July 20th, 2015
Cooking with edible flowers has been one of my greatest pleasures in the kitchen. Floral infusions provide amazing flavor and can add beneficial, healing properties to any dish or drink. My favorite was the Rose Ice Cream and Rose Petal Mille Feuille I made a few years ago with organic rose petals and the purest essential rose oil from my perfume maker friend. The oil was so concentrated that a tiny drop turned a portion of ice cream into a magical bowl of aromatherapy.
Here are two refreshing drinks we’ve been enjoying this summer, featuring some of the most loved, calming culinary flowers – lavender and chamomile.
Chamomile is an amazing little flower, and its oils are anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal and antiallergenic. It has long been used as a sleep aid all over the world. Having a cup of chamomile tea before bed has become one of my daily rituals – it really does the job of getting me ready for some wholesome rest.
Lately, I’ve been loving this creamy chamomile latte. My favorite way to enjoy it this summer is cold, but it also makes for a comforting warm drink for the cooler parts of the year.
Lavender, with its own share of antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, is king of the aromatherapy world – even the smallest whiff sends a relaxation signal to the mind. This milkshake combines lavender and blueberries, as the two are a match made in heaven. Drink it as a refreshing mid-afternoon snack after some time in the sun or even as dessert after dinner.
The most important variable when cooking with dried edible flowers is their freshness. If a flower is freshly dried, a little of it will go a long way, while older dried flowers have likely lost their potency. It’s also important to remember that the best way to extract the beneficial oils from herbs such as chamomile and lavender is gently heating them in a double boiler for longer periods of time. Directly pouring boiling water over the herbs is a harsher method, which kills off many of their benefits.
We are off to Sochi for the last stretch of our Russian vacation. Black Sea, here we come.
Chamomile Latte
serves 2
1 1/2 cups water
4 tablespoons dried German chamomile flowers – make sure to get them from a store with a good rotation (I get mine here)
1/2 cup almond milk (I like homemade unsweetened)
honey to taste – optional
Combine water with chamomile in a small, heatproof bowl. Place the bowl into a heavy bottomed pot or pan. Add water to the pan, making sure that water level in the pan is lower than the bowl. Bring water in the pan to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool enough for safe handling. Strain chamomile tea, mix with almond milk and honey, if using. For an extra creamy and foamy consistency, blend the tea and almond milk in a blender. Drink warm or chilled in the fridge. I like it best cold and unsweetened.
Lavender Milkshake
serves 2
1 1/2 cups almond milk or other plant milk (I like homemade unsweetened almond milk)
1 tablespoon edible dried lavender flowers (make sure to get them from a store with a good rotation – flowers should be lavender, rather then grey in color, with a fresh, strong aroma – I get mine here)
6-8 scoops of your favorite vanilla, blueberry or lavender ice-cream
handful of fresh or frozen blueberries – optional, for color
handful of ice cubes – optional, for smoother texture
splash of maple syrup – optional, to taste
seeds of 1 vanilla bean or splash of vanilla extract – optional
Combine almond milk and lavender flowers in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and let cool. Strain and chill in the refrigerator. Combine lavender milk and the rest of ingredients in a blender and blend to a smooth and thick milkshake consistency. If your lavender flowers are very fresh and aromatic, you can skip the infusion step and simply blend almond milk, 1/2 tablespoon (or to taste) lavender and blueberries, in a high speed blender until completely smooth. Then add the rest of ingredients and blend to a smooth and thick milkshake consistency.
Tags: blueberry, chamomile, drink, latte, lavender, smoothie, tea
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July 6th, 2014
I’m always looking for ways to include vegetables in every dish, desserts included. After making vegan sweet potato muffins with great results, I one day thought of trying other root vegetables in a muffin. Turnips, rutabaga, kohlrabi are not the most popular among their category, but rich in health benefits and culinary opportunity, so I try to pay them as much attention as I can. Lately I’ve been eating a lot of salad turnips from the local farm – they are great raw, with a squeeze of lemon juice, some salt, pepper and light drizzle of olive oil.
For these muffins, I made a turnip mash to include in the batter and the technique did not disappoint – I got a nice, light batter. Blueberry season is here, and we’ve been celebrating with these gluten free treats. I will also be making them with other berries and chocolate.
And if you enjoy this type of baking, you will like our Parsnip Cake with Candied Kumquats.
Turnip Blueberry Muffins – Vegan and Gluten Free
1 medium to large turnip
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup coconut oil – soft, at room temperature
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping cup of blueberries
1. Boil turnip for 20 -30 minutes or until soft when pricked with a fork. Drain immediately once done. Cool, peel and shred on the finest side of a box grater. You should have about 1 cup of puree.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F.
3. Using a hand mixer, beat coconut oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add in the turnip puree and mix in well. Add almond milk, lemon juice and vanilla, stirring well to incorporate.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mix to combine. Fold in the blueberries.
5. Distribute between 12 muffin holes. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Note: These muffins are best the same day, but can be kept tightly covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Tags: blueberry, breakfast, dessert, gluten free, vegan
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June 10th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
This one is for all the recent graduates. Congratulations, it’s quite an accomplishment, what you did! We have our own grad in the family this year. My older daughter just completed four tough years at design school, and I wanted to make something very special to celebrate.
I often get asked about making a raw cake. Not a cheesecake or tart, but a proper layered Cake, capital C and all. This was just the occasion to tackle that.
Daisies have been blooming everywhere recently. Their yellow, festive middles, surrounded by a crown of delicate white petals always put the biggest smile on my face. I got the idea to use the daisy as a decorative element for the cake, as a symbol of spring and the newest of beginnings.
We’ve got five berry-filled layers of the gentlest texture, cloud-like and airy on your tongue. Then the whole blueberries interject with bursts of cooling freshness.
Paloma was completely enamored with the coconut daisies when I was making them, following along with the whole process, eager to have a taste. Lately, she has been taking much interest in the kitchen, and of course that warms my heart. Paloma made her own mini daisy cake and ate it, too.
Recently, we had the honor of contributing a recipe to a sweet little cookbook called Frugally Delicious. The book focuses on delicious cooking on a budget and is full of tasty recipes from many wonderful blogger contributors. It is honest, beautiful in its simplicity, and full of variety in the recipe index. Hop over to the book’s site to learn more.
We are giving away one copy of Frugally Delicious. Simply leave a comment to this post between now and Sunday, June 17th at 12pm EST to enter the giveaway.
Wild Blueberry Daisy Cake
(makes one 2 level round cake, first level – 6″ diameter x 4″ height, second – 3″ x 2″)
Cake Batter
12 ounces soft dates – chopped
1/4 plus 1 tablespoon coconut oil- melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 cups plain almond pulp left from making almond milk
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
In a food processor, blend the chopped dates into a paste, add little bit of water if needed. Don’t worry if the paste is not completely smooth. Add coconut oil, vanilla, and salt. Continue mixing. Add the almond pulp, blueberries, lemon juice, and mix well to incorporate. Do it in two batches, if your food processor can’t handle the whole amount. You should end up with soft and light to touch cake batter. If your almond pulp is too wet, add a little more of it to your batter. If too dry, add some blueberries, or a splash of almond milk.
Blueberry Frosting
3 cups cashews – soaked for 2 hours
3 cups almond milk
1/2 cup light agave syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract or seeds of 1 vanilla bean
small pinch of salt
wild blueberry powder (optional) – to taste
1 1/4 cup coconut oil – melted
1 cup fresh blueberries
In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients with the exception of blueberry powder, coconut oil, and blueberries until very smooth. If using, start adding the blueberry powder, to achieve the desired shade of purple. You can also use fresh blueberries to add taste and colour instead. Add the coconut oil at the end to emulsify. Reserve about 2 1/2 cups of for frosting the cake. Transfer the rest to a bowl and mix in the fresh blueberries.
Assembly
Separate the cake batter into four parts – three even ones and one for the small second level of the cake. If using a springform, lightly grease it with coconut oil. If using a cake pan without a removable bottom, line it with plastic or cake wrap. Spread one portion in the bottom of the pan in an even, flat layer. Top with a thick layer of frosting with the fresh blueberries. Put in the freezer for 1-2 hours, or until the cream is firm. Spread another layer of cake batter on top of the cream, following with the second layer of cream. Freeze for another 1-2 hours and finish with the last layer of cake batter. Put the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
For the small second level, repeat the same steps, with only one frosting layer in between two layers of batter.
Frost the large cake first with the reserved frosting. Arrange the small cake on top and frost it. Arrange the daisies on top of the frosting. Keep refrigerated.
Coconut Daisies
These flowers were made by blending the meat of a young Thai coconut with a small amount of coconut water in a high speed blender. I didn’t measure the precise amounts, just eyeballed them. Then, I added dried shredded coconut and some agave and blended until I achieved a smooth, thick mixture. Then spread the mixture on Teflex-covered dehydrator trays, dried for an hour or until the surface became dry and I could cut out the flowers with a cookie cutter. After cutting, I left them in the dehydrator for another couple hours, until completely dry and easily separated. Towards the end of the dehydration time, I squeezed some fresh mango puree in the center of each flower, using a piping bag.
Tags: almond, blueberry, dessert, raw, recipe, vegan
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