A Touch of Cardamom and Cloves

You might think that since I write a food blog that I eat gourmet food all the time. Nope. We mostly eat fairly simple foods and a lot of them are on repeat. Grilled chicken thighs and grilled fresh zucchini yesterday for dinner, and turkey chili for dinner tonight...like that.

Where I find myself playing around is often in baking, but, in order to not get any heavier than I already am, I'm only baking when I can share it with others...and leave them the leftovers. That way I get to taste what I bake, but I keep the calories down.

We were supposed to go to dinner last week in Healdsburg at a friend's house, and so I made a cake to take and share. Unfortunately there was a last minute change of plans related to Sweetie being on the board of the local fire district. After his meeting we gave in and had a slice of the cake, with the hopes that we would be able to share the rest with our Healdsburg friends.  I'll be able to bake something else later this week if all goes well and we have dinner in Healdsburg.

So the cake is a new recipe for me from the Substack of David Leibowitz. It's a fig and yogurt cake. I did make a couple of changes but I'm sure it was delicious the way it was written, too. I substituted a bit of sour cream for some of the yogurt because I wanted it just a bit richer. The recipe calls for five-spice powder as flavoring and I don't care for that. I decided to use a touch of cardamom and a bit of ground cloves instead. Those flavors went really well with the fresh figs that top the cake. The amounts used may seem to be too little, but these are both robust flavors, so a little goes a long way.

This is a single layer fairly rustic cake, but it is moist, not too sweet, and really delicious. The yogurt and the fruit allow it to stay moist a while, too, so you can enjoy it for a number of days. 

This cake has almond flour along with some all-purpose flour. If you are gluten sensitive, you could use almond flour and a gluten-free flour mix like King Arthur Baking One-to-One gluten free mix. No fresh figs? Fresh plums or apricots or nectarines would work well here, too. 

You could probably use poached pears, although I haven’t tried them. If you do, you should probably cut them into very thick slices after poaching so they stay moist due to the long-ish baking time.

 Due to the nut flour, this cake is quite hearty, not airy. Thanks to the oil in the nuts, it’ll keep nicely for 3 or 4 days at room temperature under a cake dome or well wrapped. The cake is just fine to serve on its own, but is also great with vanilla ice cream or a puff of whipped cream...which is how I served it, although I didn't get a photo of that.  A few poached or roasted figs with some of their liquid also pairs nicely with the cake.

 Fig-Yogurt Cake

8 servings

 Adapted by David Leibowitz  from the Fig, Yogurt and Almond Cake by Yotam Ottolenghi

200g (7 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

200g (1 cup) granulated sugar, plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar or 1 tablespoon turbinado (coarse) sugar crystals, for sprinkling over the finished cake

3 large eggs, at room temperature

100g (7 tablespoons) Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or a scant 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

180g (1 3/4 cups) almond flour

100g (scant 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

10-12 fresh or frozen figs (if using frozen figs, don’t defrost them first)

 

1. Line the bottom of a 9-inch (24cm) cake pan with a round of parchment paper. Butter the sides of the pan or coat with nonstick spray.
2. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or by hand, beat the butter and 200g (1 cup) of granulated sugar together on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Stop the mixer, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing them in on low speed, stopping the mixer after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the yogurt and extract.
5. Whisk together the almond flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and five-spice powder in a medium bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture just until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top.
6. Quarter the figs and place the figs in concentric circles, cut side up, around the top of the cake.
7. Bake the cake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 325ºF (170ºC) and bake the cake until it just feels set in the center, about 40 minutes longer.
8. Remove from the oven and place the cake pan on a cooling rack. Let cool a few minutes, then run a sharp knife around the outside of the cake to loosen the sides of the cake from the pan. Sprinkle the remaining sugar over the top of the cake.
9. To remove the cake from the pan, it’s easier to do while the cake is still slightly warm. Run a knife again around the outside of the cake, and place a dinner plate upside down on top of the cake pan. Holding the cake pan and the plate firmly in place with both hands, turn both over simultaneously and the cake will release. (If it’s a bit stubborn and doesn’t come out easily, you can place the cake in a warm oven for a few minutes or set it over the low flame of a gas burner for a few seconds.)
10. Remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake, invert a serving platter over the bottom of the cake, then turn the cake and the platter over simultaneously.

Babes Bake Figgy Flatbread

It's the 16th of the month...the day for the Bread Baking Babes to share what they have been up to this month.

I'm Kitchen of the Month for October and I chose a lovely flatbread recipe for fall, enhanced with rosemary and figs and nuts. The recipe is from a cookbook that I found on sale at a local bookstore. The book is Joanne Weir's More Cooking in the Wine Country. The author, Joanne Weir is on a Public Televisions series 'Weir Cooking in the Wine Country II' and there are lots of delicious sounding recipes in the book. The first time I baked it I followed the recipe, but divided the dough in half and baked half with walnuts and half with pecans, plus I added some fresh figs to the dried figs. It was delicious!

For the second bake I left out the rosemary but added lemon zest along with the orange zest in the original recipe, plus I substituted pine nuts, and some whole wheat flour for part of the flour. As you can see, this is a versatile recipe. This time I had intended to weigh the ingredients, using the amounts provided by Elizabeth of Blogging from OUR Kitchen (THANK YOU Elizabeth!), but forgot to and used the cup measurements. I also used some fresh Italian prune plumbs along with the dried figs. They are in season now and added, along with the pine nuts, to the Italian feel of this flatbread. The whole wheat bread was nicely nutty but bland without the rosemary. Next time I'll stop being lazy and put in the rosemary as called for...it really does make a difference.

This is an easy dough to work with. It might seem a bit stickier than you are used to, due to the use of potato water, but use wet hands and it will be fine. If you bake this and would like to be a Bread Baking Babes Buddy, just send me an email with a brief description of your bake and a photo and the URL of your post by Oct. 29th. Email is plachman*at*sonic*dot*net. I'll send you a Buddy Badge and include you in the round-up at the end of the month. The description and photos below are from my first bake. At the bottom I have some photos from the one with pine nuts and prune plums.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Bread Baking Babes to see what marvelous flatbreads they have created.

Kelly - A Messy Kitchen - Flatbread with figs and pears

Karen - Karen's Kitchen Stories - Flatbread with figs and sherry

Cathy - Bread Experience - Sourdough flatbread with home-grown dried figs 

Judy - Judy's Gross Eats - Flatbread with apricots and almonds

Aparna - My Diverse Kitchen - Flatbread with dried figs and walnuts and onions

Elizabeth - Flatbread with dates and pine nuts and red onions

This is one of those recipes where you can do parts in advance. I made the rosemary-infused olive oil a day ahead, cooked the potatoes the evening before I made the dough, saving the potato water and re-warming it, I even soaked the figs a day early and stored them in the marsala. Even though the recipe only calls for dried figs, it's fresh fig season, so I also included sliced fresh figs and I highly recommend this change! 

The dough is slightly sticky but not a high-hydration one, just soft. Once it rose and was punched down, it was pretty easy to work with. The first piece rolled out easily but the second one needed to have relaxation time after it was flattened before it would  roll out large enough. It baked up light on the inside and crisp and lightly brown on the outside.

Because I was working with fresh figs as well as dried, I watched the flatbread carefully towards the end of baking to avoid burning the fruit...which has so much natural sugar. I had the flatbreads on pieces of parchment which made it easier to get them onto the baking stone and then out of the oven when finished, although I did use a peel, with the parchment pieces on the peel.

 I typed this up exactly as it is in the cookbook...make changes as desired, although I do encourage you to make the bread dough with the potato water and rosemary oil and chopped rosemary. If you want to use your sourdough starter, just skip the yeast/bread flour/potato water initial poolish and use 1/2 cup sourdough starter. You might need more bread flour to get the dough right, but sourdough would be great with the topping. The recipe with weights, courtesy of Elizabeth, will be at the bottom, along with the photos of the flatbread baked using those measurements.

Happy Baking!

Fig and Walnut Flatbread

from Joanne Weir's More Cooking in the Wine Country cookbook
makes 1 flatbread, serves 6

Dough
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 1/2 teaspoons (I package) dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 cups unbleached bread flour, divided
1/2 cup lukewarm potato water or plain water (110 degrees F)
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup potato water (additional)
1 teaspoon salt

Topping
6 to 8 dried figs, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick vertical slices
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon greated orange zest
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup walnut halves

Directions
In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil and rosemary. Remove from the heat and let cool for I hour. Discard the rosemary sprigs. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm potato water. Let stand 1 hour, until it bubbles up and rises. Then add the remaining 2 cups flour, the rosemary olive oil, chopped rosemary, additional potato water, and salt. Mix the dough thoroughly. Knead the dough on a floured board until it is soft but still moist, 7-8 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it once to cover it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place (about 75 degrees F). Let the dough rise for 1-2 hours, until doubled in volume.

In the meantime, prepare the topping. Place the figs and Marsala in a small saucepan, and heat over medium heat until the Marsala bubbles around the edges, 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let stand for 1 hour.

Heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft, 15-20 minutes. Add the orange zest, season with salt and pepper, stir thoroughly, and set aside to cool.

Place a pizza stone on the bottom shelf of the oven, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Form the dough into a round ball. Let it rest for 5 minutes. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to form a 9x12-inch oval, 1/2-inch thick. Place it on a well-floured pizza peel. 

Drain the figs and distribute the figs, onions, and walnuts evenly over the dough. Lightly press them into the dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Then transfer the flatbread to the pizza stone and bake until golden brown and crispy, 12-15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Here are the measurements by weight. Just use the instructions above to make the flatbreads.

Dough
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil [60 ml/55 grams]

3 sprigs fresh rosemary (I skipped the rosemary in the whole wheat version)
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 package) dry yeast [7 grams]
1/2 cup plus 2 cups unbleached bread flour, divided [68 plus 274 grams] (I used all whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup lukewarm potato water or plain water (110 degrees F) [120 grams]
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary [1 gram] (skipped this for whole wheat version)
1/2 cup potato water (additional) [120 grams]
1 teaspoon salt [6 grams]

Topping
6 to 8 dried figs, sliced [50 to 67 grams]
1 cup Marsala wine [240ml/240grams]
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil [45 ml/41 grams]
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick vertical slices
1 tablespoon sugar [12 grams]
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest [1 gram]
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest [1 gram]
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup walnut halves [75 grams] (I used untoasted pine nuts)
(I used three small prune plums, pits removed and thinly sliced...forgot to weigh them) Below is a photo of the topping. I added the drained figs and the plums once the mixture was off the heat.

Whole wheat version baked:

and served:

Fig and Walnut Tart

It really feels like fall today, with cooler temperatures and lots of trees changing into their autumn colors. One of the lovely fruits of fall is fresh figs. A neighbor gifted us with some that she grew...the purple ones that have a sort of magenta seed section that is so pretty. I decided to combine them with another fall crop...walnuts...in a tart.

Frozen puff pastry is such a delightful thing to have on hand. You just defrost it overnight in the fridge and it's ready to use. Having made puff pastry from scratch, with all the rolling, folding, and successive bouts of chilling, I know how much work is saved by using the pastry from the store. Since I can't do dairy, I use the kind made with shortening. Perhaps it doesn't have as much flavor as that made with butter, but it is still delicious and flaky.

You start by rolling out a piece of the thawed puff pastry to make it a bit bigger. With a sharp knife you trim around the edges to create thin strips which become the sides of the tart once you 'glue' them onto the remaining base with water.

Inside the tart, you spread a mixture that is a combination of ricotta cheese (I used the non-dairy Kite Hill ricotta - it's very hard to tell it apart from dairy ricotta), sugar, orange zest, and an egg yolk. On top of that you place wedges of the fresh fig in a nice pattern...I just used rows. Chopped walnuts get sprinkled between the fig wedges. An egg  wash, using the egg white that remained when the yolk was used in the filling, is brushed carefully over the pieces of pastry that make up the sides...carefully because you don't want any wash to go down the sides or it won't rise properly.

The tart gets baked in a hot over...425 degrees F until the fruit juices start to run and the crust is golden brown. After a bit of time cooling, treat yourself to a rectangle of pure autumn deliciousness! The nuts have roasted, the filling has firmed up, and the fruit is juicy and mellowed by the cooking. Sublime! 

The actual recipe will be posted here tomorrow.

Fig and Pear Pie for Fall

It has been pretty smoky here this week since the wildfires began in Napa over the weekend and quickly spread east towards Santa Rosa, with the smoke and ash being blown by strong winds all the way to the coast. Our local volunteer fire department sent two crews and engines the day before the fires started because CalFire was prestaging since there was a high likelihood of fire over the weekend due to very dry conditions and high winds blowing from the interior toward the coast. Yesterday they sent another crew and fire engine since the fire grew and is not at all contained. Fortunately for Santa Rosa and everything to the west, the winds changed late yesterday afternoon and are now blowing from the coast towards the east. There was also some fog which should help firefighters. Since we have had one or more wildfires in Sonoma Co. every year since the major Tubbs fire in 2017, all of this has become old hat. We all have go bags at the ready and alternate power sources (at least flashlights) because our power company often cuts power to avoid causing fires when the conditions are ripe for new fires. Last year we had to evacuate to San Francisco, but so far this year we have stayed at home; a blessing.

So what do you do when it's hot outside and the air is filled with smoke? If you are lucky, you can turn on an air conditioner to filter the air. That means that it's cool enough in the house to bake a pie. Baking takes my mind off of the rest of it. Pretty selfish I guess, but Sweetie was quite happy to get a pie out of it.

We have very generous neighbors and friends. Of course we give them tomatoes and quince and iris starts and strawberries, so it's a two-way exchange. Recently we received delicious ripe home-grown figs and also some pears. The pears took a while to ripen (pears ripen off the tree) but there were a few ripe at the same time we received the figs, so I put both into a pie and we enjoyed it Sunday after dinner and again for breakfast on Monday.

This recipe is a variation of one from Southern Living. Theirs had only figs and the crust was in a pie pan. Ours had figs and pears and I made it in a crostata form without a pan. I shaped it on a large piece of parchment and used a bread paddle to slide the parchment onto a baking stone. Because it was flatter than a regular pie and because the baking stone was pre-heated, it cooked fairly quickly. The only this to watch out for is the filling because it is basically a custard and looks for places to run out onto the parchment. Sealing where the pie dough meets when you pleat the dough helps. Pouring the filling a little at a time into the center hold allows it to spread out to the edges and that helps, too.

Fresh Fig and Pear Pie
a variation of Fig Pie from Southern Living

dough for 1 crust pie - I used one roll from Pillsbury Ready Crust
2 tablespoons dry plain bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour plus 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
8 ripe fresh figs, rinsed and dried, stem cut off, sliced into four and then across into eight
1-2 ripe pears, peeled and cored, chopped into 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 cup but more is OK)
water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place one rack about 1/3 of the way up in the oven. If you have one, put a baking stone one the rack to preheat with the oven. If you don't have a baking stone, place a heavy cookie sheet or baking sheet in the oven to preheat.

Roll out the dough into a circle about 12 to 14-inches in diameter. Place on a large sheet of baking parchment. Sprinkle the dry bread crumbs in the center and out about to cover the center eight inches. Set aside.

To make the Filling: In a large bowl combine the eggs, sugar, flour, juice or vinegar, and ginger with a whisk. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

Put the parchment paper with the crust dough on it on a baking peel or a cookie sheet without a rim. Place the figs in the middle of the dough circle on top of the dry bread crumbs. Place the pears on top of the figs. Gently spread the fruit out to fill the center eight inches of the dough.

Fold the extra dough up over the fruit, sealing as you go with water, so that the dough is pleated all around the fruit. Gently and slowly, pour the filling mixture into the open center, letting the filling spread out. If needed, gently unseal one of the pleats and pour some of the mixture to the side. Seal up and repeat around the pie, sealing the dough together where it meets.

Slide the parchment paper onto the preheated stone or baking sheet, keeping the pie on the parchment.

Bake, turning once about half way through, until the pastry is browned and the filling is bubbly, about 25 minutes. Check at the half way point. If the pastry is browning too quickly, tent with foil.

Remove baked pie using the baking peel or cooking sheet without a rim and slide onto a cooling rack. Cool until room temperature. Serve as is, or dust lightly with confectioners sugar.

Makes one 8-inch pie.

Fall Flavors in a Crust

Recently I came across a recipe online that looked really perfect for fall. It was for a crostata filled with Italian sausage, fresh oregano, ricotta, honey and delicata squash. Although the recipe called for making your own buckwheat pie crust, I went with super easy but still tasty ReadyCrust by Pillsbury. I used almond milk ricotta by Kite Hill instead of regular dairy ricotta, but otherwise pretty much followed the recipe. Delicata squash is a great winter squash with a mild flavor and you don't need to peel it, which eases prep time, plus it bakes up tender and moister than acorn squash, which is also a short-time keeper squash.

Well, other than the fact that I only filled half of the crostata with the sausage/squash mixture. The other half had a filling I made up, inspired by the fresh figs that I received from a friend. The second filling included bacon, red onions cooked in the bacon fat, chicken, the fresh figs, chopped walnuts and reduced balsamic vinegar. Those ingredients went on the ricotta filling from the other recipe. After baking, the sausage half was drizzled with honey and the chicken half with the balsamic vinegar syrup. Do find ripe fresh figs for this filling...they make all the difference and are such a wonderful fall fruit.

I have to say that I liked the chicken version better, mostly because the flavors were intense and more layered, but the sausage side was delicious, too. Sweetie and I each had a small wedge of each kind plus a huge green salad for dinner and saved the rest for the weekend.

You could choose one filling or the other and make a whole free form pie with it, or do as I did and make half and half. If you have a crowd to feed, make a whole pie of one filling and a whole pie with the other. If you make this could you let me know what you think? If you create your own filling, could you tell me about it in the comments? Part of the fun of doing posts is getting the feedback. Even if you don't comment, I hope you make one or both fillings and enjoy these rich and delightful flavors of fall.

Two Fillings Fall Crostata
Inspired by a recipe by Dana Frand and Andrea Slowecker of Food and Wine

1/2 package pie crusts like Pillsbury ReadyCrust (or make your own favorite pie crust recipe)
Sausage Filling -Note: The following makes enough sausage filling for a whole pie. If using for half a pie cut ingredients in half or save second half for another use.
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz. mild Italian sausage bulk (or remove from casings)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 delicata squash, halved, seeded and sliced very thinly (you may only need half the squash)
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
honey to drizzle

Chicken Filling - Note:Chicken filling is enough for half a pie. If using for a whole pie, double the amounts.
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken
1-2 fresh figs, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons toasted walnuts, chopped

For both
2 cups ricotta
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
Flaky sea salt like Maldon

Roll out one of the pie crusts on a lightly flour work surface to 15 inches in diameter. Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment. Cover with plastic wrap and chill while you make the fillings.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Sausage Filling- In a large frying pan heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown the sausage in the olive oil, stirring in the fennel right away so that it gets browned, too, about 15 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage into small pieces.Remove from heat and add the squash slices, black pepper and salt. Stir to combine, then set aside.

Chicken Filling - In a small, wide pan or skillet heat the balsamic over very low heat, stirring every two to three minutes if needed, until reduced and syrupy. Set aside.
In a large skillet brown the bacon, then remove with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel lined plate. Cook the red onions in the bacon fat until browned, then use slotted spoon to remove them to the same plate as the bacon. Reserve bacon fat for another use or discard.

Ricotta Filling - In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, oregano, honey and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Remove chilled dough from fridge and spread with the ricotta filling, leaving a 2-3-inch border.
Scatter squash filling over half and on the other half evenly place or spread the bacon, onion, chicken and figs, then scatter walnuts even over that half. Drizzle lightly with the balsamic syrup.

Fold the border without filling up and over the filling, pleating as necessary so that it encloses the filling. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle generously with the sea salt.

Bake in the preheated oven until browned and crisp. Check at 30 minutes but it may take up to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle the squash half with honey and the chicken half with the balsamic syrup. Scatter fresh oregano leaves over all and serve at once.