Gastroanthropology

Pumpkin Pie Spice Granola

The last few months have whizzed by and in a blink our tiny (well he was nearly nine pounds at birth so never really tiny) newborn is now 7 months old and crawling into every nook and cranny of the house! With my new two and half foot tall boss giving orders to be fed, changed, and entertained, the long hours I had once spent experimenting in the kitchen seems lifetimes away. So for the next few post I'll be revisiting some in my vault of tried and true recipes. This granola has always been a huge hit - super tasty and lots of big granola clusters! I've tweaked it a bit for Thanksgiving by adding spices traditional to pumpkin pie. And some crisp apple chips for a bit more crunch and fall flavor. You must absolutely try this recipe - it's easy, quick, delicious. This sweet spiced granola is the perfect treat to take on a fall hike or to bring a little bit of pumpkin pie to your morning yogurt.

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE GRANOLA

• 1/2 c maple syrup
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c oats
• 1/2 c + 2Tbs all purpose flour (can use whole wheat)
• 1 c pecans, roughly chopped
• 2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (a combination of mostly cinnamon and a touch of ginger, allspice, nutmeg and clove)
• 3/4 c dried apple chips

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine maple syrup, brown sugar, butter, salt and vanilla extract in a medium sauce pan and put on medium heat. Warm through till butter melts and brown sugar dissolves.

Meanwhile, in a glass bowl combine together oats, flour, chopped pecans and pumpkin pie spice. Toss together. Set aside.

Pour the warmed maple syrup mixture over the oat mixture and combine. Spread the mixture out onto a silpat lined baking sheet (can also use greased baking parchment). Put in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Take out and use two spoons to break apart and move the mixture around. Place back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

Once the mixture has cooled enough to touch, but still warm, use your hands to break apart the mixture into desired sized granola clusters. Set aside to cool completely. Once cooled the granola clusters will have crisped up. Add broken up apple chip pieces. Store in airtight container for up to a week. Can eat plain or add some to strained (greek style) yogurt!

Cherry Cream Popsicle

After gorging myself with the better half of 25 pounds of cherries last week there came a point where I could not put another cherry into my mouth. With the mercury rising the idea of making jam or a cherry pie seemed totally unappealing. What to do?  

I've always loved, loved, loved frozen treats. Popsicles in particular. These cherry popsicles have strained yogurt and a touch of cream for a cool, luscious treat.

CHERRY CREAM POPSICLE

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp honey (cherry blossom honey if you can get it)
• 1 lb. pitted cherries (need about 1 1/4 lb. whole cherries to get 1 lb.)
• 1/2 cup strained yogurt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

METHOD

Strain yogurt. Do this by pouring about 1 cup of plain yogurt into a mesh strainer lined with heavy duty paper towel or cheesecloth. Place the strainer over a bowl and leave in the refrigerator overnight. You could also use Greek style yogurt and skip this step.

Heat water, sugar, and honey on medium heat just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Set aside and let cool to slightly warm or room temp.

Put sugar mixture and pitted cherries in a food processor and process until smooth. Strain the mixture. Whisk together the strained cherry juice with the yogurt and heavy cream. Pour into your popsicle mold and freeze. Once set, enjoy!

 

Sour Cream Blueberry Cake

A few weeks ago Kyle and I jumped on a plane from London headed for San Francisco. I was terrified that all the times I side-eyed a screaming baby would come back to haunt me. Luckily Kyle was a star traveler, charming my seatmates with a huge grin and sleeping nearly the entire trip. I know I've been a bit MIA...since we are now home I've been spoiled with family taking care of me, allowing me to spend all of my time getting to know my sweetest creation and out of the kitchen.

Being back in California means that I have more berries than I know what to do with so after they are eaten fresh, prepped for frozen for winter months ahead, made into jams and compotes, there are still some left to sprinkle on cakes. This sour cream cake is pretty fabulous...I think I sometimes hear angels chorusing in the background when I bite into it. Take care to follow the method, especially mixing the sour cream with baking soda and leaving it out for an hour at room temperature and taking the time to slowly add the sugar.

SOUR CREAM BLUEBERRY CAKE inspired by Carole Walters

CAKE TOPPING

• 1 cup walnuts (or pecans)
• 6 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup blueberries (or raspberries or a mixture of both)

Combine walnuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon and pulse in a food processor till the nuts are pebble sized or smaller. Set aside. Clean blueberries and set aside in a separate bowl.

CAKE BATTER

• 1 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp baking soda

Combine sour cream and baking soda and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

• 3 cups sifted flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (2 sticks) butter, slightly firm
• 1 3/4 cup superfine sugar**
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

**If you do not have superfine sugar pulse regular granulated sugar to make superfine sugar. Do this before pulsing the nut mixture so you don't have to clean your food processor twice.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Sift together dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Using a paddle attachment beat butter for 1 minute. Add sugar, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, taking about 6 minutes to complete this step. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating the mixture for 1 minute after adding each egg. Add vanilla. Alternate adding drys and sour cream mixtures, beginning and ending with drys. Do this by adding 1/4 of the dry mixture and alternating with 1/3 of the sour cream mixture.

Butter a 9x13 inch glass pan. Add the batter. Sprinkle the nut mixture on top of the batter. Sprinkle the blueberries evenly across the top and gently press them into the batter. Bake for about 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes and then out of the pan for 30 minutes.

A few notes...

Originally I made this cake as a coffee cake loaf. I added about 2/3 of the batter into the loaf pan and then sprinkled half the nut mixture. Then I added the remaining batter on top and finished by adding the rest of the nut mixture. The baking time did increase, taking about 1 1/2 hour. The batter fit into an 9x5x3 inch large loaf pan. I must also tell you that the batter just barely fit and only did so because I was so diligent in sampling the batter, which by the way, is absolutely delicious and reminiscent of one of my favorite splurges...cake batter ice cream. The point is the next time I make this cake in loaf form I will probably split it between two medium sized loaf pans, rather than baking it in one large loaf pan.

I've been pretty broody with Kyle, but here is a little peak -

Making bald men jealous everywhere! 
 

Cinnamon Walnut Loaf

It's really amazing how much time flys - Kyle is already over a month old! He is preparing for a life of international intrigue so to get him ready we've spent the morning at the US embassy getting his birth reported and his passport application submitted. While the jury is still out on whether he will be a painter, pianist, poet, or pastry chef he is already helping me bake and this is what we came up with last week...

Because this loaf cake is not cloyingly sweet like many other baked breakfast treats it's perfect for morning coffees on the beach during the warm summer months. Bake this the night before or the morning of if you are an early riser. Because of the cinnamon swirl its best to let the loaf cool before slicing and enjoying.  

CINNAMON WALNUT LOAF

• 7 oz unsalted butter, room temp
• 5 oz sugar
• 3 eggs, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 Tbs sour cream
• 7 1/2 oz all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 oz brown sugar
• 2 oz walnuts

METHOD

Preheat oven to 325ºF /165ºC.

Cream together butter and sugar for 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla extract. Add sour cream. Make sure everything is well combined. Add flour, baking powder, and salt - mixing till just combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together cinnamon and brown sugar. Take about 1/3 of the vanilla batter and add to the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture till completely mixed in. Add walnuts to the remaining vanilla batter.

Fill loaf pan with the vanilla batter. Dollop the cinnamon batter and swirl through with a knife.

I divided the batter between two small loaf pans (6.5 x 3.5 in) and the bake time was 35 min. For a larger loaf pan increase baking time to 40-45min. Check loaf with cake tester to make sure it is done. 

 

ps Getting a four-week old to look directly into the camera, with his eyes open, for his passport picture is significantly harder than baking this loaf cake =).  

Victoria Sponge

I've been absent for a while...my nine month baking project is finally out of the oven! Kyle Wilder Mitchell arrived in London, on his due date, at 8lbs 10oz.

With the birth of our baby in London, the gorgeous spring weather and the upcoming Royal nuptials I thought I might make something very English for my first baking project post-baby...Victoria Sponge. Named after Queen Victoria, it is basically jam and whipped cream sandwiched between two layers of vanilla cake. It's not frosted or decorated in any way so it's super simple to make. Since we now have a little one, everything is baby sized, as are my Victoria Sponges. Of course you can make this in the traditional cake version or into regular sized cupcakes if you like.

VICTORIA SPONGE (Vanilla cake recipe adapted from Hummingbird Bakery)

• 120 g all-purpose flour
• 140 g sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 40 g unsalted butter, room temp
• 120 ml whole milk, divided in two
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Using a paddle attachment or hand mixer, beat flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter until the mixture looks like sand. Add half the milk and continue to beat until just combined. Add the remaining milk, egg and vanilla extract and beat till mixture is smooth, taking care not to overbeat.

Divide batter into lined cupcake tin. I used a mini-muffin tin and this recipe makes 24 of them (would make a dozen cupcakes). Bake at 325ºF/ 160ºC for 20 - 22 min (15 - 18 min for mini) or until cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely, then slice the tops off and spread with strawberry jam (or raspberry) and freshly whipped cream. I used about 1 cup cream and 1/3 cup of jam for this recipe. 

Kyle was in a sling slumbering away without a peep during this entire baking project!