to cool. In a bowl (or the butter pan), stir together the almond flour, honey, egg, salt, and lavender flowers.  Add the brown butter and whisk until smooth.  Pour into the tart pan and spread evenly. Press the apricot quarters in the mixture, arranging them the way you like best.  Bake for about 35 minutes.  Keep an eye on the crust and make sure it does not brown too fast, otherwise turn the oven down to about 320º F from the point of perfect crust color.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool and firm up slightly before releasing it. When cooled completely, dust with icing sugar and serve.
 

I checked this at 30 minutes and it looked a little dark on the edges, but not quite done in the center, so I turned the temperature down and left it another 5 minutes.  It was still hard to tell if it was done because it gets rather juicy.  For appearances sake, I would have preferred it be less dark on the edges.  I didn't try it until the next day, and by then the peach juice had soaked into the base, so it wasn't dry.  I don't know if it would have been dry if I'd had it right away.  Whipped cream was a great addition.

Conclusion: This was good, and surprisingly light.  It's not very sweet either, so it could be eaten plain for breakfast, or dressed up with whipped cream as a dessert.  I think it would have been much better with the apricots -- they have more flavor and that bit of tartness that would contrast nicely with the somewhat bland almond base.  There was only a hint of lavender, which was just the right amount.  A little lemon zest would also be a nice addition to the base.

Recipe:  Croûte d’abricots with lavender & honey via Weekend Bakery.

January ABC challenge: Rondos (Dutch almond pastries)

 
The new year starts the Avid Baker's Challenge with a new challenge source:  The Weekend Bakery.  This blog is created by two folks from the Netherlands, so their recipes are originally in Dutch but also posted in English.  They are primarily artisan bread bakers, but do a lot of other baked items as well. 

So we're off on our first Dutch pastry, and just like Brittany, oops, I did it again:  I made the frangipane for this recipe, but didn't measure out what was called for when assembling the rondos. (I'm so used to recipes giving exact amounts, not leaving you with extra.)  So, I don't know if my final rondos have too much or not enough.  I used about 2/3 of the quantity made, and thought I was putting in a generous dollop.  (I mean, my rondos ended up domed instead of flat.)  I really need to pay better attention.  I'm getting cocky.

I made one quarter the recipe called for, but otherwise stuck pretty much to the directions.  The only significant change was that I considerably reduced the quantity of sugar in the dough to less than half the amount called for.

Here's what I used (yield 2):

For frangipane filling:

13g butter
13g (1 tablespoon) granulated sugar
¼ egg (13-14g)
zest of 1/8 a lemon
17.5g finely ground almonds

For the pastry:
50g pastry flour (of which 1 teaspoon was corn starch)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
37.5g cold salted butter, in cubes
25 g 9g (2 teaspoons) soft white or light brown granulated sugar 

For assemply:
35g to 50g frangipane
2 almonds
egg wash for brushing tops (beaten with some water or cream)
  

Slowly melt the butter over low heat and then let it cool. In a small bowl, beat together with a whisk the sugar, egg, and lemon zest until creamy. Slowly add the melted butter while continuing to beat. Add the almond flour and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the butter cubes and rub it into the flour. Add the sugar and quickly combine to form a smooth dough. Divide the dough into four equal balls and pat down to make a slight disc. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Roll out each of the dough discs to a small circle, about 1/8th inch thick, or to the approximate diameter of whatever baking ring or tin you're using.  (I used 2.75" and 3" round cookie cutters.)  Cut the dough to fit, two for each tin.  Place the rings (I lightly greased the inside of them) on parchment paper on a baking sheet, and fit one round of dough in the bottom of each.  Dab a generous blob of the frangipane on top of the dough rounds inside the rings (you will not likely use all of it), then carefully top with the second rounds. Softly press the tops and bottoms together, keeping the tops flat.  Brush each rondo with the egg wash. Place an almond in the middle of each rondo and press in lightly. Give the tops a second brush with the egg wash.  Bake the rondos for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately remove the baking rings.  Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. 

The original recipe contains an option for filling with almond paste.  These could also be made in a muffin tin or tart tins.  Here is a video that shows how that would work.

I found the original directions for these rather tedious and in that sense difficult to follow.  She goes so far as to tell us to remove the frangipane from the refrigerator before using.  I like to be able to skim a recipe and quickly and easily see what I need to do next without having to read through a lot of text like it's a novel.  These really aren't difficult at all, but they seemed so while making them.

One concern I had was that the frangipane might stick to the rings and the pastries would then be difficult to remove.  That's why I greased the rings, and also pressed the top dough down along the edges to try to prevent any leakage.  It probably wasn't necessary -- no one seemed to have a problem with that, though when making these in a muffin tin, one is directed to fully encase and seal in the filling.

Conclusion:  These were extremely tasty, like a good shortbread, and very rich (over 2 tablespoons of butter each.)  I expected them to be more cake-like, based on the original photos, and considerably less dense.  I would have liked a stronger almond flavor and less lemon.  It seems these often have almond extract added to the filling, which I would do in the future, and perhaps eliminate the zest (just for my own taste preference.)  Cardamom would also be a nice addition.

Original recipe:  Homemade Rondos via Weekend Bakery

Coffee-infused Semolina Almond Cake

This is more of a European style cake -- not overly sweet or loaded with a lot of frosting.  It's lighter than typical American cakes, but still very satisfying.  It actually comes across a lot like a coffee cake, to some degree because of the heavy dose of cinnamon.  The original recipe contained no salt, also typical of European desserts; I added some to my personal  taste.

This wasn't hard to make at all, just a little fussy because of the separate components.  And then there was the question of what to bake it in...  I have 4 pans all labelled as 8", and 3 of the 4 are all different sizes.  (How do these things happen?)  I finally opted for the only two pans I had that were the same size, which was 8½", resulting in a cake that was slightly flatter than desired.

Here's what I used:

Cake:
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup strong coffee
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons semolina
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1¹/₃ cups ground almonds

Syrup:
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup water, approximately (see note)
1/3 cup strong coffee

Halva cream:
4 ounces halva, broken in pieces
3 tablespoons strong coffee
1/2 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

To decorate:
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped, or other nuts

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease and line two deep, 8-inch round cake pans with waxed paper.  To make cake, in a bowl, cream sugar, butter, and salt until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in eggs and coffee.  Stir in semolina, baking powder, cinnamon, and ground almonds. Divide between prepared pans and bake in oven 10 (8) minutes. Lower temperature to 350F and bake 10 to 15 minutes, until a skewer inserted into center comes out clean. Let stand in pan 2 minutes, then turn each out onto a wire rack placed over a plate.

Meanwhile, make syrup. Put sugar and water into a saucepan and heat gently until sugar has dissolved. Boil 4 minutes, remove from heat and stir in coffee. Bring back to a boil, pour over hot cakes, then allow to cool.  To make halva cream, in a saucepan heat halva, coffee and sugar gently until smooth; cool.  In a bowl, beat butter until soft, then beat in halva mixture.  Sandwich cakes together with half of halva cream. Spread with remaining cream and decorate with nuts.

Note:  the cookbook left the water out of the ingredient listing, so I had to guesstimate.  If you have a recipe that uses a similar technique of moistening the cake with liquid, try following those quantities.  Otherwise, you want at least 1 cup of liquid to pour over the cakes, possibly up to 1½ cups.  I think I had about one cup, and my cakes could have been a little more moist, but it's hard to know what's going to be too much when you're pouring it on.  You don't want soggy cake!

The batter is quite thick and the cake initially dry, as there's very little liquid in the recipe, but it's salvaged by the coffee syrup that gets poured onto the hot cakes and immediately absorbed by the semolina.  It's a very effective technique, producing a light but moist crumb with a nubbly texture.  Since my cakes were thinner than the recipe called for, I baked them for slightly less time (noted in parentheses above).

If halva isn't available, you could use any nut butter, but it would have to be very thick.  (Buy a natural nut butter, let it separate, and then use the thick paste that settles out.  Adjust the butter quantity accordingly to achieve the correct texture.)  You would also want to increase the sugar, since halva is quite sweet.  In California, you can't buy truly raw nuts -- they have to be pasteurized.  For that reason, the "raw" pistachios available to me don't have that bright green color (or that fresh flavor), but are more a sort of grey-green-brown.  Not very attractive.  So I opted for almond slices to decorate my cake instead.

Conclusion:  This is an excellent cake for a midday coffee break or a light dessert.  It won't be to everyone's taste, as many people are accustomed to the heavy, rich cakes that are typically served for American desserts.  But it has a wonderful combination of flavors and makes an elegant offering.

Recipe:  Halva Gâteau from A Gourmet's Guide to Coffee & Tea by Lesley Mackley

April ABC Challenge: Fudgy No-butter Brownies (gluten-free, dairy-free... why???)

I'm perfectly happy with buttery, gluten-loaded brownies.  But I'm up for something new...  This is called a challenge, after all.  So, gluten-free brownies, it is.

April fools?  No.  I've been reducing grains and sugar from my diet for a while now, and therefore many of the baked goods I make (like this banana bread or these almond bars) use an almond base -- either almond meal or almond butter -- to replace the wheat.  They're pretty tasty, surprisingly!  They don't go down as easily as wheat-based goods, tending to stick in throat (so no snarfing!), but there's no sacrifice in taste or texture.

These brownies are no exception.  The lack of added fat (there is some in the almond meal -- 15g in 1/4 cup versus 12g in 1 tablespoon of butter) makes them less gooey and heavy-sitting, but does not detract from their richness.  They are VERY dense -- that would be the only giveaway that there is something unique about them.

I thought about making these entirely sugar-free, but ended up just reducing the sugar quantity.  I also halved the recipe.  Changes from the half recipe are in italics and strikeout.  Here's what I used:

1 ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
100 g (about 1 cup) almond meal
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon espresso powder
1 large egg, at room temperature
½ large egg white
1 tablespoon water
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
2.5 oz (about 1/3 cup) best quality dark chocolate chips
¼ cup walnut pieces

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, letting it hang over the edges of pan.

Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a large mixing bowl. Add almond meal, salt, and espresso powder and stir to combine. Add whole egg, egg white, water and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. The batter will be thick. Stir in the walnuts.  Scrape batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a shiny crust forms and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist sticky bits, about 10-15 minutes.  Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool slightly. For neat slices, let cool completely before slicing.

These whipped up very easily -- I love one-bowl bakes.  Since there's no flour, you don't need to worry about over mixing the batter, so beat away.  My oven went a little hot, and by 15 minutes the skewer came out completely dry.  Slightly overbaked by the originator's standards, I suppose, but by no means a detraction.  (It might have caused them to rise slightly less if the egg cooked before it had time to do its magic.)

Conclusion:   Dense, very chocolatey, good.  Using half the sugar made them semi-sweet, which was still perfectly acceptable.  They were definitely better the next day, when the moisture seemed to have soaked in and melded.  There was only the slightest of powdery texture from the almonds -- if they'd been made with flour and were this dense, they'd be creamy.  If one wanted to eliminate the added sugar entirely, they could probably be made with ground up raisins or dates as a substitute.  I'll keep this recipe handy for when I want something decadent but don't want to cheat too badly.  (And I might throw in a little oil.)

Original recipe:  Fudgy No-Butter Brownies via Scientifically Sweet

Black Sesame and Pear Tea Cake

I poured the sesame seeds into the measuring cup and saw a twig.  Then a broken leaf.  <Sigh>  I was going to have to clean these seeds.  Forty-five minutes later, I had sorted through 1/2 cup of black sesame seeds, removing small pebbles and minute grains of sand, and squashing tiny insects that crawled out of the mound along the way.  I hadn't planned on this.  A simple loaf cake turned into a 3-hour enterprise.

After cleaning the sesame seeds, they had to be washed, dried, and then ground.  I don't have a spice grinder, but I do have a little one-cup processor.  It didn't work very well.  It took about 20 minutes to get the seeds broken down, but I wouldn't have called it a "paste".  So out came the mortar and pestle to finish off the job.  That actually wasn't too painful.  The entire time I kept thinking, "Screw this -- next time I'm using tahini."  But it was all worth it, truly.  Tahini would not have worked.  Well, okay, maybe it would have worked,  but the result would have been an entirely different cake.

First, you can't not notice the COLOR.  The batter was GREY, and the cake was BLACK.

Isn't that attractive?  Someone on the recipe web page complained that people would think this was chocolate and be in for a rude surprise.  No.  Not if they have any faculties for discernment whatsoever.  This cake is grey-black, not brown-black.  It's grainy and rough, not fluffy and shiny.  If you must substitute (and really there is no substitute), buckwheat flour might give at least a similar texture, but never the same flavor.

There is no replicating the taste of black sesame.  It's earthy and musky and dark, like its name.  This cake is instant comfort food, even though I'm pretty sure I've never had anything like it before.  It's like crack; I was addicted with the first bite.

The comments on the recipe web site -- and there were only 10 -- swung wildly from "the cake was dense and moist, like pound cake" to "it was dry and crumbly"; from "the directions were fine" to "there's a mistake -- my cake was done in less than an hour"; from "this was the best thing I've ever eaten" to "it went into the trash."  Wow.  How does that happen?  Well, I think it mostly depends on the pear used.  (There's no accounting for taste -- pity the woman who threw her cake in the trash.)  A ripe pear is fragrant, floral, and juicy.  VERY juicy.  If these people who ended up with "dry and crumbly, or "done in half the time" used a less-than-fully-ripe pear, it explains a lot.  The batter is thick and does not seem overly moist, but those sesame seeds are fibrous, and soak up a lot of liquid I'm guessing.  You need that to soften the fiber and make it palatable, but you also need to make sure the cake dries out enough to serve.

February is not pear season, so while I had a ripe pear, it was not at its peak.  There were no floral overtones; the flavor was one-dimensional. But it was juicy.  Nonetheless, fearing I might over bake the cake, I started testing at 50 minutes -- it still seemed a little too moist.  At an hour and 15, the tester came out clean, so I took the cake out and let it cool.  It didn't fall -- another good sign it had baked long enough.  But when I cut into it, clearly it was still too moist.  It actually seemed sufficiently baked -- there was a nice crumb, dense, but open as one would expect.  But the slice was so fragile I couldn't get it out of the pan in one piece, and it somewhat gummed together in the mouth.  (This didn't stop me from having a few slices.  Like crack, I tell ya.)

There was no way the cake would have come out of the pan, and I couldn't serve it as it was, so I did something that has never worked before:  the next day, I put the cake back into a pre-heated oven and baked it some more.  And guess what... It worked!  I think it worked because the cake truly was fully baked, it just needed more time to steam off the excess moisture.  (I placed foil against the cut edge to keep it from drying out too much.)  So in the end, a winner.

This being an unusual recipe with a wide range of previous results, I didn't want to mess around with it, so I stuck to the original mostly.  The only change was I copied Bon Appétit and sprinkled raw sugar on top, one tablespoon's worth, which covered it nicely.  Two seemed like it would have been too much, so I switched to granulated.  I'm inclined in the future to use neither.   Here's what I used:

1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour or almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus ½ cup black sesame seeds
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 (medium) firm but ripe Bosc pear, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

Preheat oven to 325°. Butter one 9x5x3-inch loaf pan or six 4x2x2-inch paper or metal loaf pans. Whisk 1½ cups flour, next 4 ingredients, and 2 tablespoons sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Grind remaining 1/2 cup sesame seeds in spice mill to form a thick paste, about 2 minutes.  Using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl until well combined, 2–3 minutes. Add sesame paste and beat, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until blended, 1–2 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk. Beat until pale and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. On low speed, beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Toss pear with remaining 2 Tbsp. flour in a small bowl; fold into batter.  Spoon batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar.  Bake until a tester comes out clean when inserted into center, about 1 hour 40 minutes for large loaf and 45–55 minutes for small loaves. Let cool in pans on a wire rack.

This isn't the prettiest cake.

The cake is fantastic on its own, but I think the sweetness level is a little high as a snack cake.  One woman served it with a pear crumble (perhaps this one) and frozen honey mousse (both recipes available at Bon Appétit), which I think is absolutely inspired.  Especially the frozen mousse -- the roughness of the cake would benefit from the creamy mousse.  This would also fancy it up and make it more appropriate as a dessert course.

Conclusion:  SOOO good!  Definitely a keeper!  And worth the effort to clean the sesame seeds.  I'll just plan on that task next time.

Recipe:  Black Sesame-Pear Tea Cake by Elizabeth Quijada of Abraço (NYC), via Bon Appétit

Maid of Honour tart (Almond Tart Bake-off)

When I saw the September Avid Baker's Challenge for almond tarts, I remembered this similar recipe and decided to do a bake-off taste test.  The original recipe yields 12 tarts, but doesn't specify what size.  I reduced the recipe by 1/6, assuming I would get two tarts.

Not having a proper mini tart pan, I used a 4.25" pie tin.  I quickly realized this was far too large.  For one, I had to roll the pastry paper thin to get something that would fit in the tin.  That didn't seem right.  And then I saw that not only would a single teaspoon of jam barely wet the bottom, but the filling I'd made certainly wouldn't cover it.  I decided to make a single tart, but I still had to add more jam to give a respectable layer, and barely had enough almond filling to spread across it.  I suspect the tarts should have been made in something more the size of a standard muffin tin (which would explain the yield of the original recipe), or even a tassie tin.  The photo in the original recipe shows tarts with a substantial depth, although they looked at least 3" across.  I still don't think a teaspoon of jam would produce that thick of a layer in anything larger than a tassie, if that.  Of course the difference in size would also affect baking time, and hence the texture.

In the recipe for the almond tart challenge, I described the kitchen tools I use for these small batch exercises.  That would explain the odd measuring sizes below.

Here's what I used:

Pastry
225g 37.5g (1/3 cup) plain flour
135g 1½ tablespoons butter
2 tsp 1/3 teaspoon icing sugar
1 whole 3g egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp scant 1/2 teaspoon cold water

Filling
50g ½  tablespoon unsalted butter
75g 1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 dash spoon + 1 smidgen spoon heaping teaspoon self raising flour
pinch of baking powder
2 whole 6g (scant 1/2 teaspoon) beaten egg yolk
100g 16.7g (3 1/3 tablespoons) ground almonds
zest of 1 1/3 lemon
1 tbs ½ teaspoon cream
6 1 teaspoon damson jam
Icing sugar for dusting

Put all the pastry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a dough is formed.  Wrap in cling film and set aside for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Roll out pastry and cut 12 circles with a pastry cutter, large enough to fit the bottom of your tin and up to 1" up the sides.  Place a circle of pastry into the tin and gently press down and against the sides.

For the filling, cream the butter and sugar together thoroughly.  Stir into this the flour and beaten egg yolk. Stir and then add the almonds, lemon rind and finally the cream.  Add a teaspoon of jam into each little tart and then a spoonful of filling.  Divide any leftover filling between the tarts.  With the back of a teaspoon gently smooth over the filling so that no jam is showing.  Bake for 20 minutes; remove from the oven and leave in the tart tin to cool.  (If you try to remove them when they are still hot the pastry, which is very fragile, will start to crumble and break.  As they cool the pastry firms up.)  Dust with icing sugar and serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.  Store in an airtight tin.

Conclusion:  These were very good -- the lemon contrasted nicely with the mild plum jam, and the almond filling rounded it all out.  They weren't particularly unique tasting, though. Conventional flavors, surprisingly.

Recipe:  Maids of Honour via Maria Dernikos, using a recipe by Clarissa Dickson Wright.

September ABC challenge: Almond Tart and Bake-off

This promises to be an amazing dessert.  It just needs... something.  I'm not sure what that is, yet. But I'm happy to keep working on it.  Meanwhile, I made this as part of an almond tart bake-off, the other recipe being a Maid of Honour tart.

I didn't want to be trapped in the house with 6 of these things (“Danger, Will Robinson!”), so I reduced the recipe to create only one, and within that reduced the total sugar by 1 tablespoon.  It worked nicely.  Making these small batches, it helps to have a variety of miniature kitchen tools.  I mixed everything for this in a mini, 1-cup food processor.  The measuring spoons I used are tiny; the largest, the dash, is about equal to 1/4 teaspoon, or 16 drops of water. The pinch spoon equals 10 drops, and the smidgen spoon 6.  A mini whisk and mini spatula complete the collection.  I was, however, missing the mini tart pan.  What I used instead was really a 4.5-inch ceramic pie pan.  The tart wouldn't release from it, but I thought it worked well anyway, though it was a little deep for the filling.

The instructions call for "spreading" the filling.  My filling was so liquid, it would have evened out on its own.  I thought it must be too thin, so added another 2 teaspoons of almond flour to thicken it up just to the point that I would have to lightly spread it out in the crust.  (It's so easy to get the measurements off when reducing to such small proportions.)  I probably shouldn't have, as the final product was just a wee bit dry.

Here's what I used:

Crust
1/2 cup 3 teaspoons sugar (reduced from 4 teaspoons)
1/2 cup 4 teaspoons soft butter
1/4 teaspoon smidgen spoon salt
1 1/6 teaspoon vanilla extract (equals dash spoon + smidgen spoon)
1/2 1/12 teaspoon almond extract (equals pinch spoon)
1½ 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup 2 tablespoons almond flour or finely ground sliced or slivered almonds

Filling
1/4 cup 2 teaspoons soft butter
1/4 teaspoon smidgen spoon salt
1 cup 2 tablespoons sugar (reduced from 2 2/3 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 1/6 teaspoon almond extract (equals dash spoon + smidgen spoon)
1 1/6 teaspoon vanilla extract (equals dash spoon + smidgen spoon)
3 large eggs ½ egg, about 30g
1 1/4 cups 3 1/3 tablespoons almond flour

Glaze
1 cup glazing sugar or confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
raspberries, for garnish
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
about 1 teaspoon heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  To make the crust, beat together the sugar, butter, salt, and extracts.  Add the flours, stirring to make crumbs that cling together when squeezed.  Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of six 4 1/2" mini tart pans (or a full-size tart pan; see tips, at left); prick them all over with a fork.  Freeze the crusts for 15 minutes, then bake them until they're just beginning to brown on the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool while you make the filling.

To make the filling, beat together the butter, salt, sugar, flour, and extracts.  Beat in the egg, then add the almond flour, stirring just to combine. Spread the filling into the crust.  Bake the tart for 18 to 24 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan.

To make the glaze, gently heat the chocolate and cream together until melted and stir thoroughly.  (Adjust cream quantity until chocolate is of a dribbling consistency.)  Spoon into a plastic bag, cut off the tip, and squeeze decoratively onto tart.


Conclusion:  Delicious.  I liked this very much.  It was a little intense; but I wouldn't add ice cream, or even  whipped cream, as I think the delicate almond flavor would be lost.   Maybe a little vanilla custard would do.  A little more chocolate would have been nice, too.

Recipe:  Almond tarts via King Arthur Flour

Almond flour banana bread

Update: February 2019. I still used 2 teaspoons ginger (I might go 3 next time), 1 teaspoon butter-flavor extract, and 1 tablespoon molasses. But I also used a little more salt (about 3/8 teaspoon), and perhaps could go to 1/2 teaspoon, 1/4 cup erythritol, and 1/2 cup of UNsweetened flaked coconut. I threw in another 1/2 banana, and used 3 large eggs (that I think are actually closer to medium) and one jumbo. I didn't have the right-sized pan, so I used a 7.5 x 3.5 and a little, single-serve Bundt.  I baked the Bundt about 35 minutes (which made it dark on the outside, but still very moist), and the other about 48 minutes; it possibly could have gone 50.  Both gave me trouble getting out of the pan.  (They were quite soft.)  But the flavor is delicious--- really close to traditional banana bread.  It's going on my "favorites" list!

Update: March 2016, revised again. This time I used 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon butter-flavor extract, 1 teaspoon coconut extract, 1/2 teaspoon banana extract, 1 tablespoon molasses, and 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut.

Update: August 2014, I remade this and made some changes that I really liked. I scrapped all the spices and extract called for and added 2 teaspoons of dried ginger, 1 teaspoon of coconut extract, and 1 teaspoon of Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion.

Another foray into a world without wheat or added sugar...  The original recipe calls for maple syrup, but I left out all the sweetening.  I had intended to add a little maple flavoring, but forgot.  I was a little concerned about how well that would mix with the other flavors going on anyway.  The almond/coconut/banana is tropical, while the cardamom is Scandinavian, and the vanilla/cinnamon are traditionally North American.  I balked at those last two -- there's a lot going on already.  Vanilla seemed entirely unnecessary and I just don't think cinnamon does anything for bananas.  I debated, but in the end threw in the cinnamon since it adds a sweet taste.  I've noted my changes within the recipe.

2 cups blanched almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup of mashed ripe banana (approximately 2)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup liquefied coconut oil (butter or ghee)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and whisk together until is well mixed and there are no lumps.  Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined.   Pour into loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake for about 45-55 minutes. (Banana bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.)  Remove loaf from oven, let it cool in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Store in the refrigerator.

Conclusion:  This was okay as it was prepared.  No banana bread that completely eliminates added sugar is going to be great.  There was a slight bitterness that would have easily been masked by the maple syrup -- I don't know what it was from, perhaps the almond skins.  It would be very tasty with the added syrup, although these almond flour breads never quite hit the mark somehow.  (Lacking substance or something.)  The cinnamon was not detectable.

Recipe:  Paleo Banana Cardamom Bread via Paleo Spirit