dessert – Page 10 – morestomach

spice poached pears

Published on September 8, 2014September 3, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach17 Comments

girl, you make my speakers go boom boom
dancin’ on the tailgate in a full moon
that kinda thing makes a man go mmm hmmm

everyday this week
i’ve been jamming to
Luke Bryan
based on his website
he has FIVE albums out
which leads me to believe
that he’s been around awhile
and i’m behind the times
and i have catching up to do.

one would think
with those lyrics
i’d be slightly embarrassed
but nay.
in the privacy of my office,
or car,
or shower,
when the BOOM BOOM part comes on,
you better believe
i’m shaking my ass.

meanwhile, i’d like to think
that these spice poached pears
would make a man,
or anyone,
go mmm hmmm.

spice poached pears
makes 2

*note: if you have a tall/narrow pot, you can cut back on the liquid amount, but seeing as how i have just a simple sized saucepan that’s what i used. the key is to get as much of the pear submerged as possible, though if you cut the pear in half, submerging isn’t a hardship. if you keep it whole, add in more water & sugar, adjust according to taste.

6 cups water
½ cup sugar, slightly over
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
palm full of whole cloves
juice of one lime, if organic, a strip of the zest would be nice
2 bosc pears, peeled

in a saucepan, add the water & spices and lime juice. bring to a boil. lower heat and gently add in the pears. keep an eye out and gently simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes.

your goal is to soften the pear but not to mush. gently remove the pears and allow to cool. you can cut in half, or get fancy with the swirly cutting.

reduce the liquid until it’s slightly thickened, like a simple syrup. drizzle over the pears & garnish with some chopped almonds.

we keep the syrup to add to fizzy water when it tickles our fancy.

BAM!

previous pear adventures:
honey roasted pear salad & red and white wine poached pears

peach ginger scones – vegan

Published on August 27, 2014August 26, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach13 Comments

you can be the ripest,
juiciest peach
in the world,
and there’s still going to be
somebody who hates peaches.
– dita von teese

and that’s all
that’s got to be
said about that.

peach ginger scones – vegan
makes 12 scones

*note: bake time is tricky. i’ve baked them for as low as 13 minutes before, and they came out super soft and cake like, and then i baked them upwards of 23 minutes, where they came out dryer and crisper. you can top with a simple glaze after they’ve cooled, or you can go the lazy route and sprinkling these with sugar prior to putting in the oven. it may come out looking super rustic like various spots looking all sugar-clumped, but you know, whatever.

2 cups spelt flour
1 TBL baking powder
3 TBL sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 TBL frozen coconut butter (i put 2 TBL worth of coconut oil in a silicon muffin liner, make 2, and freeze. it makes for much easier extraction. rough chop into smaller pieces)
1 peach, diced into small pieces and frozen, about a cup’s worth
1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped sugared ginger
1 container vegan yogurt (6oz) + 2oz of nondairy milk (or water) mixed to thin (i used almond dream)

preheat oven to 425F.

sift flour, baking powder, salt & sugar into food processor, process for 6 seconds to combine. add in the frozen coconut oil, process for another 12 seconds. transfer mixture to into a big bowl.

add in the thinned out vegan yogurt and mix until dough forms. then add in the peaches and ginger pieces, mixing gently, try not to overmix.

dump it on a clean counter. there is no saying this pretty: it’s a mess. i use a dough scraper to keep things together, form a circle or rectangle and cut into desired shapes. i’ve cut in to triangles and i’ve cut with round biscuit cutters. work quickly, coconut oil has a very low melting point so do what you can to not keep it out too long, or handle with your hands as your body temp will soften/melt the oil.

bake on cookie sheet for 20-23 minutes.

BAM!

blueberry pie smoothie – vegan

Published on August 12, 2014August 11, 2015 by Lan | MoreStomach12 Comments

now that the summer
is beginning its wind down
— the days being cooler
— the nights dipping into the 60s
and i can’t decide if the
AC should be kept on or turned off,
we’re finally getting our groove on
with smoothies
and we’re gonna shut the shop down
in a few short weeks
because i don’t want to start
the day freezing my ass off.
figures, right?
it’s a lush time
of ripe peaches
precious leftover blueberries
i’m already lamenting about autumn
and we still have a good 2 months till then!
i’ll shut up now.

last week we picked up running again.
my goals remain the same:
– run safely, no injuries for this girl.
– finish. it may not be pretty but get it done.
after our first run
dw introduced me to a new juice/vegan/hippy/smoothie joint
it is now my new jam
and this smoothie was inspired by them.
(i will admit
that i’m pretty sure i’m negating my run
by consuming their smoothies
but i don’t care.)

blueberry pie smoothie
makes 4 cups, serves 2-4, depending on how generous or stingy you are

note: i didn’t exactly measure everything. it’s all about consistency, how thick or thin you like it. the first time i made this, i used kefir milk (which, btw, is 99% lactose free and i’m able to consume it without wanting to die. WIN!) and for this post, i kept it all vegan. if you don’t have a blueberry pie hanging around, make with fresh blueberries + honey granola or an oatmeal cookie.

2 slices of blueberry pie
1 container of vegan yogurt (6oz), i used Stoneyfield’s O’Soy Yogurt in vanilla
1 cup vegan milk (more or less…), i used almond milk
handful of ice, optional

if you plan this ahead well, make almond milk ice cubes.

in a vitamix, put in the pie slices and vegan milk. whiz until well blended. add the yogurt and whiz some more.

at this point, it’s ready for consumption. it might be thick so you could eat it with a spoon.

you can thin out with more milk (or water). i like to add ice cubes. dw typically doesn’t drink his smoothie until about an hour after i’ve made it, when he’s sitting at his desk at work so the ice keeps it cool and thins it out a little.

either way, it’s delicious. i like the idea of having dessert for breakfast and having the entire day to burn it off.

BAM!

other blueberry recipes:
blueberry clafoutis
blueberry jam danishes
blueberry breakfast cookies

one year ago today:
homemade goldfish crackers!

blueberry clafoutis

Published on July 14, 2014July 13, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach19 Comments

i’ve talked about it before
living in the city
has its perks
the vibrancy
the nearness of things
the anonymity
and for me,
the hilarity of it
but sometimes,
just sometimes,
i get that inkling for country living.
the abundance of space
the friendliness
and the farmland for berry picking.
come the warmer months
you’ll likely find us
hands in the dirt
picking some gem or another
it’s just like heaven.
i like to think this dessert
has the perfect balance
of fancy urban life
and laid back country charm.

it’s quiet around here
that’s how summer is,
you know?
hope yours has been just a lovely.

blueberry clafoutis
note: to make this gluten free, use whatever gf flour you like to use, like almond flour. local milk made a gorgeous one recently.

1 ¼ cups coconut milk, i use SO Delicious
6 TBL sugar
6 eggs
¾ cup spelt flour
3 cups blueberries
zest of lemon & juice of half lemon
icing sugar, for dusting

preheat oven to 425°.

grease a 9″ baking dish/pie pan. set aside, forget about it.

in a vitamix or blender, add the coconut milk, eggs, salt & lemon juice. blend until combined, add in the flour and blend until smooth.

pour into prepared pan, then distribute the blueberries evenly throughout. sprinkle with the zest.

bake 30 – 40 minutes, though check on it at the 30 minute mark. depending on how deep your dish is, the middle might still be liquidy. you want the finished product to be nicely browned on top and have some jiggle in the middle. mine puffed up a smidge while in the oven but sank as it cooled.

to serve, sprinkle with icing sugar.

best at room temp, and i prefer it the next day. it reminds me of a denser flan.

BAM!

intense strawberry coconut ice cream & almond waffle bowls

Published on June 10, 2014June 9, 2014 by Lan | MoreStomach37 Comments

friends,
i’ve been crazy about
strawberries
we went an entire week,
ok technically only 5 days
of banana-strawberry smoothies:
that splash of almond milk
maybe a handful of baby kale if i think of it
and because i like it freezing cold
and a little icy
and a little thick
maybe a handful
(or two)
of ice cubes
all blitzed in the vitamix
we inhaled the strawberry pavlovas
(and i’m still thinking about them)
(so much so that might have to make them again very soon)
we’re also gonna
have to make another trek to
the strawberry patch
cus we’ve consumed the 14+ pounds
we picked two weekends ago
all this to say
that we made strawberry ice cream
which is kind of pedestrian
to share on a food blog,
i know
it’s straight forward
simple
with a plain egg custard base
mais, alors
the pink hue
the tartness
in fact,
the intense tartness
that can only be described for
the first picks of the season
all encapsulated in this frozen treat
and because it’s such
a basic flavor
i made waffle cones & bowls
not so pedestrian of a post after all!

intense strawberry coconut ice cream & almond waffle bowls or cones

this recipe uses the yolks i used for the pavlovas. it pays to have a plan sometimes. additional notes at end of recipe.

6 egg yolks
3 cans of coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBL potato starch
2 cups of strawberries, washed & quartered or halved
zest of 6 lemons, divided (the lemons were used to make this simple syrup)

for the strawberries, vitamix them until smooth as possible. it’ll equal out to about 1 1/2 cups liquid. reduce down in small saucepan on low heat, throwing a few healthy sprinkles of lemon zest. you’re aiming to get as much liquid/moisture out of the mixture as possible, leaving behind a thick sauce. i reduced it down to about 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup — basically until i got tired of babysitting it.

for the ice cream base, it’s my usual egg custard base. in a medium saucepan add in 2 1/2 cans of coconut milk, reserving the remaining for later. heat up the milk with the sugar until fully incorporated. add in a few healthy sprinkles of lemon zest. in a small bowl, separate your eggs. whisk the yolks, and then with a ladle pour in the hot coconut milk all the while whisking the yolks. this is tempering the yolks so it doesn’t scramble. if you want, add in another ladle-full. then slowly add in the warmed through yolk mixture into the saucepan, still whisking. you want the mixture to be fully incorporated. keep the heat on medium and keeping mixing until the mixture has thickened, about 10-15 minutes. at this point, with the remaining half can of coconut milk stir in the potato starch, then add mixture to the custard. this will thicken the custard even more, while also preventing full on ice crystals from forming when the ice cream is in the freezer.

remove custard from saucepan and allow cool. cover and refrigerate for a few hours, ideally overnight. same thing with the strawberry sauce.

when ready, pour custard base into ice maker and churn, then add in the strawberry sauce. churn according to manufacturer’s specs.

*note – technically, you could mix the strawberry sauce and custard before adding to the machine but it seemed like a whole lot of mixing and we figured the machine was well capable of doing that step for us. we opted to pour the custard first because there’s a lot more of it than the sauce, and there’s always a thin layer of ice cream along the edge of the canister that is difficult to scrape out when frozen. we figured we could “waste” that layer of mainly custard rather than of the strawberry sauce.

almond waffle bowls or cones
this round made about 4 bowls and two good-sized cones. best to consume day of, but if not, store in very air tight and dry container.

i bought our waffle cone maker TWO SUMMERS ago and we used it ONCE. oh for shame. my beloved adores ice cream and this is one contraption we cannot allow to gather dust!

2/3 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 TBL honey
2 TBL coconut oil, melted

in a vitamix, blitz everything until smooth

heat your waffle cone maker to #3. pour batter into it, aim for 1/4 cup (let’s be smart, eyeball it and try not to get greedy) and cook for about 2-3 minutes. check on it after 1 minute, aim for a nice golden brown shade. very quickly and carefully peel the waffle out with a small spatula and shape over a bowl or cup, or into a cone. allow to cool.

a trick: i added a few chocolate chips in the bottom of the cone, the residual warm of the cooking melted it a bit and it created a stopper. if you’re a slow ice cream eater, like dw, hopefully no leaks!

serve with ice cream

BAM!