Vegan Kuchen with Fresh Fruit Topping

Okay I will get right to the recipe, since that is what I like when I want to bake something. But while the kuchen bakes, please read the story of 'the apricot delivery' below the recipe, okay? Thanks (oh yes, and your comments are gold! I love them-- as most bloggers do-- and ask any questions too!)

VEGAN KUCHEN with FRESH FRUIT TOPPING

1. Sift all the following into a large mixing bowl.  Whisk to combine well:

2 cups, 250g All-Purpose flour
2 teaspoons, 8.87g baking powder
1 teaspoon, 3.4g baking soda
1/3 teaspoon, 1.95g fine sea salt
2/3 cups, 132.57g sugar

2. Mix together the following in a 2-cup measuring cup:

3/4 cup, 184g non-dairy milk
3 tablespoons, 47.02 non-dairy yogurt
1/3 cup, 72.16g coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons, 30g apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons, 9.86g vanilla extract

3. Add the wet ingredients (#2) to the dry ingredients (#1) and use only as many strokes as needed until batter is combined.  Over-stirring can result in a tougher texture.

4. Preheat the oven 350 degrees F./180 degrees C./moderate/4 gas

5. Spoon the batter into a greased or parchment-covered spring form pan (11") or use a similar-sized silicone pan (which I did-- no greasing or parchment required). 

6. Slice up about 1 pound (larger fruits, into halves, quarters or thinner strips (riper fruits need less cutting up).

7. Embed the sliced fruit and/or whole berries in the dough.

8. Optional topping: 2 tablespoons (about 25g) coconut sugar and coconut shreds

9. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Cool before eating.

10. Use this recipe for any in-season fruit topping that grabs your fancy.  I have tried apricots, blueberries and apples-- they all taste magnificent on the top of this cake.  Mmmm.  Eat with tea or coffee... this is a German-ish coffee cake (the kuchen my mother-in-law made was leavened with yeast).  SEND me a picture of your cake.  If you join Organic Granny Veggie Recipes on Facebook, you can post your picture there!

THE APRICOT STORY
One morning I was out in my front yard doing some weeding when the postal van pulled up.  The postee got out with a Amazon Prime box and said it was for me and that she would leave it at the top of the drive-way, which she did (COVID-19 delivery format).

I thought to myself: "Wow, Amazon is back into their 2-day deliveries!" (I had ordered from them two days before.  During the COVID time there was a huge overseas delay.  Understandable).

So, I hauled the box into the house and used a knife to slice it open.  I was struck by all the stamps, but my brain told me: "Probably a third-party seller".  I am not too curious about that system, so accepted the idea.

But then, when I peaked into the box I was mystified to see egg cartons.  My helpful (but rather dull) brain suggested: "I think these eggs must have been delivered to you by mistake".  My 'other brain' whispered: "I don't think Amazon delivers eggs, do they?".

I gingerly opened the box and saw what looked like brown eggs, but when I opened it wider I saw APRICOTS!!!

The apricots were from the tree of my dear long-time friend, Joey, who lives in the Sunny Okanagan where apricots grow very nicely.   For many years she was the Post Mistress in a small Saskatchewan community called LOVE, close to my brother and sister-in-law's farm, the farm I grew up on.  So, Joey didn't think it was a big deal to send a box of apricots by mail.  I was so touched by her thoughtfulness (still am).  Who but a dear old friend would think to do that?


**Bianca Zapatka's apricot kuchen is the foundation for this recipe.  Thank you!

Vegan Ice Cream and Other Frozen Treats You Can Make Yourself!

Summer is here!  In celebration of all the new vegans everywhere, and in recognition of all those who have been eating vegan for years, here is a summertime roundup of vegan ice cream and other frozen treat recipes that you can make yourself!  I have included a short ingredients list so you can do a scan and see which ones suit for you and/or your family.  Just click on the link and go directly to the recipe.  

Mango-Blackberry Vegan Ice Cream

Ingredients:

 nondairy milk, frozen mango chunks,

 starch, vanilla, maple syrup, ripe avocado, blackberry jam

Blueberry Nicecream on Raspberry Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

Nicecream: frozen blueberries, frozen bananas

Pudding: chia gel, raspberry jam, nondairy milk, maple syrup

Spunky Monkey Ice Cream

Ingredients: chia seeds, frozen banana, cocoa or cacao, 

maple syrup, vanilla, peanut or nut butter

Maple Walnut Cashew Banana Ice Cream Sundae

Ingredients:coconut milk, ripe frozen bananas, raw cashews,

walnuts, maple syrup, vanilla, chocolate chips

Simple Carob Nicecream

 Ingredients: frozen bananas, dates, carob powder

OTHER FROZEN DIY TREATS
Treats to Make with Frozen Grapes

Luscious Frozen Smoothie Treats

Blue Heaven Pie

Perfect Oregano Pesto

This is the perfect pesto for anyone who is short on the standard basil and has fresh oregano taking over the yard

  But you could still use basil, or arugula, or your fave other green.

Add the olive oil to your blender 

And then all the other ingredients.  Salt and pepper to your preference  but I suggest you start with a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt.  Less is more  right?

Spin up and store in a jar or other container with a lid in the fridge.

Delicious on pasta, crackers, bread, celery sticks, quinoa, wraps. See these 3 high nutrition, gluten-free pasta suggestions HERE

See 7 Things you Can Use Oregano Flowers for HERE

Endless Greens: Free Bok Choy from Spring to Fall

Baby Bok Choy 

I love bok choy.  During the beginning of the COVID19 period of isolation there was an amazing amount of organic bok choy available in our local grocery and whole food stores.  

Bok choy comes from the cabbage/crucifer/mustard/brassica family, and is a Chinese Cabbage (grown first in Asia), as you might be able to tell from the name.  I guess we mostly see the Cantonese version here-- the Shanghai Bok Choy is a darker green-- the one I think of has broad light green/white stems and lighter green leaves, as in the picture above.  I particularly like the dwarf versions of bok choy, called Baby Bok Choy.  Light, easy to slice and eat, and mild-tasting with lots of delicious leaves.

On Instagram I ran across an account that showed several small chunks of the bases of a bok choy plant sitting in water. When I inquired if they were rooting it to plant, they told me that that don't really wait for roots to form, but that they grow leaves from the old "wound" and after 6-9 days they just pop them into soil and they grow up edible there.

That was worth a try!  So here is what I did and found out:

I copied the folks on IG and just cut those little suckers 2 inches from the end and stuck them in water until they had developed fairly good leaf growth (I'm mostly interested in the tender leaves for eating).

"rooting" the bok choy in water

When the plant had developed a pretty impressive set of new leaves I planted them in my backyard planter (filled with decayed seaweed and sea debris that my husband harvested from a nearby beach, and then topped with a luxurious 18 inches of our compost (kitchen scraps, organic soil, rotted brown matter like leaves).  The grow-box is a former wood box that we removed from beside our fireplace.  It's perfect.  I hardly have to bend at all to 'garden' there.  So far this wonderfully, spongy humus contains the bok choy, some celery that I have started in the same way, and some collard seedlings.  I have glass jars over the smaller plant-lings because something likes to snack on them.

                                                                               

Now, as you can see, they are not "true" to the bok choy image at the top of the page.  But they are covered with tender leaves, big and small, and even have some edible flowers for the mix!  I cut the plant off near soil level and let the roots stay in there to decay (we will see) to offer further organic matter to feed new plants (or the little wood bugs that are so anxiously awaiting each new delivery).

                                                                                

             

Not bad for a plant grown from the 2" heel of a store-bought bok choy, eh?   I keep putting the heels in water and expect to have one or two of these every week or so throughout the summer.  This is the company today's bok choy kept:

                                                                                          

       

I am happy to report that they taste tender, succulent and mild, just like the original bok choy, even if they do not look like grandpa exactly.  The cubes are a recipe called General Tso Tofu from Michelle Blackwood's Healthier Choices site (vegan and gluten-free recipes).  I steamed the bok choy.  The flowers are cutely edible.

Have you ever planted bok choy like this?  Do you think you might give it a try?