Sticky Rice (black and white) with Mango - the Modern Way

Black Thai Glutinous/Sticky Rice and Mango

White Thai Glutinous/Sticky Rice and Mango

I have been playing with glutinous/sticky rice (they are also called sweet rice) in my kitchen.  I am using my favorite rice cooker to cook the sticky rice.  I just love cooking sweet/sticky rice this way, the modern way, because traditionally, cooking sticky rice is a long process. The traditional way of cooking it is explained: here and here which involves rinsing, soaking (for 6-8 hours), and steaming for 45 minutes.  That's how I used to cook them.  Due to the steps involved I seldom cook them.

After acquiring the 'best in the world' rice cooker with induction cooking and Neuro Fuzzy logic that has the SWEET rice setting, the traditional cooking method is thrown out of the window.  It is so EASY cooking rice:  measure and rinse rice, put them in the rice cooker, add water (measure accordingly), and push button.  Basically, I can have sticky rice anytime I want without the planning and soaking them before hand.  If you don't have the fancy rice cooker, cooking it the traditional way is the way.

My favorite rice cooker

This kind of Thai dessert, sticky rice and mango, is popular in Thai restaurants in my area.  Restaurants can charge from $5.95 to $6.95 per plate.  However, you can be the judge on how cheap and easy it is to make it at home.  The white sticky rice and mango is what restaurants usually serve.  However, I believe that the black one is more nutritious.  Therefore, I presented both kinds  in this blog.  I prefer the black one which is more chewy and grainy.  The black rice is more of a dark purple since it is a combination of the black and white sticky rice together.

The other reason for blogging this dessert now is because Champagne/Ataulfo mango is in season.  Champagne mango is my favorite kind of mango.  The ingredients listed below can be found in Asian market.

From top left to right, clockwise:  Coconut oil (I used Trader Joe's), Aroy-D coconut milk for DESSERT, Champagne/Ataulfo mango, Thai white sweet/sticky/glutinous rice(black rice is not shown), split mung beans, and defrosted pandan leaves.

White or Black Sticky Rice with Mango
Serve 6

Printable Recipe

White Sticky Rice:
1 1/2 cups white Thai glutinous/sticky/sweet rice (2 rice cooker cups)
1/4 tsp. salt
3-4 Pandan leaves (4-inches long) or 1/2 to 1 tsp. pandan extract
1 tsp. coconut oil
water

Black Sticky Rice:
3/4 cup white Thai glutinous/sticky/sweet rice (1 rice cooker cup)
3/4 cup black Thai glutinous/sticky/sweet rice (1 rice cooker cup
Note: for  softer black rice, soak in water for 6-8 hours.
1/4 tsp. salt
3-4 Pandan leaves (4-inches long) or 1/2 to 1 tsp. pandan extract
1 tsp. coconut oil
water
Note: rice cooker cup means the small plastic cup that comes with the rice cooker.  Pandan leaves can be found in the frozen section in Asian market.  Pandan extract also can be found in Asian markets.

Coconut Milk Sauce:
1 can (14 oz) thick coconut milk for DESSERT (it says in the can)
Note:  coconut cream can be use and add water to thin it out.
1/2 tsp. + a dash kosher salt  or 3/4 tsp. table salt
1/3 cup sugar (use only 4 tablespoons for less sweet)
3-4 Pandan leaves (4-inches long) or 1/2 to1 tsp. pandan extract
1 Tbsp. Tapioca Flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water
Note: tapioca flour is the best for this sauce, other thickening agent is not recommended.

Crunchy Mung Bean topping:
2-3 Tbsp. Split Mung Beans (Moong Dal), soak in water until soft, about 1 hour
1/2 tsp oil

6 ripe Champagne/Ataulfo Mango

Cooking rice:

1. Rinse the rice (mix white and black for the black sticky rice) using a bowl, each time stir in fresh water and  then drain them  in a colander.  Do this 3-4 times.
2. Put drained and rinsed rice in a rice cooker.  Pour water into the rice cooker just under the 2 line (for black rice pour in more water on the 2 line).  
3. Add salt, pandan leaves or extract, and coconut oil.
4. Set it on the SWEET setting, push the Cooking button. 
5. Rice should be ready in 25 minutes.

Cooking Coconut Milk Sauce:

1. Put coconut milk, sugar, salt, and pandan leaves or extract in a small heavy pan, stir to mix.
2. Mix tapioca flour and water in a small bowl.  Then, mix it into the coconut milk mixture.
3. Cook on a medium low heat and continuously stirring for about 5 minutes or until the sauce coat the spoon  and sauce is thickening.  The mixture will start to boil but not hard boiled.  Take it off heat and let it cool.  Note:  Do not allow sauce to boil on stove because the coconut milk will break.

Cooking Mung Bean topping:

1. Drain split mung beans on a colander and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Heat a cast iron or non-stick pan on a medium heat stove. 
3. Add 1/2 tsp oil.  
4. Toast mung beans in oil until crispy and brown.
5. Drain on top of paper towel. Set aside.

Options in assembling the rice dessert:

1. Once the rice is cooked and still warm, pour 1/3 to 2/3 cups of coconut milk sauce into the rice and mix.  Another option is to add more sugar into the warm rice.  You can sweeten it up to your liking.  However, remember that the coconut milk sauce is already sweet.
2. Serve rice warm, topped with coconut milk sauce, and mung beans topping.
3. Peel mango, cut them up, and serve next to the warm sticky rice.

Enjoy!

Vegan Yeast Doughnuts

This is a long post.  Also, I am going to the dark side with this post, to the unhealthy world:  Vegan Doughnuts!  Is it spelled doughnut or donut?  Does it matter?  I will use both spellings.   I posted some pictures of these doughnuts in fb a while back and my vegan friend asked me to blog the recipes.  I don't usually eat doughnut and haven't been for a long long time since it is not available readily for us vegans.  I really try to eat healthy vegan food so it is good that it is not easy to get this unhealthy but delicious morsel.
 
I am talking about yeast doughnut instead of the cake doughnut.  You know that there is a difference, right?  My favorite is the yeast kind.  I've been to Ronald's Donut and Voodo Doughnut , shops who sell this kind of donuts. They are really really good but thank goodness they are really really far away. I also prefer the deep fried kind.  Sorry, if it is not deep fried it is not a doughnut to me.   I don't usually eat deep fried food, not daily, but once a while I will eat deep fried food and enjoy it.   If it is baked, the yeast doughnut is called bread in the shape of doughnut.  For the cake doughnut, if it is baked, then, it is really cake in the shape of doughnut.  This is just my opinion.  If I want to eat doughnut then I prefer the deep fried one.  Someone will ask me if these can be baked.  Yes, but then it is bread.   They can be baked in 375F for 25 minutes until golden brown.  The sugar will not stick to the baked doughnut so I sprayed or dipped the doughnuts into coconut oil or vegan butter before I sprinkle them with sugar.  Below is a picture of baked Bombolini, an Italian donut filled with vegan custard and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Baked Bombolini, an Italian donut style

This recipe came about after I learned making bread recently.  I perused many different sweet bread recipes and tried to imagine which one would be good for doughnuts.   I also tried different ways of replacing eggs in sweet bread and this one seems to be the perfect way for doughnuts. After trying and changing a few ingredients and measurements, I came up with this recipe below.  I have been really satisfied with the result.  The doughnuts melt in my mouth and so very soft and light.

I would like to share some tips and suggestions about the ingredients first so you'll know what I use:

1. About the yeast: After learning baking bread, I have been using SAF Instant Yeast and bought it in 1 lb package from Amazon.  The instant yeast is easy to use because it doesn't need to be activated with warm water.  Basically, I just throw in the instant yeast, flour, salt, liquid together and then knead it.  No fuss with mixing it with warm water at all.
2. About the flour:  I use Unbleached All Purpose flour.  King Arthur is supposed to be the best for making bread but it is hard to find in my area and if I find it, it is very expensive.  I use Bob's Red Mill organic kind and it's good.  After learning making bread, please, please, weigh the flour for measuring instead of using a cup measuring.  For accuracy, this is the way to do it since measuring flour by cup-measuring tool is not as accurate due to your environment (dry or humid air, etc.).
3. About the coconut oil:  I am trying not to use products with palm oil in it so I came up with this Organic Virgin Coconut oil from Trader Joe's.  I love it.
4. About temperature:  Please make sure that all ingredients are at room temperature.  Do not refridgerate ingredients before hand.  If it is cold, let it out at a room temperature before mixing.
5. Planning:  It takes about 12 hours or more to develop the dough.  Planning is really important.  I  prepared the dough on a weekend day and shape the doughnut early in the morning the next day.  Meanwhile while waiting for the dough to be ready, I prepared the glazes, the filling, and the topping ingredients.

Vegan Yeast Doughnut
Makes 1 dozen doughnuts and more than 1 dozen doughnut holes

Ingredients:
280g or 10 oz. Unbleached All Purpose Flour (about 2 cups, but please use a food scale to weigh the flour)
3 Tbsp. vegan sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt (fine texture)
1 Tbsp. Instant Yeast
1/2 cup coconut milk  (from a can or fresh)
3 Tbsp. Organic Virgin Coconut Oil (it is solid kind)

Egg replacement:
1 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1/2 cup water (at room temperature)

Grapeseed oil or Safflower oil for high heat for deep frying (abou 6-9 cups, depending on the size of the pot)

1. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small pot (2-cup) and use a whisk, combine it together, vigorously, until all the cornstarch is mixed and not lumpy.  It will be smooth and the color of milk (opague).
2. Cook it on top of medium high heat.  Use the whisk, keep stirring, until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.  When it starts to boil, turn down the heat to simmer and let it simmered for about 1-2 minuts until the color is not chalky or opague anymore but resembles the texture and color of glue.
3. Let it cool in the pot.

Kneading the dough:
I prefer to use a mixer with a dough hook.

1. Into a mixer bowl (with the dough hooks attached), add the cooled cornstarch mixure above, coconut milk, flour, sugar, sea salt,  and instant yeast.  Turn on the machine to knead for about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the solid coconut oil and let the machine knead and mix for another 7 minutes.  The dough should be smooth and not sticking to the side of the bowl.  If there are remnants of dough sticking to the side, it means that there is not enough flour, add a little bit more flour until the dough is combined and kneaded.
3. The dough should be smooth to the touch and NOT STICKY but soft.
4. Shape the dough into a ball and put it in an oily bowl (use oil spray lightly on the inside of the bowl).  Cover with a saran wrap to prevent drying out and let it sit at a room temperature for about 1 hour.
5. After 1 hour,  the dough should rise a little bit.
6. Refridgerate the dough in the bowl, covered, for at least 12 hours (or up to 18 hours) before starting to shape doughnuts. 

Shaping doughnuts:

1. Prepare several sheet pans covered with silpat, parchment paper, or saran wrap and dust lightly with flour.
2. Take out dough from the fridge.  At this time, the dough is firm and cold, almost the same as pie pastry.  Use warm hands to knead it on a floured cutting board and then use a rolling pin to flatten it and rolled it down to 12-inch diameter and about 1/4-inch thick (just like preparing pie crust).  Using a doughnut cutter or your own invention of a cutter(see picture below), cut the dough into doughnut shape, saving the holes, lay the doughnuts onto the prepared sheet pans.
3. Re-knead the dough scraps by shaping them into a ball and use the rolling pin to flatten again. Roll it down to a smaller diameter and about 1/4 inch thick.  Repeat again until finish.
4. Another option is to cut the dough into bars.
5. Let the doughnut dough rise for about 1 1/2 hour in a warm place.  Cover with linen towels to prevent drying out.

Using a drink shaker, I cut the dough for the large circle.

Then, use the top for the small circle.  Voila!

Frying the doughnuts:

1. Prepare sheet pans with a lot of paper towel on it (may use brown supermarket bag underneath it to absorb more oil).
2. Using a heavy cast iron pot, heat oil into 375F (use a frying thermometer).
3. Deep fry each donut about 1 minute, flipping to the other side, until golden brown.  Do not over crowd it by frying 2-3 doughnuts at a time.  Deep fry doughnut holes about 5 at a time.
4. Keep oil heated up to 375F at all time.  If the temperature goes down, wait a few minutes until it goes up again.
5. Place the fried doughnuts on the the prepared sheet pans and let the oil absorbed.
6. Glaze, fill, top, and enjoy!  Unfortunately, these doughnuts will not keep for the next day.  They are best to be consumed in the same day.  Donut shops make donuts everyday.

Glazing, filling, and topping doughnuts:
The glaze, filling, and toppings make doughnuts better, for sure.  It is best to glaze, sprinkle with sugar, and top the doughnuts while they are still warm.  However, it is best to insert the filling when they are already sprinkled with sugar and that they are cooled.  For custard filled chocolate bars, it is best to fill first then glaze the donuts.   Below are a few tips and recipes.  Each type of glaze and filling are good for 1 dozen donuts so please select one type of glaze for the recipe above or make half a recipe.

Sugar Glaze (enough to glaze 1 dozen donuts and their holes):
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 to 3 Tbsp. non-dairy milk
1 tsp. clear almond or vanilla extract, optional
Mix powdered sugar with non-dairy milk 1 tablesspoon at a time.  Add the extract, if using.  After 2 tablespoon of liquid, check the consistency, it should be thick and coat a spoon.  If it is too thick, add more liquid 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.

Maple Glaze(enough to glaze 1 dozen donuts and their holes):
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 to 3 Tbsp. non-dairy milk
1/4 - 1/2  tsp. maple extract
Mix powdered sugar with non-dairy milk 1 tablesspoon at a time. Add the extract.  After 2 tablespoon of liquid, check the consistency, it should be thick and coat a spoon. If it is too thick, add more liquid 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency.

Chocolate Glaze(enough to glaze 1 dozen donuts and their holes):
3 Tbsp. Organic Virgin Coconut oil
1/2 Tbsp. Light Corn Syrup
2 Tbsp. non-dairy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
Melt coconut oil and corn syrup in a small pot (2-cups size).  Add chocolate chips.  Use a whisk, melt and combine the ingredients together until it becomes a warm liquid.  Add the extract.  Then, add powdered sugar. Whisk and combine until it is smooth.  It is best to keep this glaze warm so I suggest to make it right before the frying of the donut.  Put it in a microwave for 30 seconds if it is drying out.

Custard Filling(enough to fill 1 dozen donut bars):
2 1/2 Tbsp. Bird's Custard Powder
3 Tbsp. vegan sugar
1 1/2 cup soy milk creamer
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Mix custard powder, sugar, and 1/2 cup of the creamer(cold) in a small pot.  Use a whisk to combine them together until mixture is not lumpy and smooth.
2. Heat the rest of the creamer in another small pot until it is hot.  Add the combined mixture from no. 1 above.  Keep stirring with a whisk until it starts to simmer and bubbly.  Turn the heat down and let it simmered while keep stirring for anothe 3-4 minutes until the mixture is thickened.
3. Take it off heat and add the extract.  Put wax or parchment paper on top and let it cool.  Refridgerate for 1-2 hours before using.
4. To fill doughnuts, pour custard into a piping bag with a large tip.  Insert a chopstick or small knife into the side of the donut to make a hole.  Pipe the custard into the donut then glaze with the chocolate glaze if making custard filled chocolate donut bars. 

Another filling suggestion:  strawberry jam and raspberry jam (without seeds).

Toppings and sprinkles:  sugar, colorful sprinkles, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, coconut bacon (homemade or Phoney Baloney Coconut Bacon), chocolate sprinkles, etc.

See my creation and combination below.  Which one is your favorite?

Chocolate frosted and topped with nuts and pearl sugar.

Maple glazed, sugar glazed, and sprinkled with sugar.

Doughnut bars: maple glazed topped with coconut bacon and chocolate glazed filled with vegan custard.

Round shaped:  sprinkled with sugar, jam filled or vegan custard filled.

Don't forget the donut holes:  glazed or sprinkled with sugar.

Vegan Boston Cream Pie with Orange Rosemary Custard Filling

Boston Cream Pie with Orange Rosemary Custard Filling

I usually don't blog desserts because I don't usually have a sweet tooth and really love salty snacks instead.  However, this time is an exception since tomorrow is someone's birthday and I challenged myself to make Vegan Boston Cream Pie.  The idea came from the cooking show The Chew where Carla Hall made a Boston Cream Pie with Orange Rosemary Custard filling.  I decided to veganize it.

Boston Cream Pie is not a pie but it is a round cake, filled with vanilla custard, and topped with chocolate ganache.  This Boston Cream Pie is not an original one.  It is one with a twist.   Instead of a vanilla cake, I made an orange flavor cake.  I also add orange flavoring to the chocolate ganache frosting.  I was especially intrigued with the idea of  'Orange Rosemary Custard' filling.  Is it going to be good?  I just got to try it. It was delicious!  DH LOVES this cake (he is the one with a sweet tooth).  He was surprised about the rosemary adding a unique flavor to the cake.  He said, "It's just a hint of rosemary!"  It really makes this cake unique and elegant.

To make the custard filling I used Bird's Imported English Dessert Mix and then add Tofutti Better than Sour Cream to make it more creamy.  I also used triple sec such as Cointreau orange liqueur, orange flavor extract, and fresh orange peels for the citrus flavoring.  Fresh rosemary is very strong and 1 sprig of it was enough to permeate the custard filling.



Ingredients used to make custard and ganache (top left, clockwise):  Bird's Imported English Dessert Mix, fresh orange, Tofutti Better than Sour Cream, Fresh Rosemary sprigs, Orange Extract, triple sec (Cointreau), vegan chocolate chips.

Vegan Boston Cream Pie with Orange Rosemary Custard Filling
Serve 12

Vegan Orange Genoise Cake
Makes 3 layers of 9-inch cakes
I made Bryanna's Vegan Lemon Genoise Cake.  I followed the 1 1/2 recipe to make 3 layers of 9-inch cake (although the original recipe: 2 layers, should be fine, too).  I changed the flavor to  orange by adding fresh grated orange rind of a large orange  instead of the lemon rind.  I used white vinegar instead of lemon juice.   I also used orange extract instead of  the lemon extract.

Vegan Orange Rosemary Custard Filling
Makes about 3 cups

2 1/2 cups soy milk
1/2 cup soy creamer
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 - 4 slices fresh orange rinds, each 3-inches long
5 Tbsp. sugar

2 pkgs/sachets  Bird's Imported English Dessert Mix

1/2 cup Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream

Additional flavoring:
1 Tbsp. grated orange rinds
1 tsp. orange flavor extract
2 Tbsp. triple sec liqueur

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium pot (without the sour cream and Imported English Dessert Mix).
2. Heat until milk started to boil and sugar is dissolved.  Turn down heat to simmer and let it simmered for 10 minutes.
3. Use a strainer, strain the flavored hot milk to remove the rosemary and rinds.  Let it cool.
4. Combine Bird's Dessert Mix and the flavored cooled milk.  Heat and stir until pudding is thickened.  Let it boil for 2-3 minutes.  Take it off heat. Let it cool in the fridge.
5. Add the additional flavoring: orange rinds, extract, and liqueur.
6. Add sour cream and combine well.  You may use a hand mixer to mix it really well and creamy.  Set it aside in the fridge until it is time to assemble the cake.

Assembling the cake:

1. Put a layer of genoise cake on a cake stand.
2. Add 1/2 of vegan orange rosemary custard filling. Spread it evenly.
3. Add another layer of genoise cake. Then add the other half of the custard filling and spread it evenly.
4. Add the final layer of genoise cake.  Set it aside in the fridge for at least half an hour before frosting.

Orange Flavored Chocolate Ganache

11-12 oz good quality vegan chocolate chips
6-7 Tbsp. soy creamer
2 Tbsp. triple sec liqueur
2 tsp. orange flavor extract
Optional: grated orange rinds ( 1 tsp.)

1. Just before the cake is ready to be frosted (after cake was assembled and sat in the fridge), in a double boiler, melt chocolate.
2. Start to add 1 tablespoon at a time of soy creamer and alternate with liqueur and orange extract until chocolate becomes a pourable sauce.
3. Pour chocolate ganache onto assembled cake and spread it evenly on top and sides of the cake.

Store assembled and frosted cake in the fridge until serving time.

Vegan Martabak Manis - Indonesian Sweet Stuffed Pancake

I seldom blog desserts but today I am blogging about veganizing Martabak Manis which is a popular Indonesian street food sweet snack/dessert.  I can translate it to English as Indonesian Sweet Stuffed Pancake.  In Indonesia it is called Martabak Manis, Martabak Bangka, or Kue Terang Bulan.  Terang Bulan is translated to English as full moon and kue means cake.    It is going to be a Super Full Moon  2012 or perigee moon of 2012 tonight (check out the bright full moon tonight) which means that the moon will be 14% larger and 30% brighter than any other full moons in 2012.  This is the reason why I veganized this snack today.

I called it pancake but it is a snack or dessert instead of a breakfast food.  Indonesians do not eat pancake in the morning, we eat it for snacks and buy it on the side of the road like how it is served as street food in this youtube video: The Making of Sweet Martabak   The video comes with the background noise of cars, motorcycles, horns honking, customers talking, etc.  It's hilarious and so real!   In the video the pancake is a large round like a full moon.  Then, fillings are added, pancake folded into half moon and cut into pieces.  It has been years since I buy street food snacks like this.  This video really brought a lot of childhood memories.

In the youtube video there are a large amount of fat (butter or margarine) that was added on top of the pancake.  This dish is not for those who are on a diet to lose weight.  It is full of fat, sugar, and eggs.   I cut down the fat by not using THAT much fat and veganized it with no eggs.  The pancake I made is also thinner because eggs were not used.  The thinner pancake does not absorb too much fat.  I also replace some of the white flour with whole wheat pastry flour.  I haven't tried it with all whole wheat pastry flour yet but I don't see any reason why it should fail.  You can see that I am trying really hard to make this snack healthier without sacrificing the flavor. 

In the youtube video, processed cheese was also added as a filling as a savory pancake.  It is unhealthy to eat processed cheese, in my opinion.   I decided not to do that nor to try to find a substitution for it.  Maybe someday I'll blog about a savory martabak, a different kind of Indonesian street food.

Every martabak manis recipe I found in the Internet uses eggs.  I replaced the eggs with EnerG Egg Replacer.  This is also a yeast pancake batter.  After the yeast is added, the batter needs to be proofed such as in proofing yeast bread.  All you need in proofing  is about 1 hour of warm temperature area in your kitchen (oven with the light on should do it) to let the yeast works its magic.

I prepared some vegan fillings/toppings for the pancake (from top left clockwise):  vegan chocolate sauce, chopped salted nuts, chopped roasted hazelnuts, and vegan Dutch chocolate sprinkles (De Ruijter brand) and vegan dulce de leche (Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe or video).

 

Vegan Martabak Manis (Indonesian Sweet Stuffed Pancake)
Makes 3 large pancakes


Batter ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
 Note:  you can use 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour and not use the whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups warm non-dairy milk (can be soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, or coconut milk)
1 tablespoon dry yeast (about 1 pkg dry yeast)
3 1/2 tablespoons vegan sugar, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 drop of yellow food coloring (an optional)

Eggs replacement ingredients:
1 tablespoon EnerG Egg Replacer
4 tablespoons water

1/4 cup vegan butter or soy margarine, melted
cooking brush

Vegan Chocolate Sauce ingredients:
Any other kind of  vegan chocolate sauce can be used as a filling or make this one.  This can be made ahead of time.

1 can (15 oz) coconut milk
1 cup and 2 tablespoons vegan powdered sugar
3 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa powder

1.  Sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder together with a fine sifter.
2. Mix coconut milk and sifted sugar and cocoa powders in a medium sauce pan.  Stir well to combine.
3. Heat it up in a medium heat until mixture starts to boil.  Lower the heat to low and let it simmer in 25-30 minutes until it is thickened.  The mixture should resemble a condensed milk or gravy.  Let it cool.

Other fillings/toppings:
Any or all of the topping below are great.  I usually combine chocolate sauce above+chopped peanuts for 1 pancake and dulce de leche+chocolate sprinkles+chopped hazelnuts on another pancake.  Sesame seeds, pistachio nuts, almonds, walnuts are also great toppings.
 
1/4 cup chopped salted nuts
1/4 cup chopped roasted hazelnuts
1/4 cup dutch chocolate sprinkles
1/4 cup vegan dulce de leche (I followed Bryanna Clark Grogan's recipe)

Preparing the batter:

1. Warm milk to 120 degrees F.  Pour about 1/2 cup of the warm milk on top of 1 tablespoon dry yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar  in a large bowl.  Mix and let the yeast works itself into frothy mixture (waking up the yeast).  This takes about 5 minutes.
2. Mix the flours, the rest of the sugar (2 1/2 tablespoons), baking powder, salt.  Combine well with a whisk.
3. Pour the rest of the warm milk into the yeast, milk, and sugar mixture.  Then, add the flour mixture (step 2) and combine well.  Yeast should start to work and creates bubbles.  Cover and let this mixture sit in a warm temperature area about 1 hour.  See the picture below.
4. About 10 minutes near the end of proofing the batter process, combine the EnerG egg replacer with water(egg replacement ingredients) in a small bowl.  Using a hand blender with the top speed, mix and blend the water and egg replacer until it is frothy and soft peaks formed.  It usually takes at least 6 minutes.
5. Gently fold the foamy egg replacer into the pancake batter. At this time, I added 1 drop of yellow food coloring.  Mix well.
6.  The batter should be foamy and light.  The consistency should be similar to a pancake batter.

Making the pancake:
The best tool to make the pancake is an 8-inch or 9-inch cast iron frying pan with a lid.

1. Heat the cast iron pan on a medium high heat until really hot (wait about 2-3 minutes).  Use a cooking brush to brush a generous amount of melted vegan butter all over and around the frying pan.
2. Pour 1/3 of the batter  onto the frying pan.  It should sizzle (if it doesn't, that means that the frying pan is not hot enough).  Traditionally, martabak manis has a round crisp edges.  To do this, tilt the frying pan and let the batter runs around the frying pan to create the edges such as in this picture above.
3. Immediately, turn the heat to LOW.
4. Once the batter is bubbling and the top looks firm.  Cover with a lid and set a timer for 10 minutes. Note:  it is important to cover with a lid to let the pancake cooked and the bottom crispy.
5. After 10 minutes, the bottom of the pancake should be brown and crispy and the middle of the pancake is cooked.  If the bottom is burned that means the heat is too high or too strong.  If the pancake is not cooked, that means that the heat is too low.  The key in making the pancake correctly  is the amount of heat and everyone's stove is different unfortunately.
6. Lift the pancake with a spatula or a pancake turner onto a cutting board.  Brush some melted vegan butter on top (this is optional).  Pour some chocolate sauce and sprinkled with chopped nuts.  OR pour some dulce de leche, sprinkled with chocolate sprinkles and top with chopped hazelnuts.
7. Fold the pancake into half (look like a half moon).  Cut into 4 to 5 pieces.  Serve warm. Continue making the rest of the batter.  Use a different combination of toppings/fillings each time.

Enjoy the vegan martabak manis and super full moon 2012 or any full moon! 

 

Blueberry Raspberry Pine Nut Pie for 4th of July!

I haven't posted a blog for a long time. We have been on vacations to South Utah and Las Vegas for 1 trip and to Missouri to attend a family wedding for another trip. Then, I got a severe cold from a virus that I caught from the flight home from Missouri. Yaik!

Finally, here is the first bloggable item I made today. Berries are in season right now and I bought some to make a 4th of July pie. I was planning to take this pie to a 4th of July block party at our neighborhood tonight. Hence, it looked so good. DH and I were going to cut a piece and share it between us to try it out first before we served it to our neighbors because I have never made it before. Well, this plan didn't work well! We ate half of the pie in 1 sitting! After my 1st bite of the first piece, I kept getting another bite etc. etc. DH questioned "Where is my bite?" I gave him 1 bite and that was it, I finished the rest of the piece so he decided to cut his own piece. Then, I cut another piece after I ate my first piece. DH did the same, too. There you go, half a pie was gone in minutes. It is not that we are pigs but this pie is so goood! There is no way we will go to the party with half eaten pie so we decided to keep the rest for tomorrow(for us) and go empty handed to the party. Thankgoodness, bringing a dish was not required.




This recipe came from Love, Eric cookbook by Eric Lechasseur (see my previous post: Strawberry Mousse Cake). It is a 'wheat-free' recipe. I have never used spelt flour before and was surprised of the result of the pie crust. It was a great pie crust made of spelt flour, maple sugar, and safflower oil.

This pie is not low-fat because of the pine nuts which has 17 g of fat per 1/4 cup. It is deliciously rich but not too sweet. The blueberries compliment the rich filling. The original recipe use blueberries only but I added raspberries to make the pie red, white, and blue for the 4th (the pine nut filling is white).

I changed the recipe a little bit because I don't have grapeseed oil on hand. I replaced it with safflower oil. I also didn't use the glaze because I don't have kuzu and it still tastes yummy.

Here is the recipe:

Printable Recipe

Blueberry Pine Nut Pie (Makes 6 servings)
by Eric Lechausser (Love, Eric cookbook)

For the pine nut filling:1 1/2 cups pine nuts
2 oz. silken tofu (Mori-Nu brand)
4 tbsp. organic apple sauce
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 rice syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp safflower oil

For the pie crust:1 3/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup maple sugar
1/3 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup water

For the blueberry topping:1 1/2 cups fresh organic blueberries
1 cup organic apple juice
1 tbsp kuzu or tapioca flour
1 tbsp agar flakes

To prepare the pine nuts:

1. Preheat the oven to 200F
2. Roast the pine nuts lightly on a baking sheet in the oven just until lightly golden color, approximately 4 to 5 minutes (or toast pine nuts on the stovetop in a skillet).
3. Transfer roasted nuts to a food processor and grind into a fine powder.

To make the pie crust:

1. Increase oven temperature to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, emulsify the wet ingredients then combine with the dry mixture.
4. Knead quickly and allow dough to sit for 10 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough to fit six 4-inch pie shells or one 8-inch pie shell. Bake pie crust for 10 minutes and set aside. ( I think he meant bake it blindly. I also use a fork to make tiny holes on the unbaked crust first before baking)

To make the pine nut filling and pie:

1. Add the remaining ingredients to the pine nuts in a food processor and process until smooth.
2. Pour mixture into the pie shell. Bake for 20 minutes. (I baked mine for about 30 minutes since I use a 9-inch tart pan).

To make the blueberry topping:
(I actually didn't make the glaze and just arrange blueberries and raspberries on top of the baked pie)

1. In a saucepan, combine the apple juice with the agar over medium-high heat. Simmer until agar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve the kuzu/tapioca with 1 tablespoon of water.
3. Whisk the kuzu/tapioca mixture into the apple juice and continue cooking and whisking until mixture thickens.
4. When it has fully thickened, turn off the heat.
5. Add the fresh blueberries to the saucepan and stir the mixture with a spatula.
6. Pour over the baked pie.
7. Allow the pie to cool before serving.