Red Velvet Almond Tart

Graduation parties are confusing. I've always thought that if a party's being thrown to commemorate a specific time in somebody's life, you're supposed to bring that person a gift. It get's awkward, though, when you (and just about all of the other guests) have just graduated as well. It get's even worse when there are no less than three of these parties every weekend. That's a whole lot of gifts.
I think I've come up with an answer to this situation: Food Gifts.

These are always my favorite gifts to give because they are home made, different, personalized, and, unless you brought chocolate chip cookies from a tube, you know that the recipient doesn't already have one lying around somewhere.

My go to gift is candy because there are millions of candies that look super impressive   and that only take about 15 minutes to make from start to finish. Candy making gets old, though, especially when you've sworn off caramel making for at least 2 months (or as long as it takes you to get your head when it comes to gooey, salty sugar) so it's always good to have a few non-candy recipes up your sleeve.
Enter the red velvet almond tart.

The Caramelized Malt (I said it's optional, but only in emergency situations)

It's vegan(-ish), and can easily be made gluten free (though the nuts pose a challenge in making it allergy proof) and is amazingly tasty. The light flavor of the chocolate in the crust is the perfect complement to the almonds. Because chocolate and almonds really are amazing together but sometimes you don't really want  a ton of chocolate flavor. It's great for cleaning out the fridge, or making when the fridge is already pretty cleaned out (how I came up with the recipe) and is versatile enough to be served at a barbecue, formal dinner, or packaged and frozen for gift giving.
This lasts in the freezer for a week, probably longer, but I've never had to store it for longer than 7 days.

The tart is extremely chewy and the almond topping sort of sinks into the crust, making it super delicious. The flavor of the chocolate in the red velvet crust is just peeking out enough to complement the almonds, but not nearly enough to make this a chocolate dessert. It is not a tall tart at all, so there's no need to line the edges of the pan with parchment, and if you don't want to bother with a springform, you can use a 9 to 10 inch part pan with a removable bottom and it will work just fine.

For the Crust
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 Tbs vegan shortening
1 tsp red food coloring (more if you want it really red)
2 Tbs light corn syrup
2 Tbs almond milk (may not need all 2 Tbs)
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1Tbs corn starch
1 1/2 Tbs cocoa powder
Pinch of salt

For the Filling
1 1/2 cups raw sliced almonds
3 Tbs light corn syrup
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbs malted milk powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 350ºF, grease and line a 9-10 inch spring form pan with parchment paper.
In a bowl, with a rubber spatula, cream together the sugar and shortening. Add the corn syrup and food dye and mix until evenly combined.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, corn starch, and cocoa powder. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined, adding almond milk until the mixture reaches the texture of soft cookie dough. Press into the bottom of your prepared pan.
In a bowl, mix the almonds, brown sugar, lemon zest, corn syrup, almond extract, and salt.
Spread evenly over the top of the crust and bake for 10 minutes at 350º.
After 10 minutes, turn the pan and lover the oven temperature to 275º for another 5-7 minutes, until the crust has risen and set.
Turn off the oven, remove the tart and sprinkle with the malted milk powder. Return to the oven for 10 more minutes, or until the malt powder has dissolved and begun to caramelize.
Remove from the oven, loosen the sides from the pan with a knife and cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pan and slicing into wedges.

Cut it into 16ths for gift bag size slices

If you're going to freeze the pieces, make sure they cool to room temperature before wrapping and freezing, in order to prevent condensation from ruining the texture of the tart.

Not Your Kiddo's Fudgesicle

When I was little, my absolute favorite treat from the ice cream ruck was a Fudgesicle. The were 99 cents, and, in my opinion, were even better than the $2.50 ChocoTaco. I was, and still am, a purist at some levels, though when I do find a magical combination, I cling to it like my life depends on it. This recipe is one of hose combinations. The tang from the greek yogurt paired with the soft sweetness form the Dutch cocoa is amazing! It doesn't even need salt.
The simple syrup and Dutch cocoa are hugely important if you want to really simulate the flavor of the chocolatey pops from when you were a kid. The simple syrup lends a familiar iciness to the texture of the pop and the darker cocoa lacks the tang of plain cocoa powder. This type of cocoa is used in a lot of the super dark and sweet childhood favorites, like Oreos.
Feel free to adjust the sugar and chocolate amounts to suit your fancy, but if you want to make them any sweeter, I'd recommend granulated sugar to prevent the pops from getting to icy once they're frozen.
These would also be pretty darn good if you froze a strawberry at the bottom of the mold, but I made strawberry pops yesterday so I thought it might be a little overkill.

Dark Chocolate Pops
24 oz plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage 0%)
1/2 Dutch process cocoa (Hershey's Special Dark tastes the most like a Fudgesicle)
1/4 cup simple syrup (depends on your taste)


Mix yogurt, so any liquid is fully incorporated. Sift in the cocoa powder, making sure there are no lumps. Mix in thoroughly. Add simple syrup until you reach your desired sweetness.
Put a strawberry, point facing down, into the bottom of each popsicle mold or paper cup you have. Top the berry with the yogurt mix. If your molds come with sticks that fir securely to the top, fit with a lid and freeze for at least 3 hours, or until frozen solid. If you are using cups, or your own sticks, cover each mold with plastic wrap, stab a stick through the plastic, down into the pudding, so it stands straight up. Freeze until solid.
The popsicles should release from the molds when rubbed with a warm hand. If they do not, hold the plastic mold under warm water, or peel the paper cup away from the fudgesicle.

Quick Dark Chocolate Marzipan

Sometimes, you need to make something really quick, but you still need it to be really good and special. This is where marzipan comes in. I have shared a recipe for a long form marzipan before, but I'm currently in the process of stocking up on hand made food gifts for the seemingly endless number of graduation parties I have this summer, so I don't have the time or patience to be grinding almonds and cooking egg whites to perfection.

This is not a very sweet marzipan, and it leans on the side of stickiness, but that's how I like mine, all almond flavor with a sharp contrast between the texture of the chocolate filling and the marzipan casing.

You can make these with any type of chocolate filling, but I like a dark chocolate with a fairly low percentage of cocoa solids. I generally go with about 60% cocoa. This may seem a little strange, but it's meant to balance out the pure nuttiness of the marzipan. Think of it this way, if you need a bitter chocolate, your marzipan is too sweet.

(I know, I need to get some more plates for photos)

Quick Marzipan with Dark Chocolate
Makes 30 filed marzipan cups

8 oz Almond paste (not marzipan)
1 Tbs light corn syrup
1/2 tsp almond extract
3.5 oz dark chocolate

In break the almond paste into peces a bowl. With a hand mixer, beat the almond paste until smooth. Add the corn syrup and and almond extract continue beating until it forms a smooth dough. If the mix is too dry, add a teaspoon of corn syrup. You want a slightly sticky dough, so if the dough is too wet, add a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Form into small balls and make a dip in the center of each with your finger tip, to make a small bowl shape.
Melt and temper the chocolate. Use a small spoon or squeeze bottle to fill the marzipan bowls to the top with chocolate. Chill in the refrigerator until the chocolate is completely set and the marzipan is dry, about 2 to three hours or over night. Package, share, enjoy!

Strawberry Balsamic Popsicles

I remember the very first time I had strawberries and balsamic vinegar. I was probably eight years old and my dad had read about the new crazy combination in Bon Appetit magazine. While I have always been a lover of balsamic vinegar (The reduced stuff is by far the best ice cream topping in the world--yes, even better than fudge or caramel or both) the mix of berries, vinegar and pepper was not very attractive to my eight year old self.

But then I tried it. Oh my goodness was it amazing! My dad added some sugar and let the berries soak up the vinegar for about an hour before we dug in to the bowl of ruby colored berries.
This is still one of my favorite combinations, and even though I absolutely hate black pepper, it is very very necessary in this recipe. It perfectly balances the sharpness of the vinegar and berries. Oh, and if you can, use the ripest strawberries you can find, they balance the sweet and savory combination without the addition of too much sugar, so you get more of the pure berry and vinegar flavor.

Strawberry Balsamic Pops

1 1/2 cups ripe strawberries, hulled and stemmed
2-4 Tbs sugar
1/2 Tbs Fresh ground black pepper (finer is better)
2 1/2 Tbs good balsamic vinegar

In a blender or bowl with a hand mixer, blend the strawberries and sugar until it forms a chunky liquid (hard to explain, but the picture above is more descriptive). Add the pepper and vinegar and mix well. Portion into your popsicle molds and freeze until solid, 6 hours or overnight.

Lemony Quinoa Cakes

Where there's quinoa, there are creative thoughts. If the quinoa's in my kitchen, anyway. This stuff brings out the best in me, and I have no idea why. It's found it's way into many muffins, porridges, curries, stews, pancakes, and patties like these lemony quinoa cakes.

While I's like to say that these are an act of creative genius, I'll admit that I had something a little more impressive in mind, but was met with a very empty fridge, and not one leaf of the arugula I so desperately wish made it's way into this recipe. They were amazing when I finished, don't get me wrong, just not what I was planning on making when I woke up this morning.

The secret ingredient...

Ok, now I'm making it seem like these guys aren't absolutely great. They are absolutely great, and creative, just not what I had initially planned. They're especially amazing topped with a thin slice of pepper jack cheese. Yum.

Lemony Quinoa Cakes
Makes 6 4" round cakes

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups of water
salt

Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 Tbs raisins, minced
1 1/2 Tbs chopped chives
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/2 orange (or yellow, or red) bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup ricotta (I used part-skim)
2 eggs
1/4 c fresh bread crumbs (2 pieces of normal bread, torn or processed into small crumbs)
1/

Combine rinsed quinoa, water and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring quinoa to a boil, then simmer, covered for about 10-15 minutes, or until the quinoa has fully absorbed the water. Remove the quinoa from the heat and cool while preparing the rest of the dish.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, ricotta, lemon zest and raisins (the raisins should be so fine that they almost form a paste) Whisk thoroughly so that the raisin is even spread through the mixture. Add the rest of your ingredients, and mix well. Fold in the quinoa and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cove the mixture and chill for 10 minutes, or until cold all the way through.

Heat  olive oil in a medium skillet and form 6 cakes with your chilled mixture. Cook 2 or 3 cakes at a time, flipping when golden and crispy (about 2-4 minutes per side over reasonably high heat). Top each cake with a slice of pepper jack, fresh chopped tomatoes, or your favorite topping. Enjoy!

Buddy's favorite food: Orange bell peppers

Chai Coconut Milk Popsicles

Today beings the week of popsicles. I have a thing for week long challenges and even more of a thing for frozen deliciousness on a stick. I'm pretty darned excited, if you couldn't already tell.

This is probably the simplest of all the recipes. It's literally just brewing tea, as long as you use a good quality tea. If you've only got low quality tea lying around, add a cinnamon stick and a couple cardamom pods to the tea when it's on the stove to boil. This will perk it up a little so it tastes more like a rich tea pop and not just frozen sugar water.

What makes this even better is that on day 8, there's a special surprise for you. But we'll leave that for day 8, because it's a surprise!

Chai Coconut Popsicles

2 cups water
4 chai tea bags
1 cup coconut milk (I used Lite)
3 Tbs honey

Put the tea bags in a pot of kettle and cover with the water. Bring the tea to a boil and then remve from the heat. Cover and let steep for 3 to 5 minutes more. Mix in the honey and coconut milk and cool the mixture to room temperature. Divide the mix between your popsicle molds or cups and freeze.
If you're using paper cups or silicon baking cups, freeze for 1 hour before inserting a stick in the middle, then continue freezing until solid (about 6 hours) If you're using molds, the sticks are usually attached already, but if they're not, just follow the cup method.
Unmold, pop out, or tear away the paper and ENJOY!

Fresh Pea Pesto and Ditalini

People don't eat enough ditalini. I think people think of it as a sort of kid's pasta, and it really is entertaining, but everybody deserves some dinnertime entertainment, not just little kids. Sticking with the theme of little kid pasta, there's the pea.  I'm pretty sure every kid in America had a childhood filled with buttered noodles with peas mixed in. Except, it's hard to mix a pea with pasta, so it ended up being a plate of buttered noodles with a bunch of peas sitting on the bottom. While this dish was in no way my inspiration for pursuing fine food, it did inspire on fine pasta dish.

Pesto is probably the most versatile sauce/dressing/spread/dip in the entire world. You can make it with any number of herbs, veggies, oils and seasonings. Fresh pea pesto has to be one of my all time favorites though. It's bright green color, nutty undertones, and occasional bursts of garlic against the sweetness of the pas really makes this stand out. And, this entire dish was ready in less time than it takes to unload the dishwasher and set the table!

Ditalini with Fresh Pea Pesto
Serves 4

6 oz ditalini pasta
2 cups fresh peas (you can use thawed frozen, just don't blanch them)
1/3 cup whole almonds, toasted in a dry pan for 5 minuted over medium heat
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup fresh Thai basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup Reggiano Parmigiano


Bring a 4 quart pot of salted water to a boil. Quickly blanch peas in the water for 2 minutes, remove, and shock in an ice water bath. When the water is boiled, add pasta to water and stir occasionally, cooking for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove 1 cup of pasta water from the pot before draining pasta.
While the pasta is boiling, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium-low heat, to infuse the oil with the garlic. After infusing the oil for 10 to fifteen minutes, remove from the heat.
Put the almonds, basil, peas, garlic and oil in a blender and blend until almost smooth. Add pasta water as needed to thin to desired consistency.
When the pesto is smooth, mix in the cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
Pour over the drained pasta and serve.

Even Buddy Likes It!

He actually loved it, and licked the empty bowl clean:)