January 27, 2010

Nanaimo Bars - A Tribute to Canada



January Daring Bakers Challenge


Nanaimo Bars are a classic Canadian dessert created in none other than Nanaimo, British Colombia. In case you were wondering, it’s pronounced Nah-nye-Moh. These bars have 3 layers: a base containing graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard layer, and a topping of chocolate. They are extremely rich and available almost everywhere across the country.

Our Daring Baker Challenge this month also celebrates that the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver begin next month. The Nanaimo Bar recipe is a tasty way to welcome everyone to Canada!

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/.

This month the challenge was a bit more difficult from the supply perspective. I usually don't have any trouble living north of New York City finding just about anything I need. However, for this challenge I'm living in central Michigan where my husband is working on a contract. There aren't any Asian groceries, so I couldn't find any sweet rice flour. The local mega box store, Meijer, does have a small gluten free section with a nice basic selection of flours. Then I found a fantastic Co-op about 30 miles away in Mt. Pleasant, the Greentree, that has a wonderful array of organic and local foods.

Next, I went searching for Bird's custard powder. We began our search at the Eastman Party Store, as they said they carried a large selection of foreign foods. My husband and I imagined that it was a gourmet food store given their name, until we walked in the door. When we saw the numerous aisles of wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages, we understood the reason for the "Party Store" name. Wandering around, we found a variety of foods from around the world, including a jar of Bird's custard powder.

Now all I needed was a bag of sorghum flour. Since I also needed other gluten free flours that aren't easily found locally, I placed an order to a vendor I like to order from. After carefully filling out the form and double checking the Michigan shipping address, I clicked send. When I got the tracking notification for my box, I realized that my box was headed for New York and not Michigan. That meant a little juggling with the flours I had with me to make the Nanaimo bars.

When I worked on the recipe, I made an adjustment to the amount of sweet potato flour as the overall dough was basically honey flavored goo.  The extra 1/2 cup sweet potato flour, fixed the goo issue and also kept the honey flavor from being over powering in the graham crackers. The final cracker was lightly honeyed and beautifully crisp.

The Nanaimo bars are fabulously rich and decadent. My family liked them cut into small squares for just a bit of sweetness. 

Preparation time:

• Graham Wafers: 30 to 45 minutes total active prep, 2 ½ hours to overnight and 45 minutes inactive prep.
• Nanaimo Bars: 30 minutes.

Equipment required:

• Food Processor
• Bowls
• Parchment paper or silpats
• Cookie sheets
• Double boiler or pot and heatproof bowl
• 8 by 8 inch square pan
• Hand mixer or stand mixer (You may use a wooden spoon, but this makes it much easier!)
• Saucepan

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers Recipe

1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet Potato Flour
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Arrowroot Starch
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Buckwheat Flour
1/4 cup (56 g) (2 ounces) Brown Rice Flour
1/4 cup (56  g) (2 ounces) Almond Meal
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
2 teaspoons (10 mL) Chia Seed Meal
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.

9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Nanaimo Bars Recipe


For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened) or Smashed Corn Flakes

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer:

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (60 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 teaspoons (10 mL) Vanilla Extract
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer:

4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.


Additional Information:

1. These bars freeze very well, so don’t be afraid to pop some into the freezer.
2. The graham wafers may be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

January 24, 2010

Roasted Potato & Basil Loaf (B&P36)



With my family engaged in the the movie, The Basilisk King, a made for the Syfy channel production, it appeared to be the perfect opportunity to finish this post. I've been hunting and pecking my way through it for the last two weeks, as my typing skills have been put on the sidelines. I had a close encounter with the tip of one of my Shun knives, while I was chopping vegetables. The tip of my finger took the brunt of this little accident and thankfully, it's still intact.

Food production has continued around my house, due to these little doo-hickies called first aid or finger cots. In other words, it's a condom for your finger. It seals off your finger, with it's lovely bandage and antibiotic ointment, from the food you're preparing. They are perfect for ensuring food safety.  I picked up a box of 20 in assorted sizes from Meijer for about $1.50. So, outfitting your first aid kit with these won't dent the budget.

Most people keep a small selection of bandages and antibiotic ointment in their medicine cabinets. If you do a lot of cooking you should consider adding a few things to your home first aid supplies. Pick up some finger cots, finger tip and knuckle bandages, iodine swabs, burn ointment and some burn free pain relieving gel. If you can find them, a few Medi-Burn bandages would be good to have on hand. Since most kitchen accidents tend to be cuts or burns, adding some of these things to your home kit should keep you covered.

Once you've had that accident or you just want a wonderfully hearty loaf of bread to eat with your soup, try out this roasted potato and basil loaf.  I thought it was best when it was warm, but my daughter preferred it cold with a swath of peanut butter covering it.

Enjoy!

Recipe

Protein Content:
Original Amount - 25.35 g
Gluten Free Amount - 25.321 g

Poolish

10 g brown rice flour (0.9 g)
10 g sweet rice flour (0.6 g)
10 g arrowroot starch (0.03 g)
15 g almond meal (3 g)
15 g white bean flour (3.22 g)
12 g instant dry yeast
135 ml water
20 ml agave syrup

Roasted Potatoes

126 g potatoes, cut in quarters
olive oil, as needed
2 - 3 g fresh basil, chopped
2 g garlic, chopped
sea salt, as needed
cracked black pepper, as needed

Final Dough

23 g brown rice flour (2.07 g)
22 g sweet rice flour (1.32 g)
22 g arrowroot starch (0.06 g)
34 g almond meal (6.8 g)
34 g white meal flour (7.31 g)
8 g buckwheat flour (1.16 g)
8 g arrowroot starch (0.02 g)
12 g almond meal (2.4 g)
12 g instant yeast
9 g sugar
6 g sea salt
6 g chia seed meal
4 g agar agar powder
120 g poolish
6 ml water
15 ml agave syrup
9 g butter, softened

Directions for Potatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C. Place the cut potatoes in a cookie pan or a rectangular baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and using a spoon or your hands coat the potatoes with the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake  for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and stir the potatoes. Place back in the oven and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Allow to cool.

2. Cut the potato wedges into bite size pieces. Preheat a skillet on the stove top. Drizzle in a small amount of olive oil, then allow the oil to warm. Put the garlic into the skillet and allow it to cook for about 30 seconds or until blonde in color.  Sweep the garlic around so it doesn't burn. Add the potatoes and basil to the pan.  Continue to sweep around for a about a minute so the flavors are incorporated.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.


Directions for Poolish

Pour all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and blend together. Then add the water and agave syrup and stir until incorporated. Set the bowl in a warm location to rise for 40 minutes.
 
Directions for Final Dough

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir together. Add the poolish, water and agave syrup and blend together until a soft ball forms.  If the dough is still too soft, add arrowroot starch by the tablespoon (1 Tb/15 ml) until the dough firms up.

2. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with arrowroot starch.  Gently shape the dough into a ball. Take a sharp knife and cut a double swirl shape in the center of the dough. Slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and place in a warm location to rise for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Place an oven proof bowl filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven.  Then place a baking stone on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 435 degrees F/223 degrees C. Place the loaf in the oven and spray water over the oven box and the top of the loaf.  Bake the loaf for 30 to 40 minutes. Prop the oven door open and continue to cook the bread for another 10 minutes.  Remove the loaf and allow it to cool before serving.


What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their DVD's from my family for my birthday. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Want more?

You can follow me on Twitter and on Flickr.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Week 18 - Poolishes
Baking & Pastry #34 - Almond Buckwheat Batard
Baking & Pastry #33 - Stollen
Baking & Pastry Week 17 - A Sponge and a Poolish
Baking & Pastry #32 - Gugelhopf
Baking & Pastry #31 - Panettone

January 12, 2010

Almond & White Bean Epi Wreath (B&P35)



Winter has barely started and we've got quite a bit of snow on the ground. Every afternoon, I'm outside with the kids and the dog. One day it's a snowball fight, the next day they are battling their way up the hill only to slide back down.

Our dog is always in the middle of the action chasing any flying snow. She plays a mean game of snowball, but she plays as shortstop. Her mission is to jump up and stop the balls before they can hit anyone. 

It's been so cold, we bought her some Muttluks for her feet. She hasn't gotten used to them yet. Poor thing just minces around until she can manage to shake one of them off her feet.

For us, cold days require a bowl of soup served with a crusty roll. After spending a few hours in the cold, there is nothing better to warm your body back up. Well, hugging the radiator works really well too.

This is a wonderful loaf of bread, that smells heavenly while it's baking. It has a crackly crust that snaps nicely when you break apart the leaves. If you don't have any soup, warm your bread and serve it with a variety of cheeses. Delicious.


Recipe
Yield: 1 1-lb epi wreath

Protein Content:
Original Amount: 28.34 g
Gluten Free Amount: 29.708 g

Poolish

16 g brown rice flour (1.44 g)
16 g sweet rice flour (0.96 g)
16 g arrowroot starch (0.03 g)
19 g almond meal (4.32 g)
18 g white bean flour (4.085 g)
12 g instant yeast
90 ml water (115 to 120 deg F/46 to 49 deg C)
15 ml agave syrup

Dough

25 g brown rice flour (2.25 g)
25 g sweet rice flour (1.5 g)
24 g arrowroot starch (0.3 g)
30 g almond meal (7.2 g)
28 g white bean flour (6.02 g)
6 g sea salt
6 g chia seed meal
4 g agar agar powder
130 g poolish
30 ml agave syrup
60 ml water (115 to 120 deg F/46 to 49 deg C)

Directions for Poolish


Pour all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and blend together. Then add the water and agave syrup and stir until incorporated. Set the bowl in a warm location to rise for 30 minutes.

Directions for Final Dough

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir together. Add the poolish, water and agave syrup and blend together until a soft ball forms.
2. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with arrowroot starch. Gently roll the dough into a cylinder about 15 in/38 cm long. Gently ease the ends of the dough together into a circle. Press the ends of the dough together. Take scissors or a sharp knife and holding them at a 45 degree angle, make diagonal cuts down the center of the ring.  Place each cut piece to the side as you cut it. Then place a parallel slice on either side of the center cut. Slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and place in a warm location to rise for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Place an oven proof bowl filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven. Then place a baking stone on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F/246 degrees C. Slide the loaf on the parchment paper onto the baking stone. Thenspray water over the oven box and the top of the loaf. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. Prop the oven door open and continue to cook the bread for another 5 minutes. Remove the loaf and allow it to cool before serving.

What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their DVD's from my family for my birthday. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Want more?

You can follow me on Twitter and on Flickr.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Week 18 - Poolishes
Baking & Pastry #34 - Almond Buckwheat Batard
Baking & Pastry #33 - Stollen
Baking & Pastry Week 17 - A Sponge and a Poolish
Baking & Pastry #32 - Gugelhopf
Baking & Pastry #31 - Panettone

January 7, 2010

Snow in Michigan




I was at the counter, patting out the dough for pizza. I looked out the patio doors of our corporate rental patio house and this image caught my eye. The snow is coming down and slightly blurring the edges of the trees. In the middle of all this whiteness and dusk, there was Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. I had to share some love.

January 1, 2010

Happy New Year




May your New Year be filled with

joy,

laughter,

&

love ~

Natalie