Almond Ice Milk with Strawberry and Rhubarb Salad

This combination of frosty almond milk and tart, fresh rhubarb is raw, gluten free and vegan (for honey eating vegans, of course). I know to some that sounds totally boring, but for as much as I like buttery treats, I also crave a bit of lightness (especially when the weather warms up) and this dessert totally has that going on. I am usually not a fan of the classic strawberry and rhubarb combo, but the pucker of raw rhubarb (still Camille's batch!) is nicely mellowed by the addition of sweet strawberries, a bit of honey, and some fresh mint to make an utterly refreshing, cool, and crisp salad. The almond ice milk is a pretty neutral, granita base that will work well with a number of different fruits and I imagine fresh or roasted stone fruit later in the summer would be delicious here, so feel free to give this recipe your own spin. Oh, and you could certainly make this dessert richer by adding some whipped coconut cream on top (for dairy avoiders) or a bit of whipped cream (for dairy fans).

Almond Ice Milk
yield about 3 cups
I like the bit of texture that adding some almond pulp back in to the ice milk gives the mixture, but if you'd like a smoother icy-treat leave out the pulp. This would also work well with cashews. If you've ever made a granita like this, then you know that it is just about the easiest frozen treat to put together, save the "popsicles" I used to make out of orange juice poured into in ice cube trays and stuck with a stick (tell me you made those when you were a kid too).

5 1/2 ounces raw almonds
24 ounces filtered water (plus more to soak the almonds)
2 tablespoons raw honey or maple syrup (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
pinch salt

1.  Add almonds to a large container and cover with filtered water. "et the almonds soak for at least 4 hours or overnight then drain the almonds and add the 24 ounces of filtered water and blend thoroughly. Strain the mixture through a nut milk bag (a phrase that makes my inner teenager giggle) or through a strainer lined with cheesecloth. If desired, add 2 or 3 tablespoons of the nut meat back into the strained milk for texture.
2. Add the sweetener of your choice, vanilla, almond extract and salt to the almond milk and blend to combine.

3. Pour the mixture into an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Taste the mixture and if you find it to be not sweet enough add in a bit more sweetener and stir to dissolve. Cover the dish with plastic.
3. Slide the dish into the freezer and chill for 1hr. Remove the dish from the freezer and scrape the milk with a fork to break up the crystals, cover and place back in the freezer. Scrape the milk every 30min or so until it is frozen and crystals have formed.

Strawberry and Rhubarb Salad
yield about 2 cups
This salad is sweet-tart and utterly refreshing thanks to a dose of fresh mint.

2 medium stalks rhubarb
1 pound strawberries
2 Tablespoons raw honey or maple syrup(or more to taste)
3 Tablespoons mint leaves, thinly sliced

Dice the rhubarb and strawberries into 1/4-1/2'' pieces small and even pieces are key here. Toss the chopped fruit and honey gently to combine. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes and taste. The fruit should soften slightly and release some of it's juices. Adjust sweetness if necessary then add in the sliced mint right before the salad is served.

To Serve

Layer the ice milk and the rhubarb and strawberry salad in clear glasses. Top with fresh mint leaves. Serve immediately. Try not to spill mint leaves all over the place like I did, what was I thinking ;)

Blueberry Crumb Pie

The East Coast is in for 3 days of 90+ degree weather which means I sure as heck won't be turning the oven on for a few days. I'm glad I baked this pie for the Pie Party yesterday, mostly because blueberry pie always tastes best when you eat it for breakfast the next day, don't you think? I'm also planning on lots green smoothies for breakfast and popsicles for lunch and dinner washed down cold brewed iced coffee to beat the heat. I probably should have filled up the ice trays last night, whoops. 

This pie features my favorite all-butter pie crust, filled with a generously spiced pile of fresh Jersey blueberries and topped with a crispy, nutty crumble. Feel free to substitute your favorite crust if you have one you are attached to. I think having a favorite pie crust is a kitchen milestone to be celebrated, just like summertime and pies.

Blueberry Almond Crumb Pie

For the Crust
makes 2 crusts (you'll only need one crust to make the pie)

This crust comes to you from the talented Brandi Henderson of I made that! and The Pantry at Delancey where she teaches a class called "How to be a Pie Ninja" (among others) and she is not messing around, her recipes are killer. For her crust, Brandi uses a technique called fraissage which creates long sheets of buttery flakes throughout the dough instead of little pockets of butter. Delightful!

12 ounces pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cold, unsalted butter
4-6 ounces ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. Mix the flour and salt together, then pour the whole lot on a large cutting board or countertop.
2. With a bench scraper, cut in half of the butter until it is the size of lima beans, then cut in the other half of the butter until it is the size of nickels. Mix the water and vinegar together.
3. Using your fingers, flick the water on to the butter flour mixture and gently fold it in with your bench scraper. You have added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it together without it falling apart.
4. Then, get this, you smear the butter into the dough. With the heel of your hand push a section of the dough down and away from you. Congratulations, you have just created a sheet of butter which is going to turn delicious flaky crust. Scrape the sheet off of the board and place it in a bowl to the side. Repeat until you have worked through all of the dough, pushing it down and away from you in sections. Once you've gone through all of the dough gently remove it from the bowl, press it together, then split it in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and form into a disk. Chill the dough for at least one hour before using. I have warm hands, so I always chill my dough overnight before I use it.

For the Filling

24 ounces blueberries
2-4 ounces sugar, depending on the sweetness of your berries
1 ounce cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
zest and juice from one small lemon
pinch salt

Pour all of the ingredients into a large bowl and stir gently to combine

For the Crumb


3 ounces all purpose flour
3 ounces brown sugar
4 ounces soft butter
pinch salt
2 ounces sliced almonds

Mix together the flour, sugar, butter and salt until it resembles large crumbs. Gently mix in the almonds being careful not to break them up.

To Assemble and Bake

Preheat oven to 375º and adjust a rack to the lower third of the oven.

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough into a 12'' circle about 1/8'' thick and place it into a 9'' pie pan and crimp the edges. Place in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the pie.
2. Pour the filling mixture into the prepared crust, then top with the prepared crumb topping.
3. Place the pie on a baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the topping is deep golden brown. Cool completely before serving.

Chocolate Almond Babka and a Trip to the Beach

When Autumn wrote so eloquently about how hard it is to make friends as an adult I nodded my head in agreement and when she quietly questioned the value of blogging and what it has brought to her life I shook it even harder. It's easy to sit back and read other people's words and comment and admire them from afar, but at what point can you consider them friends?

I am someone who likes to have a lot of time to myself. The reason I stayed at my last job long after I should have was that it offered me hours and hours of alone time every afternoon, but now that I've been away from that job for a few months, I find myself with more time than I know what to do with. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but as I've gotten a bit older I've assigned more value to making meaningful connections with other folks. 

You may have seen Ariele's beautiful wood work or Amélie's clever letterpress baseball cards around the internet. I'll try not to sound like a gushing fan girl here, but when I saw their work for the first time I was so surprised and delighted. Yes, I know that sounds terribly cheesy, but I can't think of any other words to describe how happy I was to see two talented gals busting ass to make their living as artists.



After a few months of internet friendship and lots of commenting back and forth, it was decided that a meeting of the minds was in order, a blind friendship date if you will. We chose a time and I promised to bring the snacks. When I saw a swirled chocolate babka by way of Eating for England I knew I had found the perfect tea time treat. I consulted my bread guy (Peter Reinhart) for his recipe and ended up with this delicately sweet and super chocolatey bread. I packed it up in a tea towel to contain all of the delicious streusel crumbs and made my way to Ariele's incredible studio/apartment. We chatted and drank tea and when I got to see their work in the flesh, it did not disappoint.



We spent the afternoon talking about about all sorts of things and when someone mentioned Dead Horse Bay my ears (probably my whole face too) perked right up. I had heard of the place, but had never been. We decided that the next day's spring-like weather demanded a trip!



This isn't a beach for sunbathing and frisbee tossing. It's the kind of beach that requires sturdy shoes and gloves. You see, Dead Horse Bay is the former site of a horse rendering plant, turned 19th century landfill, turned playground for "junk" loving treasure hunters. The beach is littered with piles and piles of beautiful glass bottles, bits of tiles and Amélie even found an old rusted gun and a toy cowboy boot in close proximity to one another. I came home with some glass bottles to add to my collection and some porcelain light sockets that I repurposed into candle sticks.



As we walked along the beach picking up and kicking up treasures, yelling to each other when we found something exceptionally cool, I felt like I was anywhere but New York. The smell of the sea air was comforting, the sun was shining bright and warm and I was spending time with two awesome ladies I knew from the internet and had only met in person the day before.



I knew immediately that I wanted to go back. I've already planned another trip.

Chocolate Almond Babka
adapted from Peter Reinhart

For the Dough

2T instant yeast
6oz lukewarm milk
3oz room temperature butter
3oz sugar
1oz vegetable oil
1t vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
15oz all purpose flour
.25oz salt
1 egg + 1T water for egg wash

For the Filling

9oz finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
4oz sliced almonds
1t cinnamon
2oz cold butter

For the Topping (optional, but advised)
The original recipe called for 2x this amount of topping, but I could only get about half of it to stick to the bread so if you really want to go for it with the crumbs feel free to double these amounts

1oz butter
.75 oz all purpose flour
.5 oz almond meal
2oz brown sugar
pinch cinnamon
pinch salt

For the Bread

1. Whisk the yeast and milk together. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. I made this entire recipe by hand with a wooden spoon, but you could use a hand or stand mixer instead.
3. Add in the oil and vanilla, then add the egg yolks in one at a time, mixing until each yolk is thoroughly incorporated. Mix for 2 min or until the eggs are light and fluffy.
4. Stop mixing, then add the flour and salt, followed by the milk and yeast mixture. Mix slowly until the dough comes together, if you are mixing by hand, your hands are the best tool for this job.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead for 2 min. The dough should be soft, supple and golden in color. Place the dough in a well oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap and let rise for 2 1/2hrs or until the dough almost doubles in size. At this point you can finish the bread or let the dough rest in the refrigerator over night. I let mine rest.

For the Filling

Combine the chopped chocolate, almonds and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the butter and mix with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles streusel.

To Assemble the Loaf

1. Grease a 9''x5'' or 10''x5'' loaf pan and line with parchment paper so it hangs over the two long sides. Once the dough has risen, roll it into a 15''x15'' square on a lightly floured surface. The dough should be about 1/4'' thick. Sprinkle the chocolate and almond filling over the dough, leaving a 1/2'' border around the edges.
2. Roll the dough like a jelly roll and place it seam side down on your work surface. Gently roll the dough back and forth until it is about 20'' long.
3. Fold the dough in half to form a "U" shape. Twist the arms of the dough two or three times around each other to form the loaf, then pinch the seams together. This post has a photo of a formed loaf. Place the dough into the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room until the babka fills the pan, 1-2 hours.

While the loaf is rising

Preheat oven to 350º

Prepare the Streusel and Finish the Loaf

1. Combine all of the streusel ingredients with your hands until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
2. When the loaf has risen completely, brush with egg wash made from 1 egg +1T water and sprinkle the streusel mixture over the top. Use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the top of the loaf which will release any air pockets trapped between the folds of the dough and filling.
3. Place the loaf pan onto a baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake for 20-25min, then rotate and bake for 20-30 more minutes. The loaf will be deep golden brown on top and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped when finished. You can also use a thermometer to check the internal temperature which will be 185º when the loaf is finished.

Cool the loaf to room temperature before slicing.

p.s. I recently listened to a TED talk by Susan Cain about the power of introverts, about how our society is built for extroverts to succeed and receive praise. While I don't agree with everything she has to say, I think it is worth a listen.

Parsnip Macaroons

I know that I am not alone when I say that I love parsnips because when I posted the bouquet of them that I happily carried home from the grocery store yesterday, I got quite the response. Ok, a percentage of those responses were from a certain family member of mine (hi mom!), but still, Parsnip Lovers Unite! With cookies! I know it sounds a little bizarre to bake with something usually used in savory preparations but I find that if you choose the right specimens, parsnips are just as sweet as carrots with a more complex flavor profile. The inspiration to bake them into macaroons came from Alice Medrich and her Spicy Carrot Macaroons that I've been meaning to try for ages. With a few substitutions they baked up into little golden haystacks perfect for teatime. The parsnip flavor is subtle, like a spice note in the background that pairs really nicely with sweet maple syrup, crunchy almond and chewy coconut.

Parsnip Macaroons
inspired by Alice Medrich's Spicy Carrot Macaroons
yield 18-20 cookies

2 egg whites
3.5oz unrefined cane sugar
2oz maple syrup
1t vanilla extract
1/4t lemon zest
1/4t salt
3oz unsweetened shredded coconut
4oz finely chopped almonds
4oz peeled and finely shredded parsnip (or carrot) make sure to choose small, slender parsnips as they are sweeter than their larger counterparts.

Preheat oven to 350º

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, lemon zest and salt until frothy.
2. Add in the coconut, almonds and shredded parsnip and stir well to combine. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to allow the sugar to melt and soften the coconut.
3. Set the bowl over a double boiler or in a skillet of simmering water and stir the mixture, making sure to get down to the bottom of the bowl. Cook until the mixture is very hot and the liquid in the bottom of the bowl has thickened and turned slightly opaque, 5-7min.
4. Using firm pressure, form the mixture into heaping tablespoon sized pyramids and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. The mixture will be quite loose and it helps to wet your hands to form the cookies OR just use a cookie scoop. Slide the sheets into the oven and bake the cookies until they are deep golden brown on the edges, 20-25min. Make sure to bake them thoroughly, mine may have been a bit underdone.
5. Let the cookies cool completely on the parchment sheets, peel them off carefully and store at room temp, covered loosely for 3-4 days. As they age they will become softer and the lemon zest flavor more pronounced.

Quince Frangipane Tartlets

I know I just mentioned it, but my family really does send the best care packages. Last week I got a sweet smelling box full of quince straight from my ma and pa in Seattle. If you've never had the pleasure, quince are a magical little fruit. They are lumpy and bumpy, sometimes covered with fuzz and totally inedible when raw, but when cooked they turn a rosy hue and taste kind of like a tropical, floral pear. Fancy! Theses guys were a little worse for wear from the trip across country so I took the prettiest of the batch and simply poached them to use in these fab tarts. I know frangipane sounds complicated, but its really just some ground almonds mixed with sugar and eggs, and the tart dough is a cinch to put together too. Just mix up the ingredients in a food processor or with your hands and pat it into a tart pan, no rolling required. Oh, and the gnarliest quince of the batch became a preserve perfect for the Thanksgiving table that I will share soon.

Poached Quince
makes enough for the tarts, plus some extra for snacking

5c water
2c sugar
1/2 lemon, cut into 1/4'' wedges
1/2 vanilla bean or 1t vanilla extract
4 medium quince, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges each

Over medium heat, combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon, vanilla bean and quince and stir gently to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook the quince gently until they are soft and fork tender, but not mushy. This can take from 20-40 minutes depending on how ripe your quince are and how thickly they are sliced

Store the quince in their syrup until you are ready to use them. Serve the extra with yogurt or ice cream, or enjoy them as they are.

Pate Sable, Sweet Tart Dough
from Dorie Greenspan
for 1, 9'' tart or 6, 4'' tartlets

1 1/2c flour
1/2c confectioner's sugar
1/2t salt
9T cold, cubed butter
1 egg yolk (save the white for later)

1. In the bowl of a food processor or with a pastry blender, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the yolk and pulse until the mixture begins to clump a bit.
2. Lightly butter your tart pan or pans and gently press the crumbly dough into the pan. Make sure to evenly coat the bottom and the sides while being careful to not compact the dough too much. You may have a bit of extra dough, save it just in case you have to repair any cracks later on. Freeze the tart shell for 30min.
3. Preheat your oven to 375º and bake the tart shell (no need for pie weights) until it is lightly golden, repair any cracks that may have formed with your leftover dough. Cool the shell on a rack while you prepare the rest of the tart.

Frangipane, Almond Filling
Again from my girl, Dorie Greenspan

6T soft butter
2/3c sugar
3/4c ground, blanched almonds
1 egg plus one egg white (leftover from making the dough)
2t flour
1t cornstarch
1t vanilla extract
1t almond extract
pinch salt

In the bowl of the food processor, combine the butter and sugar and pulse until smooth. Add the almonds and blend. Then add the flour and cornstarch followed by the egg and egg white and finally the extracts and salt. Mix until just combined.


To assemble

Spread the frangipane into the cooled tart shell or shells, it should come up just below the edge of the shell. Remove the wedges of quince from their poaching liquid and lightly drain them on a paper towel. If you are making mini tarts, I suggest slicing the wedges even thinner before placing them on top of the frangipane in a decorative pattern. If you are making one large tart, arrange the quince wedges in a decorative pattern on top of the frangipane, you will need about 2 total quince for this.

Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 350º oven until the crust and frangipane are golden and set, 20-30min for tartlets and 45-50min for a large tart. Cool on a wire rack and dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Notes:

- I always grind the almonds for the frangipane in the food processor before making the dough and I don't bother washing out the bowl in between recipes. A little ground almond residue won't hurt the crust at all and then get this, I make the frangipane in the same bowl without washing it. So now you know my little secret, I hate doing dishes in my teeny tiny sink.
-This recipe is also fantastic with poached pears instead of quince.
-Do you love quince too? Here is another great quince recipe from the archives.