All Eyes on Me

This past weekend I tried my hand at a dessert recipe put out by a tea company as an ad for their goods, after seeing the video short below for Black Lavender Mini-Bundt Cakes:

Watch on YouTube

Clearly it really worked on me, as I found the process so pretty I immediately bought the tea, Black Lavender, to make it myself. I’m a much better cook than I am a baker, so I knew neither my results nor process would come out so beautiful, and I didn’t know if I’d like eating the result. I often find things flavored with lavender to be too perfume-y or resinous. But I thought it would be fun to give it a try.

The recipe made enough only four cakes, at least in the little four-inch mini pie tins I used as pans. I was expecting six, as that’s what appears to be shown in the recipe image, but it actually doesn’t specify the count. Maybe my tins were bigger than their mini Bundts. Still, it was fun to put them together. It actually made a use for the spice grinder Bernie’s parents gave him that mostly just sits on the utility shelf collecting dust. And I enjoyed using precisely seven drops of purple food coloring to make the icing just the right color.

They were not pretty, unfortunately, and not just because I didn’t have the mini Bundt pans. They got a little dark at the edges before the centers were set in the oven. And as pretty as its color was, I made no art of the application of the frosting. But they tasted absolutely delicious, not heavy or resinous at all. They were very sweet, but I like that, with the lavender at just the right level, and a pleasant light crumb to the cake. It’s the best and most interesting dessert recipe I’ve tried in a long time.




I will definitely be making these again. I still have lots of the tea left over, and I actually like that it makes a fairly small batch. It means I can make them when it’s just for me and Bernie without having tons of cake to eat for days. I’ve pasted the recipe here below, and I highly recommend them if you like a light, sweet, floral dessert that’s not too difficult to make.

( Black Lavender Mini Bundt Cakes Recipe )

I just heard about this tea drink called a London Fog that’s become popular on the West Coast in the last few years. I think it sounds delicious, and since I can make it with almond milk and stevia, I can eat it on my diet without having to save it for a cheat day!

The directions, from the article:

"① Make the tea. Ideally, this should be Earl Grey, a black tea with gentle notes of citrusy bergamot. Bring water to a full rolling boil and steep the tea for five minutes in a half cup of hot water. Then strain the tea leaves out or remove the tea bag. "It's important to steep black tea in boiling water, not in the milk directly," [the tea master who made the recipe Vanessa] Cubelic advises. "The flavors extract well in water, but the fat in milk inhibits extraction."

② Steam the milk. While you're waiting for the tea to steep, set a small saucepan of almond milk or coconut milk on the stove over medium heat. Don't allow it to boil. Whisk the milk for about five minutes, until it's hot and frothy "for a nice fog-like effect." Add a half cup of milk to the tea.

Regular milk is fine, too, but Cubelic favors almond or coconut milk, because "it has such a beautiful creaminess, which enhances the vanilla and bergamot." Though some recipes call for a higher milk-to-tea ratio, Cubelic is firm about using equal parts: "Milk has a tendency to overwhelm the taste of tea if you're not careful," she says.

③ Add vanilla. Most cafés use vanilla syrup, which Cubelic finds too sweet. "What I do is use a little shot of good-quality vanilla extract," plus sweetener if desired. Swirl a half teaspoon of vanilla along the top of the foam in the cup, then stir it in. Taste and add more vanilla if desired."

I've done so little cooking recently, partially due to being busy and partially due to a lack of energy, but I'm finally making time for it again. What I've been meaning to do for some time is start experimenting more, and writing my own recipes.

When my parents visited this weekend, my dad gave me two great big yellow squash that he grew in his garden. In order to make use of them, I decided tonight to make one of the very first recipes I ever devised myself, a variant on eggplant parmesan that has neither eggplant nor parmesan. For just me, I decided to use just one of the yellow squash.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I sliced up the squash, then filled three pie plates with breading ingredients-- one with pan searing flour, one with two raw beaten eggs, and one with panko. I ran the squash coins through them one after the other and laid them on a wire rack. Then I heated up some olive oil in my ten-inch saute pan. I think I use this piece of cookware more than any other I own, so if you're going to invest in any decent pan, make it this one. I used it now to brown the breaded coins over medium-high heat. My mom recommended this combination of the flour, egg, and panko because it makes sure the breading will stick to the squash rather than come off in the pan. I remember the first time I put this recipe together, it all came off and I had to scoop it all out with a spatula. If you've got the heat right, it should take about two minutes per side to properly brown the pieces.


After browning them, I drained them for a moment back on the wire rack. Then I took the pie plate with the few remaining panko crumbs and laid the largest slices across the bottom of it.


Then I covered it with a layer of tomato sauce. Ideally you'd make your own, but the jarred stuff is fine, and I had some left over in the fridge.


Lay the next layer of eggplant coins over it and cover that too with sauce. It would also be good to include cheese-- I used mozzarella the first time, but parmesan or something would work too --but I'm lactose intolerant, and I don't want the calories anyway, so I left it out.


Lastly, you put the whole thing into the 375-degree oven for thirty minutes for the squash to get soft and roasty. See, it's kind of like eggplant parmesan... except, as I said, no eggplant and no parmesan. Tasty, vegetarian, fairly easy even though you end up messing a lot of dishes, and I used only things I already had in my pantry and fridge to make it.

Mushroom duxelle-- or cooked mushroom paste --is a dish I serve frequently at my dinner parties, but I kind of cobbled together my own process for making it that is slightly different than traditional recipes. I'd thought I'd mark it down here, as it is one of my earliest efforts in devising recipes of my own.

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons butter
- 15 ounces of any kind of mushrooms you like; I prefer a wild mix or porcini
- 1 cup chopped shallots
- 1 cup marsala wine
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Directions:

Cut the mushrooms into slices. Chop the shallots. Roughly is sufficient.

Heat the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots until softened and translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until slightly browned and soft. You may have to add them in waves to avoid overcrowding the pan. Add the thyme and stir to distribute evenly. Pour in the marsala, bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down a little. Simmer until the wine reduces to less than half.

Remove the mixture from the pan. Blend into a rough paste with a stick blender. Mix to even out the chunks.

Serve with toasted bread and knives to spread it with. Don't be surprised if guests skip the bread and just eat it with a spoon.

I like the slight variations of including the marsala-- really ups the flavor and gives it a lot of richness --during the saute, and then pureeing it with the immersion blender at the end rather than chopping everything finely before you cook it.

If you want, you can use oil instead of butter to make it non-dairy. Also, onions or leeks will serve in place of shallots.