I'm always veganizing recipes that I love...so...I'm working my way
through all of the amazing recipes in Julia Child's
Mastering the Art of French Cooking...
...making a Vegan Version of each one...... sometimes successfully - sometimes not...Recipe Count 518/524 (from Julie's count)...but really 629

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Vegan Babas au Rhum, Classique

[Rum Babas]

...so for the third Baba recipe today...
...this one takes the Rum Babas...and basically you just decorate them...

...glaze the tops with some Vegan Gelée d'Abricot...
...and then you're supposed to put glacéed cherries...but we don't like those...and I didn't want to buy them and have them go to waste...so I decorated our Rum Babas with a cranberry and some green grape quarters...

...they really are pretty...and soft and cake-like...almost reminiscent of a doughnut...

Substitutions:

None...but you do need previously prepared Vegan Babas au Rhum...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking p. 661

Vegan Babas au Rhum

[Rum Babas]

...so you take your VEGAN BABAS...still slightly warm...and make a Rum flavored syrup to pour over them...
...arrange the BABAS in a dish...
...and mix water and sugar...
...take a skewer and prick the tops in several places...
...my Babas were pretty airy...but I added several holes with a skewer...
...bring the water and sugar to a bowl...
...remove it from heat...and add some Rum...
...let it cool to lukewarm...
...pour the syrup over the Babas...
...then let them soak for a half hour...basting frequently...
...then drain them on a wire rack...

...and step two is complete...

Substitutions:

None...but you do need previously prepared VEGAN PÂTE À BABA ET BABAS...and they need to be either still warm or re-warmed...

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 660-661

VEGAN PÂTE À BABA ET BABAS

[Baba Paste and Babas]

...Julia says that 'babas and savarins always seem to delight guests'...and since my Mom was coming for a visit...I thought they'd be perfect for dessert...

...and as so often happens with Julia...she suggests a specific type of cooking device that is not in the typical American kitchen...

...she suggests using a cylindrical Baba mold...2 inches tall and 2 inches in diameter...which of course I don't have...
...but I do have a popover pan...that I bought at Goodwill when we still lived in West Virginia...I was going to 'experiment' with some vegan popovers...but I never have and it's just been sitting on the shelf...not exactly the right dimensions...but close...
...let's get started...melt some Earth Balance...and let it cool to tepid...
...Julia says to use fresh yeast and to mash it...so hers must have been a cake...I used Bread Machine yeast...and of course I didn't have to mash it...
...but I mixed in just a bit of warm water to make a paste...with the sugar and salt...
...then added some flax seed goo...one egg's worth so 1/4 cup...
...then the melted Earth Balance...
...and then mix in the flour and she specifies a wooden spoon for this mixing...
...probably a good idea as it's a very sticky dough...
...then you begin the kneading process...which was really different because I'm not used to 'kneading' a sticky dough like this...
...but basically you keep pulling the dough up and then slapping it back against the sides of the bowl...
...after a few minutes (about 5) the dough will detach from the bowl...
...completely...and when you can stretch it to a foot and twist it...it's ready...

...so Julia warns you to be careful if you're doubling the recipe...
...then you cut a cross in the top...
...sprinkle it with flour...
...cover it with several layers of damp towel...and leave it in a warm draft free place to rise for 1 - 2 hours...
...when it has doubled...
...gather the dough to the center of the bowl with cupped fingers...
...butter the inside of the cups with Earth Balance...
...then gently break off about a Tablespoon of dough and place it in each cup...
...which doesn't look like much dough...
...Julia says to let it rise until it comes above the tops of the cups...but because mine are a little bit to big that didn't happen...

...and Julia says to be careful...and 'do not delay or it may collapse'...
...then bake until lightly browned and slightly pulled away from the edges...
...unmold to a cake rack and cool to warm...
...they need to be still warm for the next step...

...aren't the pretty...and they smell divine...

Substitutions:

Earth Balance for Butter
Flax Seed Goo for Eggs

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking pp. 658-660

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Vegan Clafouti aux Poires

[Vegan Pear Flan]

...this is my prettiest Clafouti yet...
...Julia says to follow the Master recipe which is just called Clafouti...but it's actually the Cherry version...the first one I made was the Clafouti aux Mûres (Blackberry Flan)...and so the most complete directions are there...

...but this one was prettiest because I left the pear halves whole...Julia says to slice them...but I didn't...
...so...start with some nice ripe pears...
...peel them...
...slice them in half and remove the seeds...and that little hard bit of core...I used a small ice cream scoop for this...
...then mix some white wine, kirsch, and sugar...
...and marinate the pear halves for about an hour...
...and then save that liquid...and use it instead of part of the milk...
...blend up the batter...and coat the bottom of your dish...
...heat that until a skim forms...
...then arrange your fruit on top...
...pour over the rest of the batter...being careful not to cover your fruit...unless you've sliced it and want to...then you can...of course...cover it with batter...and the partially cooked batter will keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom...
...bake until puffed and browned and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean...
...if you've kept the pear halves whole...then you can slice it so that each serving has a half of a pear...
...it's so cute that way...
...and so delicious...I think this is my favorite Clafouti yet...

Substitutions:

Earth Balance for Butter
Soy Milk for milk
Flax Seed Goo for Eggs

Recipe here: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

pp.656-657