Just Like Honey Baklava

Sometime's I run across a business that I am really pleased with, and Suzanne's Specialties is one of those groups. They are responsible for Ricemellow, a vegan marshmallow creme that I adore. It's great for making creamy fudge or sticky rice crispy treats. A few months ago while browsing around a local natural food shop I found a few of their other products, and knew I would have to give them a try. I had previously bought a jar of honey flavored agave before, but I didn't feel like the taste was really there. As soon as I cracked the seal on the jar of Suzanne's Just Like Honey, I knew it was the best faux honey I would find. I meant to bake with the remainder of the jar, but its contents kept slowly disappearing into cups of tea (and sneakily being spooned into mouths). I finally got a second jar, and used it for my original intention. I have never had baklava before, but I feel like the taste of this is very close to the "real" deal.


Baklava
adapted from the Pioneer Woman Cooks

1 jar Suzanne's Just Like Honey (agave or brown rice syrup should work as well)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 package filo dough (thawed for several hours)
1 1/2 lb walnuts, chopped into small pieces
1 teaspoon cinnamon
8 tablespoons Earth Balance, Melted

In a saucepan combine Just Like Honey (or 2 cups of either agave, brown rice syrup, or a mixture of the two), water, & sugar. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes until the mixture has reduced slightly and formed a syrup. Stir in vanilla bean paste. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine chopped walnuts and cinnamon. Melt Earth Balance in another small dish. Remove filo from package and trim filo to fit easily in 9x13" baking pan. I lined my pan with parchment paper to easily remove all the baklava, but you could just butter the pan instead. Place 4 sheets of filo in the bottom of the pan. Brush the top sheet with butter, sprinkle with a thin & even layer of walnuts. Top with two more sheets of filo and butter again. Sprinkle with another layer of nuts. Repeat this until you are nearing the end of your filo dough. You want a lot of layers! Place 6 sheets of filo on top and butter it one last time. Cut the tops of the filo with a sharp knife into as many pieces as you desire. I cut approximately 20 squares. Bake for 45 minutes until the pastry is golden. While the baklava is still hot you want to slowly pour the cooled syrup over it. I poured it in thirds, allowing the syrup to soak for a few minutes before I added more. Once that is finished allow the baklava to sit overnight at room temperature before eating it. It's difficult I know, but it is something that gets better as it rests. If you want to play with flavors a little, you can substitute the vanilla for a little rosewater or orange blossom water. You could also add orange zest. Rosewater and pistachios might make a really interesting twist on the classic! I have also seen people use almonds or pecans instead of walnuts. I feel compelled to infuse lavender into everything this time of year, but I do feel like this would be a great place for it. Lavender & honey are an amazing flavor combination.

I highly recommend Just Like Honey. It is great drizzled on a peanut butter banana sandwich, especially when heated up in a panini press. It dissolves nicely in tea, with just the right amount of sweetness and flavor shining through. It won't do much for your allergies, but it's great by the spoonful regardless. I haven't tried it in a honey cake yet, but I don't see how it could fail.
Is there a new ingredient that you are crazy for? Have you ever tried Bee-Free Honee? I hear it's a little less honey flavored, and a little more appley.

Strawberry Blood Orange Popsicles

I know technically it's still a week and a half away, but that summer feeling is in the air. Maybe it's just because I live in an attic that is already sweltering, but I can't get summer off my mind. I am craving popsicles, fresh squeezed lemonade, & pitchers of iced tea. I just want to wake up in the cool of the morning and go to a farmer's market and head home with a basket overflowing with local produce.
Since I haven't been quite able to do all of that, I took a little shortcut with these popsicles. I used a pound of frozen strawberries and a bottle of pre-squeezed blood orange juice. Because my strawberries were already frozen, it only took an hour for my popsicles to re-freeze after blending. If you use fresh strawberries, it will take a few hours. As I made the mixture, I realized that I put away my popsicle molds at the end of last summer and can't remember where I stored them. In a moment of desperation I decided to use a set of silicone cupcake liners and wooden spoons to improvise. I see a lot of people use paper cups, so this is even a little more eco-friendly. It also doesn't hurt that it made the popsicles look like little flowers.


Strawberry Blood Orange Popsicles
variable yield, depending on popsicle mold

1 pound strawberries, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cup blood orange juice
1-2 tbl agave, depending on desired sweetness
Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. If using frozen strawberries, this will immediately result in an amazing smoothie (only half of my puree ended up in popsicle molds, the other half ended up in a mason jar with a straw). Pour into popsicle molds and allow to freeze until firm.

This morning I got to sleep in, and tonight I get to sell lemonade and cupcakes at an event for the store. Tomorrow I am heading to Six Flags for a day in the sun with several of my friends. I will ride most of the roller coasters at least twice. And probably be on the drop tower at least 4 times. I even get an extra day off this week since I worked so much the last few weeks, so this weekend we are sneaking off to Philadelphia again. All sorts of wonderful things happen in warmer weather. I'm sure there will be ice cream. I'm so happy to have a few days to recover from the craziness that has been this spring. It's important to take time to let yourself rest and enjoy life. Sometimes I forget just how crucial that is to maintain my sanity.

Local Favorites: Fasika & Dama

Today is my birthday! Things have been so hectic for the last few weeks, months, year, etc, that I decided it would be best to have a really relaxed birthday. I slept in, got bagels with Greg, and made myself a cheesecake. We walked around the portrait gallery for an hour, watched some TV, and are headed to my favorite local restaurant for a small dinner with friends. Fasika is in the Petworth neighborhood of DC. If you have never had Ethiopian food before, then DC is the place to try it. DC has the most dense Ethiopian population of everywhere that isn't the country itself! So you know it's going to be authentic. Their vegetable platter is unbelievable and a ton of food. Greg and I can eat dinner with a 25% tip included, for $20, and be stuffed for several hours afterwards.
In the last month, Fasika paired with Dama Bakery to offer a large selection of vegan desserts! Their case is always stocked with a selection of tea cookies and there is a large assortment of cakes. I have had the fruit cake and the rum cake, but nothing quite compares with their mille-feuille. Akin to an icebox cake, it's simply layers of filo topped with pastry cream and a dusting of powdered sugar. As the cake sits for longer, the moisture from the pastry cream seeps into the filo making it softer and more cake like. I have talked about another local bakery's napoleon that I also hold near and dear to my heart, but Dama's is just a teensy bit better than Chez Hareg's. For $4 a slice, you have to try this cake.


After two slices of this cake, I became obsessed with it. I spent a solid two hours on the internet learning everything I could about mille-feuille and trying to figure out exactly what they make their pastry cream from. I am still stumped. But I did learn a few really interesting things about Dama Bakery. Dama is run by a pair of sisters. Almaz, the sister who is responsible for the sweeter side of things, was the pastry chef for President Clinton! I don't care what political affiliation one does or does not hold, it's pretty amazing that you can buy vegan desserts fit for a president at your local restaurant.
I will undoubtedly be recreating this dessert soon. Do you have a favorite pastry cream or pudding that you recommend? Sometimes it's the simplest things that are really the most important. Vanilla pudding is one of the easiest things to make, but I feel like it's one of the trickiest things to make that actually stands out in someone's mind. Somehow Dama has created something so special, that it's the only thing I want to celebrate my birthday eating!

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

My house has been without internet for fifteen days. I believe this is the longest time I have gone without a solid internet connection since I acquired a computer for the first time in high school. For the first week I thought it was really nice. The weather was completely beautiful, and I was spending more time with friends than putzing around the web. It was a wonderful detox from all the ridiculousness that constant internet access allows. The second week, I started feeling much differently. I became increasingly bitter that I couldn't watch Game of Thrones. I became frantic when I tried to check my Google Reader at a coffee shop where I only had fifteen minutes to spare. Fast forward to today, three Comcast technicians and two enraged phone calls later, and we still don't have the internet. So I am yet again at a coffee shop trying to update this ignored little blog while my boyfriend is running an errand.
We were suppose to fly out to Chicago for a quick vacation, but the city was in a state of emergency from all the rain they got and our flight was canceled! We are gonna try again today. Hopefully I will be drinking milkshakes at the Chicago Diner in T-minus 6 hours. Until then, I will let you know about a few things I have done in the last few weeks.



I have been organizing an event at Roots Market for Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale this year. I am always super excited to participate in this awesome event. So if you are local to the area, you should head out next weekend and support Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary! I also started creating a Cupcake of the Week, to make my daily work routine a little more interesting. I've had the chance to make a few fun flavors, above are Almond Joy and Banana Split. I am sure there are tons more to come. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears. I have a spreadsheet I have been keeping track of all the potential flavors for each season in.
In the craziness that has been the last month, I kept forgetting to eat breakfast and had a bunch of overripe bananas. Though I would normally make banana bread, I decided to switch it up. I tried a baked banana cake donut with a PB2 peanut butter glaze. They were good, but I definitely need to make a few more batches to tweak the recipe before I share it.


After I wrote the blog post on the white chocolate eggs I found, Charm School Chocolates sent me the peanut butter eggs I missed out on! What amazing people! They even sent me samples of some of their other chocolates, which were both to die for!


Hopefully by the time we return from our vacation the internet will be restored and I can work on more fun kitchen things! I need to tweak those donuts and still haven't made the baklava I was so set on last month. There is just never enough time in the day! If there is a place in Chicago, I need to visit this weekend, let me know! I know about the obvious like the Chicago Diner, Pick Me Up, Handlebar, etc. But are there are any places that I can't miss out on?!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I feel like I have been competing in some sort of gauntlet all week. Everything has been non-stop in the best way possible. Yesterday I got home after ten hours in the bakeshop, which somehow was already almost one hundred degrees even though it's barely April. I laid down on the couch and passed out for 30 minutes. I think it has been the most restful sleep I have gotten in weeks. There were no dreams, no worrying about how soon I have to wake up. It was perfect. Lately I have been experiencing the most bizarre nightmares about burning pies and running out of chocolate and all sort of kitchen mishaps.



White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Makes 8 large cookies

1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 Ener-g or flax egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped roughly
1/2 white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make your egg replacement and allow to set for a few minutes. Cream the Earth Balance and sugars. Add the egg replacer and vanilla extract and beat until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and beat until a thick dough forms. Fold in nuts and chips until dispersed fairly equally. Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, portion dough onto baking sheet with a fair amount of room to spread. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges of the cookies are golden and firm.
This is a chunky cookie with a lot of add-ins and a little less dough holding them together. If you prefer less rustic-looking cookies, than simply reduce the nuts and chocolate chips to 1/4 cup each (they will more closely resemble the cookie in the top photograph.


Does anyone have tips for calm sleep? I have tried various things over the years, like melatonin and valerian, and chamomile. None of those seem to overpower my chronic worry-wort status. I can try to count sheep or chant a mantra, but after a few minutes I always end up diverting back to thinking about things I need to do and bills I need to pay. Going to the gym everyday doesn't seem to help either. Especially if I got past 5pm, then I am just wired and can't sleep at all. Something so vital to my health shouldn't evade me so easily.

Peanut Brittle

Double double toil & trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Candy making might not be magic, but it does feel super witchy. There's nothing like stirring molten sugar with a wooden spoon to make me feel powerful & seductive. You start with a few boring, simple ingredients and end up with a kitchen smelling of vanilla & several bags of candy to give to whoever you so please.


Peanut Brittle
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup peanuts
2 tbl Earth Balance margarine
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

You need a candy thermometer to make this recipe! It's a great investment and will allow you to make all sorts of neat stuff in the future like caramel & lollipops. I have this thermometer by Maverick, but if you are looking for a digital one, I hear this is a solid option. It also helps to pre-measure all the ingredients! I keep my peanuts in one bowl. And then I combine the Earth Balance, baking soda, and vanilla in a separate bowl so I can add them to the hot candy as quickly as possible. Most recipes will tell you to cook the candy to 300 degrees, but I cook mine to 290. I prefer it to be a tiny bit softer. It will still crunch when you bite, but I feel a little less worried about breaking a tooth.
Lightly grease a cookie sheet. In a heavy bottom, 2 quart sauce pan combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Place on medium heat and add your candy thermometer. Stir frequently, until the temperature reaches 240 degrees. Add the peanuts and stir continuously until the temperature reaches 290 degrees. You will see the sugars start to brown, and if you don't stir quickly enough the peanuts will burn. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the margarine, baking soda, and vanilla extract. Pour onto your greased cookie sheet and tilt the pan to allow the candy to spread as much as possible. Allow to cool to room temperature before breaking into pieces.
If you are worried about using corn syrup, you might be able to replace it with maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or the elusive tapioca syrup. I am not sure how it will affect the taste, and I haven't tried it myself. But I do think it's an option if you are actively avoiding items that may be GMO.


Last week, I was hoping that April would be a little more easy-going for myself, but it's hasn't proven true quite yet. I filed my taxes last week, to find out that a document I didn't really pay much attention to when all my tax forms came in, was going to cause me a bit of a pinch. A bank that I had an undergraduate loan with was consolidated into a much larger bank, and they forgave my loan. It's great that I don't have to pay $6000 back, but I did have to pay taxes on it all at once unexpectedly. As soon as the accountant told me I owed the government $1500 in a week, I started tearing up. I even publicly embarrassed myself and cried the whole walk from the tax office. After a few days of panicking, things are starting to resolve themselves a little. As my mom phrased it "it's like a gift horse kicked me in the mouth."
I do finally feel like things are turning around. It's been beautiful out the last few days. Tonight I am going to a baseball game. I have lots of friends coming in to town over the next few days. April is packed full of exciting things. I might be a little sleep deprived for the rest of the month, but at least I will have a lot of fun!

Local Favorites: Charm School Chocolates

On Sunday, I told you that I have been having a rough month. I also wrote that post shortly after having a really rough morning. I intentionally didn't buy bagels or oatmeal or any breakfast foods, because I knew I had a loaf of bread that needed to be eaten. I woke up and made my coffee, got out the strawberry jam, and then realized some sneaky culprit had snatched my loaf of bread. I was livid. I walked around the kitchen for ten minutes trying to formulate some satisfactory breakfast options from the empty cabinets. The effort was futile. I wake up HUNGRY. And not eating within thirty minutes of getting out of bed, that feeling quickly turns into HANGRY. I put on jeans and shoes as quickly as possible to head to the nearest coffee shop for a bagel. While waiting in the brunch traffic to order my bagel, I saw these white chocolate crunch eggs. They were too cute, and I deserved a treat for being so patient while my stomach was grumbling so loudly.


I have seen Charm School Chocolate's products popping up in little baskets on the counter at Sticky Fingers for a few months now. I finally had a sugar craving that could only be satiated by a chocolate bar, and splurged one one. The white chocolate bar surpasses all vegan white chocolate I have had, including the stuff I have made at home. It's creamy and smooth without even a hint of waxiness. And in true form, there are flecks of vanilla bean dotting the bars. The eggs were the same chocolate as the bars, but contained brown rice cereal to add a layer of crunch that was really satisfying. And beautiful! They apparently also had chocolate peanut butter eggs earlier in the week, but I was too late to the party on those. I know a few people who got the Valentine's chocolate boxes they made and were blown away, you can see how beautiful they were for yourselves here. I can't wait to see what Charm School Chocolates comes up with next. I have been pretty keen on all their seasonal & holiday items, so I am sure there is much more to come.