Bird's Food: December 2008

Hi there! I've been pausing for quite a while, and that is because I broke my camera. Fortunately I have a bad-quality mobile phone camera, to make some "food-notes". So I apologise for the quality of these photos, but they deliver the idea in every best manner they can. So this entry includes my saturday-bakings! And raw.

Buns

As you can see, I baked some traditional finnish coffeebread today! Or actually I think these are called cinnabons. I'm quite sure that almost everyone knows how to make a bun dough, but no harm is done by writing it down.

The dough:

5 dl of water (or soy milk)

2 dl of (cane)sugar

1 tbsp of cardamom

1 tsp of salt

25 g of dry yeast (2 bags)

1-2 dl of raisins (optional)

15 dl of flour

150 g of melted margarine (or oil)

The liquid should be as warm as 42-celsius degrees for the yeast to work. Mix in the sugar, cardamom, salt and raisins. (I put in this some almond paste, but I can't really say I would've tasted it?) The dry yeast should be mixed with the flour, but I'm telling you a secret: I'm so lazy, that I always put the yeast in the liquid. And the buns always work out fine (and when I try using normal yeast problems begin..). Molest in most of the flour (I never really count the amount of the flour, I go by instinct), and then knead the dough with the margarine. Add the rest of the flour until the dough is nicely firm and detaches from the bowl. Let it rise covered.

Bake the buns in 225 degrees for 10-15 minutes (in my oven 12 minutes is The Time). To make cinnabuns, share the dough in four batches and roll each to a plate. Then brush with melted margarine, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (and desiccated coconut, as I did).

I went wild doing these cinnabuns, and tried some new fillings!! I can surely recommend trying:

-Mashed banana, cinnamon, desiccated coconut

-Almond paste, redcurrant (jam or just mashed), (desiccated coconut)

-Any jam you like

Raw-food lemon pie

I got really excited about this new recipe! I made the base as normal, but the filling was new. And I can tell you, this was so good! You couldn't tell no sugar was used.

The base:

250 g of dried fruits (I used one bag of mixed fruits)

½ dl of sesame seeds

½ dl of desiccated coconut

Juice of a half lemon

So the dried fruits were soaked in water over-night. The next day I ground them with a blender with the sesame seeds, desiccated coconut and added the lemon juice. It should become a nice firm paste. Then I put it in a cake tin with some desiccated coconut for the bottom.

The filling:

1 dl of almonds, ½ dl of cashew nuts (soaked in water for 1-2 hrs, then rinsed)

1 banana

2 tbsp of soy yogurt

zest and juice of 1 organic lemon

cloudberries

Ground the nuts with a blender to a smooth paste. Then mix in the mashed banana, soy yogurt and lemon juice and zest. Sprinkle some cloudberries on the base, and then pour on the filling. Decorate with the cloudberries. (You can use any other berries you like or fruits) Let the pie be in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours or over-night for a firmer texture.