ariel's making ... upside down loquat, plum, banana, sage cake

i love love love loquats! and in san francisco, you can find them all over the place growing on trees. no one really seems to eat them much -- so start looking around ... they are tangy and sweet and have beautiful seeds inside.

on the 4th of july we had a big bbq in the backyard (fotos here!) and i was in charge of dessert. we had a bunch of very ripe loquats, so i thought i'd make a cake. first i halved and de-pitted the loquats.

then i made the cake batter:

3/4 stick of organic butter

1 c. organic powdered sugar

1 organic egg

2 very ripe organic bananas

1/2 c. backyard plum sauce (that recipe coming soon!) ... you can use jam instead.

1/2 t. of baking soda and baking powder

1 1/2 c. organic w.w. flour

1 c. organic almond flour

mix together!

then i chopped in some fresh sage.

in a frying pan i added 1/4 t. of butter, melted it and then added the loquats and cooked them for about 3 minutes. then, leaving the loquats in the pan, i added the batter on top and put it in the oven at 400* for about 30 minutes.

right when it came out of the oven, i flipped it onto a plate -- and ta-da! upside down loquat cake!

i also made a simple ricotta cheese topping with a little sugar and ginger in it, that i dolloped onto of the cake as i was serving it. there was none left -- i think it was a hit!

happy loquat foraging!

kisses,

ariel

Karina Makes the Chow, Ariel Takes the Vow: cupcakes for the newlyweds!

This weekend...oh, what a weekend. Our very own Ariel and Sam got themselves hitched on the beautiful Mt. Tam, and I was lucky enough to be there to witness one of the most unique and inspiring ceremonies imaginable... Even better- I was asked to make cupcakes for the celebratory event!


Ariel requested enough cupcakes to feed 75 folks, and hinted at the wish for two different flavors. I knew there was going to be a more traditional wedding cake front and center made by her incredibly talented friend Butch, so I decided to stick to my style and go bizarre and bold.


I made my favorite go-to vegan cake batter using all the organic ingredients I could get. (I made a little over double what this recipe calls for:)

2 cups water
3/4 cups light oil (I used extra virgin olive oil this time)
2 tbl white vinegar
4 tsp vanilla
3-1/2 cups unbleached flour (I used whole wheat instead and recommend it!)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda cinnamon and cayenne

Then I split the batter in half and made two different flavor purees to add to each one.

Kiwi-Lavender (with added mango, ginger and dates)


And Banana-Chipotle (with added cayenne, ginger, more cinnamon and dates.)


I added each puree to one of the batter bowls, and made a few last minute flavor adjustments by adding this and that (more spice here, a little lemon to balance it there, agave to make it perfectly sweet..) I made both minis and regular size to make sure there was more than enough to go around.


Once they were all cooked at 350* to moist and golden perfection and cooled over night, I set up my decorating station and got to some serious business... (notice my new frosting syringe I just bought- an awesome addition to my cake garnishing tool box!)


I had made both frostings by starting with a base of room temperature earth balance, vanilla, powdered sugar, sea salt, dates, fresh ginger, cinnamon and cayenne. I added bananas and chipotle peppers to one, and kiwi, lavender buds, lemon, and rose water to the other.


I garnished the kiwi-mango-lavender cupcakes with dried pomegranate seeds, dried blueberries, and candy pearls...


And the Banana-Chipotle cupcakes with freeze-dried bananas, chili-coated dried pineapples, dried pomegranate seeds and more candy pearls.


Butch's gorgeous cake!




The crafty couple planned for the reception to be one giant potluck, and luckily all of their friends and family apparently are INCREDIBLE cooks. I am fairly confident that no one went hungry that night.


Congrats Ariel and Sam!

ariel's making ... banana cream pudding

i totally love banana cream pie, but instead of having to make a crust, i invented a banana cream pudding that's just as decadent and only takes about 15 minutes to make.

you'll need:

1/2 c. organic sugar
2 organic eggs
1 c. organic heavy whipping cream
2 c. organic 2% milk
1/2 a vanilla bean
3 ripe organic bananas
1 t cinnamon
2 t dissolved cornstarch (optional)
extra whipping cream for topping

in a sauce pan, slowly heat the cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon and scrapped vanilla bean. stir constantly and don't let it boil. when it starts to steam, turn it off and go beat your eggs.

to the beaten eggs, slowly add a 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture. this tempers the eggs so they don't turn into scrambled eggs when you add them to the hot cream. now add the eggs to the large pot of cream (slowly!) and turn the heat back on low for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly and then remove from heat. to make your pudding extra rich and thick, dissolve the cornstarch in water and add to the cream mixture and mix.

whip the remaining cream (i did it by hand ... my evening workout!) and add a bit a of sugar, to taste.

line the bottom of cups with banana slices and top with your pudding! chill for at least two hours in the fridge. serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon. yum yum!

happy sunday darlings!

kisses,

ariel