Tag Archives: St Patrick Day

Irish Soda Bread with Currants

Irish soda bread with currants
Irish soda bread with currants

I should begin by saying that I attempted the following recipe with great trepidation. I had never made bread before, except quick breads that you essentially pour into a pan like you do with cake. You will see in my other posts that I’m not fond of making pie shells either. Both bread and pie crust recipes have directions such as, “move dough to a lightly floured surface,” or “knead until the dough forms a ball.” These types of instructions make my blood run cold. I am a bread wimp. But, if you are too, I have good news. I made bread and so can you. All that’s needed is the right recipe.

I pored over a variety of Soda Bread creations. They generally require no yeast and little or no kneading, so I figured it was a good place to start. Most importantly, they aren’t expected to have a light crumb or to look airy and beautiful. Great … bread I can make! The only change needed was to reduce the baking soda for high altitude. So, with a little Irish inspiration and luck on St. Patrick’s Day, I faced my fears and created my fruity loaf. The only drawback was when my favorite taster laid eyes on the baked treat and excitedly, yet incorrectly, thought it was chocolate chip bread. But all was redeemed when I slathered it with vegan butter and jam.

Irish Soda Bread with Currants based loosely on Classic Soda Bread from Williams Sonoma

1.75 cups unsweetened plain soy milk
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
550 grams plus 1 tsp all purpose flour, divided (plus extra for work surface)
2 TBS vegan sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1.25 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup grapeseed oil

Preheat oven to 400F. Whisk together soy milk and apple cider vinegar, then set aside to curdle. Spray an 8” tall-sided round cake pan with baking spray then dust with flour.

In a large bowl, whisk together 550 grams flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the currants. Add grapeseed oil to the soy milk mixture; no need to stir. Gradually add this milk mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until the dry ingredients are moistened. With your hands, knead the dough in the bowl to just combine the ingredients. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball, lightly dusting your hands with flour if needed. Press dough evenly into the prepared pan, then sprinkle the top with 1 tsp flour.

With a sharp knife, mark an X in the top of the dough so it will bake properly in the center. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Cover the pan loosely with foil halfway through the bake time.) Place pan on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before upending the pan to remove the bread.

soda bread and chai tea
soda bread with jam and tea

Note: I listed the flour in grams as precise measurements are best when making bread.

Until next time, happy bread baking!

Coming Back From a Failed Kitchen Experiment

Coming Back From a Failed Kitchen Experiment
Coming Back From a Failed Kitchen Experiment

I love to fiddle with new ingredients or combinations in an attempt to make a recipe vegan. Sometimes I get a wacky baking idea in my head. Will a flax egg and extra oil work in place of a chicken egg? … it depends. Do all vegan butter substitutes work the same? … not really. Can I use chickpea liquid and soy creamer to get a whipped cream with stiff peaks? … definitely not.

That last concept popped into my head the other day while trying to make a raw cheesecake without coconut oil. While working towards a thickened batter I even went so far as to add melted cocoa butter. The entire project was a disaster. It deflated a bit, then got lumpy, then turned into something resembling a thin pudding.

Not one to waste expensive ingredients, I put my creation in the fridge hoping that a novel dessert image would pop into my head. Genius struck when I realized that it was Pi Day (March 14, a.k.a. 3.14). My glop would become a pie! Well, more of a tart, but at least I would have an edible treat. And, seeing as Saint Patrick’s Day was also looming, a bit of green was added in the form of matcha tea powder.

So, I went from a creative wreck to a celebration of Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day. This meandering path often happens when I’m experimenting in the kitchen, although I won’t bore you with the countless steps and added ingredients I went through along the way. The above photo shows that some baking catastrophes can be averted, even edible, but others are not as lucky. Those failures never make it to a photo shoot.

Until next time, happy experimenting!

Lucky St. Pat’s Cupcakes

Lucky St. Pat's Cupcakes

Lucky St. Pat’s Cupcakes

Today commemorates Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In the U.S. that means we break out anything green. For a baker that means food coloring will play a role in what we create. I have shared very few vanilla cupcakes and wished to produce one, but I didn’t want a green cake. So, green frosting was a must.

The recipe I found in my cookbook collection was vegan. I added chocolate chips because hubby needs his chocolate fix. Another change was to remove the cornstarch due to allergies. The cornstarch was used in the recipe to help create a light texture, but I did fine with adding a bit more baking soda. For high altitude I added flour and water and reduced the baking powder. Now you can raise a cupcake and toast a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Lucky St. Pat’s Cupcakes adapted from Golden Vanilla Cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

For the cupcakes:
1 cup + 1 TBS vanilla non-dairy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 + 1 TBS cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
generous 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup organic sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
For the frosting:
1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
1/4 – 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
3 TBS non-dairy milk
vegan food coloring (see Note below)

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-cupcake pan with paper liners. Whisk the milk and vinegar in a cup and set aside a few minutes to curdle. Whisk together the milk mixture, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until no large lumps remain. Blend in the chocolate chips. Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 22 to 24 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely while you make the frosting.

Color Garden green food color

Color Garden green food color

For the frosting, beat shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, a cup at a time, and beat for 3 more minutes. Add the peppermint extract, milk, and food coloring, and beat for another 5 minutes until fluffy. Frost the cooled cupcakes, adding chocolate coins for decoration and a bit o’ luck.

Note: I used Color Garden natural food coloring. Per their instructions, I used half a packet. Please check the instructions of the brand that you use.

Until next time, happy baking!

Key Lime Pie Tarts

key lime pie tarts

key lime pie tarts

Pi day is tomorrow (3.14) and I wanted to celebrate with pie. The problem is that I don’t like crust so I’m not fond of pie. There is just one that I adore – Key Lime Pie. By making it I also thought that I could sneak in a nod to St. Patty’s Day with a “green” pie, although I ended up not adding food color. But the lime still evokes green, and I made crust!

The recipe I found was already vegan, so that part was easy. With the simple tart crusts I did not need to make high altitude changes. The adaptations I made were for other reasons. To start, I was going to visit a gluten-free friend so I found gluten-free, vegan cookies for the crust. It took some searching but Enjoy Life brand fit the requirements.

The other major change was to make a chocolate crust. When I was a kid I used to make a Key Lime Pie from packaged ingredients with a premade chocolate crust. The flavor combo of deep chocolate with tart lime was heaven. I recreated those tastes here and bumped up the chocolate by garnishing the mini pies with shaved chocolate. Memory lane can have some tasty moments.

Key Lime Pie Tarts adapted from Minimalist Baker
Crust:
1 1/4 cups gluten-free chocolate cookie crumbs (from about 5 oz of cookies)
2 1/2 TBS canola oil
Filling:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 4-6 hours (or overnight), then drained
3/4 cup full fat coconut milk, well shaken
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3-4 large limes or 6-7 key limes (1 Tbsp zest, 1/2 cup juice)
1/3 cup agave nectar
Garnish:
shaved dark chocolate
Preheat oven to 375 F and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners. Add cookie crumbs to a food processor and process until you achieve a fine meal. Add oil and pulse to combine; you should get a consistency like wet sand. Distribute evenly among muffin tins and press down with the bottom of a shot glass to flatten. Bake 10-12 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
Add filling ingredients to a blender and blend on high until creamy and smooth. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more lime juice for more tart, or more agave for added sweetness. Pour filling into muffin tins and tap on counter to release air bubbles. Cover loosely. Freeze for 1/2 hour, then garnish with shaved chocolate. Return to freezer for 1-3 hours or until firm. Remove from freezer for 10-15 minutes to thaw before serving. Store in refrigerator.

Until next time, happy baking!