Rise and Shine my foodie friends!

I’ve got a quick, tasty and good-for-you breakfast treat this morning.

When I lived in San Francisco, one of my favorite Friday morning rituals consisted of walking down to an early morning yoga class followed by a stop at the best juice bar on my way home for my favorite smoothie. I guess this ritual served as my reward for getting through another crazy week! We all need rewards, right? They’re good for the soul, I say. Anyway, this smoothie was packed full of dark berries, bananas, a shot of acai and a substantial amount of granola. A perfect way to cool down and get some healthy antioxidants into your system.

Here is one of my versions of this smoothie. I’m missing the acai today which is the key ingredient but it’s still great without it. I use whatever fruit I have on hand along with a bit of granola and your usual smoothie suspects- yogurt, ice, milk or a juice and to enable the ingredients to blend easily. If you can get your hands on some acai, frozen or in juice form, it’s definitely worth it.

Good Morning Granola Smoothie

1 banana

1 peach, pitted and cut into chunks

4 large strawberries, halved

1/4 cup blueberries

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup granola

2 tbsp milk

3-4 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients for about 1 minute.

Enjoy!

The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England.

Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

For this challenge, I decided to make individual tartlets instead of one large tart. I also chose to go the classic route of using a fruit jam along with the almond filling. I had planned to make my own preserves for this challenge, but time was not on my side this month, to say the least! I used delicious strawberry preserves that I picked up at the farmers market recently which worked nicely with the frangipane.

The aroma of these tartlets baking in the oven was intoxicating. I’m a lover of anything almond flavored so I couldn’t wait to take a bite of strawberry-frangipane bliss. It was delicious. Thanks again to Jasmine and Annemarie for hosting this month’s challenge!

Bakewell Tart

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet shortcrust pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Chocolate chip cookies are one of my all-time favorite cookie comforts.

I love home baked anything and everything, real butter, whole milk, flour and sugar. But lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about alternative ingredients and how I can incorporate some of these into my own baking. Not because I’m completely done with white flour and refined sugar. I’m not. Not by any stretch. I’ve just been on a health kick lately and it’s been fun and interesting experimenting with agave nectar, raw honey and quinoa and coconut flours.

I’m no stranger to the vegan cookie. I’ve had my share of the occasional vegan chocolate chip or peanut butter cookie along with my afternoon pick me up cup of coffee. Although, it is a perfectly adequate sugar fix that does the job, I have always felt something was lacking in texture or flavor of the vegan cookies I have consumed. So, while searching for an amazing “alternative” chocolate chip cookie, I came across this recipe on Dreena’s Vegan Recipes blog from her book titled, “Vive le Vegan!”. I had all the ingredients and it was simple enough so I gave it a go. My thoughts? Let me just say that this cookie does not lack anything in texture, flavor or sweetness. It is true that my favorite chocolate chip cookies have forever been the super thin, crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside variation. Something like these. Well, Dreena’s cookie is not thin, nor is it super chunky. It’s a perfect balance between the two. The best part? They’re a little better for you. No refined sugar or dairy. You can even use wheat, spelt or barley flour to make these. I added some toasted pecans into the batter just for some extra crunch. Trust me, you should try these!

I think you’ll love them.

Another juicy farmers market find this weekend.

While meandering though the market this weekend, along with my crepe filled with farm fresh scrambled eggs, fresh spinach and goat cheese, I spotted these sweet and tasty babies. Pluots. I always though the word pluot sounded strange, perhaps a bit odd. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I found out, or rather paid attention, to what they really were. I always just took them for granted and considered them to be plums. Period. But, pluots are actually a cross between a plum and an apricot. There is also the plucot which is the same hybrid but favors the apricot side of things.

Well, once I polished off that tasty crepe and had myself a sample of these irresistible little pluots, I was over the moon! Plump, juicy and sweet, these pluots were pretty darn perfect. In fact, it was a challenge to not devour the whole bag full on my way home. Although it was difficult, I managed to save a few for this upsidedown cake.

I searched for upsidedown cake recipes and decided to go with this one from David Lebovitz. His blog is full of recipes that are always so delicious and always turn out great. I’m a big fan. In addition to the pluots, I threw in a handful of pitted cherries and some nectarine slices for my topping. So how was the cake? Excellent. Perfect.

Loved it.

It’s the little things that really make me happy.

Like seeing the sun first thing in the morning. The ocean. Drinking a perfectly brewed cup of coffee with just the right amount of cream. Feeling incredibly awake, bright and energized after a good yoga or dance class. These are some of the things that make my life a little bit sweeter. Oh, did I mention that good food has a tendency to do that for me too? Especially, something that happens to be freshly baked. What’s even better? When I can throw something together without having to run to the store first. Love that.

As soon as I saw these cherries at the farmers market yesterday I knew I wanted to bake something sweet and tasty. I thought about a bread, maybe cupcakes or a tart but then settled on muffins. There’s nothing better than having a cup of coffee and homemade fresh fruit muffins on a lazy Sunday morning. I wanted to make somewhat of a “healthier” muffin, so I threw together these cherry-pecan muffins using quinoa flour, agave nectar in place of the sugar and yogurt for moistness. If you don’t have or don’t like the taste of quinoa flour, use any flour you like. Are they super healthy? Well, no. But, they were sweet and moist. A perfect weekend breakfast treat.

What little things make your life a little bit sweeter?

Sweet Cherry-Pecan Muffins

1 1/2 cups quinoa flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 egg

2 tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla

8 oz plain yogurt

2 tbsp milk

1 1/2 cups pitted halved fresh cherries

1 cup toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Fill muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom and nutmeg and set aside. In another bowl combine the egg, oil, yogurt, vanilla, milk and agave nectar. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixing only until just incorporated. Stir in cherry halves and pecans. Fill muffins tins 3/4 full. Top each muffin with sliced cherries and a sprinkle of brown sugar and pecans. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.