Posts filed under 'dessert'
Ground cherries. I had absolutely no idea what they were until I saw them at a farmers market here in Boston. When I walked by them I said, “Aww, baby tomatillos!” The sign said “ground cherries” so I asked the woman more about them. She carefully unwrapped one from it’s papery husk and handed it to me.
Wow, so weird. And so good.
They’re the size of cherry tomatoes. The ripe ones are a pale golden yellow. They have a hint (just a hint) of tomato, but are much sweeter. They smell like fresh strawberries, have the sweetness of grapes, and have a vaguely pineapple flavor. And a little vanilla, too. Weird. But good.
I picked up two little cartons and then let them sit on my counter for four days. I couldn’t figure out what to do with them, and I thought the point would be moot since they were probably spoiled. But nope! They store extremely well in the fridge, and as it turns out, pretty well on your counter top, too.
The most traditional way to use them is in pie. I been thinking about a way to make miniature pies in cupcake tins, so here was my chance to try it out. The upshot is that you can use the technique with whatever fruit you can find, should ground cherries not be available.
Ground Cherry Cupcake Pies
Makes Six
Pate Brisee (pie dough)
1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 Cup Cubed, Chilled Earth Balance Margarine
2 Tbs – 1/4 Cup Ice Water
1 1/3 Cup Ground Cherries, de-husked and washed
1/4 Cup Sugar + 1/2 tsp Flour
Begin by making the pie dough. For a step-by-step, see this recipe.
Line a cupcake tin with cupcake papers. Spray lightly with oil. Place a scant tablespoon of dough into the bottom of each cup. Using a small glass dipped in water (one that has the same diameter of the bottom of the cupcake cup), press the dough to form a bottom crust.
Take small pieces of dough and build up the sides of the cup with dough, making sure the walls aren’t too thick.
At this point, you can use the glass again, dipped in water so it won’t stick, to neaten everything up if you want.
Your finished pie shells should look something like this. Place the shells in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up.
Preheat the oven to 400º F. Remove the shells from the fridge and fill to the top, slightly overflowing, with ground cherries (or whatever fruit you’re using).
Add 1/2 to 1 tsp of the sugar/flour mixture to each cup, depending on how sweet you want your pies. 1/2 tsp was sweet enough for me, allowing the flavor of the fruit to show through. If you’re using something tangier or less sweet, you’ll want more sugar.
Cover the back of a cookie sheet with a sheet of plastic wrap. Add the rest of the pie dough, and cover with a second sheet. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/4-1/8″ thick. Using a glass that has a slightly larger diameter than the openings of the cupcake cups, stamp out six pie crust tops. Place this in the freezer for a few minutes, or into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
Once chilled, you should be able to easily peel out the tops and place them over your pies. Pinch the edges down, slash a X in the top with a sharp knife, and sprinkle with sugar. You can do other types of tops, such as lattice work, if desired.
Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for several minutes before gently removing them from the cupcake tin to cook completely.
Ground cherry cupcake pies!
Again, you can use any fruit you like, but if you ever see ground cherries, definitely try them. They’re also sometimes called cape gooseberries (though some people say it’s a different fruit in the same family), husk tomatoes (which usually refer to tomatillos…), goldenberries, and a host of other names. Whatever they’re called, they should be small, sweet, and surprising. Make a jam, dip them in chocolate, add them to salsa, or eat them raw.
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Okay! Seems like a lot of people find these growing nearby their homes. PLEASE don’t eat them unless you’re SURE they are okay to eat. Wikipedia lists over 35 different plants in the Physalis genus. That’s a lot! So there’s no guarantee the species that is growing near you is this same species I’ve written about. Please be careful!! Even if they are safe to eat, they might not taste the same.
If the people that live around you don’t tend to eat the fruits of the bushes you see, there might be a very good reason why. Wild foraging can be dangerous, so please eat only ground cherries that you find at markets that have a reputation for, well, selling non-poisonous food. Ha!
September 3rd, 2008
Yeah, I’d never heard of a blueberry grunt, either. Until I became friends with Sandy. Every since we became friends, I couldn’t use the word “blueberry” without her saying “Mmmm, blueberry grunt…” eyes half-closed and smiling. I knew it was one of her favorite desserts, but I couldn’t bring myself to make something called a grunt.
Until, that is, I had four cups freshly picked blueberries.
A grunt is in the cobbler family, and it’s a traditional East Coast maritime dessert. It’s perfect for people who might want something like a pie, but are too lazy make an actual pie. So that means it’s perfect for me!
Blueberry is a popular flavor for grunts, but I imagine you can use pretty much any berry or fruit. They’re a great way to use up bountiful–but fleeting–summer fruit. The most common way to make a grunt is to boil berries with water, sugar, and lemon juice, then add biscuit dough to the top, cover with a tight lid, and steam. It’s a one-pan, stove-top operation. I chose to bake mine because I had these ridiculously cute gratin dishes that I’d been dying to use for a blog post. I’ll give directions for both methods of cooking.
Recipes for grunts are all pretty standard, I adapted and veganized this simple recipe.
Blueberry Grunts
Makes four individual grunts, or one large
Blueberry Filling
Four Cups Fresh Blueberries (or frozen)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbs Lemon Juice
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 tsp Each Cinnamon and Nutmeg, optional (I left them out)
Simple Biscuits
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine, or veg. shortening
3/4-1 Cup Soymilk
Add all of the ingredients for the blueberry filling into a large skillet. If you’re going to be making one large grunt and steaming the biscuits, make sure this skillet has a tight fitting lid. If you’re going to be baking the grunt, preheat the oven to 400º F.
Boil the berries for 10-15 minutes until the mixture has thickened a little.
Meanwhile, combine all the dry ingredients for the biscuits. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the margarine/shortening into the dry ingredients. If you’re berries aren’t done yet, go ahead and stick the dry mixture in the fridge or freezer to keep the margarine cold until you’re ready for it.
When the berries are ready, add the soymilk to the dry mixture to form a soft biscuit dough. The consistency is pretty forgiving, a slightly too-soft or too-firm dough won’t make a difference in the final product. As long as it holds together, but is soft enough to break apart into clumps, you’re good to go. Don’t over-mix the dough, or the biscuits will be tough. But you knew that!
For one large, steamed grunt:
Break the biscuit dough up into small, bite-sized pieces. Place the pieces on top of the hot, still-cooking berries, spread evenly across the top. Cover the skillet with a tight fitting lid, reduce the heat slightly, and steam for 15 minutes without peeking. The biscuits should be puffed up and cooked all the way through. Serve warm.
For one large baked grunt:
Follow the instructions for a steamed grunt, but place in the oven to bake at 400º F (without a lid) for 20 minutes. You can sand the biscuits sugar before baking if you like! Serve warm.
For individual baked grunts:
Transfer berry mixture to individual ramekins or gratin dishes, filling only half-full. Add biscuit mixture on top. Sand with sugar and place all the grunts on a baking sheet (this will help you take them out of the oven with burning yourself). Bake for 20 minutes, serve warm.
Here’s what my individual grunts looked like before baking:
These are great just as they are, but you can also serve them with some ice cream if you want. I invited Sandy over to try them, and she said that not only were they delicious, but they “taste exactly like a non-vegan grunt.” So if you’re looking for a simple, but elegant dessert to use up summer berries, I highly recommend this one.
I won’t blame you if you call it a cobbler, though.
July 31st, 2008
I’ve been looking for the perfect vegan crumb topping for a while now. Before today, my crumb toppings had always been sort of soggy, sort of greasy; more crummy than crumby. I wasn’t sure how to fix the problem.
About a month ago, I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated. My mother used to get a subscription years ago that I loved, and but it’s taken me this long to finally get my own. Along with the magazine, they sent me their new cookbook The Best of America’s Test Kitchen: Best Recipes and Reviews 2008, and in it is a recipe for crumb cake. I read a little closer, and saw a technique for crumbs that I’d never tried before. I ran into the kitchen to try it out, and oh my, it worked! Perfect crumbs!
This is a veganized version of the recipe found in The Best Of. It’s easy to throw together with few simple ingredients (no specialty egg replacers), making it perfect for a weekend treat or a quick dessert or teatime cake for guests.
Crumb Cake
Serves 9 (8×8″ cake)
Crumb Topping
8 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine, melted
2/3 Cup Granulate Sugar*
1 tsp Molasses
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 Pinch Salt
1 3/4 Cup Flour (cake flour or all-purpose)
*The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup brown sugar. I was out of brown sugar, so I used only granulated sugar with added molasses. Afterall, that’s how brown sugar is made commercially–they simply add molasses back into the sugar after processing.
Cake
1 1/4 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Canola Oil, or 6 Tbs Earth Balance Margarine, softened
1/3 Cup Soymilk + 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (or lemon juice)
1 Tbs Cornstarch mixed with 1/4 Cup Water
1-2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Powdered Sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350º F.
Whisk the still-warm melted earth balance with the sugar, molasses, cinnamon and salt. Mix in the flour with a spoon, or your hands, until a thick dough forms, similar to the texture of cookie dough. Let sit to cool for about 10 minutes. It should be ready when after you’ve put together the batter for the cake.
Line an 8×8 pan with aluminum foil (two sheets in a cross formation, leaving excess draped over the edges to help you remove the cake later). Spray with vegetable oil. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add oil, soymilk mixture, cornstarch mixture and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth, but do not overmix.
Add the batter to the lined pan. Begin to break apart the crumb mixture into smaller, pea sized pieces. You want to take chunks from the bowl and gently break off the crumbs, like so:
Cover the batter evenly with all the crumb mixture. It will seem like a lot! When I thought I had enough, I wasn’t even half-way through the mixture. Use it all, as the cake will expand and the crumb mixture is tasty. After all, this is crumb cake. Don’t be shy!
Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350ºF, or until the crumbs are slightly browned and a toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. Use the toothpick to push over a crumb or two in the middle an make sure the top doesn’t look gooey (I went the whole 50 minutes). Grab the aluminum foil and gently lift the cake out to cool for 20-30 minutes on a cooling rack. Give it a nice dusting of powdered sugar, slice and serve.
Wrap up any leftovers in plastic wrap. If there are any leftovers!
June 19th, 2008
I know it’s not fall, but I saw a photo of an apple tart a few days ago and have been craving it ever since. I just had to have one.
If you’re looking for an easy, no-fail dessert, this is for you. It’s perfect for a special after dinner dessert, or for company, or as a gift for the next host or hostess that invites you into their home. It’s straightforward, pretty, travels well, and can be served cold, room temperature, or hot. And did I mention it’s yummy?
If you haven’t made your own pie crust yet, this is the recipe to jump in with. It’s a basic pate brisee, which is a standard flaky crust made with flour and fat. I like to use a mixture of half shortening and half Earth Balance margarine, but you can use all Earth Balance if you prefer.
I used granny smith apples because I like a tart tarte, but if you’re looking for something a little more mild, give golden delicious a try. Any apple that keeps its shape during baking will work, and you can even mix and match varieties to your liking.
A tarte pan isn’t required. Feel free to use a regular pie tin. Or, make a rustic galette-style tarte by simply piling up the apples in the middle and folding the edge of the dough over the top. I was about to do it this way myself, but I couldn’t withstand that pretty, polished, fluted tin. What can I say? I’m easily distracted by shiny things.
Tarte aux Pommes
Makes one nine inch tart
4-5 Granny Smith Apples (or sweeter Golden Delicious)
1 Lemon, juiced
2-3 Tbs Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 Pinch Nutmeg (optional)
1 Pinch Allspice (optional)
2-3 Tbs Melted Earth Balance
Your favorite jelly/jam, for glazing
Pate Brisee
1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/4 Cup Non-Hydrogenated Veg. Shortening
1/4 Cup Earth Balance Margarine
2-4 Tbs Ice Water
Add the flour, salt, sugar, and fats together in the work bowl of a food processor.*
Pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand, with pea-sized lumps here and there.
Slowly drizzle in water while running the machine until the dough forms a ball. If in doubt, add less water as opposed to more.
Turn out the dough onto the counter and press to form a disc. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.
Preheat your oven to 400º F. Juice your lemon and place the juice in a small bowl. Peel the apples, brushing them with lemon juice as you go to prevent discoloration.
Slice the apples in half and core them. I use a 1 tsp measure to core my apples, it works just like a melon baller would.
Don’t forget to brush the insides with lemon juice, too.
Roll out your pate brisee on a sheet of parchment or wax paper. The dough should be 1/8″ thick and should be larger than your tart tin on all sides.
Invert the dough (using the parchment as support) over the center of the tart pan. If you’re making a pan-less galette, skip this step and move on to arranging the apples.
Gently work the dough into the pan and start arranging your apple slices in rings, starting at the outside and working in towards the center. It won’t really matter what it looks like once it’s baked, so don’t freak out about aesthetics. Just make sure to jam a bunch of apples in there, since they’ll cook down as it bakes.
The color is off, because at this point a huge thunderstorm had rolled in and messed up my lighting. The humidity and heat even wreaked the dough a little, but it still turned out just fine! If your dough gets too warm it may break apart (like mine did), but just mend it and soldier on. You won’t notice after it’s baked.
Once the apples are all in there, coat the top with the sugar and spices. Fold over the edges of the dough towards the center (they won’t cover the top completely–I don’t have a picture of this step because by this time the storm was so bad I couldn’t photograph anything at all).
Brush the entire tarte with melted Earth Balance and sprinkle with more sugar. Pour any leftover earth balance over the apples.
Bake at 400º F for 45-55 minutes, or until the tarte is golden brown and the apples have color on them. Glaze with warmed jam. Let cool most of the way before slicing.
*A food processor isn’t required, it just makes your job a lot easier. If mixing by hand, be sure to work the fat all they way into the dough before adding the water.
May 27th, 2008
Even if you don’t know what a tuile cookie is (pronounced “twill” or “tweel”), you’ve probably eaten them before. They’re delicate and sweet and often stuck into desserts, especially ice cream, at fancy restaurants. The great thing about tuile cookies is that they come out of the oven soft and pliable, allowing you to shape them whatever way you want before they cool and harden. They’re crisp and sweet and buttery–like the most delicate, most delicious ice cream cone you’ve ever had. In fact, ice cream cones are what got me thinking of tuile.
It’s 80 degrees here today, so I started thinking about making some ice cream. Then I thought about making my own ice cream cones. Then I thought about tuiles. And since there doesn’t seem to be a recipe for vegan tuile cookies on the internet, I decided to make up my own. And it worked! Perfectly. (I know, I’m just as shocked as you are. Apparently you really can learn how to make fancy things just by watching a lot of cooking shows on tv. My sister and I used to come home from school watch Great Chefs on PBS before the Food Network ever existed. Remember that show? I’m pretty sure that’s where I learned about tuile.)
So anyway. Tuile cookies aren’t hard, but they do require a few tools, some concentration, and the willingness to lightly burn your fingers. Since I don’t mind sacrificing myself for cookies, this wasn’t a problem for me. Just be forewarned. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- A silpat, or non-stick mat, or waxed parchment paper
- An offset spatula
- A clean piece of cardboard (not super thick) or tuile template
- Molds (bowl, rolled paper, whatever)
Let’s get to the recipe, I’ll explain in more detail as I go.
Vegan Tuile Cookies
Makes 1-2 dozen depending on size
1/2 Cup Earth Balance, softened
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Tbs Flax Egg*
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
Flax Egg
1 Tbs Flax Seed
1/4 Cup Water
Grind the flax seed to a powder in a spice grinder. Whisk with water and set aside. Use 2 Tbs of this mixture for the tuile cookies, you’ll have a little left over
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Whip the Earth Balance and sugar until light and fluffy, so it looks like the photo above. Once the Earth Balance is soft enough it should whip up just fine.
Add flax egg, extract, and salt. Whip until you see medium to stiff peaks like above. Gently fold in flour and mix until well combined. Your batter is ready, so prepare your workstation.
You can buy specialized tuile templates in lots of different shapes, but a piece of clean cardboard works just as well. I traced a glass and cut the circle out with an x-acto knife for my template. You can do circles, squares, rectangles, flowers, stars – anything!
Put your template down on your silpat and add a glob of batter. Using your offset spatula, carefully spread the batter out to fill the template, remove the excess batter.
Lift the template up to remove it. You’re cookies are ready to go in the oven. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. You may need to experiment with baking time to reach the ideal balance between strength and pliability.
I recommend not making more than 2-3 cookies at a time. You’ll need to shape them immediately after they come out of the oven, and since they harden quickly, it’s difficult to shape more than 2 or 3 in one go.
It’s also important to completely cool the baking sheet between each batch. Dump the hot baking sheet in the sink and spray it down with cold water. Dry thoroughly before the next batch.
When they come out of the oven, let them sit on the cookie sheet for 15-30 seconds. Gently remove them with a spatula and shape them immediately (this is the part where you might burn your fingers). You can make all sorts of shapes. If your template was circular, here are some ways you can shape them. I’m in the process of forming bowls in this picture, and I had already made cones, cylinders, and tacos.
I used regular paper, rolled into cylinders and cones and taped, to make the other shapes. Once cool the shape will set.
Now you can use them whichever way you want! I filled mine with almond soy pudding and fresh strawberries. You can add them to ice cream, fill them with vegan pastry cream, stuff them with berries or custard, dip them in chocolate–whatever. If you want to make the cookies ahead, I recommend not filling them until the last minute to prevent the cookies from getting soggy.
And I haven’t forgotten about ice cream. I actually bought an ice cream machine today, so I’ll post a recipe for vegan ice cream in the future, now that I know how to make the cones!
April 23rd, 2008
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