Chocolate Lovers Ganache Tart / Vegan and Paleo

This may be the most simple decadent chocolate dessert. Chocolate ganache in a chocolate nut crust, serve it with whipped coconut cream and berries (or whipped cream for you milk lovers). Bring it along to a pot luck, or if you are like me, cut thin slivers off the leftover piece in the fridge, eating them standing up in the kitchen. Somehow it all disappeared too quickly.

cocoa and coconut syrup for the crust.

I needed to whip up a dessert to bring to a girlfriends dinner party over the weekend. I was late, as usual I had overbooked my day, and had not left much time to bake. Rifling through my recipe box the ganache stared at me. It had been staring at me for a few weeks. I used to make it often, but it had been ages. It would be fast, simple, and with minimal baking time of about 10 minutes. Perfect! 

Flax seed hydrating in water.

I whipped it up, no problem, and threw it in the fridge to set. But, I needed to be getting on my way over to the party and it hadn't quite set yet...really not much at all...it was still jell-O jiggling. So I fitted a basked with ice packs and my chocolate tart and crossed my fingers that any chocolate flood would stay off the car carpet. Miraculously not a drop was spilled, we stuck it in her fridge when I arrived. By the time for dessert it was well set and ready to slice with a sharp knife. 

Serve small pieces, it is quite rich and depending on the chocolate you use, can be on the bitter side. Better to see who really loves chocolate and wants to come back for more. 

If you have even a moderately stocked kitchen, you can probably throw this together from things in your panty. Usually I make one large tart in a fluted pan with a removable bottom. A very elegant, shinny, solid chocolate presentation. This time I used a throw away aluminum pan because I misplaced my tart pan. And sometimes, I make small personal tarts, they are easy and adorable. The crust to ganache ratio is different, but with some berries would be quite balanced. 

Chocolate Lovers Ganache Tart / Vegan and Paleo

• 1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
• 3 Tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (sifted makes your life easier)
• 1.5 Tablespoon coconut syrup (honey, or maple syrup)
• 2 cups almond meal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 can coconut milk (full fat)
• 1 lb (16 ounces) bittersweet chocolate (Taza or other vegan chocolate)
• 1 Tablespoon dark rum

Preheat oven to 350°. (makes a 9" or 10" tart pan, a 9" pie plate, or about 10 small tartlets)

Mix flax seed and water in a bowl. Let sit to hydrate for 5 minutes. 

Add cocoa powder and coconut syrup to the flax seed. Mix together with a rubber spatula. If you wisely sifted the cocoa powder this will go easily. If you are absent minded, like me, and didn't sift, you will now need to mush up many of the cocoa clumps. Sing something good, it goes by faster.

Add the almond meal and salt to the chocolate mixture. Mix everything together using the spatula. It will be dry and difficult at first, mix for about 1 minute and you will find it becomes more like a moist dough. 

Lightly grease your pan. Using your fingers, press the chocolate dough into a crust in your tart pan. Go up and sides and make sure there are no holes. If your hands get sticky, rinse them under cool water and return to crust making. 

Blind bake the crust for about 10 minutes in the 350° oven. Looking for it to puff slightly and smell a little toasted. There is nothing which needs to be cooked out, the flax will set and the almonds will be toasted. You can't mess it up, is what i'm saying. Just don't forget it and burn it. 

You can do this next step while the tart is baking. Open a can of full fat coconut milk, put in a saucepan and put on a medium low heat. Weigh out 1 pound of chocolate bits. If you have a chocolate bar, cut it into pieces. With a spatula, stir the coconut milk so it warms up but does not scorch. Heat it to just less than a simmer, just a few bubbles around the edge of the pan.

Turn off the heat. Pour in all the chocolate bits. Nudge them with your spatula to submerge them. But don't stir. (Double check the flame is turned off!) Give it a moment to melt all on its own.

About now you can remember to remove the tart crust from the oven to cool a bit.

Give the melting chocolate a stir or two. It will melt with no more heat, just stir with the spatula, it likes that. Once it is all velvety and smooth, you are home free. Stir the rum into the chocolate, stir to combine, and pour all the amazing melty chocolate into the chocolate crust. Dab the spatula on the top to flatten out the ripples. Place in the fridge to chill. This should happen in an hour or two, depending on how thick your tart pan is. 

I do Sophie Dahl's Cardamom Rice Pudding and make it Vegan

This is a story about the rice pudding I made for my culinary book club night, which was all I felt like eating because I have had a toothache for a week and today after having my tooth fixed, I get to eat the leftovers which will be perfect because it is soft, warm and feels like a hug from the inside which is exactly what I need. I would like to thank Sophie Dahl for giving me an excuse to make a delicious and enormous pot of pudding, and for my flakey book club where only half of us showed up, which means, more pudding for me! 

Sophie, if you ever read this, I really loved your book. Voluptuous Delights, was...perfectly delightful. Good storytelling must run in the blood, I found the chapter intros a wonderful read, loaded with imagery. The recipes are simple in a familiar way, a nice twist on ideas here and there, rifs on comforting foods. Our book club dinner was yummy, on one of the first chilly evenings of fall our menu was perfect! Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Harissa, Grilled Croquettes and Aubergines (zucchini and eggplant) with Halloumi cheese, Veggie Lentil Pie with Champ, and Cardamom Rice Pudding. All Ms. Dahl's recipes went well together, making a lovely dinner to ring in the fall season. And notably all vegetarian, hoorah! 

For those Americans who aren't aware, Sophie is the grandaughter of the beloved Roald Dahl. Ms. Dahl is known in the UK as having an enviable career modeling, blogging and food writing. However, she is quite lovable, and I think we would be good friends.  

Back to the rice pudding. 

Sometimes rice pudding is cooked in a pot on the stove, sometimes it is an oven affair. Ms. Dahl does hers on the stove. I very nearly followed the recipe. I tried, but now that I am counting up my changes, there are many. Im hopeless! So, my recipe here is based on hers, she uses cows milk and white basmati rice, and the mace was my addition. And she uses raisins but I had run out and used dried apple instead. 

Nobody noticed the hemp milk instead of cows milk. The end result was heavily spiced and warming. Raisins would be nice, as they are more juicy than apples. But apples are all about fall. Try it with both!

Cardamom Rice Pudding

8-10 servings

5 1/2 cups unsweetened hemp milk (or almond milk)

1 cinnamon stick

1 blade mace

1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, or seeds from 1 vanilla pod

8 cardamom pods

1/3 cup organic sugar

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup dried apples

1 cup water (if needed)

The process is quite simple. Heat the milk, cinnamon stick and mace to a simmer in heavy bottomed 6 or 8 qt pot. Stir in the rice and vanilla extract. Keep at low heat for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and that the milk does not boil up. 

Crush the cardamom pods, discarding the pod and keeping the seeds. When the rice, as Ms Dahl puts it, "looks like a soupy milky risotto" stir in the sugar, cardamom seeds, almonds, and dried fruit. 

Cook on very low heat for another 10 minutes. If it gets too dry, add water or more milk. The rice will be tender when done. Past the al dente stage. If it still has a bite, it needs more cooking. 

It is lovely served on its own, or with fresh fruit or even jam. 

This is a very lovely desert since you can make it ahead, and keep it in the oven or on top of the stove and heating it up when dessert comes around. It also makes a good breakfast. 

This pudding is so yummy, I had to resist eating it all while I was taking these pictures before book club. I wish Sophie was my friend, if you are looking to make somebody a friend, you made them some rice pudding, it will win them over. Seriously.

Blueberry Grunt with Vegan Oatmeal Dumplings

Blueberry Grunt with Oatmeal Dumplings

A grunt is an unfortunate name for what it is. It is associated with slumps, cobblers and brown bettys. All are sorts of long forgotten American country style fruit desserts. Im still not sure what a slump is, but I have learned what a grunt is. Basically is is dumplings steamed in fruit. Lets be honest, who doesn't just love dumplings?

I do, I do!

Grunts are perfect for summer desserts because, you don't have to turn on the oven! They are cooked in a pot on the stovetop, and all in about 15 minutes on mostly low heat. Even on the hottest of days that is doable. Much better than cranking up your oven for an hour in July.

Making millet and oatmeal dumplings

It is quite similar to a biscuit cobbler, the dumplings are the consistency of the underside of the biscuits, without a crunchy top. It goes well with ice cream too. 

Once you have made one, the whole concept and recipe are easily adapted to other fruits and even messing with the dumplings themselves. I made these today from millet flour and oatmeal for a lot of nutritional value. The traditional recipes are always made from regular flour. And I have made them with quinoa flour and even corn flour (which is delicious). AP gluten free baking flour or buckwheat would be good too. 

You will see in the photos I added in some pitted cherries I had laying around needing to be used and lime zest, since this week the limes were cheaper than the lemons. The prices of citrus fruit has gone crazy this summer, so I am always sure to get the most out of what I have, both zest and juice!

Blueberry Grunt with Oatmeal Dumplings

For the fruit base:

4 cups blueberries

zest of 1 lime or 1/2 lemon

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup water

pinch of sea salt

For the dumplings:

3/4 cup millet flour (or all purpose flour)

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 Tablespoon Coconut flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Grated fresh nutmeg (about 1/4 tsp)

zest of 1 lime or 1/2 lemon

2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil (or canola)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup almond milk

Mix the ingredients for the fruit base in a medium saucepan which has a well fitting lid. Mine is about 8 inches across, it would be find in a 6 inch pan also. Nothing much larger. 

Measure the dry ingredients for the dumplings into a bowl or glass measuring cup. Measure the wet ones into another. Mix them together with a fork, so all the dry spots are incorporated. It will be a stiff and rather crumbly mixture. 

Put the pot of berries on the stove, turning the flame to high. Hang around for the minute or two until it begins to boil. Give the fruit a good stir and turn the heat down to a bare simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes. (if using harder fruit like apples or rhubarb, simmer for 5 minutes). 

Take the dumpling batter and drop dollops of it all over the top of the fruit. A spoon is helpful here. When all the dumpling batter is set, put on the lid, nice and tight. Set a timer for 15 minutes, and make sure the heat is at the lowest simmer setting. Now you can walk away to do important things for 15 minutes. 

When the timer begs you to return, take off the lid, and voila! Boiling fruit seeping through risen dumplings. Allow to cool just a bit before tucking in, it should be eaten warm. Clearly vanilla or ginger ice cream would be fun. Thick cream or coconut milk poured over would be cool too. You can even eat is as breakfast!

Notes on Re-heating: best reheated in the same pot, with lid on, for about 5 minutes on medium low heat. Until the fruit just boils again and it is warm through. Microwave would probably be good too.

Notes on using Frozen Berries: Totally yes. Instead of 1/2 cup of water, use 1/4-1/3 cup. You can put the frozen berries directly into the pot and onto the heat. It will take longer to come to a boil, from then on follow the same steps. 

Dark Chocolate Paleo Brownies

Dark Chocolate Paleo Brownies

These dark chocolate brownies are awesome! With cocoa powder and melted unsweetened chocolate they are super satisfying. More cake like than gooey they are close to the texture of a chocolate torte. The top stays glossy and they cut like a dream. They are made with raw coconut sugar, which is super yummy and low on the glycemic index as far as sugars go.

I have found paleo brownies which taste good are rather difficult to come by. They are often too oily, dont bake through, or are dry. These were super fast to whip up also. Beware, you must be a lover of dark chocolate, because they do have some of that wonderful bitter component that we go for. (You could add in more sugar, like a 1/4 cup if you want.)

Dark Chocolate Brownies

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate

82 g (7 Tablespoons) vegetable shortening (non-hydrogenated like Spectrum)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup cashew meal (or blanched almond flour)

1 tablespoon coconut flour

3/4 cup Dutched cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup honey

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup almond milk

Line a 9" square pan with parchment paper which comes up the sides for easy removal (these will stick to anything else I think.) Preheat the oven to 350°.

Weigh the chocolate and shortening into a small heat proof bowl. Melt over a bain-marie by placing the bowl over another small pot with about an inch of water in it. Turn the heat on to bring the little bit of water to a boil, turn it down once the steam starts seeping out the sides. The steam from below warms the bowl, gently melting the chocolate and shortening. Stir back and forth with a silicone spatula to aid the melting. When it is all liquid, pull the bowl off the heat to cool down. 

Measure the sugar, cashew meal, coconut flour, cocoa powder and sea salt together into a container.

Prepare to mix it all in a food processor or blender. Pour in the wet ingredients first; almond milk, eggs, chocolate mix. Layer the dry ingredients on top (this way they don't stick in the bottom of the mixing device.

Blend for about a minute, so it is all emulsified. Scrape down the sides if you need to. Add a tad more almond milk or water if it is too stiff to blend. Dump the batter out into the prepared pan. Spread with a spatula to to the edges and to look nice, because it does not rearrange itself while baking. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, so a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let rest for an important 30 minutes. Finally you can lift the parchment paper and brownies out of the pan, fold back the paper and slice them so beautifully with a long sharp knife. I cut mine into 16 squares. Let cool sufficiently before wrapping up to store in the fridge. 

Disclamier: I was happily inspired by this post by Gluten Free on a Shoestring. To give credit where credit is due, thank you! But made several changes along the way which became my brownies here. Enjoy!

Lemon Poppyseed Waffles with Strawberries

Today was a waffle day. I woke up thinking about them and got to it right away. I began with a simple waffle plan and it evolved to a lemon poppyseed batter. These are very simple, just a stir together batter. And the cooked peaches are so good, ill write up that recipe for you too. 

Later this afternoon, I found out my sister also woke up thinking of waffles! But hers hat cheese and ham, I will try that next weekend if she sends me her recipe! 

These lemon poppyseed waffles were tasty crispy. I use this amazing lemon powder from Penzies spice company however the zest of one lemon could be used instead. Toasting the poppyseeds briefly in a hot pan wakes them up and brings out more of their flavor.

Lemon poppyseed waffles   about 14 waffles

1 cup all-purpose flour.

1/2 cup potato flour (or starch)
1/2cup quinoa flour
1 cup applesauce
4 eggs
1/2 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup oil grape seed or olive oil
1 tablespoon poppyseed
1/2 teaspoon lemon powder or zest of one lemon

dry ingredients. wet ingredients.

Plug in waffle iron and sent to heat up.
Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl stirring them up with a fork. In another larger bowl crack the eggs, measure the yogurt, and applesauce. Beat wet ingredients together with a wooden spoon until combined. Dump in half of the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Stir to combine, add the remaining half of dry ingredients stir in until no dry spots are visible. Add the poppyseed and lemon powder if you haven't already. Add the oil lastly to the entire mixture.

lemon poppyseed waffle batter

Scoop appropriate amount of waffle batter onto the waffle iron, close and wait until the top opens easily and waffles are golden brown.

Lemon poppyseed waffle batter

This recipe makes nearly 14 waffles give or take depending on your waffle iron. If you have many leftover as I did they're easy to freeze, lay them out on a baking tray and place the entire thing into the freezer for several hours, no more than a few because they will dry out or get mysterious freezer burn. So after they have frozen at least on the outside take the tray out of the freezer put all of the frozen waffles into a freezer bag. Keep in the freezer until need. To thaw frozen waffles is so easy, put into the toaster or pop them into hot frypan and breakfast is done!

French Rhubarb Cake for teatime

French Rhubarb Cake

A dear friend of mine had me over for tea and cake the other day. I arrived as she was testing the cake with a toothpick, her toddlers trying to get a  look at the goings on in the oven. It was tricky to tell when this cake is cooked because the rhubarb inside makes the toothpick never come out right, I'll tell you to judge by the firmness of the top of the cake and the toothpick will look like it has jam on it, not cake batter. In the debate no one was burnt. All smelled divine, patiently we waited for the cake to cool enough to turn out of its pan.

Ten, fifteen, forty minutes go by we forgot about cake and then when we thought about cake again it was ready. I fear we didn't leave her with many leftovers. We all had seconds. Before dinner!

I'll direct you to the recipe which she found here at MyKitchenInTheRockes. Its a good cake, I'll be making this sometime soon. If you have a chance to put some rhubarb in the freezer you could make this any time of year, and remember the taste oh the suns rays in June. 

French Rhubarb Cake

Rhubarb and Cherry Pavlova and Collins Cocktail

I love rhubarb, it makes my heart go pitter patter and my taste buds jump in excitement. It is one vegetable which will always stop me in my tracks. Pink and green stalks so sour I pucker and then go in for more. I have even seen little toddlers sucking at the raw stalks, shocked by the sourness but going back for more and more tastes of the confounding rhubarb. Science should check this stuff out, its wild.

Rhubarb to be cooked with sweet cherries and honey.

Years ago I started adding less and less sugar to my rhubarb dishes. The tart part is the big fun, I prefer to add other fruits to increase the sweetness rather than overwhelm it with sugar. 

I am lucky to live near by several friends with too much rhubarb to count. Like rhubarb and rhubarb and more rhubarb hidden around the corner. I always put some in the freezer, and I will make jam in a few weeks when the plants are really full in early June.

Meringue pavlova before baking.

Pavlova is an enormous meringue, shared by many people. You can make it neat and tidy like a short cake layer, or you can make them wild and lumpy like clouds. Mine falls somewhere in between, it is round, so gets a point for neat and tidy, but has a wavy top, which gives more surface area to become crunchy. Love!

I was in a little Swiss village on the French border a few years ago and I remember stopping in front of a pastry shop window in the afternoon sun. An entire shelf in the window was filled with pavlovas. Satin clouds piled on one another, weightless and shimmering in the sun. I didn't buy one, but if I had, I would have put this cherry and rhubarb compote on top.

Sometimes rhubarb makes my tongue all fuzzy and tingly, especially if i eat a lot of it. Grapefruits can do the same thing to me, like anything I eat afterwards tastes silly. Does that happen to other people too?

Pavlova (4 servings)

4 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on high until foamy. Slowly add the sugar, sprinkle a bit if it at a time down the side of the bowl, this may take 2 or 3 minutes in a kitchenaid. 

Pavlova with stewed cherry and rhubarb 

Watch as the whites struggle to puff up, and then all the sudden they take on a satin marshmallow quality and become voluminous. They will rise up in the bowl, taking up more volume, and the tracks the whisk leaves will become more and more pronounced. Test to see if it holds a peak.

If the whites are over whipped, they will deflate, so the goal is to catch them at the magic moment. Scoop them out of the bowl onto parchment paper or a Silpat. Make a big mound of the meringue, use a spatula or spoon to move it into a rough circle shape.

Bake in a 200° oven for an hour if you like a very marshmallow center, or up to 2 hours for a more dry meringue. 

*If I am cooking other things in the oven at high temperatures, when they are done, I turn off my oven and put in the meringues. It will often hold enough heat to get the whole job done.

** you can make the meringue and put it in the fridge for a while until you are ready to bake it.

Rhubarb and Cherry Compote

about 6 stalks of rhubarb

1 cup sweet cherries (frozen OK!)

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup cherry juice (or orange)

Wash and chop the rhubarb into 1-2 inch pieces. Place it in a saucepan with the honey, juice and cherries. The juice adds some sweetness and liquid to begin the cooking process of the rhubarb. 

Simmer it on medium heat for about 20 minutes so the rhubarb breaks down. Taste, and add sugar if you need to, but if you will serve it with the pavlova, the meringue adds most or all the sweetness you crave. 

Rhubarb Cherry Collins Cocktail

Rhubarb and Cherry Collins

1 ounce rhubarb and cherry compote

1 ounce lemon juice

2 ounces gin (or tequila)

about 3 ounces soda water to top off

Mix rhubarb compote, lemon juice and gin (or tequila) in a shaker with lots of ice. Shake it up like crazy, and strain into a highball glass. Top off with soda water. Add one of the cherries from the compote to garnish the drink.

This refreshing sweet and sour cocktail is yummy and bright pink. We were divided on weather the gin or tequila version was the better one, so you will have to try them for yourselves and let me know!

Spiced Pear and Raisin Sunflower Seed Crumble (Paleo & Vegan)

Pear, cardamom and mace

Spiced pear and raisin pie is one of my favorite desserts ever. When I ran my farmer's market baking company I would make a two crust pie in the fall made from pears, raisins, brown sugar and cardamom. People loved it, it was sort of unusual. The raisins become plump soaking up all the juices from the pear and the spices. Seriously a good combination. 

Mid May is not pear season, not close at all. But there were some nice organic pears at the grocery, so I took them home. A few days later we had 4 left and they were quite ripe, had to do something with them right away or they would become tragic rotten pears.

Right before dinner, looking for quick satisfaction, I made an abridged version of my pear pie. Spiced pear and raisin sunflower seed crumble. Its vegan, its paleo (if you don't mind some coconut sugar) and its gluten free! Sometimes I use ground spices, today I used whole cardamom and mace and smashed them myself in my mortar and pestle. Mace is orange-red and is the natural wrapping on nutmegs. It is so prettty, but also looks oddly like plastic. I have a whole jar given to me by a friend who went to Granada, where most of the nutmegs sold around the world are grown. If you dont have mace, use nutmeg instead.

Pears and raisins in pie plate

It came together in about 5 minutes. And after 45 minutes in the oven was so incredibly luscious that we ate the whole thing straight from the pie plate. There were no leftovers. 

Mixing the sunflower seed crumble

 This crumble is very flexible, use almond meal if you don't have cashew, or maple syrup or honey in place of the coconut sugar.

Spiced Pear and Raisin Sunflower Seed Crumble (Paleo & Vegan)

4 - 6 ripe Bartlet pears
1/2 cup raisins
4 cardamom pods (or 1/4 tsp ground)
pinch of ground mace
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup cashew meal
1 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds
1 1/2 tbs coconut oil, melted

Slice the pears into rough 1 inch chunks. Remove the stringy core. Leaving the skin on adds to the flavor. Toss them into a pie dish. Sprinkle the raisins over the pears.

If using whole spices, bash them up in a mortar and pestle. With the cardamom pods, you want only the seeds inside, so bash it up and pull out the green pods to use in something else or discard. Haphazardly sprinkle the spices on the fruit.

In a seperate bowl, mix up the crumble topping. Combine the sunflower seeds, casheww meal, coconut sugar and melted coconut oil. Stir it all together, it looks a little like birdfood. In a yummy way! Spread the seed crumble over the pears. It will fall into the nooks and stick on top, get it everywhere you can.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for about 45 minutes. You know it is done when juice is boiling at the sides. The crumble turned golden, the pears will be tender, the rasins all puffed. Any raisins which stick out of the top will caramelize into something like toffy. Get some spoons and dig in.