Sourdough Surprises October: Coconut Rum & Raisin Loaf

For the first three years of high school in Jamaica  (equivalent to grades 6 - 8), we are required to take a Food & Nutrition class. You can imagine the mishaps and hilarity that ensued with approximately several 10 to 13 year-olds in a kitchen. Honestly, I don't remember any major mistakes on my part (memory loss?), I left that to the kitchen at home (burnt candy and melted spoons anyone?) One memory that stands out is my friend using salt instead of sugar to make a drink. Yeah, that was as delicious as you might expect.

 I also remember making a quiche - that was interesting since at the time, I didn't like eggs. But I think I ate my quiche with the knowledge that quiche would never pass my lips ever again. I've gone back on that a few times now. Ha. There was the time our teacher instructed us to create a menu that was high in iron. I made liver and onions. I do not like liver. Do you see a pattern here? Always making something that I don't like?

Coconut Rock Buns. Source

There was one item that I did like though. No. LOVE. Rock buns. Rock buns are a small cake so named because the scraggly top looks similar to a rock. They are filled with raisins and often coconut. My mind has been on home a lot lately so when I saw that the challenge for this month's Sourdough Surprises was quick bread/muffins, I knew that I would make something that reminded me of home. Rock buns in loaf form was an easy decision. Soaking my raisins in rum was just the next logical step.

I think that perhaps I was channeling a bit too much of F&N classes as for some reason, I just kept accidentally adding too much butter to a ginger coconut streusel that I had intended to top my loaf with. So essentially, it became a (delicious) paste rather than a streusel. After batch after batch of failed streusel, I decided that I would make the loaf without it and then add a ginger glaze. Then I'd take a breath, get the streusel right and then make a second loaf with a streusel.

Right as I was about to put the loaf in the oven, I thought I'd top the loaf with a batch of non-streusel streusel anyway. Couldn't hurt and I didn't want to waste ingredients. Let me just say - BEST DECISION EVER! Brown Sugar + Coconut + Ginger + Heat = Caramelized Happiness. (Pretty much any equation that includes food equals happiness.) It tasted like I had topped my loaf with little bits of one of my most favourite Jamaican treats -  drops (I'll share that some day).

I wanted to make a second loaf IMMEDIATELY. But alas, I was out of eggs and soaked raisins.  If I didn't know the calorie count of this loaf, I honestly would make it every week. The morning that I made it, I blew through my daily calorie goal long before lunchtime. I loved it that much. I hope you do! Note, I'm not including the non-streusel streusel ingredients, but if you want that additional bliss or the perfected streusel, just leave a comment.

Coconut Rum & Raisin Loaf

Ingredients

1 cup raisins
1/2 cup rum
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeng
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (coconut milk would be extra delicious; I even made a batch with eggnog!)
1/2 cup of oil
1/2 cup 166% sourdough starter, unfed
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Directions

Soak the raisins in the rum overnight. Shake the container from time to time to ensure that all the raisins get their share of rum.

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease and flour the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9"
In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk eggs, milk, oil, starter, brown sugar and vanilla.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and then gently stir in the wet ingredients. Do not over-mix. Count to ten then stop. It will be lumpy and there may be streaks of flour.

Gently fold in coconut and raisins. Count to 3 and then stop. Note, you can drain the raisins before folding them in or add them along with that very delicious rum.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick is clean.

Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Sourdough Surprises September: Carrot Cake Waffle Sundae

I laughed out loud when I read the Sourdough Surprises post revealing the dish for this month.

This month we are going to go really super easy on you! This month we are going to make pancakes and/or waffles! 

Ha! I find waffles and pancakes to be anything but easy. I'll admit that I do not have a lot of waffle and pancake experience (neither eating nor making). My mother never made either while I was growing up and I can't remember eating either before undergrad. I don't even have a memory of specifically eating them then but I am just going to assume that I probably tried pancakes at least once. I know I definitely did not go anywhere near the waffle maker in the dining hall.

I remember some years ago reaching for the waffle iron that an old roommate left and armed with a recipe from Good Eats, I was expecting some, well, good eats. Uhm. How does one even use a waffle maker? How do you know when they're finished? Yeah. I had to Google that. And it still was a disaster. Waffles stuck. Batter oozed. Things burned.

Two years ago I visited a friend and she made waffles for breakfast. They were great as the "bread" for my eggs  (I cannot fathom pouring syrup over waffles or pancakes*) so I came home with the waffle bug again. This was right when I was first growing my starter. One weekend I made the most delicious and buttery sourdough waffles. I loved them so much that I invited a friend over for breakfast just so that I could make them again.

BUT. There is always a but. My waffles weren't crispy. They were delicious but soft. How on earth do you keep your waffles crispy? I read about keeping them warm in the oven but that did not work for me. I swear they were soft within seconds of taking them off the waffle iron. I read about using egg whites and cornstarch. Nope and nope.

Seriously, how do you do it? Give me your best waffle tips. Please.

I'm sure it's me though. It could even be partly waffle iron. I decided to brave waffles again for this challenge because I am little bit more afraid of pancakes.. I thought I'd go with a carrot cake waffle (lots of flavour!) and probably turn them into ice cream sandwiches dipped (or not) in chocolate.

That didn't quite work out. I would get into the mess that was the first six waffles but I am sure you can guess.  But eventually I had tasty waffles, pineapple ice cream, a delicious buttermilk syrup and maraschino cherries that have been soaking in rum since October. And all of that equals waffle sundaes and/or happiness.



*(Side note: I posted on Facebook  a couple weeks ago that though I loved sweet things (chocolate, ice cream, cake, cookies, ice cream, chocolate...), I could not pour syrup on waffles or pancakes. I was immediately ostracized. Only one person agreed with me (no surprise that he's one of my best friends). Once you start pouring syrup over things, it's dessert. I am not opposed to dessert for breakfast (I have had ice cream for breakfast A LOT) but I am opposed to dessert for breakfast and pretending that it's not dessert. Anyone else out there on the no syrup train?)

Sourdough Carrot Cake Waffle Sundaes

Carrot Cake Waffles (adapted from King Arthur's Classic Sourdough Waffles)

Ingredients

Overnight Sponge

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup 166% sourdough starter, unfed
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar

Batter

All of overnight sponge
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots


Directions

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients for the overnight sponge, cover and leave at room temperature overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Plug in and heat waffle iron.

In a small bowl, beat eggs, oil and vanilla then add to overnight sponge. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and stir until combined. Stir in baking soda, mixture will bubble. Quickly fold in carrots.

Cook according to manufacturer's directions on your waffle iron


Pineapple Ice Cream

I don't own an ice cream maker. I consider it the ultimate unitasker and my kitchen is too small to justify the purchase. I used a shortcut for this ice cream and I loved it!

Ingredients

8 oz whipped topping (e.g. Cool Whip)
14 oz condensed milk
20 oz crushed pineapples

Directions

Gently combine the whipped topping and condensed milk. Don't mix too much but try to make it as evenly mixed as possible. Freeze for 2 hours.
Stir in drained pineapples. Freeze until hardened or about 4 hours.


Buttermilk Syrup

I found the recipe here on Tasty Kitchen and it's the first time that syrup has really worked for me. The only thing I did differently was to cook it for a few minutes after adding the baking soda so that I could get that beautiful colour. Really loved this!


Finally, assemble your sundae as you desire, sprinkle on some nuts (or even add them to your waffle batter. Maybe you like raisins in your carrot cake? Go for it!). Top with a rum soaked cherry. Devour.

Random Tidbits

In keeping with my yo-yo exercising, I started a new exercise challenge - 30 Day Yoga Challenge from Erin Motz. What was that? Do I not hate yoga? Yup. Sure do. But I am actively trying to be a bit more flexible and none of the current routines in my rotation include much of anything that targets flexibility. I am also hoping that this challenge does not include a lot of Sun Salutations. I have realised that this really what I dislike. That plus all warrior poses and.. well, why list them all?

I have had this link saved on my phone for months, waiting to share here. But since I compose more posts in my head than I actually put here, it has just been languishing.  But forget that! Isn't this cool? Each morning Nina Levy's sons are sent off to school with a superpowered napkin that she draws just for them. As I said, I have had this for months, April to be exact, so with the new school year, I am sure that there are some amazing napkins over on her blog to ooh and aah at. How would you feel to be the kid in her sons' class who just has a plain white napkin? Or none at all if you were my child?

Speaking of school lunches, were you obsessed with character lunch boxes growing up? I can't remember all of my lunch boxes but I most certainly remember a purple Flintstones one. Check out these cool lunch boxes throughout history.

And since we're talking about food, perhaps I should mention a few of the things that I have made lately. There's always a loaf of bread, but lately I have been making bread in my slow cooker. As if I could love my slow cooker any more. I am never turning my oven on again.

OK. Let's not be hasty. Because I would certainly turn my oven on for these Cappucino Brownies. Had I known these brownies were going to be so delicious, I would have carefully snapped pictures. But I was in a hurry. I made them late one night for a friend and everything started to go wrong in the kitchen. This was the only one that I rescued and quickly took a pic of. I also made some mint brownies that night. Those were DELICIOUS. I will have to remake those just so that I can blog about them. I may have a pic or two but it just won't do them justice. 

Now this entire last paragraph, I must have rewritten in my head a thousand times. But right now at 3 am, I have forgotten what the perfect spiel was. Anyway, I also made this Avocado & Caramel daiquiri. Sounds weird and crazy, right? Well yeah, I made it for a Crazy Ingredients Challenge and posted about it over on my new blog.

At this point, it is hard to say why there's a new blog. After all, I completely suck at this one. Let's just say it made perfect sense in my head at 3 am. I do a lot of things at 3 am. This blog isn't going anywhere and as I continue to mull over what my presence on the internet should be, things will undoubtedly change. Perhaps, I will merge the two. Or perhaps I will become more focused and find the separate voices for each. We'll see. For now, it exists.

Sourdough Surprises August: Sweet Potato Sourdough Crackers

I'd been on a crackers kick when Sourdough Surprises announced that we'd be making crackers this month. Perfect! I already knew what I wanted to make - rye crackers! You see, I had been having a problem tasting rye. I had used it in two loaves of bread and just could not taste the difference. I thought crackers with not much else going on would be perfect.

And then I promptly talked myself out of that.

Because that's just how my brain works. I did make the rye crackers but I opted to leave out the sourdough starter to ensure that I just tasted rye even though my starter is far from sour. Just in case you're curious, I tasted something but I don't know if that was really "rye". Mission Taste Rye continues.

You would think I would have then immediately dove into my sourdough cracker challenge since I had crackers on the brain but nope! Life got in the way and suddenly it was the 14th of August and I still had not made my crackers. Honestly, nothing seemed perfect. I could have done wheat thin like crackers. I made them without sourdough before and loved them. I could have done the Ritz-style ones. I could have, I could have, I could have.

So there I was, cutting up sweet potatoes for a corn and sweet potato chowder when it hit me - SWEET POTATO crackers! Let's do this!

These crackers need to be rolled EXTREMELY thin or you just won't get "crackers". Trust me,.I speak from experience. When I bit into one that was rolled perfectly thin, it tasted almost like a Cheez-It cracker. Odd. I need to read the ingredients on Cheez-Its one of these days.

I wasn't very happy with these crackers. I didn't roll them thin enough. I may have also over-kneaded in an attempt to add more flour. Ugh. I always underestimate just how much liquid sweet potato will add to a dough. If I were to do this again, I'd use a firm starter, roll very very very thinly and ensure not to overwork my dough.

Sweet Sourdough Potato Crackers

250 g Whole Wheat Flour (I used a mix of red and white whole wheat)
125 g All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoon butter
150 g  Sourdough Starter, unfed (166%)
250 g Sweet Potato, cooked, mashed


Pulse flours and butter in a food processor then add sweet potato and starter. Pulse until it forms a dough. Let rest for 4 hours (this may be optional?).
Preheat oven to 350 F. Divide dough into two pieces and roll each as thinly as possible. Cut into desired shape. Bake for 10 minutes. Check. You will probably need an additional 3-4 minutes.

I'm a yo-yo exerciser

(Side track - Does anyone else compose blog posts in their heads? Then forget to actually type them up? Just me? OK. Moving on)

Right, I am a yo-yo exerciser. Is there such a term? I exercise consistently for a month or two then something happens to make me miss a day and then suddenly it's three weeks since my last workout and I am looking at my large tummy on my 5' 3" 117 lb frame (yes, I am small; no, my tummy did not get the memo) and wondering why the hell I look six months pregnant.

I don't even remember what I last said that I was doing. Brazil Butt Lift? Oh, that's right, I posted about Beginner's 5K training. I completed that 8 week program. It challenged every inch of me. I hated it. But I never achieved my goal. I wanted to be able to do the 5K in 30-33 minutes. I would have to look at Runkeeper but I don't think I managed it and if I did, I barely did it.

I really didn't like running that much but I did it almost every other day so that was a huge plus for me. It was quick and then I could go back to watching TV. The problem with running (for me) was that it really did nothing for that tummy problem. In fact, I got a bit flabbier during those eight weeks. I clearly need to pair all that cardio with strength training and core exercises. And well, if I am going to have to do other exercises, why bother to run at all? Do you see how I just talked myself out of running?

I decided to do the Beginner's 5K plan again. Get better times, I told myself. Do you know what happened? My times were progressively worse than before and here we are and I haven't done anything in over a week. I had even started to pair running with Shaun T's latest videos - Focus T25. But it may be about two weeks since I've done that.

So where am I now? Sitting on my butt, thinking about cake and wondering if I can ever get to the point where I am exercising consistently again and seeing results? Or perhaps there is a way to get that toned tummy without leaving my bed? Scientists? Are you working on that? Please say that you are.

Sourdough Surprises July: Mango & Strawberry Rolls with Rum Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

I tend not to repeat recipes. I like moving on to try one of the hundreds that I have saved. However, I have made this recipe for sourdough cinnamon rolls SEVERAL times. I love it that much. When I saw that cinnamon rolls were chosen for July's Sourdough Surprises, I was definitely excited. But what would I fill it with? I definitely was not going to do cinnamon. I tossed around a few fruits in my head before I settled on a strawberry mango curd filling.

But sourdough baking can be tricky and I, of course, had some mishaps. You see, it's been extremely hot and I have been busy and my a/c broke. Do you see where I am going here? I think I may have killed my starter or at least made it really sluggish.. I was running out of time to properly revive it and just decided to hope for the best.

My rolls aren't as "billowy" as they have been in the past but they are still unbelievably delicious. I also added whole wheat flour to my dough because I am currently on a traditional whole wheat kick. (I have been baking bread for over two years and two weeks ago was my first time purchasing traditional whole wheat. I have always bought white whole wheat.)

Typically, I don't use a lot of glaze or frosting on cinnamon rolls. I like to let the filling shine. However, I added rum and chopped strawberries to a cream cheese frosting  and it was either eat it with a spoon or pile it high on my rolls. I went with the latter.

Here again is the link to the recipe that I used.

I modified Smitten Kitchen's Mango Curd recipe - I used mango pulp instead of fresh mangoes and whole eggs.

I can't wait to see what other people made this month.

Making my way through Patricia Cornwell novels

I mentioned before that I love audiobooks. At this point, I have listened to more than I can count. Lately, I have been making my way through Patricia Cornwell's bibliography. I remember reading a Patricia Cornwell novel while in undergrad but I can't seem to remember which nor have any of the ones that I have listened to sound familiar. Odd. She has a few different series and I have been listening to the Kay Scarpetta series. At the beginning of the series, Dr. Scarpetta is the chief medical examiner in Virginia. We follow her, her niece, and a police officer, Pete Marino, as they investigate cases.

The novels for the most part are well written. I am fascinated with forensic science and it has been interesting following this series as real-life progress is made in forensic techniques and that is reflected in the novels. In the first novel, DNA was a new-comer. Now, it doesn't take a lifetime to get DNA results. I looked forward to my walks when I'd pick up on wherever I left off in a novel. Sometimes I'd keep listening once I got to my destination.

However, starting with The Last Precinct, I have not been very happy with the story. From time to time, there are references to characters and cases from previous novels. The Last Precinct was basically a sequel to the novel before it, Black Notice. And that's fine. But something else was different. I just read that the tense of the novel changed but that's not what bugged me. The story felt convoluted. They threw in twists that seemed too convenient to be plausible. The dialogue was overwhelming. It didn't seem that much happened. I was glad to be finished with that case and then I started Blow Fly a few days ago and it's the same case.

Set me free, Ms. Cornwell! Set me free!

I don't think I will be free from that case for a long, long time. When I finished it last night, there were still several lose ends and a new twist that would certainly change everything from that point onward. There was also a very contrived explanation of for that plot twist - quite the disappointment. I'll keep reading..er..listening though. Maybe Trace won't concentrate solely on that case and bring me something thrilling. Honestly, I think it may be best for me to take a Scarpetta-break. Maybe the distance will make whatever happens next a little better. One can only hope.

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