Happy Independence Day

Independence Day is a big event around here, with lots of nostalgia. I met my husband 27 years ago on the 4th of July, and he proposed 14 years later... on the 4th of July. Moral of the story...choose carefully who your kids spend their time with...even when they are 8! This dairy-free and egg-free flag cake is a revision on my mother-in-law's traditional cake, and I think it may rival the original!

The cake is a double batch of the Shuna Fish Lydon's caramel cake, baked in two small jelly roll pans ( 9 x 12). You could bake it in a big jelly roll pan, but the center might not set as well, and you'd have to serve it out of the pan as it would probably break while removing it. I love this cake recipe. It is very dense, like a pound cake, due to the true butter cake technique of creaming butter and sugar and then alternating additions of flour and milk. The caramel syrup is what makes this so wonderful. It gives it a subtle, buttery flavor. I'm not one to lick beaters, but the batter is that good. The frosting is dairy-free cream cheese, which works quite well with the sweet cake. If you missed making this for 4th of July, don't fret, you can still make one to take to your next local anti-tax Tea Party.

Flag Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/2 sticks dairy-free margarine ( I used Fleischman's Unsalted Margarine)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Caramel Syrup (recipe below)
4 Ener-G egg replacers whipped until thick (I use an immersion blender)
Splash of vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cup plain soymilk thickened with 2 T. cider vinegar


Preheat oven to 350F
Line two small jelly roll pans with parchment, and spray well with cooking spray.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream margarine until smooth.
2. Add sugar and salt, cream until light and fluffy. This takes forever, I'm not kidding.
3. Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl.
4. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add egg replacers and vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.
5. Sift flour and baking powder together.
6. Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the flour mixture.
7. When Incorporated, add half of the soymilk, a little at a time.
8. Add another third of the flour, then the other half of the soymilk and finish with the flour. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}
9. Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform.

Divide batter among the two pans. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from pan to a cooling rack as soon as you can, if it sits in the pan for too long, it gets really soggy. Cool cake completely before frosting.

Caramel Syrup

Sugar and water...this stuff is simply magical

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water 1 cup water for "stopping"

1. In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand.
2. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush.
3. Turn on heat to highest flame.
4. Cook until rich amber. You can test the color by dabbing a bit on a white plate.
5. When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and prepared to step back.
6. Whisk over medium heat until it the sugar is dissolved and the syrup has reduced slightly. It should be the sticky thickness of maple syrup or warm honey. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Dairy-Free Cream Cheese Frosting

1 tub Tofutti cream cheese (4 ounces, or 1/4 cup), softened
1 stick dairy-free margarine, softened( I use Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine)
1 t. vanilla extract
5 cups powdered sugar

1.) Cream the Tofutti and margarine together with a hand mixer.
2.) Add the vanilla and enough powdered sugar to make the frosting as thick as you want.

BBQ Season!

My favorite summer meal of childhood is still the same today: barbecued chicken legs, mashed potatoes and steamed Michigan asparagus.  It must be genetic because my kids love it too.  We're all a sticky mess afterwards, but it is fun!  

I have a pretty strict "no store-bought condiment' rule in the fridge.  Ketchup, Dijon mustard and mayo are the exceptions but no bottled salad dressings, no dips, no sauces, no marinades.  I think the habit is 1/3 Midwest frugal, 1/3 space-issue in the fridge and 1/3 'I can do better than Kraft'.  Once you've made your own barbecue sauce, you'll never go back to the bottle.   

Have a great 4th of July!

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1 T. brown sugar

2 T. cider vinegar

2 T. Dijon mustard

2 T. canola oil

2 T. honey

2 t. dry mustard

1 t. paprika

1 t. garlic powder 

1 t. onion powder 

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. cayenne

Mix everything up in a small bowl and use it as you please. If you're planning to brush this on your chicken, reserve a bit out for serving at the table. 

Once in a Blue Moon

Blue Moon ice cream is a Midwest favorite among kids, and has a cult-like following among adults as well.  When I was growing up, the chance to actually pick Blue Moon for my cone came along just about as often as a Blue Moon.  With four kids and lots of dribbly cones to manage, my parents limited us to flavors they actually wanted to lick.  I'm probably the only kid to who truly believed that Butter Pecan, Chocolate Almond, Carmel Cashew and Butter Brickle were better than Superman, Bubble Gum, Black Cherry and Blue Moon.  

 Given the very adult flavors of soy ice cream on the shelves, I started seeing the same parenting pattern evolve here as well. "Don't worry kiddo, chocolate and vanilla really are the best flavors...so many possibilities for embellishment..."  Well, today I took matters into my own hands, plucked up some tastebud courage and tasted...really tasted...the Blue Moon ice cream.  The flavor is a bit hard to describe, but it is not fruity like I expected.  It's kinda bland, sweet, with a little almond, nutmeg and faint lemon...and very blue.  This dairy-free and egg-free Blue Moon  recipe is based loosely on one by Laura at the Organizing Junkie. (The post was sent to me by a friend.  I'm not a follower of her blog, in fact, I'm a complete Fly Lady flunk-out from the words 'shiny sink'.) 

 I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker which works great.  It's probably worth buying one.  If you use it 5 times, you've spent as much on the equivalent amount in Tofutti pints...but the big blue grins alone would sell me anyway!

 

Blue Moon Ice Cream for Everyday Use

2 cups soymilk (plain or vanilla)

2 cups mini marshmallows or 16 big ones

1/3 cup sugar

3 T. oil ( I used avocado, canola would be fine)

1 teaspoon vanilla (skip this if you used vanilla milk)

a pinch of nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon lemon oil

Blue food coloring ( I used Wilton gel icing color in sky blue)

In a big bowl, microwave marshmallows, sugar and 1 cup of soymilk until the marshmallows are melted.  This takes about 1 to 2 minutes, 30 seconds at a time.  Whisk in the other cup of soymilk and oil.  Put it in the fridge (or freezer) until cool.  When cool, whisk in the flavorings and enough blue to do the job.  Freeze in your ice cream maker and enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

There is no better way to start summer vacation than with a fresh strawberry rhubarb pie!  I could happily go with straight rhubarb, but the little ones in the house appreciated the sweetness of the strawberries.  This will be my first posting of the basic dairy-free pie crust I use all the time.  The recipe is a piece of American culinary history, as it came straight out of my 1939 copy of Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.  Depression-era cookbooks are an absolute treasure of dairy and egg-free recipes. If crust making seems too daunting, you can use Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts...something I do a bit more often than I'd like to admit. 

The filling is adapted from epicurious.  If it seems like your berries and rhubarb are particularly juicy, you can add a few more tablespoons of cornstarch or Minute tapioca.  I like tapioca a bit more because too much cornstarch as a thickener starts to taste gloppy and corny. Serve this up with a big scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

3 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb, 1/2 inch thick slices ( 1 1/2 pound bunch, untrimmed)

16 ounce package of strawberries, hulled and halved

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 c. cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1.) Make the dough first, then work on the filling while the dough chills in the refrigerator...unless you're thinking, fresh pie is good enough for today, and you're using a Pillsbury crust.  Then just start making the filling while the crust warms up on your counter. 

2.) Mix all the filling ingredients together and let them sit while you roll out the crust.

3.) Pre-heat oven to 400.

4.) Roll half the dough out and make the pie base.  Dump in the filling.  Roll out the other half and make the little lattice top and crimp around the edges.   I do a "cheaters lattice", where the crust isn't interwoven.  The pieces are just lined up at an angle.  Dairy-free crust is very soft and breakable and any messing around causes the crust to crumble in your hands.  I actually really hate the crust rolling part.  I've made zillions of pies and it still gives me heartburn.   Brush with water and sprinkle with sugar.

5.) Place the pie on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  The pie will bubble over, so be prepared.

6.) Bake for 20 minutes at 400, then decrease the heat to 350 and bake for another 1 hour and 20 minutes or so. If it starts to brown too quickly (and it will), place some foil over the whole pie loosely.  The pie is done when it starts to bubble towards the center.  If it is just bubbling at the edges, it is not done in the center, so keep baking. 

7.) Cool before eating, it thickens as it cools. 

Basic Dairy-Free Double Pie Crust

3 cups flour

1 cup shortening, sliced into chunks and frozen

1 teaspoon salt

1 T. sugar

Ice water (about 6-8 Tablespoons)

1.) I'm lazy, and crust stresses me out.  I use a food processor.  If you have a pastry cutter and know how to use it, you're probably better at pie making that I, so you can figure out how to adapt.

2.) Dump the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and give it a few pulses to mix things up.

3.) Dump in half of the sliced shortening. Give it 8 short pulses.

4.) Dump in the rest of the shortening.  Give it another 8 pulses.

5.)  Spoon in 6 Tablespoons of ice water, give it another 8 pulses.  Test the dough by pinching a bit of it together.  If it seems really crumbly or dry and looks like it might hassle you while rolling it out, add the other 2 T. of water and give a few more pulses.

6.) Divide into two blobs, wrap in plastic wrap, form into a nice disk and refrigerate until you want to use it or at least an hour. 

Some pie crust advice that might help your pastry-induced anxieties:  The dough is sticky. Your life will be better if you roll it out between two sheets of plastic wrap.  If you try use a lot of flour, the dough will get dry and tough.  The dough is crumbly.  Just do your best when transferring to the pie pan, pinch the dough to patch up holes. The dough doesn't taste like much (no butter!!).  Keep it thin and the fruit flavor will shine through. The dough likes to burn.  After the crust has baked a while and is starting to turn golden, set a piece of foil over the whole thing.  Don't crimp it or anything.  Just a straight piece over top.

Apple Strudel with Caramel Sauce

There is a battle going on in my kitchen regarding the Strudel Theme Song.  One kid says that Mary Poppins sings about it in the thunderstorm and one kid says the Larry the Cucumber sings about it when he has the blues. I'm not even going to try to sort it out.  "Stop arguing and eat your strudel" definitely goes on the list of things I'd never thought I'd say.

This month's Daring Baker Challenge is Apple Strudel.  In addition to being pretty close to an adult version of play-dough, it was super easy to adapt to be dairy, egg and nut-free.  I really enjoyed it!  I can't wait for Michigan cherry season to make a cherry strudel! 

 The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Making the Strudel

 Apple Strudel

from "Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague" by Rick Rodgers

Strudel Dough

1 1/3 cups unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 Tablespoons water

2 Tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1.) Combine flour and salt in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup.  Add the water and oil mixture to the mixer on low speed.  Once the dough forms, switch to the dough hook and knead for 5-7 minutes and a soft ball forms. 

2.) Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 30-90 minutes.  Your life will be easier if you relax and wait 90 minutes.  Make the filling while the dough rests.

Apple Filling

2 pounds tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch slices.

1-2 Tablespoons brandy or golden rum (optional)

3 Tablespoons golden raisins, (chopped if you're trying to hide them from your kids)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon flour

A few pinches of salt

1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs ( I used Real Lovin' Breadcrumbs)

3 T. dairy-free margarine (I used Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine)

1.) Mix the top set of apple ingredients together in a large bowl, then set to work on the breadcrumbs.

2.) Melt the butter in a skillet and add the breadcrumbs.  Cook over medium high heat for 3 minutes or so, or until the bread starts smelling toasted.  Set crumbs aside. 

Making the Strudel

1.) Preheat oven to 375. 

2.) Find a nice big table that you can walk around and cover it with a clean, lightweight cotton tablecloth.  Sprinkle the tablecloth  generously with flour.

3.) Slowly and gently pull the dough into a big rectangle.  When it starts getting too big to handle, set it on the tablecloth and keep stretching.  If the dough starts to fight back, walk away and give it time.  Through a combination of pulling and rolling with a pin, you should eventually have a tissue-paper thin dough that is about 2 feet by 3 feet.  Trim the edges (they will be a bit thick).

4.) Melt another 4 Tablespoons of margarine and spread it over the dough.  A pastry brush was too rough on the thin dough, so I ended out covering my palms with margarine and patting the dough all over.

5.) Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the dough.

6.) Dump the apple filling about 4 inches from the short end of the rectangle and shape it.

7.) Now the rolling begins! Start by pulling the first edge over top of the filling and then using the tablecloth, carefully roll the whole thing up!  Seal the edges, brush the top with margarine and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

8.) Bake for 40 minutes, let cool for 30 minutes before cutting. 

Dairy-Free Caramel Sauce

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1 cup plain soy creamer

1.) Heat the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan to a slow boil without stirring. Wash down any sugar crystals that form on the side of the pan with a pastry brush and water. Heat until the sugar forms a golden brown color, swirling around the pan occasionally. 

2.) Remove from heat and dump in the soy creamer.  Watch out, it will sputter and spurt.

3.) Return to heat, mixing well to dissolve all the lumps.  Let it come to a full rolling boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Cool to room temp before serving. 

I'll let you determine your own Strudel Theme Song.

A Hot Fudge Education

Summer is almost upon us and even though ice cream is a year-round (almost daily) thing for us...summer is a perfect excuse to eat more! I was a bit appalled at my parenting lapse when neither of my girls had any idea what a "hot fudge sundae" could possibly be. Well, I fixed that today...and my house smells so good!

There are three different recipes for dairy-free chocolate sauce here, depending on your chocolate tastes and what you have in your pantry. The first is a chocolate syrup, nearly identical to Hershey's syrup, and much cheaper than $6 Ahlaska Chocolate Syrup. It is perfect for mixing with soymilk or rice milk to make your own chocolate milk and it lasts for quite a while in the fridge. The second is thick, dark and glossy. It reminds me of Sander's Fudge Topping, and this was the girls' favorite. The third is an adaptation of my mom's hot fudge recipe, substituting coconut milk for the evaporated milk. This is more of a "milk chocolate" sauce and is thinner than the second recipe. This was the favorite of the adults in the house, but we've also had gallons of my mom's hot fudge over Schwann's Peppermint Stick ice cream through the years...I guess we're a bit set in our hot fudge ways.

Oh, the "ice cream" is SoDelicious and the whipped cream is Rich's Whip in my new cream whipper!

Dairy-Free Chocolate Syrup (like Hershey's Syrup)

adapted from the Hillbilly Housewife

1/2 cup dairy and nut-free cocoa powder ( I used Nestle)
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1.) Mix water, cocoa, sugar and salt in a 2 quart saucepan over high heat.
2.) Whisk until everything dissolves and then bring to a full boil, stirring occasionally.
3.) Reduce heat and boil for a full 3 minutes, make sure it doesn't boil over!
4.) Remove from heat and stir in the salt and vanilla.
5.) Allow to cool and then pour into a pint-sized canning jar, or an old cleaned-out Hershey's squeeze bottle. 

Store in the fridge for a month or two.

Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Sauce

Adapted from epicurious, so it's their fault that you get every single measuring cup messy!

2/3 cup plain soymilk
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dairy-free and nut-free cocoa powder ( I used Nestle)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dairy-free and nut-free chocolate chips (I used Divvies)
2 Tablespoons dairy-free margarine (This is probably optional, I used Fleischmann's Unsalted Margarine)

1.) Bring soymilk, corn syrup, sugar, cocoa, salt and half the chocolate chips to a boil in a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the chocolate is melted.
2.) Reduce heat and cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
3.) Remove from heat and stir in the remaining chocolate, vanilla and the margarine (if you are using it) until smooth.

Makes about 2 cups, keeps refrigerated for 1 week.

Dairy-Free Milk Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce

Adapted from my mom

1 can coconut milk (14 ounce)
1/4 cup (make it heaping) dairy and nut-free cocoa powder (I used Nestle)
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

1.) Bring everything to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat.

2.) Reduce heat and cook at a low boil for 5 minutes.

 Store refrigerated for 1 week.

Losing my faith...

...In the American Academy of Pediatrics that is.  Am I the only one who thinks we (doctors) may have it all wrong?  I found my baby book, which my mother filled in faithfully in a way reserved for the first born child.  My first response when I read the feeding page was shock.  MOM!  You fed me cereal when I was 5 days old,  formula when I was a week old, egg at 4 months, ice cream at 6 months! Were you crazy!!  My mom just shrugged and said "that's what we were told to do...and there were a lot less food allergies back then."  

  Up until a year ago,  the AAP feeding mantra went like this " Exclusively breastfeed for 6 months, then introduce solids slowly, continue nursing until a year, wait until then to introduce eggs and cow's milk, no nuts or fish until age 3."  Now, the AAP seems as confused as anyone else and retracting all the promises that delayed solids could prevent food allergy.  

The dark questions in my mind are, "Has all this advice on delaying solids actually caused the epidemic of food allergy we are now seeing? Has the advice for allergic kids to religiously avoid allergens led to the observation that this generation is outgrowing their food allergies later than previous generations? " 

Anecdotally, it makes sense to me.  The "good" parents who follow all the "feeding rules", end out with the rashy and allergic kids.  The parents who just wing it, feeding solids way early, little tastes of table food here and there...tend to do fine. The "good" parents faithfully avoid milk after a positive skin test shows their child's eczema is due to milk allergy... then much later, their previously non-anaphylactic kid anaphylaxes from an accidental exposure.  The "bad" parents get the same diagnosis for the same rashy kid, but don't fully remove milk from the diet.  The kid stays a bit rashy, but doesn't ever anaphylax with accidental exposures.   

For now, I keep repeating the AAP feeding mantra to the new parents...but with a lot less conviction. For now, when a RAST test on a rashy kid comes back positive, I recommend avoidance.  But I wish I could say "keep feeding the allergen and we'll just treat the eczema" , or better yet, I try to talk parents out of testing altogether so we can just treat the skin without stressing about the cause.   All the exciting research in food allergy seems to be focusing on prevention through early introduction of allergens or in the arena of tolerance through increased exposure. In the next few years, I would not be surprised to see my mom's feeding regimen vindicated by science.