Dairy-Free Custard (SCD & GFCF)

This entry is a little different than previously posted recipes because it is to supplement the how-to, step-by-step video I made about making a dairy-free custard. This custard is the standard recipe that I use for other recipes requiring custard or sometimes substituting yogurt in sweet things such as, but not limited to, baked goods, which I will be blogging in the near future.

I’ve included some serving suggestions, as well as additional tips, following the instructions below. The leftover egg whites can be saved and used in another recipe. If you don’t have a double boiler, stack a stove-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Be sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

If doubling this recipe, you may use the original measurement of coconut oil if you wish. It isn’t necessary to increase the amount due to the coconut oil’s richness. Whether you double it or not, the custard’s flavour and consistency won’t be affected either way.

Ingredients

5 to 6 egg yolks
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup to 1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Beat the egg yolks and honey together and add the coconut milk. Cook the custard over medium heat  double boiler style (stove-proof bowl balanced over a pot of simmering water, make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water) for 35 minutes until thickened to a yogurt-like consistency (it should coat a spoon); an additional 10 minutes may be needed if it still isn’t thick enough at the end of the cooking time.  If it still isn’t thick after 10 minutes, refer to the following suggestion in the second paragraph below (after step 2).
2. Remove from heat and whisk in the oil, adding the oil in a steady stream. The custard and oil will separate but keep on going; as you continue it will gradually smooth out. Add the vanilla and cool. Serve the custard in bowls with the prepared fruit (see below for suggestions).

Whether you use five or six egg yolks doesn’t affect the custard overall; depending on the amount, when doubling the recipe use eight to ten or twelve egg yolks, and so on. It isn’t exact math, but these are the amounts of egg yolks I have used when doubling the custard. I know this may sound confusing, but sometimes I have fallen short of one or two yolks and in my experience this small difference doesn’t affect the overall outcome of the custard. I’m not always precise in my measurements. when making this custard recipe. The egg yolks’ colour can also affect the colour of the custard – while usually a pale yellow, if you are using egg yolks that are a darker colour, such as orange, the custard will be a similar colour.

The thickness of the coconut milk also contributes to the thickness of the custard in addition to the egg yolks. Sometimes the custard will have hardly thickened at all, even after it’s completed its cooking time. I’ve had this case scenario many times. If this is the case, rest assured there is nothing wrong. I know the natural impulse could be to grab the cornstarch or try to find something else to thicken it, but in this case all that’s required is  a little refrigeration. Once you’ve added the coconut oil and vanilla and it’s cooled enough, cover it and chill in the fridge – it will thicken. Chill it for a few hours or overnight; how much it thickens depends on how long you leave it in the fridge. After two days, the custard thickens to a spreadable consistency.

Serving Ideas

Custard pairs extremely well with a variety of fruit, a favourite being fresh organic strawberries. Organic strawberries are ultimately sweeter than the conventional type. Strawberries are also better when they’re in season.

Other fruit ideas are ripe banana (a rich treat), nectarine, peach, plum, raspberries, apple, and pear. Pear is absolutely excellent eaten with custard! The custard and pear’s flavours sort of compliment each other, the overall flavour is creamy and it sort of offsets the richness of the custard. This is also the same case for apple. You may also use a combination of the aforementioned fruit. Other fruit possibilities may be tried with the custard; those that I have listed are what I have tried with the custard so far. Enjoy!

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Filed under: Custard, Dessert, GFCF, How-to, SCD, YouTube , coconut milk, coconut oil, eggs

Basic Biscotti (SCD & GFCF)

The idea for using a loaf pan came to me after making a loaf of nut butter bread, which didn’t rise much and the slices were the same width and length of biscotti. When the sliced biscotti are taken out of the oven, they may be soft but as they cool they will harden.

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup walnut flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup currants
1 egg
1/2 cup honey
8 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF and line a 9 1/2-inch x 5 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. In a bowl, incorporate the nut flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and currants.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg, honey, coconut oil, and extracts until creamy and fully blended. Stir in the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until all the flour mixture has been used. The batter will be somewhat similar to dough and it will be very stiff and sticky.
3. Spoon all the dough into the loaf pan, making sure to spread evenly to ensure even baking. Bake 35 minutes. Despite the baking soda used, the biscotti will not rise much.
4. Remove biscotti from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes or so. Reduce oven temperature to 275ºF. After it’s cooled enough, remove from the pan and slice crosswise. Lay the slices, cut side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes. Remove biscotti from oven and cool. As it cools, it will become firmer and develop a pleasant crunch. Dunk the biscotti in tea or eat as is. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

A result of photo editing. Also used as Ambrosia Tea Party’s blavatar.

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Filed under: Cookies, GFCF, SCD , almond flour, coconut oil, eggs, walnut flour

While You Wait: A Tale of Baked Alaska

Baked Alaska in Blue

This entry is a contribution from my sister (she has her own blog, co-run, called Chaos of LCD & Kenkaniff), who had to choose a natural disaster to write about for an assignment for class and she chose the one she knows best: me when experimenting in the kitchen. She wrote it around the time I was making baked Alaska. Hope you enjoy.

A natural disaster occurs whenever something goes wrong in the kitchen with some sort of food my sister is preparing. For the sake of that which is recent, let us choose the Baked Alaska weather. The ice cream melted slightly after it went into the oven and came out, the tidal wave of frustration arrived. Lightning made of wrath almost struck the poor citizens of “Baked” in Alaska. They quickly took refuge in the stomach caverns. It was quite terrifying; their relatives, the Sorbets and the Pastries felt extreme sympathy for their relatives, but could do nothing but observe in silent sympathy. It lasted for an hour, which seemed more like an age, and the meringue got struck down by lightning (poor meringue, it was even on his birthday! And he’d almost reached the stomach caves too….!) because it didn’t insulate the ice cream to protect it well enough (you see, there’s a dragon (not a live one) living in the oven (or rather, sitting) and the fire got to the ice cream and made it melt slightly. I feel sorry for the ice cream, there isn’t anything for the ice cream to eat to cool off!). Fortunately, almost every little Baked Alaska escaped unscathed; those that got hurt where rushed to the nearest hospital, which just happened to be called Z’s Kitchen – which is like the devil’s triangle – stay out of it while she’s trying a new recipe or experimenting, as, like Mother Nature, she may get angry!

Filed under: Misc.

Be Back Soon!

Dear Readers,

Dear me..!  Just today my camera has begun to act up:  when I plug it in the computer, the computer doesn’t acknowledge it and when I plugged it in a different computer, the pictures seemingly transferred successfully. As soon as I clicked to enlarge the thumbnail image, though, it said the file couldn’t be found or that it was violated! When I was going through the photos on the camera some of the images disappeared, replaced with a blue screen with the following caption: “file not found”. What?! Upon further investigation, the issue may be related to the memory chip; it was suggested to me that it could be corrupted/damaged/worn out (?).

While I’m getting this technical issue sorted out, Ambrosia Tea Party will be postponed a little, and the new YouTube videos as well. I’m truly sorry about this and am doing everything I can to get this sorted quickly so that I can continue to bring  more new recipes, videos and photos to you, as it is very important to me to have those as it provides a visual reference which supports general confidence in the task of making something from a recipe for the first time.

The only other news I have regards the site called TasteSpotting; I submitted two photos for publication a few days ago, which they rejected both as they judged one by composition, and one by low contrast, not sharp enough (the bird nest cookies that I posted yesterday).  As I have had so much positive feedback regarding my photography I was a little surprised initially, but am over that and on to getting my camera back and getting back to what I do best:  My Food Blog!

Anyways, while all of us wait for ATP to go back in business, feel free to cruise the blog and check out the recipes, photos, and videos I’ve already posted. And of course, as always, feel free to comment. It is appreciated and means the world to me. While you’re at it, you could even get my free email updates or RSS feed (if you haven’t already) so that you’ll know right away when a new recipe or suchlike is posted.

Until then,

Yours truly, Z’s Cup of Tea

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Filed under: Uncategorized

Bite-Sized Festive Bird Nests (Thumbprint Cookies, SCD & GFCF)

After making poached apples, one question that may spring to mind is what to do with the leftover mixture? These thumbprint cookies are the answer and, in my opinion, as soon as you get to the middle where there’s the jelly, that’s the best part. In a way, these cookies have the familiar smell and taste of gingerbread with a little extra, although they don’t have the characteristic colour of gingerbread. The orange extract compliments the cookies with a creamy, rounded flavour and aftertaste, but doesn’t actually give much of an orange flavour, which is why I recommend using marmalade or candied citrus peel if you want the cookies to have that bit of zest. Depending on how much they are liked, a dozen cookies may not be enough so feel free to double and triple this recipe as needed.

There is no honey used in this recipe. The cookies are sweetened by the naturally occurring sugar from the ingredients and the poached apple jelly.

Makes 12 cookies (1 dozen)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 heaping tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 heaping tsp. each allspice and cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger
3 eggs
2 tbsp. marmalade or finely chopped candied citrus peel (optional)
1 tbsp. unsulphured, unsweetened, currants
1 tbsp. coconut milk
2 tbsp. orange extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 apple, peeled, cored, and grated (about 1/3 cup grated apple)
1/2 cup unsweetened and unsulphured coconut flakes, for coating
Leftover jellied liquid from poached apples, cooked (click for recipe)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together the almond flour and spices and mix in the eggs. Mix in the marmalade or candied citrus peel, if using, coconut milk, currants, and extracts until all the ingredients are fully incorporated.
2. Take small amounts of dough and roll between palms to make bite-sized balls, about a tablespoon. Wash hands frequently in between rolling as the dough coats the skin. Roll the balls of dough in the coconut flakes to coat and place on the baking sheet. Press holes in the centres with your thumb.
3. Fill with jelly and bake 20 minutes. Cool and top with extra jelly if needed. Enjoy!

Also check out the step-by-step video I made:

Feedback

As always, drop a comment if you have any questions or to let me know how this recipe worked out for you! Let me know if you did anything differently, have any suggestions, tips, recommendations, etc. Your feedback is always appreciated and welcome. Thank you.

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Filed under: Cookies, GFCF, SCD, YouTube , almond flour, coconut flakes, coconut milk, eggs, honey