Zucchini. One of the best summertime veggies. If you have been around here (as in my blog) for long enough, you all know how I am a zucchini feen. Once they start growing, I take them all. From my garden, from your garden, even my sisters mother in laws extra, plus the million I get with my farm share. At any given time I could have upwards of fifty zucchini spilling out all over the counter and shoved into any crevice I can find in the fridge. But the excess never lasts long because I eat them all. Mostly to myself, and I feel great about it. (Ok, I do end up freezing some of it for winter, but I am still eating it all!)
And every year when the first zucchinis start to hit the ground, all the people are up in my squash asking for zucchini bread, like they can%u2019t possibly make it themselves or anything. But I don%u2019t mind what so ever because sharing is caring and I guess I care. Plus I like to bake so it works, you know?
When I was recently asked to bake a loaf of zucchini bread, I made the decision to go the muffin route instead because aren%u2019t muffins just individual little breads that take half the time to cook them a loaf? Yup, and that is very nice when you want to minimize any hot oven time because summer is hot enough as it is.
And because they are muffins, they acceptable for breakfast, even with all the chocolate chips.
Win!
Now to the muffins!
The stuff. A good sized zucchini, flour, baking soda and powder, salt, brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, raw sugar, apple cider vinegar, and some chocolate chips.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar until completely incorporated and there are no lumps of sugar.
Shred the zucchini. I used a smaller shredder so the pieced are very thin but a normal sized box grater shred works just as well
Add zucchini, oil, and vinegar to bowl and fold in until completely combined.
Then fold in chocolate chips. Duh.
Scoop batter into a greased muffin pan and sprinkle the tops with raw sugar. Pop into the hot oven to bake.
Pop out of tins to cool on a rack.
And eat. All to yourself or share, that is on you.
-C
makes 12 muffins
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup neutral flavored oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 medium zucchini (2 cups packed shredded zucchini)
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raw sugar (to sprinkle the tops) optional
Preheat oven to 350.
Grab a large bowl and add in the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk together then add in the brown sugar and whisk in, making sure there are no big clumps.
Shred zucchini uniti you have 2 hefty cups. If you have a fine shredder, use that, if not, a normal sized shred will do.
Place shredded zucchini into the bowl along with the oil and the vinegar. Start folding with a spatula until everything is incorporated. Resist the urge to aggressively mix, it takes a minute for the liquid from the zucchini to absorb into the flour. (Over mixing it will make the muffins tough) Once the batter is uniform, fold in chocolate chips.
Scoop batter into a well greased or lined muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops with raw sugar and pop the pan into the preheated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes or until fluffily and domed and a tester stuck in one comes out clean.
When baked, remove from oven and pop out if tin. Let cool on a wire rack but feel free to eat one warm.
Store uneaten muffins in airtight container at room temp for a 2-3 days but if it is really hot out, just stick them in the fridge. Also can be frozen.
Ever since schools have been canceled and we have turned to homeschooling, the school systems around my parts have been dropping lunches off to all the littles. Both my sisters with littles have been getting food every day and it is great and amazing and makes me less worried about all the kids that really depend on school for food. Thank you school systems for being awesome!
The thing with the food is that you get what you get. Just about everyday, packed with the lunches,are either applesauce cups or strawberry puree cups.
The little shits, well none of them eat them. I don%u2019t know if they just don%u2019t like them or are sick of them but yeah, they are really starting to pile up. And so sisters have been sending apple and strawberry cups my way and now I have shit ton too.
I figured I would just bake with them and that is what I have been doing, but I still have so many and it is way to hot to be baking all the time. What to do with an excess of fruit puree cups? Freeze them. And make them into granitas. Whats a granita? A granita is flaked frozen fruit, kind of like a slushy you eat with a spoon. And wouldn%u2019t you know, once the applesauce and strawberry cups were frozen and called something else, the littles were all over them.%u00a0I am a genius.
It also helped that is was like a 95 degrees out and when it is that gross, no one wants to eat anything that isn%u2019t frozen. Blah. Too hot way too early!
So if you find yourself with an excess amount of fruit cups or just want to make a healthy and delicious cold treat for your littles or yourself, do this.
Now to the apple strawberry granitias!
The stuff. Applesauce cups and strawberry puree cups. If you don%u2019t have the actually cups, you can use applesauce from a jar or homemade and make your own strawberry puree by tossing fresh or frozen strawberries into a blender. Easy peasy.
The apple and strawberry purees into a bowl
Mix together. Have a taste, it is delicious.
Dump mixture into a baking sheet or pan, preferably a metal one, and place in freezer.
After about and hour, once it is slightly frozen, remove from freezer. Grab a fork and scrape the puree to kind of fluff it up. Place back into freezer for another hour and repeat one or two more time until the texture is nice and fluffy. Once you like texture, place in freezer for another 1/2 to really freeze up.
When you are ready to eat, scoop and serve.
Once scooped, eat. Right away because frozen things don%u2019t stay frozen for long!
-C
makes about 4 servings
2 applesauce cups (or 2 cups applesauce)
2 strawberry cups (or 2 cups strawberries pureed)
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Dump the applesauce and strawberry puree into a bowl. Mix together and taste. If you think it could use a little sugar, mix it in. Remember, once frozen, it won%u2019t taste quite as sweet.
Dump mixture into a baking pan or sheet, preferable a metal one, and place in freezer. After about an hour, or once it has frozen a bit, remove from freezer, grab a fork, and scrape the puree to losses it up. Place back in freezer for another hour. Repeat with the fork one or two more times until the texture is that of fluffy ice. After the last scrape, keep in freezer for another 1/2 hour or so to get it really frozen again then when you are ready, scoop out into bowl and eat.
Any that doesn%u2019t get eaten right away, keep in freezer. You can transfer to a smaller container with a lid.
It started a few nights ago when I was eating my after dinner dessert snack. A big bowl of fresh strawberries. But there was something missing. I wanted a little something else to add to my dessert so I opened the freezer to see if there was any frozen bananas. What caught my eye was the bag of peas. And it just seemed right so I poured some into a bowl, dumped hot water on them to thaw, and mixed them into the bowl with the strawberries. Now I got to tell you, it was one of the most satisfying delicious desserts I have had in a long time. Think about it. Peas are sweet and creamy and strawberries are sweet and tart. The combination might seem a little strange but haven%u2019t we learned by now that I am always right about flavors? HAHA. But really. It%u2019s one of my new favorite snacks.
Now how to share my newfound love of peas and strawberries? Well cake of course. I figured people are less hesitant to try new flavor combinations when in cake form because everyone wants cake. And I was right. Plus it is a real looker if I do say so myself. Bright green cake with bright red strawberry glaze. A spring time snack with the spring time feels. Everything about this cake is right on point with all the things. And it is super fast and easy to make to boot because it%u2019s all thrown together in a blender.
You really can%u2019t go wrong here friends. And if you happened to be needing a little something something to snack on with your mama this weekend, well I think you just found the perfect snack.
Now to the cake!
The stuff. Peas,strawberrie jam of perceives (I had just made it so it is still warm) Flour, sugar and powdered sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, oil, and vinegar.
Super easy here. Place peas into blender and blend until smooth. Add oil and sugar and blend until incorporated. Then add in all the dry. Before you blend, take a spoon or spatula and hand mix it a little. Add in a cup of water and vinegar then pulse until incorporated. Don%u2019t over blend it or else it will be tough.
Pour batter into a well greased pan and pop into a hot oven. Bake.
Afer about 25 minuts, check for doneness. When the fork or tester comes out clean, it is done!
Pop cake out and let cool on a wire rack.
And glaze. Warm up the jam in the microwave on on stove until loose then mix jam with powdered sugar.
When the cake has cooled, grab a fork and stab holes all over so when you pour glaze on it will kind of seep into said holes.
Pop cake back into pan (or don%u2019t if you dont want too) and pour glaze all over top.
A dusting of powdered sugar for looks and done and done. Cut into squares, pop a piece on a plate, and snack away.
-C
makes a 9×9 cake
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/3 cups sweet peas (fresh or frozen and thawed)
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoon strawberries jam or preserves
Preheat oven to 350
Place peas into blender ans blend until smooth. Add in oil and sugar and blend until incorporated. Next add in baking soda and powder and then flour on top. Grab a spoon or spatula and mix a little to give the batter a head start then add int he water and vinegar. Pulse in blender for a few seconds, scrap sides, then pulse again until it just become a cohesive batter. Don%u2019t oven blend it or that cake will be tough.
Pour batter into a well greased 9×9 baking tin and place into hot oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out clean. When it is done, pop out of oven and pop cake out of tin to cool on a wire rack.
Once cake is cooled, place back into baking pan. Mix together the powdered sugar and jam then either microwave it or heat on stove for 30ish seconds until warmed and pourable. Grab a fork and stab holes all over top of cake then pour glaze all over.
Sprinkle some more powdered sugar on top for looks, but other then that, it%u2019s now time to eat.
Cake that is not eaten is best keep at room temperature for 2-3 days. Can be frozen too.
I don%u2019t really understand the pineapple Easter correlation. I think it might have something to do with ham, but you know what, I really don%u2019t care that much to figure it out. (Okay, I googled it and it is ham related.)
So no ham here but I am all about the pineapple. Last week when I did my grocery shop there were a shit ton of pineapples on sale, so I grab a few figuring that me and the mr would eat them for next week or so. Up until last week, I was positive that the mr really liked pineapple. Until I cut one up. Turns out the mr , for some reason, now doesn’t like pineapple that much. What. the, HELL!? This was new news to me. I swear he just says these things to piss me off, but whatever, I guess he is not a fan anymore and it just means more pineapple for me.
But I also made a cake with some of the pineapple because I had so much and also I just wanted to bake a cake. And guess what, turns out the mr does like pineapple, just as long it is in cake form. I should have known.
To the upside down cake!
The stuff. A pineapple, flour, baking soda and power, salt, brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar.
Cut up pineapple. If you want to get fancy, garb a cookie cutter and cut out pineapple shapes for the upside down part. Or just cut up 1/2 inch slices or rings. however you want.
Get the pan ready. Grease a pan, add a parchment bottom. place about a tablespoon coconut oil into pan and coat bottom of pan then evenly sprinkle in about 1/2 cup brown sugar. Layer in your pineapple.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients%u2026 (a bowl bigger then mine)
Place pineapple into blender (use scraps if you have them) and blend until smooth. Add in the brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, and vinegar and blend until combined.
Pour wet into dry and whisk until combined.
Pour batter over pineapple and into the oven it goes.
Oooooh. Cake. Are you just so excited! You should be, it is an exciting time.
Give it a few minute before flipping it.
Flipped and revealed. So pretty!
Now it%u2019s cake time so get down on it.
-C
makes a 12 round or 9×13 inch rectangle cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar plus 1/4 cup
1/2 cup warm coconut oil plus 1 tablespoon
1 1/2 cups pineapple pureed which Is about 1/2 a small pineapple
About 1/4 pineapple for bottom
1/4 cup water
I tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First get the pineapple cut up any way you usually do it. If you want specific shapes for the pineapple bottom, keep that in mind and cut the pineapple accordingly. You are going to want the pieces (like the circles that I used) to be about 1/2 inch thick. And if you are using a cut out, my suggestion is to cut out all the pieces that you need to use and use the cut out scrapes to puree.
Grease and parchemnt line a 12 inch round or 9×13 inch rectangle cake pan. Evenly spread a tablespoon coconut oil on parchment then evenly coat with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Place pineapple cut outs or pieces into pan. It is fine if pineapple pieced overlap a bit but make sure to not go much thicker then1/2 inch in places.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking power and soda, and salt.
Place 1 1/2 cups of chopped pineapple into blender and blend until smooth. Make sure it equals 1 1/2 cup pureed. Add in 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cups brown sugar, 1/2 cup warm coconut oil, vanilla, and the vinegar and blend until completely smooth. Pour mixture into the bowl with the whisked dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour cake batter gently over pineapple in pan.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is a nice golden brown and a tester poke comes out clean.
Remove cake from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then invert pan onto a wire rack or plate and remove pan gently. The cake should pop out easily with the parchment attached. Peel parchment off and if any of the pineapple cokes loose, jus stick it back on.
And then cake. Eat it.
Pudding is comfort. Pudding is simple. Pudding is just that, nothing but pudding. And if you add some graham cracker crumble, well you got yourself a pudding parfait. And a pudding party of sorts, if you need one.
Now do you, like me, think about grade school when you see pudding? Or how about Billy Madison. Oh hell yeah, definitely watching Billy Madison, in grade school, with a snack pack. HA. Those were some days right there. And with all the littles being homeschooled these crazy days, I figured why not bring in a bit of the grade school feeling into the routine and make some pudding for an after lunch or after %u201cschool%u201d snack. For the routine purposes and also as a form of a bribe. Yes. You can bribe your children with pudding. Or your partner. The mr got his pudding too, just after he dealt with the recycling on the porch.
And plus. Oat milk. You got a stash? Yeah? Well use it in this pudding. It will make you glad you panicked bought 10 cartons and hid them under your mattress. Right next to all the canned beans of course.
Now to the pudding!
The stuff. Oat milk (use any milk you want or have), cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, brewed coffee (optional), vanilla extract, graham crackers, coconut oil, and a little salt.
Start with a pot. Mix in the cocoa powder, brown sugar, and corn starch, and pinch of salt. Add in a little milk and coffee if using and mix around until its a thick paste and everything is incorporated.
Now add in the rest of the milk and place on medium heat on the stove. Heat up for about 3ish minutes and once it starts get hot and you see a bubble or two, start whiskingand don%u2019t stop. Whisk all around pot, all over the bottom, so no spot start to burn. Whisk whisk whisk, until it thickens to pudding consistency. Should take 3-5 minutes.
Once thick and pudding like turn heat off and add in the vanilla and chocolate chips. Whisk until completely melted and incorporated.
Silky and smooth. Hot pudding.
Pour the pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge to set. 1- 2 hours.
In the meantime, graham cracker crumble. Smash up the crackers into a bowl, (big chunks are good) and add in the melted coconut oil and a tablespoon of brown sugar.
Mix around until evenly incorporated
Dump the crumbs onto a baking sheet and stick into the oven to toast up for about 10 minutes.
And now you assemble. Graham crumble on a vessel, topped with pudding, more crumble, and whatever whipped cream, yogurt, ice cream situation you might want to top it with.
Pudding. All for you to eat.
-C
make 4-6 serving
2 cups oat milk (can use any milk you have on hand)
1/3 packed cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon brewed coffee (optional but makes it a little more deep and chocolatey)
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Graham Cracker Crumble
6 full sheets of package of graham crackers
2 tablespoon melted coconut oil or vegan butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
In a medium size pot mix together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, and a pinch of salt. Add in the coffee if using, and about 1/2 cup of milk. Mix until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the mixture is kind of pasty. Place pot on stove on medium heat and add in the rest of the milk . Let mixture heat up for a few minutes and once it starts to warm, start whisking. Whisk consistency until the mixture heats up and thickens to a pretty thick pudding consistency. Remove from heat, add in the chocolate chips and vanilla and keep whisking until the chocolate completely melts it.
Pour pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge. 1-2 hours to cool and set.
In the meantime make the graham cracker crumble. Preheat oven to 350. Crush up crackers into a bowl (some big chunks are good) and mix in the brown sugar and melted coconut oil. Mix around until the crumbs are evenly moisten. Dump the crumble onto a baking sheet and place into oven for about 10 minutes or until the crumble is a nice deep golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
Once the pudding is set and the crumble is toasted, it is time to assemble. Scoop some crumble into a bowl or jar, add in some pudding, then top with more crumble. If you want, top with a dollop of something creamy like whipped cream, yogurt, or even ice cream.
Eat.
IF there is pudding and crumble left over, store the pudding I the fridge (will last a few days) and the crumble separately at room temperature in a airtight container.
I was having one of those weeks, a week when I just needed to make some cookies. You know those weeks right? And so cookies were made. White chocolate chip because thats all I had (Or thought I had. I forgot that I dumped all the regular chocolate chips into humongous jar in the pantry) and lemon because it just sounded right and also I had this giant lemon, which is the best part about these cookies. The giant lemon I used was the single lemon that I grew, in my own house, here in Vermont, on my little lemon tree. Crazy right? A $40 dollar lemon (because the plant cost that much), so these are some expansive ass cookies. HAHA.
So I know I make good cookies, but there was something about this flavor combination that had everyone drooling over them. A cookie that is chewy and crisp, but not hard and crunchy. They smell all sweet and citrusy and amazing. Probably the exact perfect cookie that anyone and everyone wants. The littles, they tried to eat them all. Barb, she ate one when she came over then texted me in the middle of the night to ask if I had anymore cookies left. Cameron, the boy (or gigantic man now) stopped over and raved about the cookies and that is saying a lot because that boy is picky. And the mr. of course, was skeptical of the flavor combination at first but that went out the window when he sat down and ate like 4 within minutes. So if you have any doubts, know that these are some good cookies. And also, you don%u2019t need to grow your own lemon for these cookies. A regulate grocery store lemon will be just fine.
To the cookies!
The stuff. White and brown sugar, coconut oil, a flax egg, a lemon, vanilla extract, flour, salt, baking soda, and white chocolate chips.
Simple and straight forward. Grab a big bowl and add in the sugars, coconut oil, flax egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix until completely combined. Add in the baking soda, salt, and flour. Mix again until combined.
And don%u2019t forget to to mix in the chocolate chips!
Up close for your pleasure.
Scoop dough onto baking sheets and give them a little tap to flatten the tops. Not too smooshed, just a bit, and toss that pan into the oven to bake.
And would you look at that, baked to perfection.
Place cookies on rack to cool.
And thats it.
Pile of cookies, cup of coffee%u2026 Do it. Do you.
1 Large lemon ( or 1 hefty tablespoon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (the vegan ones, if you care)
Preheat oven to 350
Place oil, sugars, vanilla, flax egg, the zest of the lemon, and a tablespoon of lemon juice into a big bowl, Mix together until completely incorporated. Add in a the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until dough forms then add in the white chocolate chips and mix until combined.
Stoop out dough balls, about 2 tablespoons worth, onto a baking sheet. Make sure to give each ball a good amount of room because these cookies will spread a good bit. Give each dough ball a little press, not completely flat, just a little tap so the tops are not domed and then place cookies into oven to bake. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies are turning slightly golden brown on top and golden brown on the bottom.
Once out of the oven, place cookies on a cooling rack to cool. Be careful because they are really fragile until they cool.
And then eat your cookies.
Store cookies at room tempature in airtight counter for up to a week. OR freeze them for a few months. But they will be gone in days so yeah.
I have been on a good long kick here with eating oats at night for my after dinner snack. Just about every night after cleaning up the dinner dishes, sweeping the floors, going for a nice after dinner walk with the mr, I come home, put the hot water on, grab my oats, my peanut flour, and sometimes a banana. As soon as the water boils I mash up some banana (if using), add in some oats, pour in some boiling water, and let them sit. I also pour a huge jar of tea then plop my butt down at the counter to do any brain tasks that need doing like checking the email, left over billing things, maybe check the old phone for the first time in hours%u2026 After about 5 minutes of that, I stop brain tasks because I just can%u2019t, grab oats, and dump in a few big ass tablespoons of peanut flour and cinnamon and give it a good stir. Voila, snack time. A delicious, nutritious, tummy filling and easy dish that is full of all sorts of things that my body needs. I grab a spoon, my tea, and open my book. For sure one of my favorite times of day.
Now lets talk about peanut flour. I have been eating peanut flour for a few years now. Not to confuse with powered peanut butter which is basically peanut flour but usually with added sugar and salt. Peanut flour is just peanuts, with the oil pressed out and then ground up into a super fine flour. And not a flour is the typical sense. Like you can%u2019t make bread with it, but you could add it to bread. You can also use it to thicken things like soups or sauces up. Or add it to smoothies, make a cake frosting with it , or just mix it with a little water and eat it with a spoon. It is delicious and amazing and full of protein without all the added fat and high calorie content. I started to add it to foods because of the protein but now I just eat it all the time because I freaking love the stuff. (Another favorite way to eat it is cut up carrot sticks tossed in the flour%u2026 SO GOOD!) Anyway, truth be told, it is not the most widely available stuff. I have only seen it in a few store over the years, so I have been buying it online. But recently someone told me that Trader Joes is selling it now (I haven%u2019t checked yet) so I figured now is a good time to share the greatness of the flour and how you might want to use it.
Anyway, these oats here are my favorite way to eat oats. Warm and creamy, but not cooked and gruel like. They are like a cross between stove top oats and overnight oats except they take all of 5 minutes to make and you don%u2019t need to dirty a pot. Then mixed with banana for extra sweetness and flavor, the peanut flour for all the peanut butter taste and protein. These oats are unstoppable.%u00a0 Delicious and nutritious for breakfast, lunch, snack time, or dessert, these oats are all win win. Add another win just because. Win, Win, WIN!
Now to the oats!
The stuff. Old fashion oats, a small banana, peanut flour, cinnamon, and boiling hot water.
Mash up the banana until smoothish then add in half the hot water and mix. Dump in the oats and mix those too.
Top with the rest of the boiling water and let sit for about 5 minutes.
After the oats absorbed the hot banana water, dump on the cinnamon and the peanut butter flour and mix in.
Grab yourself a spoon friend.
Eat.
-C
Makes 1 serving. Can be halved for smaller portion
1 small banana
1/2 cup old fashion oats
2 (or more if you want) tablespoons peanut flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 cup boiling water
Place peeled banana in a bowl and mash with a fork unit smooth. Add in half the boiling water and mix.. Dump in oats and mix until incorporated then add in the rest of the hot water. Let sit for 5 minutes until oats absorb all the water. Stir in peanut flour and cinnamon. Eat.
It%u2019s not too late to get in a little end of the year baking. It is actually the perfect time to bake. All the holiday hub bub is still going on so there is usually still people all around still willing and able to eat your offerings (if you were so inclined to share), the days just feel more slow and of need of warmth and lovely smells. Plus we need something to do while while waiting for New Years, because we are just all sitting around waiting for that ball to drop, right? HAHAHA. No.
Anyway, I have been wanting to make some version of a boiled clementine cake for a while now. I love that fact the the whole clementine goes into the cake, that there is no peeling or zesting or juicing. It is just boil the clems for a little while to get the bitterness out and you are good to go. And it doesn%u2019t hurt that right now is citrus season so I have a humngo bowl of clementines, plus a shit load of other oranges and other citrus to go through so the thought of tossing a good few clementines into a cake, well it was just what needed to be done.
And the family is coming over to eat and trash my house so I needed another dessert besides the half eaten ice cream cake left in the freezer from Camereon%u2019s birthday/Christmas. So I baked that they will eat. And there we go. Win win.
Now to the clementine cake.
The stuff. Flour, baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, oil, cinnamon, vinegar, clementines, and powdered sugar.
First you need to boil the clementines. Big pot, fill with water, place clems inside, bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 hours. Seems like a long time but just do it while you are making and drinking coffee or doing laundry or whatever. You don%u2019t need to keep an eye on them, other then to check that the water hasn%u2019t evaporated, and it smells so nice.
After the 2 hours are up, remove clementines from water and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half. If there are giant seeds, remove them.
Place the clementines into blender and blend until silky smooth.
Now the other stuff. Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and cinnamon. All into big bowl.
Whisk together until incorporated then add in the clementine puree, the oil, and the vinegar. Whisk together until it becomes a uniform batter.
Scoop batter into a very well greased bundt cake pan and bake, 50-60 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
The big revel%u2026. And it went perfect! Now time to let this sucker cool a bit on a wire rack.
While the cake is cooling, make a simple glaze. Just powdered sugar and fresh (not boiled) clementine juice. Mixed unit glaze consistency.
Once the cake is pretty much cooled, pour on the glaze.
And now it is cake time.
-C
Makes one bundt cake
2 1/4 cups all pupose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup any neutral oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 clementines (you need 2 cups pureed)
For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 clementine
To start, place 6 clementines into large pot and fill with water. Place on stove and bring water to a rapid boil then reduce heat and continue to simmer clementines for about 2 hours.
Once clementines are cooked, cut in half and check and discard any large seeds. Place the clementines into a blended and blend until smooth. Should have about 2 cups puree. If you are short on volume, add water to make up the difference.
Preheat oven to 350
Grab a large bowl. Dump the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar and whisk together until completely incorporated. Now add in the clementine puree along with the oil and the vinegar. Mix until completely incorporated. Scoop batter into a well greased burnt pan (at least 10 cup capacity) then place into oven on middle rack and bake for 50-60 minutes until a tester (or a fork) stuck in to the deepest part of the cake comes out clean.
Once baked, remove cake from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in pan, then flip the cake out of pan, gently of course, and hope you greased it well enough for it to just pop out. Once removed from pan, allow to cool on a wire rack.
While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Powered sugar into a bowl along with the juice of a clementine. Mix together. If the glaze is to thick, add more juice (or water), to thin, a little more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency (pourable but not runny is good) and once cake is cooled, pour glaze all over.
And then eat cake.
Peaches are here. YAY!!! Peaches are for sure one of those fleeting fruits, one that once in season, you need to eat as many fresh as you can because once they are out of season, they are not good. Not good at all. And me being me, I see peaches, I buy a shit load, and now I have a fridge drawer full. Not complaining in the slightest, but peaches cannot sit around all summer waiting to be eaten. So if you are going to buy a shit load, know what you are going to do with them all.
My peaches, well they haven%u2019t had to wait long. I have been eating at least a peach a day and%u2026 I made these bars with a few. Sharing my peaches, thats what I do. HA.
These almond peach shortbread bars. Fantastic A+ on all fronts. Easy to make, not a whole heck of a lot of ingredients, make the house smell amazing, and really kick off the peach, summer vibe thing that goes on around here.
‘%u201cMillions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of Peaches, peaches for free%u201d %ud83c%udfb6 (Peaches by The Presidents of the United States of America. If you have%u2019t head the song, look it up. I don%u2019t think I can even look at a peach without hearing the song in my head.)
Now to the peach almond shortbread bars!
The stuff. Peaches, almonds, vegan butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
Easy peasy. Almonds go in to food processor first. Blend and pulse for a minute or two until they turn into a medium fine almond meal. (Don%u2019t over blend or you will end up with almond butter.) When almonds are ground, add in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Pulse until combined. Then add in the butter in chunks and pulse until dough just starts to come together.
Half the dough goes into a 9×9 baking pan. Smooshed evenly all over the bottom poke it with a fork. Then it just needs to go into the oven to bake. 15-18 minutes or so, just until it starts to brown a bit.
Peaches need to be cut so cut them up. !/2 inch thick slices, after the pits be removed of course.
Blinded baked bottom. Looks good yeah? Let it cool for a few minutes and then it gets peaches. Three rows, all over lapping and nestled together.
The top gets the remaining half of dough and is now it%u2019s ready for the oven. Another 40-ish minutes or so to really seal the deal.
Taken from the oven when golden brown, cooled, cut up, and placed on a pretty plate because pretty is nice.
I am pretty sure you figured out what to do next%u2026. EAT IT!
-C
makes a 9×9 pan which can be cut Into the sizes of your choice
1 cup vegan butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cup cup all purpose flour
1 cups raw almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 large firm peaches
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven 350
Place almonds into a food processor and pulse and blend until a fine meal has formed. It should take only a minute or two and stop half way and scrape the edges and sides do the almonds don%u2019t start to form a paste. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon,and sugar and pulse until combined. Add in the vegan butter in a few chunks and pulse until the mixture turns into a crumbly dough. Stop pulsing and dump mixture into big bowl.
Take half of the mixture and place into a 9×9 baking pan. Evenly distribute and press the dough into the bottom. Take a fork and poke the dough all over then place the pan in the oven. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the dough just starts to lighly brown. Remove from oven.
While the bottom crust is cooling off for a few minutes, slice peaches into 1/2 inch slices. Obviously make sure to remove pit.
Now take your half baked crust and layer peaches evenly on top. It is easies to start at the top, make three rows across and then layer the peaches down (like in the picture above). Once peaches are layered, grab the remaining half of dough and evenly distribute on top. Place back into oven and bake for another 40-45 minutes or until the crumble on top is a nice deep golden brown.
Remove from oven, let coo completely (or as completely as you can) cut into pieces, and then you eat it.
Left over pieces should be placed in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They freeze well individually wrapped too.
blind back for about 15 minutes of until the crust is starting to brown around the edges
bake for another 30 minutes
Yes you read that right. Corn. In a popsicle.
What?
No it is not weird or gross or anything. I wouldn’t do that to you. These popsicles are down right deeee-lightful. Rich and creamy and sweet. Both the creamy coconut and the toasted coconut pair perfectly with the sweet corn flavor. They truly are delicious and I think that if you give them a try, you will think so too. And really, now that it is like almost summer, who doesn’t have a little extra corn laying around. So you might as well just make a batch.
And then you will thank me for introducing you to the goodness that is a toasted coconut and corn popsicle. Heck, the mr even ate one and he (still, after I have proven him wrong on a many occasions) says he hates corn. So if a corn hater likes these, imagine what a corn lover will think. HAHA. Corn lover.
To the popsicles!
The stuff. Corn, full fat coconut milk, shredded coconut, and maple syrup.
First, remove corn from cob and place on a baking sheet. Bake in oven for 10-ish minutes until corn is cooked and all nice and sweet.
And don%u2019t forget to toast the coconut. A few minutes in the oven is all it needs.
Now to blend. Corn and coconut milk go in first to blend until nice and smooth. Then add in the maple and coconut and blend until just combined. That will leave a little coconut texture. If you want it smooth, well just blend until completely smooth. Do what feels right to you.
Thick, rich and creamy popsicle mixture.
Now pour it into the molds and stick into the freezer. You could probably stick the sticks in now or wait a little while for the mixture to set a bit, but just don%u2019t forget to get sticks in those popsicles before they completely freeze. That would suck.
Pop those lovelies out of the molds and there you go.
The anticipation is over. Eat a popsicle
-C
makes 4 average sized popsicles
2 ears corn (about a cup of corn kernels)
1 cup full fat coconut milk (the canned stuff)
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
Note. If you have left over cooked corn, just use that. You don%u2019t need to recook it so skip the cooking corn step.
Preheat oven to 400
Remove corn kernels from cob and place on a baking sheet pretty evenly. Pop into the oven for 10 minutes of so or until the corn is cooked through and nice and sweet.
Remove corn and dump it into blender and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Place the coconut onto the baking sheet and pop into the oven for 3-4 minutes to just lightly toast. When the coconut is toasted, remove from oven.
Grab the blender with the corn and pot in the coconut milk. Blend until smooth. Add in the maple (start with 2 tablespoons and work your way up to the sweetness you like) and the toasted coconut. Blend quickly just to combine for a slightly more textures popsicle or blend completely smooth if you would rather a smoother popsicle.
Pour mixture into popsicles molds and place into freezer. After the mixture sets up (about an hour) pop sticks into molds. Continue to freeze until completely frozen. Usually 4-6 hours.
And then when it is popsicle time, remove popsicles from molds and eat them.
Kind of a spur of the moment cake situation. I was in the middle of doing some paper work and remembered that I had made plans with the littles to go bike shopping and do dinner. Usually when they come over for dinner I don%u2019t make a point to have a dessert (they are happy with a handful of chocolate chips if I have nothing) but I felt the need to have something special. I mean, bike shopping, that%u2019s a big deal and they were so excited so I wanted to have a little celebration cake thing. A, YIPPIE YOU GOT BIKES! cake. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
So I made cake. I running a little short on time (yet I still had time to take pictures%u2026.) so I went with my trusty one bowl, super easy chocolate cake. (This is everyone in my families favorite cake). Peanut butter frosting because it was right in from of me and really, it was for Coco the fat baby. He basically eats nothing but peanut butter these days. And of course because peanut butter and chocolate together are never going out of style. I cooked the cake in a loaf pan because I was just feeling loafy I guess. But This cake could totally be cooked into a cake round or square if you wanted to.
And that was that. I made that cake, they got the bikes (YEA!!!!, although I told them both that they sucked because they walked into a store and picked out bikes in less then an hour. I on the other hand have been bike shopping for more then a month and still haven%u2019t made a decision.) We then came back here to my house, biked around for a while, then ate cake (after dinner of course.)
Anyways. This cake. Rich, dense, chocolatey peanut butter goodness. Has been described as the best cake ever and like a Reese peanut butter cup. If you are into any of that, well this is the cake for you.
To the cake.
The stuff for the cake.. Flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, oil, coffee, vanilla. brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. And the stuff for the frosting. Peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and almond milk.
In a big bowl, whisk together the dry stuff, pinching and breaking apart any big clumps of cocoa or sugar. Then just dump in the wet.
Whisked until glossy and smooth. A perfectly perfect chocolate cake batter.
Pour batter into a greased and lined loaf pan and into the oven it goes. 50-60 minutes or so or until a tester poked in the middle comes out clean. Then pop the cake right on out. Remove cake from tin and let cool on a wire rack.
While cake is cooling, make frosting. Beat together powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, and milk.
Fully beaten. Ready to frost a cake.
Once cake is cooled, cut in half down the middle, length wise. Then frosting the middle. (Make sure it is cooled in the middle before frosting. If it is still warm, let it cool)
Pop the top back on and frost the rest.
And don%u2019t forget the sprinkles. Went with chocolate and gold because. But you do you and use whatever sprinkles you want.
And then you eat the cake.
I ended up stick it in the freezer to hide for a while%u2026 I guess this cake cold or slightly frozen is just about the best thing ever. The littles damn near ripped my arm off trying to get seconds.
-C
makes 1 loaf cake
For the Cake
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup neutral oil
1 1/2 cups warm coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
For frosting
3/4 cup minus 2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1/4 cup plant based milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 and grease and line a loaf pan.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and brown sugar. Break apart any big clumps of sugar or cocoa with your fingers. When that%u2019s mixed, dump in the wet and whisk together until just fully incorporated. Pour batter into the greased pan and stick into oven.
Bake for 55- 60 minutes or until a tester poked into the middle comes out clean.
Once cooked, remove from oven and carefully remove from pan. Place on a wire rack to cool.
While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Just beat together the butter, peanut butter, and milk until nice and creamy. If you find your frosting be too thin, add in more powdered sugar, too thick, a splash more milk.
When it is cooled, cut the loaf in half length wise. Make sure the inside is complete cooled as well. I totally stuck my cake in the freezer for little bit to speed up the cooling process%u2026..
When the cake is cut and completely cooled, frost it. Spread a little less then half the frosting on the bottom layer, stick top back on, and finish the frosting. Cover with sprinkles (if you want) and then that is it.
Serve room temperature or what my people really like is served slightly frozen, which is great because I just cut the cake up and froze individual pieces making for a perfect quick dessert.
I found another bag of frozen rhubarb in the chest freezer which is never a bad thing, but my rhubarb patch outside is growing strong and I will have all the fresh rhubarb I could possible eat within the next few weeks. So found rhubarb just means I need to eat it right fast before the fresh stuff comes in. (I haven%u2019t had a problem with that. it%u2019s almost gone already). Plus the other day while I was digging up and transplanting raspberry bushes to the back yard, my neighbor came over and gave me a gallon of frozen raspberries, harvested from said bushes that I was currently planting in my yard. Score for me! Free bushes and berries%u2026I have such nice neighbors.
So the logical thing to do with my new found and giving bounty was of course to hurry up and bake something. Cobbler. Why cobbler? Well, why not? I figured the mr would really like it and eat it and I also didn%u2019t want to make anything to fussy because I was just to dang busy spending all of my extra time outside doing outside things. And cobbler, it%u2019s not fussy because it is basically biscuits and jam baked up all together. Not a lot to think about and comes out looking all homey and sweet and smelling all nice and cozy. Doesn%u2019t that sound nice? And not a pain in the ass?
And best part. A made cobbler works as dessert or breakfasts or just a snack. Just asked the mr. He ate it for all the reasons. With a dollop of yogurt or cream of course because he is fancy like that.
And yeah the fruit I used was frozen, but fresh works just the same here too.
Now, lets get to that cobbler.
The stuff. Raspberries (frozen), rhubarb (frozen), sugar, flour, salt, baking power, cinnamon ,almond milk, apple cider vinegar, cornstarch, and oil.
Raspberries, rhubarb, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch. Its all there in the bowl. Just needs to be mixed. So mix it.
Dump fruit mixture into well greased 8 inch pan and pop it into a hot oven to get a head start on baking.
While the fruits in the oven, make the biscuit dough. Mix the dry together then mix in the wet until just incorporated and a sticky dough forms.
Pulled from the oven, the fruit is starting to cook down and whoa, it just smells so good!
Drop on the biscuits dough on top of the fruit (careful of the hot pan). Evenly if possible, but don%u2019t work to hard to make it look perfect. Imperfection makes it look perfect, you know?
Once biscuits are on, lightly brush the tops with a little milk and sprinkle with more sugar then pop it back into the oven for another 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are baked.
Pulled from the oven with a bubbly filling and a golden brown biscuity top. Things are looking good here.
And now it%u2019s time.
Dig on in my friend. Sever with something creamy like whipped coconut cream or some type of yogurt or ice cream situation of your choice. And again, this can be your breakfast.
Happy spring people!
-C
make a a 8 inch round which serves 5-6
For the Filling
2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 cups rhubarb chopped into 1/2 inch to inch long pieces (fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
3/4 -1 cup sugar (lesser amount if you like a little more tartness. I used lesser amount)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the dough
1 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons neutral flavored oil
1/2 cup plant based milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl mix together the rhubarb and raspberries with the corn starch, sugar, and cinnamon. Grease a 8 inch round pan the is at least 2 inches deep (can use a slightly large pan or a square) and dump in fruit mixture. Place into oven to bake for about 15 minutes or the fruit starts to break down.
While fruit is baking, mix up biscuit dough. Flour, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and baking powder go in a large bowl and mixed until combined. Add in the oil, the milk, and the vinegar. Mix until just incorporated and a dough has formed.
Remove the fruit cooking from the oven. Turn heat up to 375.
Carefully drop spoonfuls of biscuit batter on top of fruit. Brush the top of the biscuits with a little milk and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Place the pan back into the oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are all nice and golden brown on top.
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving. Serve warm with a scoop or dollop of soothing creamy (coconut cream, yogurt, ice cream%u2026..whatever floats your boat.)
Left overs can be stored in pan, just cover it with something and place in fridge. Can be eaten cold to or reheated in microwave or oven.
THE LOVELY CRAZY
August 11, 2020 by maximios • Blog
Zucchini. One of the best summertime veggies. If you have been around here (as in my blog) for long enough, you all know how I am a zucchini feen. Once they start growing, I take them all. From my garden, from your garden, even my sisters mother in laws extra, plus the million I get with my farm share. At any given time I could have upwards of fifty zucchini spilling out all over the counter and shoved into any crevice I can find in the fridge. But the excess never lasts long because I eat them all. Mostly to myself, and I feel great about it. (Ok, I do end up freezing some of it for winter, but I am still eating it all!)
And every year when the first zucchinis start to hit the ground, all the people are up in my squash asking for zucchini bread, like they can%u2019t possibly make it themselves or anything. But I don%u2019t mind what so ever because sharing is caring and I guess I care. Plus I like to bake so it works, you know?
When I was recently asked to bake a loaf of zucchini bread, I made the decision to go the muffin route instead because aren%u2019t muffins just individual little breads that take half the time to cook them a loaf? Yup, and that is very nice when you want to minimize any hot oven time because summer is hot enough as it is.
And because they are muffins, they acceptable for breakfast, even with all the chocolate chips.
Win!
Now to the muffins!
The stuff. A good sized zucchini, flour, baking soda and powder, salt, brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, raw sugar, apple cider vinegar, and some chocolate chips.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar until completely incorporated and there are no lumps of sugar.
Shred the zucchini. I used a smaller shredder so the pieced are very thin but a normal sized box grater shred works just as well
Add zucchini, oil, and vinegar to bowl and fold in until completely combined.
Then fold in chocolate chips. Duh.
Scoop batter into a greased muffin pan and sprinkle the tops with raw sugar. Pop into the hot oven to bake.
Pop out of tins to cool on a rack.
And eat. All to yourself or share, that is on you.
-C
makes 12 muffins
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup neutral flavored oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 medium zucchini (2 cups packed shredded zucchini)
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raw sugar (to sprinkle the tops) optional
Preheat oven to 350.
Grab a large bowl and add in the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk together then add in the brown sugar and whisk in, making sure there are no big clumps.
Shred zucchini uniti you have 2 hefty cups. If you have a fine shredder, use that, if not, a normal sized shred will do.
Place shredded zucchini into the bowl along with the oil and the vinegar. Start folding with a spatula until everything is incorporated. Resist the urge to aggressively mix, it takes a minute for the liquid from the zucchini to absorb into the flour. (Over mixing it will make the muffins tough) Once the batter is uniform, fold in chocolate chips.
Scoop batter into a well greased or lined muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops with raw sugar and pop the pan into the preheated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes or until fluffily and domed and a tester stuck in one comes out clean.
When baked, remove from oven and pop out if tin. Let cool on a wire rack but feel free to eat one warm.
Store uneaten muffins in airtight container at room temp for a 2-3 days but if it is really hot out, just stick them in the fridge. Also can be frozen.
Ever since schools have been canceled and we have turned to homeschooling, the school systems around my parts have been dropping lunches off to all the littles. Both my sisters with littles have been getting food every day and it is great and amazing and makes me less worried about all the kids that really depend on school for food. Thank you school systems for being awesome!
The thing with the food is that you get what you get. Just about everyday, packed with the lunches,are either applesauce cups or strawberry puree cups.
The little shits, well none of them eat them. I don%u2019t know if they just don%u2019t like them or are sick of them but yeah, they are really starting to pile up. And so sisters have been sending apple and strawberry cups my way and now I have shit ton too.
I figured I would just bake with them and that is what I have been doing, but I still have so many and it is way to hot to be baking all the time. What to do with an excess of fruit puree cups? Freeze them. And make them into granitas. Whats a granita? A granita is flaked frozen fruit, kind of like a slushy you eat with a spoon. And wouldn%u2019t you know, once the applesauce and strawberry cups were frozen and called something else, the littles were all over them.%u00a0I am a genius.
It also helped that is was like a 95 degrees out and when it is that gross, no one wants to eat anything that isn%u2019t frozen. Blah. Too hot way too early!
So if you find yourself with an excess amount of fruit cups or just want to make a healthy and delicious cold treat for your littles or yourself, do this.
Now to the apple strawberry granitias!
The stuff. Applesauce cups and strawberry puree cups. If you don%u2019t have the actually cups, you can use applesauce from a jar or homemade and make your own strawberry puree by tossing fresh or frozen strawberries into a blender. Easy peasy.
The apple and strawberry purees into a bowl
Mix together. Have a taste, it is delicious.
Dump mixture into a baking sheet or pan, preferably a metal one, and place in freezer.
After about and hour, once it is slightly frozen, remove from freezer. Grab a fork and scrape the puree to kind of fluff it up. Place back into freezer for another hour and repeat one or two more time until the texture is nice and fluffy. Once you like texture, place in freezer for another 1/2 to really freeze up.
When you are ready to eat, scoop and serve.
Once scooped, eat. Right away because frozen things don%u2019t stay frozen for long!
-C
makes about 4 servings
2 applesauce cups (or 2 cups applesauce)
2 strawberry cups (or 2 cups strawberries pureed)
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Dump the applesauce and strawberry puree into a bowl. Mix together and taste. If you think it could use a little sugar, mix it in. Remember, once frozen, it won%u2019t taste quite as sweet.
Dump mixture into a baking pan or sheet, preferable a metal one, and place in freezer. After about an hour, or once it has frozen a bit, remove from freezer, grab a fork, and scrape the puree to losses it up. Place back in freezer for another hour. Repeat with the fork one or two more times until the texture is that of fluffy ice. After the last scrape, keep in freezer for another 1/2 hour or so to get it really frozen again then when you are ready, scoop out into bowl and eat.
Any that doesn%u2019t get eaten right away, keep in freezer. You can transfer to a smaller container with a lid.
It started a few nights ago when I was eating my after dinner dessert snack. A big bowl of fresh strawberries. But there was something missing. I wanted a little something else to add to my dessert so I opened the freezer to see if there was any frozen bananas. What caught my eye was the bag of peas. And it just seemed right so I poured some into a bowl, dumped hot water on them to thaw, and mixed them into the bowl with the strawberries. Now I got to tell you, it was one of the most satisfying delicious desserts I have had in a long time. Think about it. Peas are sweet and creamy and strawberries are sweet and tart. The combination might seem a little strange but haven%u2019t we learned by now that I am always right about flavors? HAHA. But really. It%u2019s one of my new favorite snacks.
Now how to share my newfound love of peas and strawberries? Well cake of course. I figured people are less hesitant to try new flavor combinations when in cake form because everyone wants cake. And I was right. Plus it is a real looker if I do say so myself. Bright green cake with bright red strawberry glaze. A spring time snack with the spring time feels. Everything about this cake is right on point with all the things. And it is super fast and easy to make to boot because it%u2019s all thrown together in a blender.
You really can%u2019t go wrong here friends. And if you happened to be needing a little something something to snack on with your mama this weekend, well I think you just found the perfect snack.
Now to the cake!
The stuff. Peas,strawberrie jam of perceives (I had just made it so it is still warm) Flour, sugar and powdered sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, oil, and vinegar.
Super easy here. Place peas into blender and blend until smooth. Add oil and sugar and blend until incorporated. Then add in all the dry. Before you blend, take a spoon or spatula and hand mix it a little. Add in a cup of water and vinegar then pulse until incorporated. Don%u2019t over blend it or else it will be tough.
Pour batter into a well greased pan and pop into a hot oven. Bake.
Afer about 25 minuts, check for doneness. When the fork or tester comes out clean, it is done!
Pop cake out and let cool on a wire rack.
And glaze. Warm up the jam in the microwave on on stove until loose then mix jam with powdered sugar.
When the cake has cooled, grab a fork and stab holes all over so when you pour glaze on it will kind of seep into said holes.
Pop cake back into pan (or don%u2019t if you dont want too) and pour glaze all over top.
A dusting of powdered sugar for looks and done and done. Cut into squares, pop a piece on a plate, and snack away.
-C
makes a 9×9 cake
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/3 cups sweet peas (fresh or frozen and thawed)
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoon strawberries jam or preserves
Preheat oven to 350
Place peas into blender ans blend until smooth. Add in oil and sugar and blend until incorporated. Next add in baking soda and powder and then flour on top. Grab a spoon or spatula and mix a little to give the batter a head start then add int he water and vinegar. Pulse in blender for a few seconds, scrap sides, then pulse again until it just become a cohesive batter. Don%u2019t oven blend it or that cake will be tough.
Pour batter into a well greased 9×9 baking tin and place into hot oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out clean. When it is done, pop out of oven and pop cake out of tin to cool on a wire rack.
Once cake is cooled, place back into baking pan. Mix together the powdered sugar and jam then either microwave it or heat on stove for 30ish seconds until warmed and pourable. Grab a fork and stab holes all over top of cake then pour glaze all over.
Sprinkle some more powdered sugar on top for looks, but other then that, it%u2019s now time to eat.
Cake that is not eaten is best keep at room temperature for 2-3 days. Can be frozen too.
I don%u2019t really understand the pineapple Easter correlation. I think it might have something to do with ham, but you know what, I really don%u2019t care that much to figure it out. (Okay, I googled it and it is ham related.)
So no ham here but I am all about the pineapple. Last week when I did my grocery shop there were a shit ton of pineapples on sale, so I grab a few figuring that me and the mr would eat them for next week or so. Up until last week, I was positive that the mr really liked pineapple. Until I cut one up. Turns out the mr , for some reason, now doesn’t like pineapple that much. What. the, HELL!? This was new news to me. I swear he just says these things to piss me off, but whatever, I guess he is not a fan anymore and it just means more pineapple for me.
But I also made a cake with some of the pineapple because I had so much and also I just wanted to bake a cake. And guess what, turns out the mr does like pineapple, just as long it is in cake form. I should have known.
To the upside down cake!
The stuff. A pineapple, flour, baking soda and power, salt, brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar.
Cut up pineapple. If you want to get fancy, garb a cookie cutter and cut out pineapple shapes for the upside down part. Or just cut up 1/2 inch slices or rings. however you want.
Get the pan ready. Grease a pan, add a parchment bottom. place about a tablespoon coconut oil into pan and coat bottom of pan then evenly sprinkle in about 1/2 cup brown sugar. Layer in your pineapple.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients%u2026 (a bowl bigger then mine)
Place pineapple into blender (use scraps if you have them) and blend until smooth. Add in the brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, and vinegar and blend until combined.
Pour wet into dry and whisk until combined.
Pour batter over pineapple and into the oven it goes.
Oooooh. Cake. Are you just so excited! You should be, it is an exciting time.
Give it a few minute before flipping it.
Flipped and revealed. So pretty!
Now it%u2019s cake time so get down on it.
-C
makes a 12 round or 9×13 inch rectangle cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar plus 1/4 cup
1/2 cup warm coconut oil plus 1 tablespoon
1 1/2 cups pineapple pureed which Is about 1/2 a small pineapple
About 1/4 pineapple for bottom
1/4 cup water
I tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First get the pineapple cut up any way you usually do it. If you want specific shapes for the pineapple bottom, keep that in mind and cut the pineapple accordingly. You are going to want the pieces (like the circles that I used) to be about 1/2 inch thick. And if you are using a cut out, my suggestion is to cut out all the pieces that you need to use and use the cut out scrapes to puree.
Grease and parchemnt line a 12 inch round or 9×13 inch rectangle cake pan. Evenly spread a tablespoon coconut oil on parchment then evenly coat with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Place pineapple cut outs or pieces into pan. It is fine if pineapple pieced overlap a bit but make sure to not go much thicker then1/2 inch in places.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking power and soda, and salt.
Place 1 1/2 cups of chopped pineapple into blender and blend until smooth. Make sure it equals 1 1/2 cup pureed. Add in 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cups brown sugar, 1/2 cup warm coconut oil, vanilla, and the vinegar and blend until completely smooth. Pour mixture into the bowl with the whisked dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour cake batter gently over pineapple in pan.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is a nice golden brown and a tester poke comes out clean.
Remove cake from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then invert pan onto a wire rack or plate and remove pan gently. The cake should pop out easily with the parchment attached. Peel parchment off and if any of the pineapple cokes loose, jus stick it back on.
And then cake. Eat it.
Pudding is comfort. Pudding is simple. Pudding is just that, nothing but pudding. And if you add some graham cracker crumble, well you got yourself a pudding parfait. And a pudding party of sorts, if you need one.
Now do you, like me, think about grade school when you see pudding? Or how about Billy Madison. Oh hell yeah, definitely watching Billy Madison, in grade school, with a snack pack. HA. Those were some days right there. And with all the littles being homeschooled these crazy days, I figured why not bring in a bit of the grade school feeling into the routine and make some pudding for an after lunch or after %u201cschool%u201d snack. For the routine purposes and also as a form of a bribe. Yes. You can bribe your children with pudding. Or your partner. The mr got his pudding too, just after he dealt with the recycling on the porch.
And plus. Oat milk. You got a stash? Yeah? Well use it in this pudding. It will make you glad you panicked bought 10 cartons and hid them under your mattress. Right next to all the canned beans of course.
Now to the pudding!
The stuff. Oat milk (use any milk you want or have), cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, brewed coffee (optional), vanilla extract, graham crackers, coconut oil, and a little salt.
Start with a pot. Mix in the cocoa powder, brown sugar, and corn starch, and pinch of salt. Add in a little milk and coffee if using and mix around until its a thick paste and everything is incorporated.
Now add in the rest of the milk and place on medium heat on the stove. Heat up for about 3ish minutes and once it starts get hot and you see a bubble or two, start whiskingand don%u2019t stop. Whisk all around pot, all over the bottom, so no spot start to burn. Whisk whisk whisk, until it thickens to pudding consistency. Should take 3-5 minutes.
Once thick and pudding like turn heat off and add in the vanilla and chocolate chips. Whisk until completely melted and incorporated.
Silky and smooth. Hot pudding.
Pour the pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge to set. 1- 2 hours.
In the meantime, graham cracker crumble. Smash up the crackers into a bowl, (big chunks are good) and add in the melted coconut oil and a tablespoon of brown sugar.
Mix around until evenly incorporated
Dump the crumbs onto a baking sheet and stick into the oven to toast up for about 10 minutes.
And now you assemble. Graham crumble on a vessel, topped with pudding, more crumble, and whatever whipped cream, yogurt, ice cream situation you might want to top it with.
Pudding. All for you to eat.
-C
make 4-6 serving
2 cups oat milk (can use any milk you have on hand)
1/3 packed cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon brewed coffee (optional but makes it a little more deep and chocolatey)
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Graham Cracker Crumble
6 full sheets of package of graham crackers
2 tablespoon melted coconut oil or vegan butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
In a medium size pot mix together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, and a pinch of salt. Add in the coffee if using, and about 1/2 cup of milk. Mix until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the mixture is kind of pasty. Place pot on stove on medium heat and add in the rest of the milk . Let mixture heat up for a few minutes and once it starts to warm, start whisking. Whisk consistency until the mixture heats up and thickens to a pretty thick pudding consistency. Remove from heat, add in the chocolate chips and vanilla and keep whisking until the chocolate completely melts it.
Pour pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge. 1-2 hours to cool and set.
In the meantime make the graham cracker crumble. Preheat oven to 350. Crush up crackers into a bowl (some big chunks are good) and mix in the brown sugar and melted coconut oil. Mix around until the crumbs are evenly moisten. Dump the crumble onto a baking sheet and place into oven for about 10 minutes or until the crumble is a nice deep golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
Once the pudding is set and the crumble is toasted, it is time to assemble. Scoop some crumble into a bowl or jar, add in some pudding, then top with more crumble. If you want, top with a dollop of something creamy like whipped cream, yogurt, or even ice cream.
Eat.
IF there is pudding and crumble left over, store the pudding I the fridge (will last a few days) and the crumble separately at room temperature in a airtight container.
I was having one of those weeks, a week when I just needed to make some cookies. You know those weeks right? And so cookies were made. White chocolate chip because thats all I had (Or thought I had. I forgot that I dumped all the regular chocolate chips into humongous jar in the pantry) and lemon because it just sounded right and also I had this giant lemon, which is the best part about these cookies. The giant lemon I used was the single lemon that I grew, in my own house, here in Vermont, on my little lemon tree. Crazy right? A $40 dollar lemon (because the plant cost that much), so these are some expansive ass cookies. HAHA.
So I know I make good cookies, but there was something about this flavor combination that had everyone drooling over them. A cookie that is chewy and crisp, but not hard and crunchy. They smell all sweet and citrusy and amazing. Probably the exact perfect cookie that anyone and everyone wants. The littles, they tried to eat them all. Barb, she ate one when she came over then texted me in the middle of the night to ask if I had anymore cookies left. Cameron, the boy (or gigantic man now) stopped over and raved about the cookies and that is saying a lot because that boy is picky. And the mr. of course, was skeptical of the flavor combination at first but that went out the window when he sat down and ate like 4 within minutes. So if you have any doubts, know that these are some good cookies. And also, you don%u2019t need to grow your own lemon for these cookies. A regulate grocery store lemon will be just fine.
To the cookies!
The stuff. White and brown sugar, coconut oil, a flax egg, a lemon, vanilla extract, flour, salt, baking soda, and white chocolate chips.
Simple and straight forward. Grab a big bowl and add in the sugars, coconut oil, flax egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix until completely combined. Add in the baking soda, salt, and flour. Mix again until combined.
And don%u2019t forget to to mix in the chocolate chips!
Up close for your pleasure.
Scoop dough onto baking sheets and give them a little tap to flatten the tops. Not too smooshed, just a bit, and toss that pan into the oven to bake.
And would you look at that, baked to perfection.
Place cookies on rack to cool.
And thats it.
Pile of cookies, cup of coffee%u2026 Do it. Do you.
-C
makes 2 dozen
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut oil, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoon warm water)
1 Large lemon ( or 1 hefty tablespoon zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips (the vegan ones, if you care)
Preheat oven to 350
Place oil, sugars, vanilla, flax egg, the zest of the lemon, and a tablespoon of lemon juice into a big bowl, Mix together until completely incorporated. Add in a the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until dough forms then add in the white chocolate chips and mix until combined.
Stoop out dough balls, about 2 tablespoons worth, onto a baking sheet. Make sure to give each ball a good amount of room because these cookies will spread a good bit. Give each dough ball a little press, not completely flat, just a little tap so the tops are not domed and then place cookies into oven to bake. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies are turning slightly golden brown on top and golden brown on the bottom.
Once out of the oven, place cookies on a cooling rack to cool. Be careful because they are really fragile until they cool.
And then eat your cookies.
Store cookies at room tempature in airtight counter for up to a week. OR freeze them for a few months. But they will be gone in days so yeah.
I have been on a good long kick here with eating oats at night for my after dinner snack. Just about every night after cleaning up the dinner dishes, sweeping the floors, going for a nice after dinner walk with the mr, I come home, put the hot water on, grab my oats, my peanut flour, and sometimes a banana. As soon as the water boils I mash up some banana (if using), add in some oats, pour in some boiling water, and let them sit. I also pour a huge jar of tea then plop my butt down at the counter to do any brain tasks that need doing like checking the email, left over billing things, maybe check the old phone for the first time in hours%u2026 After about 5 minutes of that, I stop brain tasks because I just can%u2019t, grab oats, and dump in a few big ass tablespoons of peanut flour and cinnamon and give it a good stir. Voila, snack time. A delicious, nutritious, tummy filling and easy dish that is full of all sorts of things that my body needs. I grab a spoon, my tea, and open my book. For sure one of my favorite times of day.
Now lets talk about peanut flour. I have been eating peanut flour for a few years now. Not to confuse with powered peanut butter which is basically peanut flour but usually with added sugar and salt. Peanut flour is just peanuts, with the oil pressed out and then ground up into a super fine flour. And not a flour is the typical sense. Like you can%u2019t make bread with it, but you could add it to bread. You can also use it to thicken things like soups or sauces up. Or add it to smoothies, make a cake frosting with it , or just mix it with a little water and eat it with a spoon. It is delicious and amazing and full of protein without all the added fat and high calorie content. I started to add it to foods because of the protein but now I just eat it all the time because I freaking love the stuff. (Another favorite way to eat it is cut up carrot sticks tossed in the flour%u2026 SO GOOD!) Anyway, truth be told, it is not the most widely available stuff. I have only seen it in a few store over the years, so I have been buying it online. But recently someone told me that Trader Joes is selling it now (I haven%u2019t checked yet) so I figured now is a good time to share the greatness of the flour and how you might want to use it.
Anyway, these oats here are my favorite way to eat oats. Warm and creamy, but not cooked and gruel like. They are like a cross between stove top oats and overnight oats except they take all of 5 minutes to make and you don%u2019t need to dirty a pot. Then mixed with banana for extra sweetness and flavor, the peanut flour for all the peanut butter taste and protein. These oats are unstoppable.%u00a0 Delicious and nutritious for breakfast, lunch, snack time, or dessert, these oats are all win win. Add another win just because. Win, Win, WIN!
Now to the oats!
The stuff. Old fashion oats, a small banana, peanut flour, cinnamon, and boiling hot water.
Mash up the banana until smoothish then add in half the hot water and mix. Dump in the oats and mix those too.
Top with the rest of the boiling water and let sit for about 5 minutes.
After the oats absorbed the hot banana water, dump on the cinnamon and the peanut butter flour and mix in.
Grab yourself a spoon friend.
Eat.
-C
Makes 1 serving. Can be halved for smaller portion
1 small banana
1/2 cup old fashion oats
2 (or more if you want) tablespoons peanut flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 cup boiling water
Place peeled banana in a bowl and mash with a fork unit smooth. Add in half the boiling water and mix.. Dump in oats and mix until incorporated then add in the rest of the hot water. Let sit for 5 minutes until oats absorb all the water. Stir in peanut flour and cinnamon. Eat.
It%u2019s not too late to get in a little end of the year baking. It is actually the perfect time to bake. All the holiday hub bub is still going on so there is usually still people all around still willing and able to eat your offerings (if you were so inclined to share), the days just feel more slow and of need of warmth and lovely smells. Plus we need something to do while while waiting for New Years, because we are just all sitting around waiting for that ball to drop, right? HAHAHA. No.
Anyway, I have been wanting to make some version of a boiled clementine cake for a while now. I love that fact the the whole clementine goes into the cake, that there is no peeling or zesting or juicing. It is just boil the clems for a little while to get the bitterness out and you are good to go. And it doesn%u2019t hurt that right now is citrus season so I have a humngo bowl of clementines, plus a shit load of other oranges and other citrus to go through so the thought of tossing a good few clementines into a cake, well it was just what needed to be done.
And the family is coming over to eat and trash my house so I needed another dessert besides the half eaten ice cream cake left in the freezer from Camereon%u2019s birthday/Christmas. So I baked that they will eat. And there we go. Win win.
Now to the clementine cake.
The stuff. Flour, baking powder and soda, salt, sugar, oil, cinnamon, vinegar, clementines, and powdered sugar.
First you need to boil the clementines. Big pot, fill with water, place clems inside, bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 hours. Seems like a long time but just do it while you are making and drinking coffee or doing laundry or whatever. You don%u2019t need to keep an eye on them, other then to check that the water hasn%u2019t evaporated, and it smells so nice.
After the 2 hours are up, remove clementines from water and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half. If there are giant seeds, remove them.
Place the clementines into blender and blend until silky smooth.
Now the other stuff. Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda, and cinnamon. All into big bowl.
Whisk together until incorporated then add in the clementine puree, the oil, and the vinegar. Whisk together until it becomes a uniform batter.
Scoop batter into a very well greased bundt cake pan and bake, 50-60 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
The big revel%u2026. And it went perfect! Now time to let this sucker cool a bit on a wire rack.
While the cake is cooling, make a simple glaze. Just powdered sugar and fresh (not boiled) clementine juice. Mixed unit glaze consistency.
Once the cake is pretty much cooled, pour on the glaze.
And now it is cake time.
-C
Makes one bundt cake
2 1/4 cups all pupose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup any neutral oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 clementines (you need 2 cups pureed)
For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 clementine
To start, place 6 clementines into large pot and fill with water. Place on stove and bring water to a rapid boil then reduce heat and continue to simmer clementines for about 2 hours.
Once clementines are cooked, cut in half and check and discard any large seeds. Place the clementines into a blended and blend until smooth. Should have about 2 cups puree. If you are short on volume, add water to make up the difference.
Preheat oven to 350
Grab a large bowl. Dump the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar and whisk together until completely incorporated. Now add in the clementine puree along with the oil and the vinegar. Mix until completely incorporated. Scoop batter into a well greased burnt pan (at least 10 cup capacity) then place into oven on middle rack and bake for 50-60 minutes until a tester (or a fork) stuck in to the deepest part of the cake comes out clean.
Once baked, remove cake from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in pan, then flip the cake out of pan, gently of course, and hope you greased it well enough for it to just pop out. Once removed from pan, allow to cool on a wire rack.
While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Powered sugar into a bowl along with the juice of a clementine. Mix together. If the glaze is to thick, add more juice (or water), to thin, a little more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency (pourable but not runny is good) and once cake is cooled, pour glaze all over.
And then eat cake.
Peaches are here. YAY!!! Peaches are for sure one of those fleeting fruits, one that once in season, you need to eat as many fresh as you can because once they are out of season, they are not good. Not good at all. And me being me, I see peaches, I buy a shit load, and now I have a fridge drawer full. Not complaining in the slightest, but peaches cannot sit around all summer waiting to be eaten. So if you are going to buy a shit load, know what you are going to do with them all.
My peaches, well they haven%u2019t had to wait long. I have been eating at least a peach a day and%u2026 I made these bars with a few. Sharing my peaches, thats what I do. HA.
These almond peach shortbread bars. Fantastic A+ on all fronts. Easy to make, not a whole heck of a lot of ingredients, make the house smell amazing, and really kick off the peach, summer vibe thing that goes on around here.
‘%u201cMillions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of Peaches, peaches for free%u201d %ud83c%udfb6 (Peaches by The Presidents of the United States of America. If you have%u2019t head the song, look it up. I don%u2019t think I can even look at a peach without hearing the song in my head.)
Now to the peach almond shortbread bars!
The stuff. Peaches, almonds, vegan butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
Easy peasy. Almonds go in to food processor first. Blend and pulse for a minute or two until they turn into a medium fine almond meal. (Don%u2019t over blend or you will end up with almond butter.) When almonds are ground, add in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Pulse until combined. Then add in the butter in chunks and pulse until dough just starts to come together.
Half the dough goes into a 9×9 baking pan. Smooshed evenly all over the bottom poke it with a fork. Then it just needs to go into the oven to bake. 15-18 minutes or so, just until it starts to brown a bit.
Peaches need to be cut so cut them up. !/2 inch thick slices, after the pits be removed of course.
Blinded baked bottom. Looks good yeah? Let it cool for a few minutes and then it gets peaches. Three rows, all over lapping and nestled together.
The top gets the remaining half of dough and is now it%u2019s ready for the oven. Another 40-ish minutes or so to really seal the deal.
Taken from the oven when golden brown, cooled, cut up, and placed on a pretty plate because pretty is nice.
I am pretty sure you figured out what to do next%u2026. EAT IT!
-C
makes a 9×9 pan which can be cut Into the sizes of your choice
1 cup vegan butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cup cup all purpose flour
1 cups raw almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 large firm peaches
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven 350
Place almonds into a food processor and pulse and blend until a fine meal has formed. It should take only a minute or two and stop half way and scrape the edges and sides do the almonds don%u2019t start to form a paste. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon,and sugar and pulse until combined. Add in the vegan butter in a few chunks and pulse until the mixture turns into a crumbly dough. Stop pulsing and dump mixture into big bowl.
Take half of the mixture and place into a 9×9 baking pan. Evenly distribute and press the dough into the bottom. Take a fork and poke the dough all over then place the pan in the oven. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the dough just starts to lighly brown. Remove from oven.
While the bottom crust is cooling off for a few minutes, slice peaches into 1/2 inch slices. Obviously make sure to remove pit.
Now take your half baked crust and layer peaches evenly on top. It is easies to start at the top, make three rows across and then layer the peaches down (like in the picture above). Once peaches are layered, grab the remaining half of dough and evenly distribute on top. Place back into oven and bake for another 40-45 minutes or until the crumble on top is a nice deep golden brown.
Remove from oven, let coo completely (or as completely as you can) cut into pieces, and then you eat it.
Left over pieces should be placed in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They freeze well individually wrapped too.
blind back for about 15 minutes of until the crust is starting to brown around the edges
bake for another 30 minutes
Yes you read that right. Corn. In a popsicle.
What?
No it is not weird or gross or anything. I wouldn’t do that to you. These popsicles are down right deeee-lightful. Rich and creamy and sweet. Both the creamy coconut and the toasted coconut pair perfectly with the sweet corn flavor. They truly are delicious and I think that if you give them a try, you will think so too. And really, now that it is like almost summer, who doesn’t have a little extra corn laying around. So you might as well just make a batch.
And then you will thank me for introducing you to the goodness that is a toasted coconut and corn popsicle. Heck, the mr even ate one and he (still, after I have proven him wrong on a many occasions) says he hates corn. So if a corn hater likes these, imagine what a corn lover will think. HAHA. Corn lover.
To the popsicles!
The stuff. Corn, full fat coconut milk, shredded coconut, and maple syrup.
First, remove corn from cob and place on a baking sheet. Bake in oven for 10-ish minutes until corn is cooked and all nice and sweet.
And don%u2019t forget to toast the coconut. A few minutes in the oven is all it needs.
Now to blend. Corn and coconut milk go in first to blend until nice and smooth. Then add in the maple and coconut and blend until just combined. That will leave a little coconut texture. If you want it smooth, well just blend until completely smooth. Do what feels right to you.
Thick, rich and creamy popsicle mixture.
Now pour it into the molds and stick into the freezer. You could probably stick the sticks in now or wait a little while for the mixture to set a bit, but just don%u2019t forget to get sticks in those popsicles before they completely freeze. That would suck.
Pop those lovelies out of the molds and there you go.
The anticipation is over. Eat a popsicle
-C
makes 4 average sized popsicles
2 ears corn (about a cup of corn kernels)
1 cup full fat coconut milk (the canned stuff)
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
Note. If you have left over cooked corn, just use that. You don%u2019t need to recook it so skip the cooking corn step.
Preheat oven to 400
Remove corn kernels from cob and place on a baking sheet pretty evenly. Pop into the oven for 10 minutes of so or until the corn is cooked through and nice and sweet.
Remove corn and dump it into blender and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Place the coconut onto the baking sheet and pop into the oven for 3-4 minutes to just lightly toast. When the coconut is toasted, remove from oven.
Grab the blender with the corn and pot in the coconut milk. Blend until smooth. Add in the maple (start with 2 tablespoons and work your way up to the sweetness you like) and the toasted coconut. Blend quickly just to combine for a slightly more textures popsicle or blend completely smooth if you would rather a smoother popsicle.
Pour mixture into popsicles molds and place into freezer. After the mixture sets up (about an hour) pop sticks into molds. Continue to freeze until completely frozen. Usually 4-6 hours.
And then when it is popsicle time, remove popsicles from molds and eat them.
Kind of a spur of the moment cake situation. I was in the middle of doing some paper work and remembered that I had made plans with the littles to go bike shopping and do dinner. Usually when they come over for dinner I don%u2019t make a point to have a dessert (they are happy with a handful of chocolate chips if I have nothing) but I felt the need to have something special. I mean, bike shopping, that%u2019s a big deal and they were so excited so I wanted to have a little celebration cake thing. A, YIPPIE YOU GOT BIKES! cake. It just seemed like the right thing to do.
So I made cake. I running a little short on time (yet I still had time to take pictures%u2026.) so I went with my trusty one bowl, super easy chocolate cake. (This is everyone in my families favorite cake). Peanut butter frosting because it was right in from of me and really, it was for Coco the fat baby. He basically eats nothing but peanut butter these days. And of course because peanut butter and chocolate together are never going out of style. I cooked the cake in a loaf pan because I was just feeling loafy I guess. But This cake could totally be cooked into a cake round or square if you wanted to.
And that was that. I made that cake, they got the bikes (YEA!!!!, although I told them both that they sucked because they walked into a store and picked out bikes in less then an hour. I on the other hand have been bike shopping for more then a month and still haven%u2019t made a decision.) We then came back here to my house, biked around for a while, then ate cake (after dinner of course.)
Anyways. This cake. Rich, dense, chocolatey peanut butter goodness. Has been described as the best cake ever and like a Reese peanut butter cup. If you are into any of that, well this is the cake for you.
To the cake.
The stuff for the cake.. Flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, oil, coffee, vanilla. brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. And the stuff for the frosting. Peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and almond milk.
In a big bowl, whisk together the dry stuff, pinching and breaking apart any big clumps of cocoa or sugar. Then just dump in the wet.
Whisked until glossy and smooth. A perfectly perfect chocolate cake batter.
Pour batter into a greased and lined loaf pan and into the oven it goes. 50-60 minutes or so or until a tester poked in the middle comes out clean. Then pop the cake right on out. Remove cake from tin and let cool on a wire rack.
While cake is cooling, make frosting. Beat together powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, and milk.
Fully beaten. Ready to frost a cake.
Once cake is cooled, cut in half down the middle, length wise. Then frosting the middle. (Make sure it is cooled in the middle before frosting. If it is still warm, let it cool)
Pop the top back on and frost the rest.
And don%u2019t forget the sprinkles. Went with chocolate and gold because. But you do you and use whatever sprinkles you want.
And then you eat the cake.
I ended up stick it in the freezer to hide for a while%u2026 I guess this cake cold or slightly frozen is just about the best thing ever. The littles damn near ripped my arm off trying to get seconds.
-C
makes 1 loaf cake
For the Cake
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup neutral oil
1 1/2 cups warm coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
For frosting
3/4 cup minus 2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons vegan butter
1/4 cup plant based milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 and grease and line a loaf pan.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and brown sugar. Break apart any big clumps of sugar or cocoa with your fingers. When that%u2019s mixed, dump in the wet and whisk together until just fully incorporated. Pour batter into the greased pan and stick into oven.
Bake for 55- 60 minutes or until a tester poked into the middle comes out clean.
Once cooked, remove from oven and carefully remove from pan. Place on a wire rack to cool.
While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Just beat together the butter, peanut butter, and milk until nice and creamy. If you find your frosting be too thin, add in more powdered sugar, too thick, a splash more milk.
When it is cooled, cut the loaf in half length wise. Make sure the inside is complete cooled as well. I totally stuck my cake in the freezer for little bit to speed up the cooling process%u2026..
When the cake is cut and completely cooled, frost it. Spread a little less then half the frosting on the bottom layer, stick top back on, and finish the frosting. Cover with sprinkles (if you want) and then that is it.
Serve room temperature or what my people really like is served slightly frozen, which is great because I just cut the cake up and froze individual pieces making for a perfect quick dessert.
I found another bag of frozen rhubarb in the chest freezer which is never a bad thing, but my rhubarb patch outside is growing strong and I will have all the fresh rhubarb I could possible eat within the next few weeks. So found rhubarb just means I need to eat it right fast before the fresh stuff comes in. (I haven%u2019t had a problem with that. it%u2019s almost gone already). Plus the other day while I was digging up and transplanting raspberry bushes to the back yard, my neighbor came over and gave me a gallon of frozen raspberries, harvested from said bushes that I was currently planting in my yard. Score for me! Free bushes and berries%u2026I have such nice neighbors.
So the logical thing to do with my new found and giving bounty was of course to hurry up and bake something. Cobbler. Why cobbler? Well, why not? I figured the mr would really like it and eat it and I also didn%u2019t want to make anything to fussy because I was just to dang busy spending all of my extra time outside doing outside things. And cobbler, it%u2019s not fussy because it is basically biscuits and jam baked up all together. Not a lot to think about and comes out looking all homey and sweet and smelling all nice and cozy. Doesn%u2019t that sound nice? And not a pain in the ass?
And best part. A made cobbler works as dessert or breakfasts or just a snack. Just asked the mr. He ate it for all the reasons. With a dollop of yogurt or cream of course because he is fancy like that.
And yeah the fruit I used was frozen, but fresh works just the same here too.
Now, lets get to that cobbler.
The stuff. Raspberries (frozen), rhubarb (frozen), sugar, flour, salt, baking power, cinnamon ,almond milk, apple cider vinegar, cornstarch, and oil.
Raspberries, rhubarb, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch. Its all there in the bowl. Just needs to be mixed. So mix it.
Dump fruit mixture into well greased 8 inch pan and pop it into a hot oven to get a head start on baking.
While the fruits in the oven, make the biscuit dough. Mix the dry together then mix in the wet until just incorporated and a sticky dough forms.
Pulled from the oven, the fruit is starting to cook down and whoa, it just smells so good!
Drop on the biscuits dough on top of the fruit (careful of the hot pan). Evenly if possible, but don%u2019t work to hard to make it look perfect. Imperfection makes it look perfect, you know?
Once biscuits are on, lightly brush the tops with a little milk and sprinkle with more sugar then pop it back into the oven for another 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are baked.
Pulled from the oven with a bubbly filling and a golden brown biscuity top. Things are looking good here.
And now it%u2019s time.
Dig on in my friend. Sever with something creamy like whipped coconut cream or some type of yogurt or ice cream situation of your choice. And again, this can be your breakfast.
Happy spring people!
-C
make a a 8 inch round which serves 5-6
For the Filling
2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 cups rhubarb chopped into 1/2 inch to inch long pieces (fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
3/4 -1 cup sugar (lesser amount if you like a little more tartness. I used lesser amount)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the dough
1 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons neutral flavored oil
1/2 cup plant based milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl mix together the rhubarb and raspberries with the corn starch, sugar, and cinnamon. Grease a 8 inch round pan the is at least 2 inches deep (can use a slightly large pan or a square) and dump in fruit mixture. Place into oven to bake for about 15 minutes or the fruit starts to break down.
While fruit is baking, mix up biscuit dough. Flour, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and baking powder go in a large bowl and mixed until combined. Add in the oil, the milk, and the vinegar. Mix until just incorporated and a dough has formed.
Remove the fruit cooking from the oven. Turn heat up to 375.
Carefully drop spoonfuls of biscuit batter on top of fruit. Brush the top of the biscuits with a little milk and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Place the pan back into the oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are all nice and golden brown on top.
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before serving. Serve warm with a scoop or dollop of soothing creamy (coconut cream, yogurt, ice cream%u2026..whatever floats your boat.)
Left overs can be stored in pan, just cover it with something and place in fridge. Can be eaten cold to or reheated in microwave or oven.