Unconventional Sugars - The Chocolate Sweet Treat

Let me start with a confession, this blog is not a 'how to' guide because I suspect if you are reading it you already know the how and is up for something a bit 'out there' and if not, I am always up for questions.

So what you may be asking, is an unconventional sugar? In my world it's the

sugars in anything plant based whether it start life as fruit, veg, stem, leaf or root that has not been highly processed.

You see sweet has always been one of my default flavour palettes and because I don’t generally eat commercially processed foods the sugars I eat is down to me.

When friends come round I like to share tea and cakes but as we moved into late middle age so many of them were on some kind of medication and or diabetes related diet I decided I needed a sugar quest.

Out went cane and beet sugars and in came an exploration that continues from one fun meet up to another.

Chocolate cakes is a favorite of our little group so it was one of the first to get my radical make over. I won't recount the epic fails that dogged my trials until this recipe emerged.

Needless to say Yacon syrup on it's own was an expensive mistake; but it did teach me that you have to get to know your sugars - the ones right under your nose - and learn how they mingle best. On a note of caution. This is a little labour intensive as we do use some whole fruits.

I love medjoul dates. A couple on their own take me to my happy place. For this recipe however I soon learnt that three is really enough for our needs.

The other must have is white mulberry. I buy them in bulk from my favourite health food retailer so they were already to hand for my experiments.

Cacoa butter is not a sugar but my chocolate cakes would be lost without it. After much tasty experimenting I finally settled on about 2 oz roughly cut to 3 oz of mulberries and the three dates. I chuck everything in the blender mixing to a coarse paste.

That is when I add my yacon syrup. For chocolate cakes I use the syrup with the orange flavour note, as they are so very much in harmony in the final bake.

 This is the point where I turn my mixture out to the mixing bowl and revert to normal cake making. I cream the mixture with butter, dairy or coconut depending on the audience. I separate two large eggs and add the yoke. (I use ground flaxseed and nut milk beaten to a smooth paste for an egg free alternative, add half and reserve the rest)

I like to add the grated rind and juice from an orange, vanilla essence and a pinch of salt with 3 dessertspoons of cacoa powder

and a handful of raw cacoa nibs. The egg whites  whisked to a stiff peak is gently mixed in (or second half of flaxseed mix for the non dairy version)  followed by flour and baking soda and the mix looks similar to any sugar fat mix. 

Spooned into paper cases then baked in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 190 and we have a light delicious cake.

For the topping I use the juice of a large orange to which I add sorghum and yacon

syrups and raw cacoa powder. Keeping on a low heat I mix continually till it coats the back of a spoon.

I coat the cupcakes generously ending with a beautifully shiny and delicious chocolate temptation to rival any made with conventional cane and beet sugar. 

Ice Cream - Another Way

One of my favourite treats summer or winter is a rich creamy homemade ice cream.

Until ten years ago this as often as not meant double cream, eggs and demerara sugar. 

Since then my ice-cream remains moorishly creamy and delicious but now it is a yummy concoction of raw ingredients mostly using homemade coconut milk as the base ingredient. I have used other base milks such as almond, brazil and even cashew and macadamia but find coconut most cost effective and more able to 'disappear' under other flavours.

Whether it is a an indulgent cherry from our own harvest or my guilty pleasures of chocolate or mango, our ice cream goes as fast as family and friends can get their hands on it.

This week's task was to replace the ever popular chocolate flavour and make a small experimental batch of coconut and Lucuma.

Task one is making the milk. I used to use young or jelly coconuts but in my opinion they are both more expensive and less versatile than dry coconuts as l also use

the milk to make my non dairy yoghurt that is an essential part of our cheese making.

 Dry coconuts can be anything from £1 for 3, to 80p for one in London UK, depending on where you buy. Even when slightly stale in places they are perfectly usable by cutting and peeling away the discolouration down to white flesh like we had to do with one of the 3 we bought from our local supermarket. Coconuts in my experience, often go bad gradually and by using sight and taste you can salvage a goodly amount.

Once down to white flesh and sound rind we cut the flesh into chunks and put one coconut

into a blender with a litre of spring/mineral water (filtered tap water is equally acceptable).  We have a Vitamix but when we use an ordinary blender we always heat the water to prevent the coconut cream congealing and sticking to the bowl. .

We strain through a muslin cloth before returning the liquid to the bowl and

repeating the process with the second and subsequent coconuts. The milk becomes creamier with each additional coconut and refrigerating at this stage creates a thick cream.

We use 3 coconuts for an ice cream with cacao butter and 4 for other flavours.

After all the coconuts have gone through the liquid, the volume will have increased considerably.

When making our favourite chocolate ice cream we add cacoa butter and blend into the liquid after taking out milk for yughort.

To this we add 3 heaped dessertspoons of cacao powder and

 vanilla essence to suit

 The main sweetener we use is always a matter for debate. My daughter insists chocolate ice cream must have coconut sugar on the

grounds that apart from yacon, it is the only sugar we use in our chocolate making. My daughter always win.

So as usual we added coconut sugar and yacon syrup leaving me to experiment with rosehip and dates in the coconut and Lucuma flavour I have been trying to perfect.

A sprinkle of black salt brings the mixture

alive and after blending together we pour into a container and pop into the freezer. (or chill and use a ice-cream maker if you have one.)

Several hours of freezing creates a slushy consistency. We take the mixture from the freezer and mix vigorously with a folk to break up ice crystals and make the later stage easier.

 Once frozen it is a lovely thing to eat, but

 putting the ice through the high speed

blender (a basic food processor is equally effective) transforms our mix from tasty to beautifully creamy and luxuriant whatever 

flavour mix we created. 

Meal in a Hurry - Quick Noodles with Veg & Tofu

A friend who have started reading my blog asked 'why don't you do whole blogs on the preparing of some actual meals using the ingredients you grow and make? I thought that was a fair request as it might balance all the time spent on growing and making with time saved in cooking.

Of course, not everything we cook and eat are home grown or made and most of our meals have a bought element. For me, the decision to buy or to grow depends on cost effectiveness as well as practicality. For instance, why grow mushrooms when organic ones are so reasonably priced, organic onions are cheap to buy and free up much needed growing space and I am no noodle maker but I do love to consume them.

Today was a busy day so a good one to record a quick meal from predominantly pre-made ingredients. We choose a tofu, mushroom noodle dish.

In a pan we sautéed sliced onions and shredded oyster mushrooms in rapeseed oil, we added a dessert spoon full of yacon syrup and a sprinkle of black salt.

We added homemade tofu and browned on both sides before turning down the heat.

We popped in three sliced chestnut mushrooms and left to simmer while prepping the rest of the ingredients.

We make a range of non-dairy seed and nut cheeses for home use and this sprouted sunflower seed and seaweed type goes particularly well with tofu. Slicable and gratable it also blends beautifully with other ingredients.

This chilli is a cross between sweet wrinkled old man and padron we have been growing for 9 years. Sweet and hot it packs a big flavour punch.

After grating 2 generous slices of cheese and slicing up the chilli we tossed them into the pan

then added 5 pre-prepared leaves of Chayote squash reserving the juice. (we prep these in batches, store the liquid in the fridge then either refrigerate or dry and store the leaves in a airtight jar so readily available)

Finally a dozen of my favorite black Aztec cherry tomatoes and the juice from the squash leaves. We simmered for a few minutes before adding fine ribbon noodles.

Quick delicious, nutritious and less than 20 minutes in the making.

Figs and leaves

By now it is no secret that I am always looking for more yield from everything I grow and figs are no exception to this rule.

I love to cook with, as well as in, leaves of many plants and fig leaves are my favourite wrap for imparting flavours and elevating the simplest ingredients. Stick a couple in the pot while steaming rice, then discard after use, but see how much that simple step elevate that humble dish.

Like most little known ingredients fig leaves can be freely obtained by asking tree owners if you can harvest some.

But first a word of warning!

When cut, the ends of the leaf stem and immature fruits exudes a milky latex like sap that is NOT edible and is actually an irritant.

This is not immediately obvious if like the fig on the left it is harvested without a wound. We simply cut the top and leave to bleed out and after several minutes we are good to go.

Two similar sized fig leaves interlaced makes a decent surface for a filling.

My favourite fig leaf parcel is a mushroom onion and homemade non-dairy cheese. It is simple and quick.  

We caremalise a large onion in rapeseed oil. 

We combine with mushrooms, garlic, a mild aji chilli finely diced,  a spoonful of yacon syrup, rosehip or both.

Mix in cheese and wrap the parcel, then pop in a hot oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

I find the aromas a treat in itself even before the parcels open.

Our favourite combo is to pair the parcels with oatmeal and flaxseed buttermilk pancakes. When vegan friends visit we make these with a homemade nut milk instead.

Our fig tree has been truly productive this year. Despite the drought which caused

some early fruit drop it is still yielding it's sweet bounty. I love eating and cooking with figs. However as the harvest winds towards it's ending the question is what to do with the immature fruits.

Too late to reach maturity, leaving them on put unnecessary strain on the tree as they are too large to successfully overwinter.

I can't bear to compost them instead I boil them in a yacon and agave mix with a handful of deseeded rosehips until they are a sticky gooey delight that last as long as willpower will allow. They are as much at home with raw home made ice cream, as a filling for homemade chocolate or chopped into a chilli or a curry.

These stewed figs are a favorite with family and friends and only get better with age. The longest I have managed to keep a jar was two years, unfortunately once opened it disappeared in minutes.

So as the main cropping season wind down and we continue with our autumn planting I am already planning the winter treats we can enjoy with the young fig harvest.