strawberry coffee cake

my favorite thing about this coffee cake is the unexpected use of fresh herbs. the berries mixed with the rosemary in particular made me feel incredibly cozy and happy. rustic and simple.

last week i made my first pilgrimage to the dekalb farmer's market. having put off such an occasion out of fear for the unknown, i went in a bit hesitantly. the place is daunting. a big open warehouse is full of people, unfamiliarity but also lots of surprises. i was able to score my organic raw nuts for a fraction of the price i normally pay. i also came home with some fun new things to try like chia seeds and spelt flour.

when i got home with my hodge podge of cheap wine, nuts, etc i had no idea what i was going to do with some of it. i researched recipes with spelt flour and found this one:

strawberry coffee cake
slightly adapted from 101 cookbook's maple huckleberry coffee cake

yields: 12 - 16 modest slices.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or spelt flour)
3 tablespoons rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup maple syrup, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk (i used half + half)
1 1/3 cups fresh wild huckleberries (i used chopped strawberries), well picked over

Topping:
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut 1/4-inch cubes
1/3 cup maple sugar (i drizzled maple syrup over the crumble)
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 cup chopped pecans

special equipment: a 1-pound loaf pan

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, rack in the middle. Butter a 1-pound loaf pan, and line with parchment paper. Alternately, you could just butter and flour the pan, but I've found that lining the pan with parchment makes removing the cake from the pan after baking no problem.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, thyme, and rosemary. Set aside. In a separate large bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer or by hand - until light and fluffy. Drizzle in the maple syrup and beat until well incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times along the way. Beat in the egg, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, scraping the sides again. Add half of the flour, stir just a bit, now add a splash of the buttermilk, stir again, but not too much. Add the rest of the flour and stir a bit, and now the rest of the buttermilk. Stir until everything barely comes together and then very gently fold in one cup of the huckleberries. Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pan and set aside.

To make the streusel topping, place the flour, butter, maple sugar, thyme and pecans in a food processor and pulse 20-30 times or until the topping is a bit beyond sandy/crumbly. It should be moist-looking - on its way to being slightly doughy. Crumble 2/3 of it over the cake batter, sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup huckleberries on top of that, and then add the last of the crumble. Barely pat in place with your fingertips.

Place the coffee cake in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool for five minutes and then remove it from the pan to cool on a rack (this way the cake won't steam in the pan as it's cooling.

recipe + instructions from 101 cookbooks

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i ended up eating practically the entire cake alone. again, why i should not bake when matilda's napping and i'm left to my own devices. the cake was so crumbly and perfect with just enough maple goodness to make it sweet. pair with ethiopian organic coffee and a good friend. perfect sunday brunch food.

super bars

the other day my sweet neighbor katie who is an insanely good cook (remember my favorite chili?) came over with some melt-in-your-mouth bars for me to try. she totally brought me in to the light when it comes to making your own treats that taste like these. i've seen lots of posts like this one and this one but hadn't actually tasted them for myself. let's just say this batch didn't make it. i think matilda and sam had about 2 a piece. there are so many super foods in these bars like coconut and cacao that i've dubbed them...

super bars

makes approx. 12 small bars

1/2 cup raw hazelnuts (you could also use almonds)
1 1/2 cup chopped dates (or 10-15 whole pitted dates)
1 cup organic unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup cacao nibs
1 T cacao powder
3 T coconut oil
1 t honey

method:
i started grinding the nuts first in my vitamix (a food processor would also work), then i added in the dates one by one. i used 10 total. about half way through grinding up the dates i added the coconut oil. now that everything is starting to gel i added in the rest of the ingredients until the mixture is fully saturated and could be rolled in to balls.

remove mixture from blender and use your fingers to work the batter in to a small glass baking dish. flatten.

chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. you will then be able to cut the mix in to bars. enjoy!

summer beet salad

talk about farm to table! these beets were grown in our raised bed. i can think of little else that is as satisfying as growing your own food. i bought these pink beauties at our favorite plant sale in early spring. the first time i ever experienced beets was at our staple house dinner. ryan made a golden beet salad which was phenomenal. my only other beet reference was out of the can at thanksgiving (vomit). i wanted to try my hand at my own salad. something summery and fresh. i created this using a few different recipes. i love the sweetness of the peaches with the savory greens and earthy beets. it's like a party in your mouth.

summer beet salad

makes one large salad

for the salad:

bunch of beets

1/2 a red onion

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic

mixed greens

toppings:

1 peach (an orange would also be lovely)

cacao nibs to taste

raw walnuts

dressing:

taken from my new roots

½ clove garlic, minced
juice of ½ lime
1 tsp. raw honey
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt

preheat oven to 350

remove greens from beets and set aside. scrub the beets like crazy then rub them down with olive oil and salt and pepper. wrap them in tin foil and then place them on a baking sheet. let cook for 45 minutes or until the beets can be sliced easily with a knife. let cool.

meanwhile wash the beet greens. cut in to smaller pieces. chop the onion and mince the garlic. then saute them with coconut oil until they start to brown. add the greens and stir occasionally until wilted.

in a small bowl whisk together dressing.

assemble salad with mixed greens first, then greens, then beets plus toppings (peaches, walnuts, cacao nibs). cover with dressing and enjoy (outside preferably)!

speaking of beets. this video/recipe is so beautiful. i've watched it five times.