Inspiration

and a bit of nothing in the house for breakfast.

I have long been a fan of spice cakes, and Taneasha's post (with lovely guest Elise Logan) totally reminded me of that. I also had no cereal or bread in the house this weekend. And grocery shopping on an empty (but caffeinated, always have coffee in the house) stomach is not a good idea. So, before I ventured forth to restock my pantry I needed some breakfast.

Cake!

What? If I'd made it in muffin tins, no one would even blink. But because I put it in a square pan and call it cake, it's no longer appropriate for breakfast?

Breakfast Cake

What you need:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c melted butter
• 1 orange
• 1/2 c sugar (or honey, totally doing it with honey next time)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c flour
• 1 c almond flour (aka finely ground almonds)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp allspice

 

What you gotta do:

I suppose I should admit here that I was totally winging it with this one. Granted, I had recently bought some almond flour and had been researching recipes, but still, flying by the seat of my pyjamas on this one....

I did remember to preheat the oven to 350.

And to use some of the melted butter to butter an 8x8 square pan, and then also to butter the parchment that I lined the pan with. Didn't remember to take a pic to prove it though, so you'll just have to trust me. Trust me.

In a medium bowl, beat all 3 eggs with a fork. (Oh, um, I hadn't washed dishes either, so I was working with the bare minimum of tools). Beat in the melted butter and the sugar. And then add the zest from your orange. Yes, the whole orange.

In another bowl, combine the flours, spices, and salts (sodium bicarbonate is chemically a "salt").

At the last minute add the vanilla that you forgot to put in the ingredients pic to the egg bowl. Yes, there is yogurt in the pic, and no, I didn't use it. Changed my mind.

Now, dump the dry into the wet and mix with a fork.

And then dump it all into the pan.

I sprinkled mine liberally with cinnamon sugar. Perhaps a little too liberally...

I'm not convinced that an excess of cinnamon sugar is a bad thing, mind you.

Bake for 20 minutes.

When I poked it with a toothpick after 20 minutes, it was definitely done. But then the middle fell...

I'm not sure another 3-4 minutes would have made the difference in keeping the middle up though, because with only 1/2 cup of wheat flour, I was concerned about leavening anyway.

The batter definitely rose (likely mostly thanks to the eggs), but the lack of gluten may have made the structure a little flimsy at the points where it needed the most help.

Muffins might have been a better idea after all.

Sure tasted damn good. Amazingly moist too. Definitely need to try this one again.

Yay cake for breakfast!

What's your favourite questionable breakfast?

for the dudes who kicked the most balls

Now, you may not be aware of this, but Spain just won the World Cup. Of football.

You know, the game where you kick a ball with your foot. And you're not allowed to use your hands. Because it's FOOTball.

I grew up in a household that put everything on hold during World Cup season. I'd find my step-dad watching tv at odd hours of the night so he could catch the games live. The guys at his office would not be able to talk about plays he hadn't witnessed himself. As a kid with insomnia, I suddenly had a lovely excuse to sit up at 3 am and watch tv.

I'm not a big soccer fan myself, but I know most of the jargon and I can understand the accents of the announcers. The guys at work though, they've had the tv on in the lunchroom all day so they wouldn't miss the games. Watching youtube vids of the latest plays at your desk is apparently entirely acceptable behaviour.

And I promised them that I'd make cookies themed to the winner of the World Cup. Of football.

Saffron Cookies

Saffron is the most expensive seasoning on the planet. It's practically worth its weight in gold.

Fortunately, you don't need much of it. I bought this little box for about 8 bucks at a specialty store, and it will last a while. This recipe only needs 1/8 of a teaspoon.

It's got a distinctly floral aroma and flavour (makes sense, it comes from a flower) but there's this underlying earthiness to it that can be overpowering if you use too much (maybe that's because it's the flower's reproductive organs).

And because I wanted to really make sure I had the mediterranean thing down, I decided I wanted to use olive oil in the cookies instead of butter.

Apparently some dude name Mark Bittman already came up with this combo and is regarded as somewhat of a genius for doing so. His is nearly the only recipe you can find using both saffron and olive oil. So his is where I started.

Here's my version:

What you need:

• 1/8 tsp saffron
• 1 tbsp milk or cream
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 c sugar (victory should be sweet)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• bit of salt

What you gotta do:

Start with the saffron. It's awesome.

Warm the milk or cream in a small bowl. I used the microwave for 20 seconds at 60% power. Add the saffron. At first it just sits there, looking kinda weird and out of place.

Give it a bit of a stir or shake and then let it sit while you do the next few steps.

Combine the oil, lemon juice, and sugar in a big bowl. It kinda smells like salad dressing.

Beat in the eggs. Definitely salad dressing-like. I mean, this is practically mayo! Mix this with a whisk, or your fancy batter beater for a good two minutes. You want it nice and golden. It won't ever really get 'fluffy' because the oil acts differently than softened butter does, but it does need a good beating. Kinda like Italy got.

Check on your saffron.

Holy hell is that yellow.

Artificial colours have nothing on this shit. Plus, the smell and taste of this... a tiny drop on your tongue. Seriously, you have to do it. It's strong, almost overwhelming, when its that concentrated, but it's amazing. Flowers, the earth, it's almost metallic, like the taste of blood in your mouth, but sweet and floral at the same time. It suddenly makes sense how this tiny part of a flower stands up to savoury dishes and adds delicacy to sweet ones. 

Pour your yellow gold into the oil and sugar mixture.

Sift on the flour, baking powder, and the salt.

You want to just barely mix these.

The dough is very soft, much more like a batter than your typical drop cookie. So I chilled mine for about 10 minutes. The consistency is perfect after a bit of time in the fridge. It's also freaking yellow.

I used a 1 tsp measuring spoon to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Smaller cookies means you can fit more on the sheet and they'll cook faster. It's way too freaking hot to have the oven on.

TIP: Put a big pot of cold water on the element when your oven vent is. Change the water with every batch of cookies. Cover the pot to prevent evaporation and you've got yourself a great little heat sink.

I recommend sprinkling a little sugar over the top of these. An extra bit of sweet. If you're feeling particularly generous, use the back of your wooden spoon to grind a pinch of saffron into a couple teaspoons of sugar.

The tiny threads make for a nice bit of decoration on what looks like a plain and bland cookie.

But oh my, they are neither plain nor bland.

It's a subtle, delicate flavour, but so distinctive, and almost surprising the first time you try them.

 What's your favourite sweet / savour cross over ingredient?