Cedar Smoked Asparagus Soup

Cedar planks, not just for salmon anymore. Really.
Our last guest came with the spring and with that, sparks the BBQ. It might still be a bit early to eat outside, but who can resist the flame that is the official call of nicer weather?

Having grilled on cedar planks before, I’m already fond of the fantastic smell and extra flavour it lends to food. They seem to be gaining in popularity so finding a board isn’t nearly as difficult anymore asmost grocery stores with a fish department tend to carry them.

The idea for the smoked asparagus soup came a little haphazardly. I was planning on grilling the asparagus with a drizzle of balsamic and olive oil but as it was the first grill of the season the flames were uneven and the safest place not to char my freshly picked spears was up on the board.

The flavour was subtle and amazing, a perfect enhancement for an already pretty great vegetable. The soup came from the left overs of the greedy three bunches that I decided to cook up for a dinner of four. After tasting it, I’m not only going to be trying this asparagus in other things like quiche, but with other vegetables too!

SMOKED ASPARAGUS SOUP

1 Bunch of Asparagus, 20-25 medium sized stalks, trimmed
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
2 Leeks, white and light green parts only, well washed and finely diced
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
4 Cups Vegetable stock
1 Medium Yukon Gold or Russet Potato, peeled and diced
scant 1/4 teaspoon Salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice or to taste, optional

Submerge your cedar plank in water anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours, depending on the thickness and your timing.
Preheat the grill over a medium high heat.
Trim asparagus and lay in aluminium foil.
Drizzle over balsamic vinegar and 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil; wrapping the foil to cover.
Place the asparagus package on the cedar plank, reduce the flame and close the lid of the bbq.
Grill for about 10 - 15 minutes, checking intermittently until tender.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large stockpot to sweat the leeks and garlic until soft and translucent but not browned; about 3 - 5 minutes.
Add the diced potato and cover with the stock.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are softened.
Remove the best spear tips from the asparagus and reserve for garnish.
Roughly chop the remaining smoky asparagus, add to the simmering soup.
Continue for another 3 - 5 minutes to cook through to merge flavours.
Transfer soup to a food processor or using a immersion blender, combine until smooth.
Season to taste with salt .
Top each serving with reserved asparagus tips and drizzle over extra virgin olive, basil or leek oil.

Brown Sugar Scones

In response to a quick visit from an old friend coming for tea, I naturally made for the kitchen. I’d set aside my quest for a recipe to use up the copious amounts of extra coconut I had from the Perfect Party Cake and thought that the best morning treat with tea would have to be scones.

My friend is a super baker, so as I thought for a bit about tea from porcelain and creative flavour combinations, yet still I settled on simplicity and tradition.

Scones are standard pantry fare using most ingredients typically on hand. One of those ingredients for scones and pastry alike is chilled shortening. For this, I like to keep mine in the freezer, so it’s ready and waiting to keep whatever my cold hands have in mind for it to make light and flaky.

The scones are lightly sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup, making them slightly caramelly. Quick to put together, the batter is easy and forgiving.

BROWN SUGAR SCONES

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, loosely packed + 1 Tablespoon
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening
3/4 Cup Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and salt.
Add and cut in the shortening with either two knives or a pastry cutter to a coarse crumb texture.
Add the milk and maple syrup and stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together, finishing up by hand if necessary to form a ball.
Transfer the dough ball to the parchment lined baking sheet and flatten to 3/4″.
Cut the dough into 8 wedges and sprinke with the 1 tablespoon of remaining brown sugar.
Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until golden.

For something a little extra, you could try a drizzling of maple glaze or for a vegetarian version, a little of my latest addictions, David Lebovitz easy recipe for Dulce de Leche.

March Daring Bakers - Perfect Vegan Party Cake

There’s something wonderful about the Daring Baker group that I’d recently joined.
Well, a few things actually. For starters, it’s a great community of super talented baker/bloggers. With currently over 600 members, it’s a fabulous place to have a question about baking. It’s also great to discover all these new and wonderful recipes, getting me to completely read a recipe over like a little school girl.

I was delighted to have cake as the challenge for this month (it’s my birthday month). Of course, Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts did not choose just any cake. This one is perfect, Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake.

I left the challenge to the end of the month for one reason and naturally opted to bake my own birthday cake this year. With a small houseful of friends and family, I decided to bake two versions. When I joined the Bakers, I’d sworn to stick to the rules, which means sticking to the original recipes, so I’ve posted the true version over on my Food+Photography blog.

However, for you and my vegan house guests, I baked up this version. Although intimidated by the pillowy bowls of whipped egg whites, I tried my darnedest to stick to the essence of the original. Only lacking the meringue buttercream, side by side, this version got fairly close to the original - and if I dare to say it: A Practically Perfect <birthday> Cake. Yum.

VEGAN LEMONY WHITE PARTY CAKE

2 1/4 Cups Cake & Pastry Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup Margarine or Butter
Zest of One Large Lemon, about 1 Tablespoon
1 3/4 Cups Soy Milk, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract
1 Tablespoon Vinegar

Measure and leave the soy milk to come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Prepare two 9″ round or 8″ square pans by lining the bottom with fitted parchment or wax paper, lightly spraying then dusting with flour.
Sift the flour, baking powder, soda and set aside.
Rub the lemon zest with the sugar until evenly distributed and fragrant.
If using a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment and cream the margarine with the zested sugar until well blended; about 3 minutes.
Add the lemon extract and combine along with 1/3 of the flour mixture.
With the motor running, add half of the soy milk, followed by another 1/3 of the flour.
Once the flour has absorbed add the remaining soy milk and mix well.
Add the vinegar and the last of the flour, beating until smooth.
Halve the batter and pour into prepared pans.
Bake for 30 minutes. Check with a cake tester or a toothpick for doneness.
Cool slightly then invert onto a rack to cool completely before icing.

CREAMY LEMON ICING

2 Cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted
3 Tablespoons Margarine
3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the sugar with the margarine and lemon juice.
Once it has come together, then add the vanilla to incorporate.
Continue to blend on med-high speed until light and creamy.

Putting It All Together

You will need, 1 jar of the preserve of your choice, I went with strawberry for this one, gently heated and strained to remove seeds.

Line the edge of your cake plate with strips of wax or parchment paper.
With a long serrated knife, slice the the cakes through the middle horizontally and lay one layer in the center of your cake plate over the waxed paper.
Using either a pastry brush or a butter knife, evenly spread 1/3 of the jam over the top of the sliced cake, carefully toward the edge.
Top with another layer and repeat with another 1/3 of the jam.
Add another layer and finish with the remaining jam and last cake layer.
Dollop the prepared icing in the center of the top of the cake and using a spatula, evenly spread the icing over the top and sides of the cake.
Decorate to your liking with fresh berries, candied lemon peel or sugared pansies.

Does My Blog Look Good In This?

Tomorrow is the last day to enter your food photos to DMBLGIT this month.
Sabra, of Cookbook Catchall is hosting this month’s collection and has invited me to judge.

Hurry in your submission. The deadline is tomorrow, March 25th at 6pm est.

Good Luck!

SPRING!!! & Oh Ya, Hot Crossed Buns

Clawing from the depths of a seemingly endless winter, spring has finally arrived.
Of course with about a foot of snow still remaining outside of my urban home and the prediction of 6 more weeks of crappy weather, it’s a little hard to believe. Thankfully with the double whammy of this beloved first day and an early Easter, I was compelled to fill my house with flowers and the scent of cinnamony Hot Crossed Buns.

I swear I don’t remember eating these since I was a kid - back when I pulled one flattened, from a lavender and yellow bag only to be thoroughly disappointed that the cross wasn’t pure icing. Hunks of candied fruit, maraschino cherries, raisins.
Mm, delicious.
Not.

With a certain need to perk up into spring, I set off to recreate my own version. I combined dried cranberries with my own candied orange peel, for something a little more to my tastes. I have to admit that the candied peel was a bit time consuming but fun none the less. I opted to do it the night before, but made enough for a bit extra, which was a good thing since my kids surprisingly mistook it for Easter candy and were caught gobsmacking the orange loot. For a two year old with an orange peel, that must say something. But my little Easter buns were golden and puffed and I couldn’t help but sweeten the paste for the crosses, just for old time sake. Served slightly toasted with some cold butter, I thought these would be perfect to celebrate the equinox and serve up with Sunday brunch.

HOT CROSSED BUNS

1 1/2 Cups Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Vegetable or Safflower Oil
1 Tablespoon Yeast
1/2 Cup Warm Water
2 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour, plus more, if necessary, for kneading
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Crystalized Ginger, crushed (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
1 Cup Dried Cranberries
3/4 Cup Candied Orange Peel, chopped

Hot Cross Paste

3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons Water

Heat the soy milk and stir in the sugar to dissolve.
Add the salt and oil and cool to a lukewarm temperature.
Meanwhile, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let sit until it bubbles.
Measure out the flours and spices into the a large bowl or one of a stand mixer.
Stir the yeast and with the motor running, add it along with the warm milk to form a dough.
Add the cranberries and chopped peel.
Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, turning the dough out with the additional flour, if necessary to a board to completely work in the fruit.
Lightly grease a large, clean bowl and let the dough rest and rise until it has doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
After the rise, roll the dough into an 18 inch long tube, then cut it into 18 pieces.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and roll each piece into a ball and evenly place them in six rows of three.
Cover and let double in size again.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Mix up the paste mixture and lightly indent each bun with a knife with a cross, then pipe the paste over.
Bake until golden; about 10 - 15 minutes.
Glaze with reserved sugar syrup from candying the oranges or with heated, strained apricot jam.

Candied Orange Peels

Inspired by the urge to make hot cross buns, marmalade, reading Orangette and by these stunning shots.

5 Oranges, any kind
3 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Water

Soak and scrub the oranges in warm soapy water and rinse well.
Cup the tops and tails from the oranges, then peel.
Cut as much of the pith as you can without getting too crazy about it.
Slice the peels into strips and add them to a sauce pan with enough cold water to cover.
Once the water begins to boil, drain and repeat 2 - 3 times to reduce the bitterness.
Dissolve the sugar in the one cup of water and bring to a low boil, heating 230ºF.
Once the sugar syrup reaches the magic number, reduce the heat to just a simmer and add the blanched peels.
Soak the peels in the simmering syrup for 35 - 40 minutes, or until they are translucent.
If you’re finding it irresistible, infrequently spin the pan but try not to stir it since it will create sugar crystals.
Remove the peels, separate them and lay them out on a cooling rack to dry. (Or be sure to toss them in sugar first, if they’re just for snacking.)
Reserve the syrup for other uses. (Like sweetening cocktails, iced tea or as a glaze.)
Once they are cooled, store the oranges in granulated sugar until ready to use.