Local Favorites: Olive & Sinclair

Before I moved away from Tennessee a few years ago, I had never heard of Olive & Sinclair. But if you go there today, you can spot their bars in almost every local shop. This bean to bar company seems to be winning over everyone. They have even received all sorts of publicity from Food & Wine magazine & Southern Living.
At roughly $6 a pop these bars aren’t exactly easy on the pockets, but I splurged on two while I was home. The 65% and sea salt sprinkled bars were my choices. The 65% has a really nice bitterness about it. While it might not be the favorite of someone who wanted to eat a chocolate bar on their lunch break, I can see it being a solid choice for incorporating into a cake or brownie. The sea salt bar was notably less salty than I expected. I was hoping for large grains of salt studding the chocolate similar to a Salazon bar, but the salt is very subtle and dissolved within the chocolate. It was delicious none-the-less. Olive & Sinclair’s chocolate has a great snap & a beautiful shine. Their award winning packaging clearly stands out, and I appreciate that they list the cacao bean’s country of origin on all of the labels. I haven't checked all of their flavors, but all of the bars that I saw that were not white chocolate were vegan.


If you want to read more about Olive & Sinclair, they have an article in Nashville’s new free publication Native Magazine which can be read online. There’s also a terrific video showing the whole bean to bar process that you just have to watch if you have never seen a chocolate shop before. Also if you're lucky enough to be in the Nashville area, they do tours of the factory! I hope someone goes and can tell me more about it!

Caramel Apple Cake

I decided to make this caramel apple bundt. I let it cool a little, poured caramel all over it, and topped with coconut whipped cream. I cut slices to take photograph and somehow I ate two of them absentmindedly while watching TV. I also might have eaten another slice later that night too. This is the reason that I can't have a whole cake in my house. I don't even really like cake that much. I just could not not eat it. It was warm and sweet and spicy. I successfully pawned the remaining 7 slices off on others. It was in my best interest. You should try the cake, but just remember that you should probably make it when you have 6 hungry friends coming over.

Apple Cake
a single 9" layer cake or enough to fill a small bundt pan

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbl baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1 packet Alpine Spiced Cider (optional, but worth it)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 small apples, chopped but not peeled
Wash and chop your apples. If you aren't using organic apples, you might want to peel them. But I prefer the texture and hint of color from the apple skins in the cake. I also suggest using a tart apple. I used Stayman apples. In a bowl mix the flour with the baking powder and spices. In a separate bowl combine all the remaining ingredients besides apples. Fold the wet into the dry until barely combined and then fold in apples. Pour into greased cake pan and bake at 350 for 35-50 minutes.
Once cake is cooled, top with caramel sauce and serve with coconut whipped cream.

Speculoos Pudding

Speculoos Pudding
makes 4 small cups or 2 large servings

1 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk
8 oz speculoos spread
2 tbl cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of white pepper
In a sauce pan combine 1 cup of milk and half of speculoos spread. Whisk on medium heat until all of the spread has melted into the milk. Add the remaining speculoos spread and spices and whisk until it is dissolved. Allow mixture to come to a low boil. In a small bowl combine remaining 3/4 cup milk with vanilla and cornstarch. Slowly pour this into the saucepan while whisking to combine. The mixture should thicken fairly quickly. You must cook this on medium to low heat and whisk continuously or the pudding will burn on the bottom of the pan.
Pour into small dishes and allow to cool for an hour. Top with crumbled speculoos cookies.

This pudding is incredibly simple and only takes a few minutes. It is great cool, but also could be served warm if you so desire. The spices are really what enhances the flavor of the speculoos, so you won't want to leave them out!
The dishes in the photo are also from Anthropologie. I went on a teeny shopping spree earlier in the week, and bought one of all 6 colors that I saw. They were on sale for $2 each! I might have also bought the napkin on the same day from World Market. Whoops! My kitchen wares are slowly taking over the majority of my space. I really need to start doing some purging & reorganizing.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

When I first went vegan in college I needed to learn how to cook for myself pretty quickly. I had never really been too interested in baking, but was a huge fan of sweets. I realized that my sweet's connections had largely been cut off and so I started baking. I started with muffins. For the first few months those were the only things that I made. That's the first time that this recipe surfaced. I brought it to several potlucks and often shared them with friends. I hadn't made them in years. But when I decided that I would be doing fall sweets for my MoFo topic, my friend Jenna asked if they would be included. So I made a batch from memory. I never wrote down all my original alteration to the recipe, but I think that this is pretty close.



Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins
veganized from here; makes 16 muffins

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tbl ground flax mixed with 3 tbl water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large chopped apple
In bowl combine all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl combine all wet ingredients. Fold the wet into the dry, then add the chopped apples. Don't over-mix the batter. Scoop into muffin pans, about 3/4 full.

For streusel
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oats
3 tbl flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbl Earth Balance
Combine every except the Earth Balance. Cut the Earth Balance into the mixture using your fingers and sprinkle heavily on top of all of the muffins. You might have a small amount of extra streusel. Just save it for your next pie.
Bake the muffins at 350 for 30-40 minutes.
These muffins might not be the most beautiful thing to look at, but most muffins aren't. But once you take a bite, they will win you over. The pumpkin is much more subtle than with most pumpkin muffins. The apple helps balance the pumpkin out a lot. The sugary streusel gives the top of the muffins a really wonderful crunch too. It might just be because I live with 4 boys, but these muffins disappeared more quickly than something has in quite a long time.

Candy Apples

I have attempted to write this post four different times today. I don't feel capable of composing a sweetly written paragraph. All my words are gone. Some days it's just best to acknowledge that you aren't quite you, and move on. I'm sure it will be a little better tomorrow.
I wanted to make a corn syrup & dye free candy apple. I love sprinkles, and vegan M&M's, and all sorts of things that are full of dye. But apples are just so beautiful as is that I don't think they need to be covered in colored candy. There are plenty of reasons to avoid corn syrup, that I don't feel the need to go into detail about. I tried a few different versions. I tried one with brown rice syrup as the substitute, but I didn't enjoy the taste. I tried them with tapioca syrup, but the candy got far too hard. My third try I just used sugar and water. Because I used unbleached cane sugar, the color of the candy was just the slightest hint of tan. I cooked 2 cups of sugar in 1 cup of water until it reached 225 degrees. It was just the right amount of chewy for me. I didn't want something that was going to break my teeth. If you want a candy apple that has more of a crunch, cook your sugar syrup until it reaches 240 degrees. Just make sure to single dip your apple. A layer that is too think will make the apple inedible.


I also learned why people always add dye to candy apples. The high temperature of the syrup causes the apples to discolor when you dip them. If you look at the close up off the apple in the above picture, you will see what I am talking about. It happened with red & green apples alike. So lesson learned. I now know why for years people have added dye to candy apples. I am ok with the way the apples look. They reminded me of a Snow White-esque poison apple. Shiny and glossy and sweet but perhaps something a bit more sinister peeking out from under the candy.

Caramel Apples (Two Ways)

This past week has been completely exhausting. Last Tuesday feels like it was decades ago. Going to Tennessee was really nice. But we moved non-stop the whole time. We didn't sleep past 8am a single day of my 4 day vacation. And I stayed up later than normal too. When we landed on the runway in DC on Sunday, we sat there for 40 minutes waiting for a space for the plane to park. Waiting on the runway when you are so close to being home is excruciating, infinitely more so than being stuck in an airport. At least in the airport you can get up and walk to the bathroom or buy a chocolate bar. To top it all off, I got home only to realize that I had lost my keys on the trip. Luckily a housemate was home to let me inside and borrow his keys to make a few copies. Luckily I have a spare car key, so I was still able to drive to work the next day. I was really hopeful that they would be in the lost and found at the airport, but there was no such luck. Now it's time to start making more copies. This is also now the first time that I have lost my keys while traveling. I also managed to leave my keys on the coffee table of a friend of a friend's house in Philadelphia. And I didn't realize until I went to open my front door several hundred miles away. Maybe someday I will learn.


While it might not be the first time I have lost my keys, it is the first time I have made caramel apples. So I thought I might as well do that twice too. Just to make up for lost time. The first attempt is the more traditional route. I used the same caramel recipe I have linked you to several times already this month. I made alterations to the caramel though. I used coconut milk and tapioca syrup rather than soy milk or corn syrup. Also, instead of cooking the caramel to 240 degrees to make solid candies or 220 degrees for a sauce, you will want to heat it to around 230 degrees. This should make the caramel firm enough to not fall off but soft enough that you don't lose a tooth when you bite into the apple.
The second option I found to be superior. I used Isa's peanut butter caramel apple recipe. You basically heat the peanut butter and brown rice syrup until it is warm, dip the apples, and then I rolled them in peanuts. No candy thermometer to scrub tiny pieces of caramel off of, no bubbling sugar waiting to burn your fingers, and about 40 minutes faster. You can't beat that. If you taste the syrup before you coat the apple in it, you won't think it will work. But when you combine it with the apple, the magic happens.


I am so thankful that I have tomorrow off. I can't wait to maybe catch up on sleep, make a giant pot of chili, and drink lots of tea. The fall colors are finally showing up on the leaves here. I will probably even bundle up in a scarf and thick socks and go on a long walk through the park. Nothing like that to calm your nerves.

Chocolate & Salted Caramel Tarts

A few months ago I made a giant jar of caramel sauce for an ice cream social at my house. I have been grateful to have this jar stowed away on multiple occasions. I highly recommend it. You can just make it once, only have to clean a candy thermometer once, and store it in mason jars. The glass jars are great for the caramel syrup because if it ends up firming more then you want, you can just dip the glass jar in hot water to re-melt to sticky, gooey perfection. It’s also perfect to pour a tablespoon or two over ice cream or onto a slice of cake.


Last week I used a fair portion of my remaining caramel to make a quick tart. I also happened to have a half batch of shortbread tart dough (from Vegan Pie in the Sky) in my freezer. I let it thaw, pressed it hurriedly into a three 3” tart shells and baked them while I melted a few ounces of bittersweet chocolate. As the chocolate and shells were cooling I mixed a teaspoon of salt into the caramel. I poured the caramel into still warm shells. And then without even letting it cool just a little more, I attempted to spoon the molten chocolate over them. The caramel and chocolate mixed a bit, and weren’t completely even, and spilled over the edges as I threw the tarts in the refrigerator.
It may be a little messy, but instant gratification tastes so good. These tarts are like a classy, adult version of the Twix bar. If you weren’t making these just to comfort yourself after a rough day, then you might want to let the tart shells cool completely, add the caramel, and freeze them for just a few minutes before you add the chocolate. I highly suggest using a nice bittersweet or dark chocolate to balance the sweetness of the caramel. The snap of chocolate and crispness of the shortbread tart shell also contrast the gooey center perfectly. A sprinkle of large grain kosher salt on top of the shells adds a nice visual balance. Things just can’t go wrong.