Dark Chocolate-Dipped Candied Citrus with Vanilla Infused Sea Salt

conflicted confections.

Dark Chocolate-Dipped

Candied Navel Orange + Clementine Slices 

with 

Vanilla Infused Sea Salt.

confections gotta be confected.

Apparently today (yesterday, as I post this) is (was) national dipping things in chocolate day, or some equivalently contrived BS foodie holiday. I loathe participating in these things and tend to avoid them like the transparently disingenuous plague they are. Yet here I am, joining in. It really couldn't be avoided. Sometimes confections need to be confected and this was a pre-planned, pre-holiday food gift prep day that just so happened to fall on an unfortunately coincidental calendar square.

But I feel a little tool-y about it all the same...

Addendum-- all previous complaints notwithstanding, if there's ever a national vanilla-infused 

sea salt day, I'm all over it. 

That stuff is worth a cynical and VERY public sacrifice of integrity.

candied.

dipped.

Dark Chocolate-Dipped

Candied Navel Orange and Clementine Slices

with 

Vanilla Infused Sea Salt

(makes about 25 pieces)

3-4 medium sized organic navel oranges +

3-4 organic clementines
(should yield somewhere around 4c, once sliced)

6c water

2c (+ 1-2Tbsp) unrefined sugar

1/2c dark chocolate chips 

2tsp unrefined coconut oil

1Tbsp finely ground sea salt

1/4 fresh vanilla bean pod, halved

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Less buying, more diy-ing:

Homemade Bourbon Vanilla Extract

Gorgeous homemade bourbon vanilla extract in the morning light. 

Like yesterday's DIY brown sugar post, once you've experience the taste of homemade vanilla extract you'll never go back. Again like yesterday's post, this requires but two ingredients: fresh vanilla pods and alcohol. This one will require a wee bit of patience; once assembled the vanilla needs a few weeks for the flavor to deepen properly, but the payoff is enormous. There is no comparison between homemade and store bought; where store bought smells/tastes weak and over alcohol-y, homemade is rich and full of natural vanilla aroma and taste.

Whole vanilla beans, stem ends. Ready to be turned into extract. 

While most DIY vanilla recipes call for a neutral alcohol like vodka, I prefer to use an unblended whiskey or bourbon. The natural oak-y notes in bourbon blend perfectly with the fresh vanilla to create a mellow yet robustly flavored extract that is still perfect for baking. The ability to easily replenish your supply is one of the very best things about DIY vanilla extract. When you're running a little low just add a bit more alcohol, maybe another split vanilla bean and voila, you're topped off. Now I do a lot of baking, so my vanilla lives in an old 750ml Bulleit Rye bottle, not only is it a beautiful bottle that looks pretty bad ass on my pantry shelf but its also just the right size for my needs. If you bake less frequently maybe a smaller size is in order. A little tip though, homemade vanilla extract makes a fantastic gift, so why not make a big batch and share it with some well deserving friends?

Homemade Vanilla Extract:

You will need a glass bottle or jar with a screw top
or tightly fitting corked lid
funnel
fresh vanilla beans

You will need a ratio of approximately 3 vanilla beans per 1 cup of alcohol

Using a small, sharp knife split your vanilla beans lengthwise by making a cut just below the stem and run your knife along the length of the bean,
splitting it in two,
leaving stem end attached.



Using the knife, scrape the pulp from the interior of one of the split vanilla beans.
Place the scraped pulp into your jar or bottle.
Add split vanilla beans, including the scraped one.
Funnel the appropriate amount of alcohol into the bottle.
Tightly cover your bottle or jar and give it a good shake.

Place your bottle/ jar in a cool, dark place and allow it to sit for at least 4 weeks.
Be patient!
The longer you let the vanilla beans steep in the alchol,

the darker and richer your extract will be. 

My big ol' bottle of homemade vanilla extract. Needs a bourbon top-off. 

Vegan Peppermint Patties

food gifts are the best gifts.
DIY Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties.

Processed peppermint patty filling, ready to be formed.

Ok, I'm not gonna sugar-coat it (badum bum), these might get you in a little trouble. You may find yourself lying on the couch, face and hands covered in chocolate, cursing the day you first decided that they would make fantastic and (theoretically) easy Christmas gifts. Or, if you're more responsible and more time-management focused than I, you may just have a delightfully relaxing day putting these treats together. Learn from my mistakes, kiddos. Don't try to prep, dip, individually wrap and box up two hundred and fifteen of these in one day. My hands might be permanently claw-shaped from so much teeny tiny wrapping. But still, worth it. These mints are GOOD, (relatively) easy to prepare, and are sure to make you the king/ queen of holiday food gifts. 

They're such a hit with my friends and family 

that people start asking me about next year's batch right around January first. 

But, as much as they may beg, I make them but once a year.

First rule of show business (or peppermint patty making), 

gotta keep 'em wanting more. 

Now, this recipe is for a large batch. If you make small patties (about teaspoon sized) it will make between 60-70. You can easily halve the recipe, but I encourage you to make the full batch. You'll already be putting in the work, so why not make more? You can vary the size of the patties a bit, though if you go too big they can become a bit unwieldy. I like to make mine small, about 1/2" across;

 I find the filling holds together perfectly at this size. 

These keep super well in the fridge and also freeze beautifully. 

Formed and frozen peppermint patty filling, ready to be dipped.

 So here we go:

Vegan Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties

( makes approximately 60-70 small patties)

First batch of finished mints, only 200 more to go.

You will need a food processor and a double boiler

set-up on your stove top for this recipe.

Ingredients:
6c organic powdered sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2Tbsp room temperature coconut oil

2tbsp peppermint extract

2tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup light (unsweetened) coconut milk

4 cups (2 12oz bags) vegan dark chocolate chips

What a mess.

To prepare the filling:

Combine sugar, 1/4c coconut oil, coconut milk and extracts in the food processor.

Mix until ingredients have combined to form a well incorporated paste.

The mixture should look like the photo above.

Scrape filling out of food processor and into a medium sized bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

Once the filling is chilled:

Remove from fridge and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Measure out a teaspoon sized ball of filling and roll into a ball in your hands. 

Place the ball on mat and gently flatten with two fingers.

Repeat until you have filled your cookie sheets. 

Place filled cookie sheets in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

If you find that the filling is becoming sticky and hard to work with,

place it back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. 

When your filling is nearly chilled, set up a double boiler on your stove top.

Bring water to a slight simmer over medium high heat.

Add chocolate chips and 2Tbsp coconut oil, stirring until melted.

Remove frozen fillings from the freezer and loosen them from the trays.

They should be solidly frozen enough to easily pop off.

Dipping your mints:
Dip a dinner fork into the melted chocolate to coat the tines.
Place a frozen filling disc on top of the coated fork.
Dip completely into the melted chocolate, coating the disc.
Allow the excess chocolate to drip off, then drag the fork
over the edge of the bowl, removing the rest of the chocolate.

Use another fork or knife to gently slide your coated mint off of
the dipping fork and back onto the silpat.
Repeat this process with all mint fillings,
then return dipped mints to the freezer to set up.
If you find that your un-dipped fillings are becoming too soft to work with,
return them to the freezer to re-freeze.

Once your dipped mints have set up (10-15 minutes in the freezer)
remove them from the silpats and package however you'd like.
I find that, if giving them as gifts, individually wrapping them makes for both
neater storage and better presentation.
Just pick up some baker's paper or parchment and cut it to the appropriate size.
Because there is no dairy these can be stored at room temperature,
but also keep very well in the fridge or freezer.

Now go make some and impress all your friends!

This is the best part.
My hand should uncramp any day now...

Vegan PBR Beer Bread

stop pulling your hair out!
Too Easy: Vegan PBR Beer Bread

Beer bread, out of the oven, drenched in butter and ready to impress. 

Party season is upon us. We all like the holidays but let's be honest, sometimes they can be a giant pain in the ass. Between work and life, scrambling to come up with something to bring to holiday dinner parties can be enough to make you pull your hair out. Never fear, beer bread is here! This recipe is perfect for just such ocassions, its a no-knead to the nth degree and almost embarrassingly easy. Its also pretty perfect for an I'm-just-gonna-sit-on-my-couch-and-eat-bread-all-day kind of day. It can be thrown together almost literally at the last minute and pairs well with a variety of things. I've eaten it for breakfast with Earth Balance and jam and for lunch/dinner/appetizers with butter, hummus, or whatever else is around. If you're looking for a SUPER easy food gift for Christmas, this is it. Just combing all of the dry ingredients in a mason jar, write out a pretty recipe card with instructions, include a bottle of beer (or not), tie a bow around the whole thing and voila! 

(Almost) instant Christmas gift! 

Beer bread batter, fully mixed. 

You will need: 

1 standard sized loaf pan, thoroughly buttered. 

2 1/2c all purpose flour + 1/2c whole wheat flour

1 1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp baking powder

1tbsp vegan sugar

1 1/2tsp ground sea salt

5tbsp Earth Balance

1 12oz beer of your choosing, 

I used a PBR for the bread in the photos.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thoroughly grease your loaf pan with 1tbsp of the Earth Balance.

In a medium mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients, stir. 

Pour in beer slowly, dry ingredients will fizz up quite a bit.

Stir slowly until well combined.

Dough will be very wet and sticky.

Pour your dough into greased loaf pan and shake to distribute evenly.

Beer bread batter in prepared loaf pan, ready to bake. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Lower temp to 375 and bake for 30 more minutes or until top is golden brown.

Place loaf pan on a cooling rack.

Melt remaining Earth Balance and pour over top of your finished loaf. 

Let sit for 5-10 minutes then turn out onto a work surface. 

You can eat it right away (it'll be hard not to) or allow to cool, wrap tightly in foil, 

and re-heat when you're ready to party.

Freshly baked beer bread waiting for its butter bath.