Chocolate & Peanut Fiber Bars

My father is really into fiber. He wants that recommended amount per day and then some. There are some very tasty, candy-like "nutrition" bars that he likes; they are crispy, sweet and have 5 to 6 grams of fiber per bar with less than 200 calories. Sounds great, right?

Issue #1: You can no longer find these things on the island of Oahu. I'm betting the outer islands don't have them either. His original solution was to have me pack them in my luggage when I visit (along with reduced-fat potato chips, also unavailable on Oahu unless you want the fat-free cardboard variety).

Issue #2: These things have 5 grams of fat, half of which is saturated, and 13 grams of sugar per bar. The sugar level alone isn't so bad but it seems to be from refined sources. The first ingredient is brown rice syrup, the third is evaporated cane juice crystals, and the fourth is crystalline fructose. Yes, I know those aren't as refined and processed as some other sugars, but we're not talking straight from fruits & vegetables either.

Issue #3: These bars run over $1 each.

Now, I will say that my father was not particularly concerned with #2 or #3. He did have a moment of hesitation over the saturated fat thing, but not enough to stop him. Personally, I think it's crazy. Not so much in a broad sense, I'm all for everything in moderation, but he eats these things all the time. So I took it upon myself to come up with something that: 1) has less saturated fat; 2) has the majority of sugars from dried or fresh fruit; 3) has similar calories and fiber; 4) is made with ingredients available in Hawaii; and 5) TASTES GOOD.

Please note that I said nothing about looks. There's a reason the picture is not at the top. This is my first attempt. 24 hours after making them, they were soggy and needed to be toasted for about 1 minute before they were appealing. 48 hours after making them, they are still soft but now it is in a good way. No idea what happened.

Chocolate & Peanut Fiber Bars
1/4 cup Multi Grain Cereal (I used Country Choice, it's in a canister like oatmeal)
1 cup puffed kamut
1 cup puffed brown rice
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup minced dried figs
3 Tablespoons minced peanuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Better'n Peanut Butter (you could use regular peanut butter)
1/4 cup date puree (send pitted dates on a whirl in the blender or mince really fine)
2 Tablespoons honey

Put multi-grain cereal in a small food chopper and pulse until it looks like very coarse flour. In a large bowl, combine mulit-grain cereal, puffed kamut, puffed rice, flaxseed meal, cocoa powder, figs, peanuts, and salt.

In a microwave safe container, combine Better'n Peanut Butter, date puree, and honey. Heat for about 30 to 60 seconds, just until warm and liquid. Stir to combine. Pour over dry ingredients and stir to combine thoroughly. Press into an 8" square pan lined with parchment. Let cool; cut into 6 to 8 pieces. Store in an airtight container. Consider waiting 2 days before eating.

For 1/6 of the recipe the estimated nutrition is 180 calories, 5 grams fat (0.8 grams saturated), 6 grams fiber, 12 grams sugars

I am planning to try again, leaving out the water, reducing the cocoa and multi-grain cereal, increasing the dates, and toasting the puffs first. A smaller pan for a thicker bar might be good too.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

When I asked J what he wanted for a birthday cake he said chocolate, which he always says. "Well, what kind of chocolate cake?" I ask, "Dense european style, light american supermarket style, Dobash*, chocolate frosting, vanilla frosting, buttercream, marshmallow? Be specific."

"What I really want is a brownie with vanilla frosting."
- crickets -
"Ummm, are you sure? That's different... so... two layers of brownie with vanilla buttercream in between?"

Good thing I double checked. While his mouth said brownie, his brain said cupcake. Like Hostess. With really sweet vanilla buttercream. Yeah. So this is what I created for his birthday. Moist, soft, not-too-sweet but very chocolatey cake. When covered with (to me) a very sweet buttercream in a thin layer it actually works really well.

Chocolate Birthday Cake
44 g unsweetened cocoa, high quality, high-fat (about 1/2 cup)
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup coffee, very hot
270 g all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coffee, room temperature

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
150 g granulated sugar (about 3/4 cup)
150 g light brown sugar (about 3/4 cup)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (3 ounces)
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9" diameter springform pan.

Combine cocoa, chocolate and very hot coffee, stirring until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine room temperature coffee, yogurt and vanilla.

Cream together sugars and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add chocolate mixture, beating to combine. Add flour mixture alternately with yogurt mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, stirring after each addition. Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake for 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 300°F and continue baking for 20 to 25 additional minutes, until a tester inserted at the edge comes out clean and at the center comes out moist. Cool for 10 minutes in pan then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Cut cooled cake into two layers. Frost between layers and over top and sides as desired. If using this vanilla buttercream recipe, you will end up with a rather thin layer of frosting. For a more typical covering, try 1-1/2 times the recipe, or double for thick frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (4 ounces)
400 g sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk

At low speed of a stand mixer, beat together butter and about 1/4 of the powdered sugar until combined. Add powdered sugar in 3 more additions, beating to combine after each addition. Increase speed to medium and continue beating until fluffy and aerated. Beat in vanilla and milk.


* What is Dobash? It is a dark chocolate chiffon layer cake with a pudding-style chocolate icing, typically with cake crumbs decorating the sides. This is one of those Hawaii things and the only cake I want for my birthday!

Pumpkin Pecan Pie - Dairy-free

This Thanksgiving I made the pumpkin pies for the family dinner. We have one person who cannot have dairy so I really wanted to make one pie that she could eat without worry. The result was a not too sweet, smooth, more mousse-like textured pie. It brought back memories of the pumpkin chiffon pie that the family bakery used to make. But J didn't like the texture, not close enough to standard pumpkin pie. If you're like him, follow the directions to stir in the pumpkin. Most dairy-free pumpkin pie recipes are vegan - this one is not. I think the egg helps it set more nicely but you could substitute 2 tablespoons of cornstarch if eggs are not an option.

Dairy-free Pumpkin Pecan Pie
16 ounces silken firm tofu (refrigerator section of large or asian grocery stores)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg (or 2 tablespoons cornstarch)
15 ounces canned pumpkin puree
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
9-inch deep dish pie crust in pan (non-dairy, if it matters)

Slice tofu in half longitudinally. Wrap each piece in several layers of paper towels or lint-free dish towels. Put them on a plate, put a plate on top and put a couple weights (like cans of pumpkin) on the upper plate to press down gently. Let tofu drain for about 20 minutes. Unwrap tofu and put in a food processor or blender.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place pie crust on a baking sheet for stability and in case of drips.

Process or blend tofu until smooth. Add sugar and egg. Pulse to combine. For smooth pie, add pumpkin and spices; pulse to combine thoroughly. For more textured pie, remove filling to a large bowl, add pumpkin and spices; stir to combine thoroughly.

Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle pecans evenly over filling. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over pecans.

Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 325°F and continue baking an additional 30 to 40 minutes, until the center of the pie jiggles slightly when nudged but the edges do not. Cool completely before serving.

Fish and Fighting - late 14th century french style scroll

I had a scroll to make recognizing a boy's contribution to youth combat. When asking his family and friends about him, I learned he is interested in late 14th century France, his chosen name translates as "Nicholas the fisher," he likes to be called "Nick the Fish" and he is part of group where he wears a blue tunic. There were other details but those went into the wording.

With this inspiration I knew I had to include fish in a late 14th century french style. I based the overall design on BL Lansdowne 1175 f.370v (France 1364-1380). The bar & ivy border and calligraphy hand come from this manuscript. The inspiration piece had illumination within 170 x 110 mm or 6.7" x 4.3". I kept close to those proportions but scaled down to fit within a 6" x 4" mat opening.

There were some interesting abbreviation marks and conjoined letters in the inspiration manuscript that I used, particularly the tall-s plus -er or -ear that I modified for l(ear)ned on line 6. Possibly because the manuscript was written in French the 2 shaped symbol for con- was also used for com- so I used it in (com)bat on line 9. There was also the use of an actual v when it was the start of a word even though u was used when it occurred in the middle of a word.

The illuminated capital is based on BL Yates Thompson 31 f.48 (Spain, 1375-1400) with two fish diving into the water in an X shape, which was modified into the needed N. The little hybrid creature at the bottom is based on BL Burney 275 f.166 (France, 1309-1316). The original had a face coming out the back end. Although I'm sure a teenage boy would love the face sticking out from there, I changed that into a fish tail to better fit the recipient and made his tunic blue.

Fruit Custard Pie

This past Crown Tourney I wanted to make a mostly period dessert. It's been a while since I've redacted anything, cooking not being something I do much in the SCA these days, but I sure do make a lot of desserts! How hard could it be? After all, it's not like I haven't done this before and I'm not going for perfect historical accuracy. Still, I was pretty sure a test run was needed.

After going through various sweet recipes I settled on a custard pie with fruit. I wanted a classic custard, not a lenten recipe using almond milk in place of dairy and eggs, and since there were a lot of apples in the house from taking my mother and friend on a trip to an orchard while they were visiting, apples would definitely be featured.

Looking through various period recipes for custard pies (sources include Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books, Curye of Inglish, Take 1000 Eggs or More, and An Ordinance of Pottage) I found fruit and custard pie recipes using just pears and various mixtures of dates, apples, pears, strawberries, prunes, and currants. The recipes did not specify cooking the fruit prior to baking. Spices varied from none to combinations of mace, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, pepper, and more. Note that this is a really quick summary!

For my first attempt, I chopped up some apples, put them in the bottom of a pie crust, filled the crust with a milk & egg based custard and baked. The custard seeped under not only the apples but under the crust, leading to an interesting sort of soft crust texture. This was probably secondary to the amount of liquid released by the uncooked apples into the custard during baking. It tasted good but was so not what I wanted in terms of look, texture, and custard-fruit ratio.

Second attempt: There's a really tasty period fruit pie where you cook together dried fruits in some wine before adding them to the crust and baking - think mince pie. So in an attempt to reduce the liquid released by the apples I cooked them along with some figs and raisins, then added them to the crust, filled with custard, and baked. I also used less apple to start, even though the cooking reduced the volume somewhat, and more custard. Success.

Note on crust: I did not make a period-style crust as I do not find them very tasty. Really, this was meant to be eaten as part of an impressive assortment of food that our group sets out for the day, not meant to be an arts & sciences entry! Use whatever crust you like.

Fruit Custard Pie
1 large apple, minced (preferably good for cooking, I used Spencer)
2 Tablespoons dried figs, minced
2 Tablespoons raisins, minced
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon port
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, not very period but still tasty)
1 (10-inch) pie crust in pan

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine apple, figs, raisins, butter and port. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are very soft, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon into prepared pie crust.

Whisk together sugar and eggs. Whisk in milk, spices and extract (if using). Pour gently over fruit into pie crust.

Bake until the custard barely jiggles and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Foliage and Gold - early 16th century french style scroll

I've been wanting to try this style with flowers, plants and bugs on a gold leaf background for a while now. It's sort of what I did for a Laurel scroll earlier this year but the scale and detail on that wasn't as high and it didn't have the shadows painted on the gold.

This is based on Lewis E.M. 11:22v at the Free Library of Philadelphia, a single leaf calendar page attributed to Jean Bourdichon. It's similar to Morgan MS M.732 and the Great Hours of Anne of Brittany (BNF Lat. 9474).

I kept the original proportions, including for the text. It is 120 mm x 125 mm. Instead of using a generic bâtarde hand I tried to emulate the original. The capital T that starts the text is also from the original. There are a lot of abbreviations since there was so little space, most using a macron to indicate missing letters. I didn't see any superscript letters for abbreviations in the original, Morgan MS M.732 or BNF Lat. 9474 but used one at the end of line 12 where I ran out of room.

The most difficult part of the illumination was painting on top of the gold leaf. The paint needed to be fairly dry and once a little bit of paint dried, I could get more to adhere to the paint that was already down. Overall, though, I was quite satisfied with it.

Mint Chocolate Chews

One of the few herbs I have growing outside in the ground is chocolate mint and every year as the weather gets cooler I look at the bounty of mint left growing and think, "How can I use that before it freezes?" Within the last week I have made mint chocolate chip bar cookies (great), cucumber mint cake (not so good), and mint chocolate cookies. The mint chocolate cookies turned out perfect - moist, chewy, and just minty enough. I'm working on a gluten-free version of these but haven't worked it out quite yet. The cocoa powder I regularly use is Penzey's Natural High-Fat Cocoa Powder. It really does make a difference in how much butter you need so follow the note if you are using regular grocery store type cocoa.

Mint Chocolate Chews
2 dozen cookies

140 g  all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
1/8  teaspoon  salt
3  tablespoons  butter, melted
40 g unsweetened cocoa, high quality, high fat (about 7  tablespoons)
50 g  granulated sugar (about 1/4  cup)
150 g light brown sugar (about 3/4  cup packed)
1/3  cup unsweetened applesauce
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, soda, and salt. Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat (or in a microwaveable bowl in the microwave). Remove from heat. Stir in cocoa and sugars; you will need to work to moisten and combine everything, it's dry. Stir in applesauce, vanilla and mint. Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment.

Bake at 350° for 8 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Note: If using regular unsweetened cocoa, increase butter to 4 tablespoons

Cucumber Spice Cake

We've been pretty good about keeping up with the cucumbers this year but since I haven't made pickles yet, something needed to be done. Since I'd rather bake than cook most days, the creative cucumber dish would be a cake. It's based on a simple eggless, dairy-free cake which handles lots of moisture, perfect for cucumbers. It doesn't really taste like cucumber, just like a moist spice cake.


Cucumber Spice Cake
350 g all-purpose flour (2-2/3 cups)
400 g sugar (2 cups)
1 Tbsp fresh orange zest
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp star anise
1/8 tsp mace
1/4 cup canola oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 C peeled, seeded, shredded cucumber

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, zest, baking soda, salt, and spices. In another bowl, combine oil, vinegar and cucumber. Add cucumber mixture to flour mixture. Stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

Note - I tried making this with some fresh minced chocolate mint in place of the orange zest. It did not turn out well. J said it really brought out a cucumber taste and I thought it was reminiscent of toothpaste. Not that it stopped people from eating it but mint is not something I'd add to this cake again!

Oatmeal Macadamia Chip Cookies

Last weekend there were two places I wanted to bring something to share for munching. But time was tight so I wanted one recipe that could be used for both. There wasn't much in the house but a quick search through the pantry yielded oatmeal, macadamia nuts & chocolate chips. Put those together and it's cookies. After seriously altering my usual chewy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe it didn't take long to make a double batch of these soft cookies. I used coarse sea salt for a sort of burst of salty-sweet flavor.

Oatmeal Macadamia Chip Cookies
100 g rolled oats (1 cup)
2 oz macadamia nuts, dry roasted, lightly salted (1/2 cup)
130 g all-purpose flour (1 cup)
1/4 tsp salt, preferably coarse sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
75 g sugar (6 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
75 g light brown sugar (6 Tbsp)
1 lg egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Put nuts in food processor, pulse until very coarsely chopped. Add oats, pulse 5 times or until oats are very very coarsely ground (not even close to flour).

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.

Cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg. Add applesauce, stirring until combined. Add flour mixture, stirring until just barely combined. Add oat mixture and chocolate chips, stirring until just combined.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 9 minutes (convection) on until tops are lightly golden. Slide parchment off cookie sheets to cool.

Store in a tightly sealed container separated by parchment paper.

Makes about 30 cookies

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

I recently got tired of paying as much for a single loaf of sturdy sandwich bread as for a bag of flour. Now, understand that while I make bread frequently, some of them even yeast breads, they are not the sort of bread you use to make a typical american sandwich. They are sweet, they are rolls, they are flat, they are anything but sandwich bread. This bread needed practice. Initially, there was too little dough for the loaf pan (a short loaf but nice). Then, rising too much (sunk in the oven). But finally, something that tastes good, looks good and is large enough for a decent sandwich. I think the flax seed gives a bit more flavor but it could be left out.

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf
1-1/2 cups water (100°F - 110°F)
2 tsp yeast
2 Tbsp honey
2 tsp vinegar (cider, white, whatever)
1 Tbsp oil (olive, canola, whatever)
17.5 oz white whole wheat flour
3 Tbsp flax seed meal
1 tsp salt

Combine water, yeast and honey in bowl of stand mixer. Let proof for at least 10 minutes, until foamy. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Let sit for 30 minutes. Using dough hook attachment on mixer, knead at medium-low speed (2-4 on mine) for 10 minutes or until the dough is elastic. Add more flour if needed but really try to avoid it.

Put dough in a greased bowl, grease top of dough, cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled. This usually takes close to an hour. For some reason this is taking 20 minutes for me right now. Just keep checking and don't let it get over risen. Same goes for second rise.

On a non-stick or lightly floured surface, punch dough down, press it into a 9" x 12" rectangle, then roll it up into a 9" wide log. Place into a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan, cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375°F. The oven needs to be ready to go when the bread is doubled. Once dough is doubled, cut three diagonal slashes in top with a serrated knife. Place in oven and bake 20 to 30 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the underside when taken out of the pan (hey, better than saying take out when done). Let cool on a rack.

Korean-style BBQ Chicken

It's been warm so we've mostly been cooking on the grill. Or rather, I'm prepping things to grill and J. does the cooking. It pretty much comes down to what kind of meat is on special and what comes in our CSA box for the week. Yesterday it was boneless skinless chicken thighs, corn and cucumbers.

One of the foods I miss from Hawaii is Korean BBQ. You choose your meat and it comes with rice and choice of sides. My favorite meat choice is spicy chicken so that's what I decided to try making last night. I went with a basic teriyaki marinade and added sesame oil & chili-garlic paste. It didn't end up spicy, but it did taste somewhat like Korean BBQ. Next time, I'll try more chili-garlic paste and a longer marinade. Or maybe a sauce. It seems to have a spicy sauce when I get it at restaurants.

The corn was grilled, plain and in the husk which is our favorite. The cucumbers were just peeled, sliced and marinated for 20 minutes in rice wine vinegar with a bit of salt & sugar, kind of an ultra fast tsukemono. Maybe not what you normally get with your spicy chicken plate but what we had on hand that didn't require turning on the stove! Not that it stopped someone from complaining about the lack of mac salad...

Spicy Korean BBQ Chicken
1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup shoyu
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp chili-garlic paste (I used the Vietnamese one with the rooster)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine everything and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. I think overnight would be better. Grill for about 3 minutes per side until done.

Lemon Cornmeal Cookies

Last weekend we went to visit some friends and I wanted to bring cookies. Something not overly sweet or heavy - summer cookies. So working with several different recipes I came up with these. When they first come out of the oven the lemon flavor isn't that strong but it seems to develop by the next day. They're soft, not crisp, which I like, but the cornmeal gives them some texture. The ginger doesn't come through so leaving it out might not make a difference.

130 g all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
65 g cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
150 g sugar (about 3/4 cup)
1 lg egg
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, ginger & baking powder.

Cream together butter & sugar. Add egg and beat well. Add lemon juice, zest & extract. Mix to combine. Stir in flour mixture.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 1-inch apart on parchment lined baking sheets.

Bake for 9 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown and the tops are still pale.

Remove parchment from baking sheets and cool on parchment. They kind of stick to the parchment until they cool a bit.

This made 28 cookies using my scoop.

Beginnings (or the problems with notebooks)

I keep notebooks. Separate ones for different activities. Really just notes meant for me to reference later when I want to remember what I did to make a particular thing. For the most part it works, the necessary notes get written and they are legible. Still, I need to flip through the whole thing with no index other than the everything is in chronological order, more or less. That's easy when the notebook is mostly empty. Problem is they're mostly full.

Another problem is that every time someone asks for information, like a recipe or the history of abbreviations, I've got to find the appropriate entry or entries, type it up into something another person will understand, and then email it. If someone else asks about the same thing, chances are I don't have a copy of that email and I do it all over again. Seems silly.

So...here's to trying a blog.