Love Them Apples

A few months ago someone asked me to make a German Chocolate cake for her birthday. The fun thing about making birthday cakes is that I get to participate in celebrating even when I’m not actually going to the party. Besides sugar and spice and everything nice, when I’m making cakes and pies and other goodies I can feel the positive energy of the joyous occasion. I add my own good wishes into the yumminess. I’ve realized that a big part of what I like about cooking and baking — in fact, perhaps the biggest part, actually — is that it’s my way of giving love to whomever is the recipient of the goodies. In some way I’ve also realized that I’m not really an artist when it comes to these things — I’m just a lover. I want to put more love in the world. This is one of the ways I know how to do it. 

The other thing that is fun scary about making birthday cakes is that it’s a one-shot deal. I’ve got to get it right. And oftentimes someone calls me up with a request for a cake I’ve never before tried.

“I’m gluten-free and my son is allergic to nuts, but would you be able to make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting?” Hehe… yes! I loved that project. 

Once I got a request for a completely flourless (as in, not any kind of flour — not just wheat), sugarless, vegan cake. And, um, no. That was the only cake I’ve ever said no to. I can do gluten-free, but no flour of any kind? I suggested they just make a bowl of fruit and stick a candle in it.

But I like trying out new ideas, and I’m learning as I go. Well, a funny thing happened on the way to making a German Chocolate cake …. macaroons! 

Last Passover, Bad*ss Bassman and I and three other friends gathered for a very small but very fun seder. Of the five of us, two of us were born and raised Jewish. One was raised Catholic. One’s mother was Jewish and father was Baptist. One was raised with no religion at all (the heathen!). It was one of the sweetest and most open-hearted seders I’ve ever attended, but at the end we ate French macaroons which felt odd. 

This year we five decided to gather again. Passover doesn’t really start till tonight, but we got a jump on the holiday by doing it last night. The seder plate had a roasted beet in place of the traditional roasted bone. Our main course was vegan matzoh ball soup, jackfruit brisket (recipe to come), roasted beets and turnips, a salad filled with avocado and grapefruit, and a big dollop of charoset. We drank more than our fill of the four cups of wine, and by the end of the night we had all moved to the living room and were shouting at the clap-on-clap-off lamp, laughing at its seeming willy-nilly switches that left us in the dark mid-stories. Just before the afikomen was discovered perched on the top of a door, we broke out the macaroons, protesting “I couldn’t eat another bite, but maybe just one more…”

PASSOVER MACAROONS (vegan)

Inspired and adapted from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen  

Makes 40-45 macaroons

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened soymilk

1/3 cup coconut milk from a can (shake it so you have both cream and liquid)

1 1/4 cups unbleached granulated sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract 

1/3 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water until smooth

2 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

8 oz. dark chocolate

Directions

Combine flaked coconut and chopped pecans in a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine soymilk, coconut milk, sugar, extract, and cornstarch mixture. Cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly. When mixture boils, cook and stir for 30 seconds more and then remove from heat. Pour mixture into bowl with coconut and pecans, and stir together till uniform. 

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double boiler (does anyone actually have a double boiler?? I just use a glass bowl set over a little water in a pot - see photo below). Scoop out and roll macaroon dough into balls, about 1 Tablespoon size (smaller than a golf ball). When chocolate is melted, dip halfway in, and then place on parchment or wax paper or solidify. 

Happy Spring!

xoxo, Arielle

There’re a hundred different ways to tell a story. Here is the story of the past year or so, told in photos of some cakes I made for happy celebrations.

(margarita cake with candied limes)

(german chocolate cake)

(cupakes: vanilla with raspberry frosting, and chocolate with coconut frosting)

(cupcakes: mini gluten-free lemon with lavender frosting)

(mexican chocolate cake)

(green tea cake with raspberry buttercream filling and green tea frosting)

(cupcakes: chocolate with coconut buttercream, red velvet with cream cheese frosting, and green tea with raspberry frosting)

(3-layer lemon cake with lemon bar filling and lavender frosting)

(cupcakes: chocolate with toasted coconut buttercream)

(3-layer lemon cake with meyer lemon buttercream and strawberry pie filling)

(3-layer green tea cake with raspberry buttercream filling and green tea frosting)

(cupcakes: red velvet with cream cheese frosting)

(mocha cake with mocha mouse filling and ganache frosting)

(cupcakes: chocolate with ganache and berries)

(coconut cake with banana vanilla buttercream filling/frosting, topped with fresh organic fruit and toasted coconut)

(cupcakes: green tea with raspberry frosting)

(lemon cake with blueberry buttercream filling and lavender buttercream)frosting

(coconut cake with banana buttercream filling/frosting)

One-use kitchen tools are not my thing. Bad*ss Bassman and I don’t have a fancy kitchen with endless cabinets, and even if we did, something silly like an avocado slicer would likely get lost at the bottom of drawer, lost to the world. I see myself sacrificing 10 minutes of precious life to root around in a drawer, only to give up and slice the avocado with a knife the way I always have. Knives are useful. Mixers? Useful. One-use kitchen tools? Lost. And, inevitably, difficult to clean.

Of course, the one exception is for waffles. Crispy outside, soft middle. Like a pancake but with more depths to dig into, more southern, more geometric….

My childhood waffle experience was limited to the frozen boxed kind, so I wasn’t even sure I liked waffles, but for years I’ve felt the pull of that strange one-use electric appliance. I’ve bookmarked Amazon pages and secretly wished for a waffle maker gift. In the end I’ve always reasoned that a one-use tool is a useless tool. Pancakes are better, I reasoned. Cooked in a pan, pancakes are universal. Every culture has its version, adaptable for sweet breakfasts and savory dinners. Who needs a waffle? Not me. Until a few weeks ago.

One beautiful December Sunday morning, just as I was coming off of a run around Griffith Park, I got a text from Bad*ss Bassman. A friend who organizes estate sales had contacted Bassman to say that his latest estate sale was over. The owner, our friend said, was practically on a plane at that very moment moving to western New York, and there was a ton of books and odd kitchen things left behind. Would we be interested in stopping by?

I can’t resist a pile of books - what fun! Besides, we’ve been on the look out for a couch — this has been an on-going discussion for months since the old one is on its last threads, but with the environmental impact, needing sturdiness for the rambunctious kidlets, and the cost, there’s so much to consider. Perhaps this New York transfer left a decent couch?

I met Bad*ss Bassman in the backyard of a lovely home in Burbank, and we spent 20 or so minutes flipping through boxes of silver platters, books galore, and other odds and ends. We didn’t score a couch, but somehow before dashing off for Bad*ss Bassman’s yoga class, we did manage to collect three boxes of old books (including the photo album of some name-forgotten stranger born in Greece around the turn-of-the-century), some scarves with horse pictures that we stuffed into the girls’ holiday stockings, and…. you guessed it… a waffle maker.

In all the hurried holiday excitement, I almost forgot about our new waffle maker, but on New Years Day Bassman dug it out of the garage. Since this was my first foray into the wonderful world of waffles, I snagged a recipe online. These are not too sweet which is great - save the sweetness for the topping, I say. I made a banana-berry compote that Little E said she could just eat all day long. That’s a pretty good compliment from the pickiest eater in the family.

I like the rustic corners of imperfect waffles, so I under-filled each batch. This was the perfect amount for the 4 of us. Cooking spray would have been helpful, but we did just fine with a drizzle from the vegetable oil bottle.

NEW YEARS WAFFLES (vegan!)

adapted from Art of Dessert

Waffle breakfast for 4. Serve with compote or maple syrple (as we like to call it).

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder (or, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can of coconut milk (or 1 1/2 cup other non-dairy milk like soy or almond)
cooking spray or cooking oil

Directions

Let the waffle maker warm up while you prepare the mix.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the milk and mix until just combined (do not over mix). Pour 1/3 cup batter into each waffle section and let cook until waffle maker beeps.

Meanwhile, make some compote.

BANANA-BERRY COMPOTE

for 4

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Earth Balance (or butter substitute)

1 banana, sliced

1 cup (or so) of mixed fresh or frozen berries

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Directions

In a sauce pan, melt Earth Balance. When melted, add banana and stir to coat. Let cook for a few minutes until the edges brown. Add the berries and some water to the pan, just so they won’t burn. Add maple syrup and heat through until the water has evaporated and your compote is the desired consistency.

Serve with your waffles and raise your coffee in a toast for a happy, healthy, and abundant new year!

xoxo, Arielle

Cake or pie? That’s one of my favorite bits of information to know about someone. I love making both, but when it comes to eating, while I won’t refuse a piece of cake — especially if it is soaking in a bowl of unsweetened soy milk — I’m a pie girl. That I don’t write every blog post about pie is a mark of my commitment to giving you a well-balanced life.

In keeping with that, then, I will not tell you about the prune plum pie I made this time last summer, and may make again this weekend. Or about the upcoming pumpkin pie with coconut whipped cream that Big E has requested for her birthday in two weeks. Nor will I talk about the lavender buttercream frosting, colored purple with organic grape juice concentrate, that coated the 3-layer vanilla/lemon-bar cake I made over the weekend for a triple birthday party. And I haven’t blogged about the blackberry basil gas station pies. All for you. I am committed to balance.

We cannot subsist on cake and pie alone. And, the thing is, we don’t have time to, either. You and I are busy people. We take care of business, several businesses. We care for others. We care for ourselves. Our home, our loves, our likes. We play guitar as much as possible, even in the stolen minutes between when we should leave for work and when we actual do. We read books, sometimes a few at a time, and are trying to work through Le Petit Prince despite the 20 years since college French. We make plans and dinner, when there’s time, or at least try to get some post-work-out nutrition before tucking the girls into bed.

And everyday we sprinkle our lives with sweetness. That, my friends, is where these Bliss Bites come in.

I first tasted something like these two years ago on New Years Eve, at a pot luck. I had just finished two hours of singing with my band when we west coasters were the last ones on the continental USA to shout “Happy New Year!” and kiss as the bubbly popped. The pot luck had been set up, but in the other room away from the music, so we were hungry beyond belief. It was then that the two lovely ladies dancing in the front row began passing trays of mysterious balls. I remember biting in and feeling spoiled and nourished. They were sweet, but not in the sugary sweet way of desserts. They were solid bites of goodness for the spirit and body.

Later I became friends with the two dancing ladies. I begged to know what those blissful bites of goodness contained so I could make them myself. I think that recipe was one meant to be taught hands-on, because when I tried to make them in my own kitchen, first I couldn’t find the right ingredients (unsweetened dried blueberries). Then, compromising with the sweetened ones from Trader Joes, I couldn’t make the balls stick without adding a ton of oat flour.

Those first balls turned out tasty, but I wanted something more… I dunno… honest. I wanted something easy. Something naturally sweet. Something adaptable. Something energizing. Bliss bites with no added artificial anything. And no sugar or flour.

Later, about a year ago, Bad*ss Bassman and I were wandering around at a farmers market and stumbled upon a date vendor. There were four or five different varieties and we were invited to try them all - the meaty, the molasses-y, the firm, the squishy. They were newly harvested and ripened, and they were like candy. We bought a package and ate them like candy. Mother Nature, you’ve done it again. I bow to you.

Since then, my romance with dates has gotten intense. There’s a new table at our current farmers market, and I keep an extra $10 for a package every week. I eat them almost everyday. I’ve been running a lot lately - about 35 or so miles a week - and dates have tannins which are a natural anti-inflammatory. They contain anti-oxidants. They are rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium and B vitamins. Well, like I said, it’s intense, but you can research all that on your own. Mostly I eat them because they are delicious, but I love knowing they are helping my training too.

Bonus recipe —-> For my post-run recovery shake I make a smoothie with unsweetened almond/soy milk, a handful of cashews, a banana and some dates. :)

And for a mid-morning snack I make these: Almond Date Bliss Bites

These are just what I wanted: honest, easy, naturally sweet, adaptable, energizing, with no added artificial anything, and no sugar or flour. Sometimes I add in dried apricots, or raisins, or cashews. Sometimes I roll them in unsweetened coconut, or cocoa, or cinnamon. But mostly I like them best simple, with just two ingredients and five minutes.

ALMOND DATE BLISS BITES

makes 8 golf-ball size bites

Ingredients

1 cup almonds (raw or dry-roasted is fine, but no salt)

25 dates 

Directions

In a food processor, grind the almonds until they are itty bitty, but not paste or butter. Add the dates and process until the mixture is uniform and holds together when pressed into a ball. If it’s too crumbly, add more dates and process more. When the mixture is at the desired consistency, scoop about 1 Tablespoon’s worth into your hand and form into a ball. Adjust the size as desired. Eat and enjoy!

I like them best plain with just the dates and nuts, but they are also good rolled in coconut, or cinnamon, or cocoa. Feel free to add in other dried fruit/nut options, but remember that the dates will be the binder.

To end, I want to also introduce you to Renee. Renee was one of the dancing ladies who first inspired this recipe for Bliss Bites. I didn’t know it the night I met her, but she had been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer a few months earlier. She was 29 at the time of diagnosis, and is in her early 30’s now. The cancer has metastasized, and she is still fighting for her health. Recently, Renee began another round of radiation to combat the new tumor on her spine that has been the source of a great deal of pain and has affected her ability to walk. She is an inspiring woman, a sweet soul, and a source of healing for others through her writing, therapeutic massage and yoga teaching. If you are interested in learning more about Renee, please visit her Go Fund Me page where she is raising funds to assist with her ongoing medical and living expenses. She loves receiving positive notes on her Center For Peaceful Healing facebook page as well.

(Renee, April 2011)

xoxo, Arielle.

You wouldn’t know it from the triple-digit heat wave on the radar for later this week, or from the heat wave that just left us last week, but the farmers market harvest tells all: Autumn is just about here. The pears and first crop of apples are like Noah’s rainbow. They give me hope. Cooler weather will come.

Of course unlike Noah, I’ve also got my fingers crossed for rain. Just this morning I mentioned it to Bad*ss Bassman, as we woke to (finally) a cool morning coming in through our backyard bedroom door. For months I’ve been hoping for a good rainy day reason to skip out of work and lounge around reading in my pajama pants and slippers. I am craving a drip drop on the window panes and an indulgently lazy day.

But if we don’t have rain, I’ll take the cooler weather, even for just a day or two between heat waves. Autumn is coming, that’s the truth. As much as I love summer’s stone fruit, it’s the snuggle down autumn harvest of winter squashes, apples, pears and pomegranates that has me pulling books from the shelf. You know, just in case we get that rain.

This is a simply elegant and elegantly simple dessert. If I were serving this to guests, I’d probably add a scoop of coconut bliss ice cream or a dollop of homemade whipped coconut cream on the side, perhaps a sprinkle of chocolate shavings… but it doesn’t need it. The sauce is rich. The pears are sweet. And I just remembered that we have one more of these left over in the fridge….

POACHED PEARS IN RED WINE SAUCE

serves 5. time: 5 minutes prep, 30 minutes to cook.

Ingredients

5 Pears - Bosc, Anjou… as long as they are not too soft, any kind will do

1 1/2 cups red wine, like a merlot, pinot noir, cab.

3/4 cups sugar (preferably unbleached, organic)

2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Slice the pears in half from top to bottom. Using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out the seeds. You can leave the stem.

In a sauce pot, mix all the other ingredients (not the pears) and bring to boil. Add the pears and cover, lowering the heat to medium. Simmer for 15 minutes until the pears are soft. Uncover the pot and let the sauce reduce for 15 minutes.

Let cool. 

Serve the pears with some of the sauce drizzled on them. Coconut cream is optional.

Savor.

xoxo, Arielle.