Cooking with Kefir and a Chocolate Mousse Tart

My latest fermentation project, following in the footsteps of sauerkraut and bread starter, has been to culture kefir. To maintain this culture, you simply transfer a tablespoon of kefir to a fresh cup of milk and let it sit on your kitchen counter for about 24 hours. The result is a tart, thickened milk that I've started deploying in all sorts of guises. 

Using regular pint Mason jars for the culturing lends itself to preparing smoothies with my favorite trick of screwing the blender blade directly onto the jar. If you like, you can make yourself a daily smoothie after passaging a tablespoon of kefir for the next batch.

I've been preparing smoothies with about a cup of kefir, a half banana, and a teaspoon each of honey and chia seeds, which make a perfect midmorning snack.

I also found that adding a spoonful of kefir resulted in an extremely exuberant bread starter crumpet batter (reminiscent of Katharine Hepburn's waffle batter from Woman of the Year) and deliciously spongey crumpets.

For ~1 cup of old bread starter (~250 grams), add 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon kefir. Mix well and then add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and pour into well-oiled crumpet rings on a hot, well-oiled skillet to cook.

A final, recent use for my kefir was to add a bit of tartness to a chocolate mousse tart. Truth be told, this tart, for my son's birthday, was entirely motivated by my desire to use up a rye flour pie crust I had prepared for Thanksgiving and then accidentally left behind in the freezer when we dashed to the coast. Rye and chocolate is a classic combination, and filling a pie crust with chocolate mousse seemed like an easy way to please a newly minted eight year old.

I started with this recipe, and then, inspired by the success of using creme fraiche in chocolate fondue, I whipped in some kefir with the heavy cream (I've also used my kefir to culture heavy cream into creme fraiche, which works very well, but in this instance, I didn't have time). The resulting tart was a big success with the beaming birthday boy. 

Chocolate Mousse Tart with a Rye Crust

pie crust (based on Heidi Swanson's recipe)

1/3 cup (38 g) rye flour (I used rye flour from Lonesome Whistle Farm)

3/4 cup (88 g) unbleached all purpose white flour

1/8 tsp salt

4 Tbsp butter (1 stick), cut into 1/2 inch cubes

~1/6 cup ice water

Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and mix. Pulse in the butter cubes until they are lima bean sized. Then add enough water for the dough to just come together when you press it between your fingers. Mold into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll out into a 12 inch disc, drape into a buttered tart pan, flute the edges and patch where you need to, and now chill again for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cover the crust with aluminum foil and use rice or beans as pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes, then allow to cook completely before you fill the crust.

chocolate mousse

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 kefir (or creme fraiche)

1/4 cup sugar

1. Pulse the chocolate, vanilla and salt in a food processor until the chocolate is in small pieces. Bring 1 cup cream to a boil in a heavy small saucepan. With the processor running, gradually pour the hot cream through the feed tube and process until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.

2. Beat remaining 1 3/4 cups of of cream, 1/4 cup kefir, and 1/4 cup sugar in large bowl to stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Pour the mousse into prepared crust. Chill until set, about 6 hours. 

Marbled Birthday Cupcakes

This year, my Winter Solstice seven-year-old son was eager to help bake his birthday cupcakes. We decided on chocolate and vanilla marbled ones (no need to give a bunch of bouncing seven year olds too many choices). We adapted this marble cake recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini, and my son laboriously transcribed the ingredient list, increased by 50% to ensure sufficient cupcakes for his party.

He distributed the first layer of vanilla batter,

helped mix in melted chocolate for the top layer,

and marbled the two with a skewer. 

The resulting cupcakes were just big enough to hold seven candles for the afternoon festivities, and just plentiful enough for a second afterdinner wish.

Marbled Cupcakes

adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini, makes 18-24 cupcakes

150 grams (7 ounces) good-quality bittersweet chocolate
6 eggs
330 grams (2 cup plus 4 tablespoons) sugar
3/4 cup yogurt or buttermilk
330 grams (3 1/3 cups) flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
180 grams (a little less than 13 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 330°F.

2. Melt the butter in the microwave, and set aside to cool. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, and set aside. 

3. Combine the flour with the baking powder and pinch of salt and set aside.

4. By hand or in a mixer, beat together the eggs and the sugar until frothy. Add in buttermilk and whisk to combine. Combine in the flour mixture and then incorporate the melted butter and the vanilla, without over mixing. 

5. Line 18 to 24 muffin tins with paper muffin cups. Scoop a soup spoon of batter into each cup, using half of the batter. Mix the melted chocolate into the remaining batter. Scoop a soup spoon of the chocolate batter into each cup. The cups should be about 3/4 full. Using a skewer, pierce each mound of dough and give it a quick swirl to create the marbling.

6. Bake for 25-28 minutes until a clean skewer comes out clean.

Note: we made 18 cupcakes (our household's muffin tin capacity) and had batter leftover for a mini cake, so I think one could stretch this recipe to 24 cupcakes. 

Strawberries and Chocolate Fondue with Homemade Creme Fraiche

This Sunday at at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can look forward to a selection of pastured chicken and grass-fed lamb cuts from Fair Valley Farm and beautiful fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company. Good Food Easy at Sweetwater Farm will have the following offerings: 

Fresh
Strawberries, available by the flat for $32 (dip in chocolate fondue)
Leeks, scallions, baby stalks of garlic and garlic whistles, also called scapes (try in pesto)
Anaheim and poblano chile peppers and some early tomatoes (try this fresh pasta dish)
Artichokes, baby beets, and kohlrabi (try this carrot and kohlrabi salad with harissa)
New potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli (roasted cauliflower is delicious)
Carrots, summer squash, and cucumbers
Chard, collard greens, and kale (use those stems for pickles)
Fresh herbs (basil, oregano, sage, thyme) plus home-grown lemon grass!!
Lettuce, including ready-to-eat bagged mix
Cherries & Blenheim apricots (from Washington)

Preserves
From Sweet Creek Foods:
Dill Pickles, Chili Dill Pickles, Bread 'N Butter Pickles, Pickle Relish
Blueberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, & Raspberry Fruit Spreads
Enchilada Sauce and Salsa
From SLO Farm: Applesauce

Bean and Grains
Sweetwater Farm's polenta and cornmeal!
Assorted beans and grains from Camas Country Mill

This will likely be the last week of a spectacular strawberry season. Do not let the opportunity pass to indulge in some chocolate dipped strawberries. For a recent birthday celebration I wanted to make this ultimate chocolate fondue recipe, but it required creme fraiche, and rather than making yet another trip to the store, I tried my hand at making my own. 

The amazing activities of microbes never cease to inspire me, and now that I have witnessed how easily a spoonful of buttermilk bacteria can transform a jar of liquid cream into a lovely, tangy custard, I'm kicking myself for not having made creme fraiche every week of my adult life.

The tanginess of the creme fraiche made for the best chocolate fondue I've ever had. And just as the lactobacilli devoured the carbohydrates in the cream, so the pack of eleven year old girls devoured the strawberries and fondue with gusto.

Chocolate Fondue

adapted from Scharffen Berger

makes 2 cups, serves 8 to 12

6 ounces dark chocolate chips (60% or more cacao)
1/2 cup creme fraiche (recipe below)
3 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
Strawberries and other fruits, small pieces of cake and butter cookies (for dipping)

In a small fondue pot, combine the chocolate, crème frâiche, butter and extract. Place over the fondue burner using either a votive candle or low sterno heat and allow the chocolate to melt. Stir until fondue is smooth.

To serve, keep warm while guests dip fruit, cookies, or pieces of cake in the fondue.

Your chocolate fondue keeps up to a week in the refrigerator. Reheat over very low heat before serving.

Homemade Creme Fraiche (from food52)

makes 1/2 cup

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoons buttermilk

Seek out a good quality heavy cream that is pasteurized, not ultra-pasteurized. If you can only find ultra-pasteurzed, it will work, but will take longer to thicken. To start, pour 1/2 cup of heavy cream into a non-reactionary container such as a glass Mason jar. Next, add one tablespoon of buttermilk to the heavy cream. Cover the jar with a lid and shake until everything is thoroughly combined. Loosely cover the heavy cream mixture with a tea towel or moist paper towel and allow it to sit out on your kitchen counter for 12-24 hours. Ideally the temperature in your kitchen will be from 72 to 78 degrees. Mine took a full 24 hours to thicken. After it's at the preferred consistency, transfer it to your fridge. The creme fraiche will be good for up to 2 weeks.

Chocolate Blackberry Pudding

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can look forward to the following offerings from Sweetwater Farm, Fair Valley Farm, and Tiger Lily Art Company:

Blackberries and cantaloupes (make this chocolate blackberry pudding) 

Shiro plums from SLO Farm (make zwetschgenkuchen)

eggplants (make grilled eggplant with tomatoes and mint)

tomatoes, including romas, and 10 lb flats for $20 (freeze a big batch of sauce)
Anaheim chile, red hot cherry peppers, assorted pepper bargain bags (make romesco sauce)
cucumbers and Costata Romanesco zucchini (try shredded)
cutting celery (or leaf celery or smallage) (read more about this celery here)
new potatoes, beets, carrots, and kohlrabi (try this kohlrabi salad with harissa)
assorted herbs including Italian parsley and 1 lb bags of basil (make pesto)
fresh spring garlic and onions
kale, chard, and a variety of lettuces (make kale paneer)
bietola (Italian chard/beet green, make saag panner salad)
dried beans and grains from Camus Country Mill (pick up some lentils for mujaddara)
jams, salsa, and pickles from Sweet Creek Foods
pastured chickens from Fair Valley Farm (try slow cooker Pueblan Chicken Tinga)
floral arrangements from Tiger Lily Art Company

This is turning out to be the summer of the pudding. First I discovered tapioca flamingos. Then, before one of my son's swim lessons a few weeks ago, I bought him a chocolate pudding to help tide him over before dinner, and as it happened that lesson turned out to be the watershed during which he finally transitioned from flailing to swimming. He, of course, attributed his new skills to the pudding and was convinced that he would need a steady supply to keep himself afloat in the future. 

Although I didn't want to endorse this logic, I also felt that it wouldn't hurt to have a good homemade chocolate pudding recipe in my repertoire. I tried out one from food52 that proved to be a keeper. It uses tapioca flour instead of cornstarch ("just what we need in the house is yet another kind of flour" my husband commented wryly) and is all assembled in a blender. The addition of fresh blackberries before the pudding sets produces a decadent dessert that tastes as good as walking on water. 

Chocolate Blackberry Pudding

adapted from Alex Talbot's recipe on food52
makes 8 small puddings

2 large egg yolks
3 Tbsp tapioca flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk (or use 3/4 cup heavy cream and 3/4 cup reduced fat milk)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (60% or more cacao)
1/2 pint blackberries
lightly sweetened whipped cream, for serving (optional)

1. Put the egg yolks and tapioca flour in a blender and blend on low speed until a light-colored paste forms. You will need to scrape down the sides of the blender jar a couple times, but don't worry if you have some tapioca flour dust that doesn't get incorporated.

2. Combine the sugar, cream, milk, salt, and vanilla in a saucepan set over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Turn the blender containing the egg and tapioca mixture back on low. Quickly and carefully, pour the hot milk mixture into the blender and increase the speed to medium. The heat will cook the egg yolks and allow the tapioca to thicken to the consistency of thick mayonnaise.

3. With the blender running, add the chocolate in stages so it is emulsified into the pudding. When all the chocolate is added, strain the pudding into 8 small serving glasses or bowls (I used small canning jars). Add 1/8 cup of blackberries to each glass and gently tap so that the berries become submerged, or press them down with a spoon. Let the pudding cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to cool completely. Top with whipped cream and more berries if you like.

Buckwheat Butter Cookies with Cocoa Nibs

Once you've tasted it, the combination of buckwheat and chocolate is kind of addictive. With some remaining buckwheat flour from Lonesome Whistle Farm, these buckwheat butter cookies with cocoa nibs caught my eye here and here. Cocoa nibs, I discovered, can be procured from the bulk spice section of the Market of Choice.

I don't have much patience for cookie cutters (unless baking for Santa), so I liked the option of rolling a log of buttery cookie dough and slicing it up. It felt like working with play dough, but the final product was downright sophisticated. The subtle nutty flavor of the buckwheat and the charming restraint of the cocoa nibs paired perfectly with a cup of tea and freshly picked strawberries. Enjoy these refined treats while fantasizing about the London Olympics, but by the end of the weekend our neighborhood will be back to normal and ready to host the world famous Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, starting July 8.

Buckwheat Butter Cookies with Cocoa Nibs

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup buckwheat flour
½ lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1/3 cup cocoa nibs
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours.

2. With a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter with the sugar and salt until smooth and creamy but not fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the nibs and vanilla, and beat to incorporate. Add the flours all at once, and beat on low speed until just incorporated. The mixture will seem very dry and pebbly at first, but keep beating, and it will slowly moisten and darken (as the buckwheat flour is absorbed) and come together. The dough will be very thick. You can also make the dough in a food processor, but incorporate the nibs at the end by hand. 

3. Form the dough into a long (12” or 13”) log about 2 inches in diameter. Because the dough is so thick, I find it easiest to do this by pinching off hunks of dough from the bowl and lining them up on a large sheet of plastic wrap to form a log, then massaging and pressing them together to seal. Wrap well and refrigerate at least two hours, or overnight.

4. If you have refrigerated the dough overnight, remove it from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you want to bake the cookies. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

5. When the dough feels slightly softened - it should have just a hint of give when you press it with a fingertip - unwrap it and place it on a cutting board. Using a thin, sharp knife, carefully cut the dough into ¼-inch-thick slices. Place slices on the prepared baking sheets, spacing each cookie about 1 ½ inches apart.

6. Bake until cookies just begin to color around the edges, about 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the sheet pans from top to bottom and front to back midway through. Transfer to wire racks, and cool the cookies on the baking sheets (or slide the parchment onto the rack to free up the pans). Cool completely before eating or storing. Repeat with remaining dough.

Store the cookies in an airtight container.

Yield: about 50-55 small cookies

Update: I experimenting with making a gluten-free version of these cookies using only buckwheat flour and I'm happy to report that they were extremely tasty.

Buckwheat Chocolate Cake

It is birthday season in our household. For her birthday party, my daughter considered offering her favorite meal of homemade pasta with pesto and rhubarb buckle, but was worried that not all of her friends would like this menu, so she decided instead on pizza and chocolate cake. Her thoughtfulness in this matter is exemplary of her gentle and generous nature, nascent nine years ago in her deep brown newborn eyes and more apparent with each passing year.

She is not a fan of flamboyant cakes and cloying icing. Instead she favors subtle, fresh flavors and (a girl after my own heart) bittersweet chocolate. Searching for a suitable birthday cake, this buckwheat chocolate one from Beatrice Peltre caught my eye, especially since we still have a sizable stash of buckwheat flour from our Lonesome Whistle Farm CSA. 

This is almost a flourless chocolate cake (and an entirely gluten-free one). The small amount of almond meal adds a rich texture and the buckwheat gives a hint of sourness that complements the bittersweet notes of the chocolate.

A decorative dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream elevated this subtle cake into party fare suitable for celebrating a truly sweet daughter.

Buckwheat Chocolate Cake

adapted from Smitten Kitchen, 

adapted from La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life 

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering pan
4 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate
4 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
A good pinch of sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
scant 1/4 cup slivered almonds
Confectioners’ sugar to serve (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Melt the butter and chocolate together in in short bursts in the microwave, stirring frequently. Set aside.

2. Prepare the almond meal by pulsing together the slivered almonds and buckwheat flour in a food processor until finely ground.

3. In the bowl of a stand mix or with a handheld mixer, beat the eggs and sugar with salt until light and pale and doubled in volume. Deb Perelman advises that one spend 5 to even 9 minutes on this to develop the cake's crumb, but with my little handheld mixer I didn't have quite the stamina for this and the cake still turned out nicely.

4. Gently fold in the vanilla and melted chocolate mixture. Sprinkle the buckwheat and almond mixture over the batter and fold gently to combine. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry.

5. Let cool for five minutes on a rack then invert onto the rack, remove the parchment paper, and return upright on a serving plate. Serve in wedges, dusted with powdered sugar.

UPDATE: I made a Pacific Northwest version of this cake with ground hazelnuts instead of almonds and it was delicious.

Birthday Dumplings with a Figgy Surprise

All of a sudden it seems that everyone is abuzz about aebleskiver. My first reaction was "What?". But when I was treated to some of these Danish pancake spheres prepared with expert aplomb by a friend in Salt Lake City, I understood the appeal. I'm a big fan of pancakes all all shapes and sizes, and these balls of buttery, eggy fluffiness are mouthwatering when served hot from the pan. So I asked for an aebleskiver pan for my birthday (or rather I snatched one up in the hardware store when we were out buying gardening supplies and shoved it into my husband's hand before dashing off to prevent my three year old from toppling over a large display of assorted nails).

Back home, I seasoned the pan, and then watched some Youtube videos on making aebleskiver. My first reaction was "You've got to be kidding!" The implement used is a skewer! Somehow you are supposed to take a pool of liquid batter, poke at it with a thin stick, and magically produce a spherical popover. 

I prepared the batter, which is fluffy from whipped egg whites and tangy from buttermilk. For the first batch I tried, I put in dollops of jam. 

After a few moments of cooking, you are supposed to coax the nascent aebleskivers sideways,

and then poke and prod them around until they become spherical. It turns out that there are many ways to produce non-spherical aebleskiver, such as flat discs or basket-shaped structures with cavernous gaping holes. Luckily, they all taste good. 

Emboldened by this first attempt, and with remaining batter, I was inspired to create a dessert aebleskiver of a stuffed dumpling stuffed with a stuffed fig. A dumpling turdunken. To soften the figs, I simmered them in a little red wine.

Meanwhile, I toasted some hazelnuts in a dry skillet, and chilled some chocolate chips. Then I pulsed these in a food processor to make a coarse meal.

To stuff the figs, I made a slit down the side, pressed down the flesh and spooned in the chocolate and hazelnut mixture. Then I prepared some aebleskiver. It turned out that having a solid base in the middle made the turning process much easier and produced aebleskiver whose volume more closely approximated the cube of their radius times pi. They were also delicious.

As a last minute inspiration, I mixed up the reduced fig-flavored wine with a little creme fraiche, which made a lovely accompaniment for the fig filled aebelskiver. As a pleasant post birthday surprise, this recipe was picked as an editors' choice on the food52 website.

Aebleskiver filled with chocolate and hazelnut stuffed figs

• 14 dried figs, such as black mission
• 1/2 cup fruity red wine, such as a Zinfandel
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg yoke
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon melted butter for the batter, plus more for the pan
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 cup hazelnuts
• 1/8 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• powdered sugar

1. 1. Snip the stems from the figs and, in a small sauce pan, simmer them in the red red wine, turning occasionally, for about ten minutes, until much of the wine reduces and is absorbed by the figs. Remove from the heat and leave the softened figs in the wine until ready to use.
2. 2. Prepare the fig stuffing. Chill the chocolate chips in the freezer so that they won't melt when chopped. Lightly toast the hazelnuts in a dry skillet, then allow to cool. Chop the chocolate chips and hazel nuts in a small electric chopper or food processor until they form a coarse meal.
3. 3. Stuff the softened figs by cutting a slit down the length, then using your fingers to press in the fig flesh to make a cavity, and filling this with a small spoonful of the minced hazelnut and chocolate mixture. Set aside. Reserve the remaining fig-flavored red wine for creme fraiche topping.
4. Prepare the batter by combining the dry ingredients in one bowl and whisking together the buttermilk, egg yoke and melted butter in another bowl. Beat the egg white until stiff. Combine the dry ingredients into the wet. The batter should be runny like a thickish pancake batter. Add a little more buttermilk if necessary to achieve the right consistency. Then fold in the egg white.
5. Heat an aebleskiver pan and butter well. Fill each of the cavities to about 1/2 the height with batter. Then place a stuffed fig into each well and top with a little more batter to cover the fig and fill the well. Cook for about a minute. With a skewer tip the dumpling to one side so that the cooked half dome is perpendicular to the pan and cook for another minute. Now catch each dumpling on the corner between the first half dome and the second half dome and rotate this to the top, so that the least cooked face of the dumpling points downwards. Keep rotating the dumplings for a few more minutes until they are golden brown on all sides and cooked through.
6. Prepare a topping to serve with the dumplings by mixing in a few tablespoons of the reduced figgy red wine with creme fraiche to taste. Serve the dumplings warm with a dollop of the flavored creme fraiche, and if you like, a sprinkle of powdered sugar.