Blackberry Pandowdy

What the heck is pandowdy?  - turns out it is a very easy and rustic fruit dessert with pastry on the top.  The the word pandowdy refers to breaking up the crust half-way thru the cooking time so that the fruit bubbles up between the pieces of the crust.  You end up with pieces of crisp crust and pieces of crust submerged in the fruit - just like a pie.

Breaking up the pastry immediately caught my attention - this means the pastry does not have to be perfect!  The word 'dowdy' brings to mind something unfashionable, without style...  Warm, sweet fruit with a yummy, whole-grain pastry on top and I'm there stylish or not.

We love berry pie around here - however, I've never been able to master pie crust, so I usually get away with berry crisp and cobblers.  I came across a recipe for Strawberry Pandowdy in the latest edition of Eating Well (June 2011). 

I used blackberries and converted the original recipe to gluten-free and vegan.  Use any fruit you want or combination of fruit.  You may want to adjust the amount of sugar depending on how naturally sweet your fruit is.  (some ideas: strawberry & rhubarb, peach & blackberry with cystalized ginger, apple & maple - the sky's the limit...) 

This reminds me of one of my favorite cookbooks, Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson, which is filled with intriguing recipes for crumbles, buckles, cobblers, pandowdies, and lots more.

I shared a link to this post at Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

Crust:
3/4 cup gluten free flour mix
1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoon earth balance buttery stick (or butter), cut into small pieces
2 - 3 tablespoon ice water

Berry Filling:
2 lbs fresh or frozen blackberries (about 6 cups)
1/3 cup coconut palm sugar (use less if you like your berries tart!)
3 tablespoons gluten free flour mix
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

To make the crust:  place 3/4 cup flour mix, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.  Add butter, 1 small piece at a time, pulsing continually.  Mixture should resemble coarse sand.  Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture begins to come together. 

(to make crust without a food processor: Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.  Add pieces of butter and rub the into the dry ingredients with your fingers.  Stir in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture begins to form a ball.)

Transfer dough to a piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the berry filling and place in a 8 x 8 inch baking pan.

Roll the chilled dough out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.  I've found that this dough does not  hold together like 'normal' pie crust dough, so I just place the dough on top of the filling in pieces, large and small so I end up with a patchwork - which looks interesting and very rustic.  If you've got just one big piece of pastry, cut a few slits for steam to escape.

  Tuck any overhanging dough into the edges of the baking dish. 

You may want to have a baking tray under your pandowdy to catch any drips - depending on how full your baking dish is.  Bake for about 30 mintues.

Remove from the oven and with a small, sharp knife, cut the partially baked crust into 2 inch squares.  Using a spoon or small spatula, press about half of the dough squares into the fruit until they are partially submerged.  This is called 'dowdying'.

(Note:  if your pastry looks 'beautiful' at this point, feel free to skip the step which breaks the pastry into pieces and submerges them into the fruit.) 

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 30 - 40 minutes more, until the crust is browned in places and the fruit is bubbly.  Allow to cool a bit.

Double the recipe (that's what I did!) and bake in a 13 x 9 inch pan.  We had it for breakfast with yogurt.

Hazelnut Cream Scones with Blackberry Jam (g-free & vegan)

I had a bit of trouble with scones this month.  I've made plenty of biscuits, but never scones.  I've not eaten too many scones either, the only scones I remember eating are the orange cranberry scones at Starbucks (which are very delish).  After reading some history about scones, I wanted to make a simple scone with no added bits, no nuts, no fruit.  A more traditional scone.  Because, I was really interested in making jam (which I've never made before either). 

(beautiful logo designed by Anile Prakash)

The theme of this month's Ratio Rally was Scones - scroll down to the end of this post for a complete list of the offerings.  Lauren at Celiac Teen has done a bang-up job at hosting the whole event this month. 

EZ PZ, biscuits with a bit of sugar...

I made several version of scones that were just okay to awful, awful in the sense of very dry and crumbly (upon removing one batch from the oven, the whole thing fell to crumbs).  I did make a pretty good chocolate scone with dried cherries, but the texture was more like a brownie, which was yummy, but I just didn't like the sound of 'brownie scone'.  I almost gave up, except the blackberry jam was so fabulous! 

(By the way, these are a few pictures of my garden, Spring has finally appeared in the last few days.)

The garden's looking beautiful, but what's to be done about these darn scones?  In desperation, I tried the cream scone method, more liquid, more fat - could work.  Since I was trying to keep it vegan, I used coconut cream in place of the traditional heavy cream.  Finally!  The scones were fabulous, they smelled wonderful and were moist and flavorful and held together.  The hazelnut flour gives a subtle, sweet flavor which goes beautifully with the tartness of the blackberry jam.

In the end, the scones were very good, (definitely best the first day) but the jam was the luscious star of this combination.  I am planning my next batch of jam already.  And, I'm looking forward to trying some of the other gluten-free scones in the ratio rally.  My journey with scones had just began and there are untold mysteries in the baking of scones which still elude me. 

And, one of those mysteries (at least about these particular scones) is the ratio.  I know this recipe was developed for the 'Ratio Rally' - but to be honest, the ratio escaped me.  I think the ratio is close to 3-2-1 (flour, liquid, fat) - to get to this ratio, I counted the coconut cream as liquid, although it was in a solid form, more like a fat instead of a liquid.  Was this correct?  If anyone knows - please let me know! 

I shared a link to this recipe at Amy Greene's Slight Indulgent Tuesdays.

Hazelnut Cream Scones
2 tablespoon golden flax meal
4 tablespoon coconut milk

3 oz hazelnut flour (about 1/2 cup)
2 oz sweet sorghum flour (about 1/2 cup)
2 oz sweet rice flour (about 1/2 cup)
2 oz arrowroot flour (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
zest of 1 orange, very finely minced or use a microplane

2 oz cold earth balance buttery stick (4 tablespoons), cut into pieces

coconut cream from a 15 oz can full-fat coconut milk (just the solid part which sits on top when you open the can)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a sheet tray with parchment paper.

Combine flax meal and coconut milk in a small bowl and mix to combine.  Let this sit for a few minutes to thicken.

Place all dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.  With machine running, add pieces of the vegan butter one at a time.  The mixture should look a bit like sand at this point.  Add the coconut cream (just the solid part, do not add the liquid at the bottom of the can of coconut milk) and process until mixture starts coming away from the sides of the bowl.  If this does not happen in about 20 - 30 seconds or so, add a bit more sorghum flour.

Spoon dough out of the food processor onto the prepared sheet tray to form a circle about an inch thick.  I just use a spatula (and my fingers) to form the round shape about an inch thick.  With a very sharp pizza wheel (or knife), cut thru the dough from side to side,  making 8 wedges.  The wet dough will immediately come back together, but that's okay.  When baked, the scones will be scored and easier to pull or cut apart.  This dough is too wet to use a biscuit cutter.  You will end up with lovely soft sides, just crunchy on the top.  It seems most people like crunchy all around - I do not!  I'm all about the soft, moist, tender interior (well, there it is, now you know my big secret...). 

Blackberry Jam
4 pound blackberries (or a mix of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries), fresh or frozen
1 pound sugar
2 tablespoon bourbon
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
juice of 2 small lemons (or 1 large lemon)
1 teaspoon butter

Place a small plate in the freezer.

Place everything in a large dutch oven or saucepan (not aluminum).  Bring slowly to a simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon.  You can smash the fruit against the side of the pan with the spoon - but there's really no need, all of the fruit will brake down.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  If foam forms on the surface of the jam, skim it off.  After 30 minutes, the jam should have cooked down quiet a bit and be very thick and beautiful. 

Now, retrieve the small plate from the freezer (bet you were wondering about that!).  Use a small spoon to place a small amount of the jam on the plate.  Let sit for about 30 seconds, the jam will thicken on the cold plate - if this is the consistency you want for your jam - you are done.  If you'd like it thicker, simmer gently a few more minutes

Rinse your jars in very hot water (or run thru the dishwasher).  Spoon hot jam in the jars and place lid on (I use jars with rubber seals and clamps, see photo).  Because the jam is hot, this will make a pretty good seal.  However, this jam needs to be stored in the refrigerator. 

You'll notice that I did not strain the seeds out and blackberries do have rather a large amount of seeds - I've eaten lots of blackberries in my life and I like the seeds, they are an integral part of the blackberry experience.  You can smash up the fruit and strain before you start the cooking - entirely too much trouble for me.  If the seeds are going to bother you, try strawberries and raspberries for your jam. 

Amie of The Healthy Apple - http://thehealthyapple.com/2011/05/04/gluten-free-rice-crispy-scones/
Britt of GF in the City - http://www.gfinthecity.com/2011/05/gluten-free-ratio-rally-scones.html
Brooke of B & the Boy - http://bellwookie.blogspot.com/2011/05/coconut-scones.html
Caleigh of Gluten-Free[k] - http://gluten-freek.blogspot.com/2011/05/jam-on-top-or-cream-on-top.html
Caneel of Mama Me Gluten-Free - http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2011/05/savory-jalapeno-cheese-scones.html
Caroline of The G-Spot - http://thegspotrevolution.com/?p=3228
Charissa of Zest Bakery - http://www.zestbakery.com/ingredient/almond/amaretto-soaked-cherry-and-almond-scones/
Claire of Gluten Freedom - http://www.thisglutenfreelife.org/2011/05/ratio-rally-strawberry-banana-scones.html
Erin of the Sensitive Epicure - http://thesensitiveepicure.blogspot.com/2011/05/millet-scones-gfree-rally.html
Gretchen of Kumquat - http://kumquat-blog.blogspot.com/2011/05/gluten-free-ratio-rally-maple-oat-nut.html
Irvin of Eat the Love - http://www.eatthelove.com/2011/05/spotlight-on-savory-green-garlic-bacon-thyme-scones-with-white-pepper-maple-glaze-gluten-free-ratio-rally
Jeanette of Jeanette's Healthy Living - http://www.jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2011/05/glutendairyegg-free-coconut-pineapple.html
Jenn of Jenn Cuisine - http://jenncuisine.com/2011/05/banana-apple-and-currant-scones-gluten-free
Karen of Cooking Gluten-Free - http://cookingglutenfree.com/2011/05/gluten-free-ratio-rally-oat-scones-with-currants/
Kate of Katealice Cookbook - http://katealicecookbook.com/2011/05/04/cinnamon-fruit-scones/ 
Lauren of Celiac Teen - http://www.celiacteen.com/2011/scones-ratio-rally/
Lisa of Gluten-Free Canteen - http://glutenfreecanteen.com/2011/05/03/gf-ratio-rally-bisconies-actually/
Lisa of With Style and Grace - http://withstyle.me/2011/05/04/gf-lavender-earl-grey-lemon-scones
Marla of Family Fresh Cooking - http://www.familyfreshcooking.com/2011/05/02/avocado-scones-vegan-and-gluten-free-recipe/
Meaghan of Wicked Good Vegan - http://www.thewickedgoodvegan.com/2011/05/04/gf-scones/
Melanie of Mindful Food - http://mindfulfood.blogspot.com/2011/05/hazelnut-cream-scones-with-blackberry.html
Meredith of Gluten Free Betty - http://glutenfreebetty.blogspot.com/2011/05/cinnamon-raisin-scones-for-gluten-free.html

Morri of Meals with Morri - http://mealswithmorri.blogspot.com/2011/05/yerba-mate-chai-scones.html
Mrs. R of Honey from Flinty Rocks - http://honeyfromflintyrocks.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/classic-cream-scones-gluten-amp-dairy-free/
Mrs. R of Honey from Flinty Rocks - http://honeyfromflintyrocks.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/almond-fig-scones-gluten-amp-dairy-free/
Peter and Kelli of No Gluten No Problem - http://noglutennoproblem.blogspot.com/2011/05/gluten-free-ratio-rally-mesquite-scones.html
Sea of Book of Yum - http://www.bookofyum.com/blog/may-ratio-rally-gluten-free-classic-dairy-free-scone-recipe-6823.html
Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef - http://glutenfreegirl.com/gluten-free-scones/
Silvana of Silvana's Kitchen - http://silvanaskitchen.com/2011/05/gluten-free-pecan-streusel-scones-with-cinnamon-drizzle
Tara of A Baking Life - http://abakinglife.blogspot.com/2011/05/gluten-free-ratio-rally-ginger-scones.html
TR of No One Likes Crumbley Cookies - http://tcrumbley.blogspot.com/2011/05/gluten-free-cinnamon-pecan-scones.html
Wendy of La Phemme Phoodie - http://laphemmephoodie.com/2011/05/red-velvet-scones-for-the-gluten-free-ratio-rally.html
Winnie of Healthy Green Kitchen - http://www.healthygreenkitchen.com/coconut-raisin-scones-gluten-free-and-vegan.html

Sour Cream Crumb Cake with Berries

I love rustic cakes such as the one below - to me a crumb cake does not have the fine texture of a yellow cake and usually has fruit or pureed vegetables (at least at our house) and, of course, includes a crumb topping.  And, its easy to slip whole grains into this sort of cake. 

If you do not need to make this gluten-free, substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the flour mix below (in this case, definitely leave out the xanthum gum).  Also, use eggs in place of the flax meal slurry.  But, honestly, once you start baking without eggs, you will wonder why the are so ubiquitous.  Especially in a cake like this, you will probably not miss the lift from the eggs.  The addition of the flax meal also brings some extra fiber and omega 3s.

Although agave is used in the cake itself, I like brown sugar in the topping.  Agave can probably be used in the topping, but the texture will be different.

Feel free to leave the xanthum gum out (or use less) - some folks are really bothered by it.  It does improve the texture of the cake and without it, the cake will tend to be a bit more crumbly - but it will still be good!

Flax seed slurry (substitute for 2 eggs)

4 tablespoons golden flax meal

6 tablespoons liquid (I use coconut milk)

Dry Ingredients:

350 gram whole grain gluten free baking mix (about 3 cups) - see below for the mix

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil (melt before measuring) or olive oil

1 cup vegan sour cream

1/2 cup agave

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 cups mixed berries (can be frozen)

Topping:

4 tablespoons earth balance buttery stick

1/2 - 1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 - 1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

Oil a 13" x 9" glass baking pan or muffin pan.  Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Mix together flax meal and coconut milk and set aside.

Mix together ingredients for the topping and set aside.

Sift dry ingredients together in a small bowl.  In a larger bowl, mix wet ingredients together along with flax meal slurry (or 2 eggs).  Add dry ingredients to the wet mix and combine well.  Add half of the berries and mix (batter will be stiff).  If your batter is without eggs, taste the batter to make sure you like the level of sweetness - add more if you like.

Press batter into the 13" x 9" pan or spoon into muffin cups.  Add the remaining berries to the top of the cake (or muffins) and gently press into the cake.  Crumble topping over top.

Bake about 50 - 60 minutes for the 13" x 9" pan (if using frozen berries, baking will take a few minutes longer).  Bake 20 - 25 minutes for muffins.  Test with a toothpick - baking times always vary depending on your oven, the type of flours you have used, even the humidity on that particular day.

Options:

- substitute applesauce or mashed banana for the sour cream

- add finely chopped apple or pear instead of berries

- substitute honey or maple syrup for the agave (or about 3/4 cup brown sugar)

- add pumpkin or sweet potato puree instead the berries

- substitute chocolate chips for the berries (now we're talking…)

- add chopped nuts to the cake

- leave out the topping above and simply sprinkle the unbaked cake with a cinnamon/sugar mixture

- substitute the baking mix I used with a purchased mix (such as Pamela's or Bob's Red Mill)

Gluten-Free Baking Mix:

300 grams superfine brown rice flour

100 grams almond meal / flour

200 grams quinoa flour

100 grams corn flour (non-GMO)

150 grams tapioca flour

150 arrowroot

Yes, I used a scale here.  And it makes about double what you need for the coffee cake recipe (store the rest in the frig).  But you can approximate this mix by using with the following formula:

3 cups of gluten free baking mix = 2 cups gluten-free flour and 1 cup starch

2 cups of any of the following flours in combination (use at least 2 different flours):

Almond

Amaranth

Brown Rice

Buckwheat

Corn

Millet

Oat

Quinoa

Sorghum

1 cup of any one of the following (or in combination):

Arrowroot

Cornstarch

Potato Starch

Tapioca Flour

White Rice Flour

Experiment with different flours and have fun!  The above cake recipe is very forgiving and will turn out pretty good so matter what you do.  Well almost...