chocolate raspberry cupcakes, and a new mosaic

I've been in Goleta, CA near Santa Barbara for the past week installing a mosaic walkway for Ryan's sister and her beau at their house. It's gorgeous here, just up the road from a butterfly sanctuary, meadow, and a bluffy, beautiful beach. Look up and you'll be sure to spot a flock of pelicans in flight. Look down so that you don't step on sand fleas galore, or the occasional stranded jellyfish. 

I know all this because after a week of working very hard, I managed to finally get down to the beach...a much needed recharge to body and mind.

 

Tonight is our last night before heading home, and the mosaic is done! I am so happy that it is finished, and love the way it turned out. As usual, I underestimated the amount of work that it would be and ended up spending over 100 hours working on it, but it was worth it, as now their house looks like it is wearing a diamond ring. I have yet to name this mosaic, but it is inspired by the ocean meets mountain wonderland that is this part of the world. It is late in the afternoon as I shoot these pictures for you, and the sun is shining brightly on the entire mosaic. In the morning, the lighting will be ideal for the official portfolio shoot...this is just a sneak preview.

 

One thing I have been taking the time to do while here is cook and bake. I have been reading my way through the La Tartine Gourmande cookbook and it is incredible. She has brilliant recipes and lovely ideas. I highly reccomend that you get yourself a copy of this book (I know I will, as the copy I have now is borrowed from a friend). I was inspired by her savory muffins last week, and I made the most incredible quinoa and lemon pancakes this morning that are worth the book in themselves. As she cooks with a decidedly French flair (being French), I have been dreaming of souffles and quiches, fresh salads and rustic flavorful soups. 

These cupcakes are inspired by a recipe in her book. Of course, I had leftover almond pulp to deal with. And I used frozen organic raspberries instead of fresh, expensive ones. If you want a fluffier cake, add 1/2 cup of GF flour and a teaspoon of baking powder.

Thanks Béatrice, for your amazing ideas!

chocolate raspberry cupcakes

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 7 TBS coconut oil
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 2 cups raspberries
• slivered almonds
• brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Oil muffin tins or 9 inch cake pan. If you are using a cake pan. line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.

In a double boiler, melt the coconut oil with the chocolate chips. With a whisk mixer beat the eggs, sugar and salt until foamy and doubled in size. Add the almond pulp and cocoa powder and mix. Then add the melted chips and oil and mix until combined. Add 1 1/2 cups of raspberries and stir to combine. Scoop into oiled muffin tins or cups, filling all the way. Place 3-4 raspberries on each muffin, then sprinkle with slivered almonds and brown sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until they are firm to the touch and a knife comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing them from the tins.

Savory Basil, Tomato & Zucchini Muffins (GF)

 

Hi there!

Has it really been over two weeks since I last checked in? I guess I needed a vacation from the land of blogging. No, I'm not throwing in the towel. Just trying to figure out a way to keep this sustainable and interesting (to me and you) for the long haul. Sometimes I wish that I had created a broader theme for my blog, as food is only one of the things I am consumed by. Can I talk about things other than food here? Like mosaics, solar eclipses, and other wonders of the world? I wonder...

For this post, however, I will continue to ruminate on the subject of edibles. I was leafing through the cookbook put out by Béa of La Tartine Gourmande, whose blog is gorgeous, inspiring and utterly delicious. She has in her book a recipe for savory muffins which seemed like such a good idea to me that I rushed downstairs first thing this morning to make a veggie voyager version. I have to say, these are super tasty and a great on the go option for those who don't want to have a sweet breakfast. I made a big batch of batter, scooped out a dozen mini muffins without cheese, and then added 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese into the other half. Both were great. The cheese ones were off the hook. A spicy element would have been good too. Next time, I think I'll do a version with jalapeño, cheddar and cilantro.

Savory Basil, Tomato & Zucchini Muffins (GF)

• 3 small zucchinis, chopped small or grated
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (your choice, and optional) 

• 1 cup almond pulp (or flour)
• 1 cup amaranth flour
• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt 

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or buttermilk)
• 3 large eggs (or 1/2 cup flax meal)

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. Mix together, and then add vegetables and cheese if using. Scoop into muffin moulds, and sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they are firm to touch and golden brown on the tops. 

 
Bon apetit!

Almond, Chocolate & Cherry Biscotti

I'm back! 6 weeks traveling through Turkey and India: eating, drinking and breathing in as many sights, sounds, foods and flavors as possible. Although I didn't post as much as I would have liked to while on the road, I have a backlog of notes, photos and recipes to share...in due time. My brain is a jumble of spices, fermented grains, myriads of lentils and other exotic delights. I need a little time to process before I try to cook it all up in the 10 kilo tava we brought back in our luggage.

For the moment, however, I'd like to share a little slice of blissful homecoming with you: gluten free almond, chocolate and cherry biscotti, dipped in melted chocolate and enjoyed with a delicious almond milk latte.

Did I miss chocolate? Perhaps. I certainly am happy to be back in the loving arms of my la Pavoni espresso machine, bequeathed to me by a dear friend in an insane fit of generosity.

I love the story of how la Pavoni and I met. A few years ago, I was in Seattle visiting an old friend who had a groovy, old school stainless steel espresso maker that operated on a very simple mechanical basis, with a lever arm to push pressurized, steamy water through a small grupo packed tight with finely ground coffee beans. A simple wand on the side would steam milk to foamy perfection and the drinks she churned out were among the best I've ever had. I went home to San Diego fantasizing about having a fancy, old espresso maker of my own.

 

Alas, a precursory web search snatched the dream away from me before it even had time to gestate. These things cost upwards of $2000! I absolutely do not have that kind of disposable income, no matter how shiny and perfect the coffee maker might be (it is after all, just a coffee maker). That's a ticket to Ghana! Or two tickets to India. No way. So I put my dream on the back shelf, promising myself that if I ever hit it big, then maybe, just maybe, one day, I would have one of my own.

That night, we went for dinner at Shelly & Rich's house, two of our most beloved friends in the world. They have three lovely children and hanging out with this family is one of our top pastimes. It doesn't hurt that Shelly is a fellow vegetarian foodie, and that we all subscribe to a jacuzzi-wine-food-wine-jacuzzi-fireplace type lifestyle. We are kindred spirits, to say the least. Shelly has a veggie food blog as well, so we are constantly bonding over food, amongst other things.

Anyhoo, Shelly and I are conversing over another glass of wine on the patio and she, out of the blue, mentions to me that she has this espresso machine that her (rich) neighbor had given her a few years ago that has been collecting dust ever since. They are a bottomless coffee-pot type family, too busy to put that much effort into just one cup of coffee. If I wanted it, it was mine.

"Does it have a lever?!?!" was my greedy response. An affirmative nod was all I needed. "I'll take it! Are you sure???? Do you know how much that machine is worth???? You don't want to sell it on ebay???"

As it was bequeathed to her, so it was handed down to me, on the condition that I don't sell it myself, which has never, ever crossed my mind. It is mine and I love it and not a day at home has passed in the past two and a half years that I did not honor my la Pavoni by lovingly filling it with water, waiting for the pressure to build, blending up a fresh batch of almond milk, and enjoying a homemade almond latte, finishing up the ritual by polishing the metal to a shine and tucking it back away in its honored spot on the kitchen counter.

I chalk this experience up to another mystifying case of ask and you shall receive...the universe is a wonderful place, sometimes!

Other drinks I make with my wonder-machine are chai lattes and hot chocolates for Ryan, as he does not like caffeine. One small spoonful of loose-leaf chai (with rooibos) in the grupo produces a small, concentrated amount of tea that I temper with steamed & sweetened almond milk. Or steamed almond milk with a spoonful of good cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, an inch of fresh vanilla bean and a couple of spoonfuls of sugar. Frothy and delicious, we call these drinks "foamy-yummies".

And they are deeelicious with this biscotti recipe.

 GF almond, chocolate & cherry biscotti

• 3/4 cup almond pulp (from making almond milk)
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

• 1/2-3/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp almond extract 

• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 1 cup good quality chocolate chips (optional, for dipping)

 Preheat the oven to 350F

Combine the dry ingredients (through cocoa powder) together. Add the almond extract to 1/2 cup water and add to dry mix to create a ball of dough that is not too wet. Add more water if necessary, slowly. Once mixed add the almonds and cherries. Divide the dough into to two parts and shape into flat-ish logs on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes and remove from heat. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Reduce heat in the oven to 300F. Using a sharp knife, slice the logs into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces and place back on the cookie sheet. Put back in the oven to dry and toast for about 15-20 minutes longer. Remove from oven and allow to cool. These biscotti are more on the soft, dry side than the crunchy side.

 If you are dipping these in chocolate, melt the chips over a double boiler. Dip each cookie, flat side down in chocolate and then set it (chocolate side up) on the cookie sheet. Once all are dipped, place the sheet in the fridge or freezer to help set the chocolate. 

Finished!

Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut Muffins

 Happy Sunday!

Here is another tasty addition to the-muffins-made-using-almond-pulp (and a buncha other stuff) collection...And they're vegan to boot! I was a vegan for a long time and I have decided to post more recipes without eggs for my vegan readers. (Know, too, that you can usually omit the eggs in these recipes, as the flax and chia are great binders on their own). One of the only baked goods I make that absolutely must have the eggs is the Amazing Chocolate Cake.

Anyhow, these are tasty nuggets of goodness, studded with juicy chunks of apple and crunchy bits of walnut, and they're not TOO sweet. I predict these won't last the weekend around here...

Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut Muffins
(makes 25 mini muffins and 8 large muffins)

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 apples
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup chia gel (2 TBS chia seeds + water to make 1/2 cup gel, let sit for a few minutes to get gooey)
• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup flax meal
• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 cup millet flour
• 1 cup almond pulp
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sucanat or other natural sugar
• 2 TBS cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 cup chopped apple (or one apple)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

• 1/4 cup sucanat
• 1 TBS cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 Preheat oven to 350F.

In a blender, puree the orange juice through the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flax meal through the cloves. Add the apple puree and mix until just combined. Add the chopped apple and walnuts and combine. 
In a small bowl, make the topping: combine the sucanat, cinnamon and walnuts.
Scoop muffin batter into muffin tins or if you have them, silicone muffin molds. Dip each muffin into the topping or sprinkle over the top if using tins. 
Bake small muffins for approximately 20-30 minutes, larger ones for 25-35 minutes, or until they feel firm to the touch.

GF Butternut Squash Bread Machine Bread

I always have almond pulp! This means that I'm always experimenting with baking.  If you've got a bread machine, and are looking for gluten free recipes for it, here's another one. I made it vegan, because I don't want to exclude my vegan friends. This bread is very flavorful, moist and rich. I could barely eat one piece with some scrambled eggs. It's got the density and mouth-feel of zucchini bread, maybe even denser and moister. Not a sandwich bread, but more of a meal in itself.

ever hopeful for a dropped morsel

Gluten Free Butternut Squash Bread (for the Bread Machine)

• 1 cup butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 TBS molasses
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 3 TBS chia seeds
• 1 cup flax meal
• 2 cups rice/oat/millet flour or a mix
• 1 TBS yeast
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1 cup green olives

In a blender, puree squash, water, oil, molasses, chia seeds, and apple cider vinegar. In a separate bowl combine the quinoa flakes, flax, flour, yeast and sugar. Pour the liquid into the bottom of the breadmaker. Add the dry mix and olives. Set maker to Whole Wheat, Medium crust. Press "go".

Gluten Free Corn Bread

It seems like corn bread recipes are a dime a dozen in the blogosphere. Here's mine, for all it's worth. I have made quite a few of the corn bread recipes out there, never feeling quite satisfied with the results. So I tweaked and tailored until I got this winner.

I really like the way this bread tastes. I like the texture; it has a good crumb and holds together well. The kernels of corn and bits of red pepper add bursts of juiciness and flavor. Sugar and olive oil give it complexity. Polenta is coarser than regular cornmeal, lending this bread a rustic quality. If you'd like to make it vegan, I would venture to guess that it would be fine without the egg, as there is ground flax meal to bind it together.

As usual, it's gluten free and full of healthy goodness. I made it this time to accompany a vegetable soup for a sick boyfriend...

One corn bread trick I enjoy is to make it in a cast iron skillet. By heating a couple of tablespoons of oil in the skillet, then pouring the batter into the hot oil and cooking it for about 3 minutes on top of the stove before sliding the whole thing into the oven, you get a crispy crust on the bottom and sides. The oil needs to be very hot so that the batter bubbles as it is poured in. This step is not necessary, though, if you don't want the extra oil or do not have a cast iron skillet or dutch oven.

Kirstin's GF Corn Bread

• 1 cup almond milk or coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup flax meal
• 1 cup polenta
• 1/2 cup oat or millet flour
• 1/2 cup almond pulp (optional, if you have it)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar or sucanat
• 1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1-2 jalapenos, minced (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F

Mix the almond or coconut milk with the apple cider vinegar, let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg and olive oil and whisk together. In a separate bowl combine the flours, baking powder, salt, sugar and pulp if using. Stir in the liquid ingredients until combined. Add the corn and bell pepper and jalapeno (if using). If using a cast iron skillet, follow the directions above before putting into the oven. Otherwise, grease a 9"x11" baking pan and place in oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

GF Carrot Cupcakes

I know you've all been making almond milk...and you just don't know what to do with all that pulp! Here is another recipe for you. (If you don't have surplus pulp, I suppose you could still make these all the same.)

These carrot cupcakes are moist, fluffy and soft. I used this recipe as a starting point, but made modifications to make them gluten and dairy free. They are not too sweet, so I say they qualify as everyday muffin fare if you don't have a special occasion to make them.

For you experimental gluten free bakers out there, the most important thing you need to know is that flax meal, chia seeds and eggs are your best friends for binding all the other ingredients together. Also, if you use both baking powder and soda in a recipe you will get a lot more rise than if you use just baking powder alone.

These are delicious without frosting, but even better with. Ryan made the frosting for this, adapted from frostings we used to make in our raw food days, a blend of cashews, dates, coconut milk and other goodies. It's a little more like a sauce than a stiff frosting.

          Gluten Free Carrot Cupcakes
          (2 dozen large or 4 dozen small cupcakes)

1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups sugar (I used one cup evaporated cane juice and one cup sucanat)
1 cup almond milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice in it (let sit for 10 min)
1 pound carrots
3 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of one orange
1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 cup flax meal
1 cup almond pulp (or more oat flour if you don't have any pulp)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Set oven to 350F. Toast walnuts in oven for 5 minutes. Grate carrots, and add the almond milk, eggs, olive oil, vanilla, orange zest, and sugar, almond pulp (if using) and mix well. Combine the other ingredients together in a separate bowl and fold into the wet mix. Fold the walnuts in, being careful not to over-mix. Fill silicone muffin molds or greased tins 3/4 full (these rise) and bake for 15-25 minutes until firm and golden. Allow to cool before frosting.

While you are baking the cupcakes, make the frosting. Have on hand 1 cup soaked cashews (soak for about 1-2 hours).

Coconut-Cashew Frosting

1 cup soaked cashews
1 1/2 cups coconut cream or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
contents of 1/4 vanilla bean
6 pitted medjool dates
3 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Blend until smooth, Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate to help set. Once cupcakes and frosting have cooled, you may frost!

GF Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

 

delicious with lemon curd

I made almond milk this morning, which meant that I was left with a cup of pulp. One of my go-to recipes for almond pulp is lemon poppyseed muffins, a delicious, soft, sweet yet tart offering that everyone in my household is happy to gobble up right out of the oven.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we visited Ryan's sister and her man near Santa Barbara. They have a very prolific lemon tree in their backyard which I greedily pillaged four large grocery bags worth of lemons from. Needless to say, everyone we know got lemon curd, limoncello, and preserved lemons in their Christmas stockings this year. The lemon curd was a big hit, and the recipe I used is right here. (I substitute coconut oil for the butter to make this delicious spread Ryan-safe.) Even after all that lemon-ing, however, I still had two large grocery bags of lemons left, threatening to go off. I sat down with a movie, a big bowl and a zester and zested the remaining lemons, and then juiced them all. I packed all that juice and zest into ziploc bags and tossed them in the freezer (Thanks to my friend Alejandra for that brilliant suggestion!) The lemon juice, when thawed, tastes fresh...and the zest really goes a long way.

These days, whenever I want to make muffins, my go-to is usually lemon flavored. Each time, before I begin I ask everyone, "Are you sick of these yet?" No one has said that they are...

Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins 

• 1 cup almond pulp
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup flax meal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 TBS poppy seeds
• 3 TBS chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 TBS lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry. Mix wet. Mix wet & dry together. Scoop into muffin tins (I like to use mini silicone muffin forms, which make it really easy to dip each muffin into a small bowl of sucanat. Sucanat is a raw form of sugar that is chunky, dry, and brown. It has a warm, natural flavor and makes a great crumbly topping for muffins all by itself. If you don't have silicone muffin forms or sucanat, no problem. These muffins are great plain, even when baked in a good old fashioned muffin tin!

dipping each mini-muffin into sucanat

 Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until firm to the touch and slightly golden.

Gluten-Free Bread Machine Bread

I have to admit, we have a lot of kitchen toys. But we use them all! One fun gadget is a bread machine that we secured on Craigslist for $10. I always poo-pooed bread machines, but when I decided to stop eating wheat, and discovered that storebought GF breads are gross, a bread machine suddenly seemed much more appealing. Don't get me wrong. I love the alchemy of traditional bread making. From activating the yeast, to rising the dough and beating it back down; fresh homemade bread has always been the pinnacle of good home baking. But as a person who works sometimes, it sure is nice to be able to throw a bunch of stuff into a receptacle, close the lid and press "go".

When I first stopped eating wheat, I began reading and experimenting with GF recipes I found on various other food blogs. Like them, I used xantham gum and tapioca powder etc. I used proprietary GF baking mixes and a bunch of rice flour. While getting okay results, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was using ingredients whose origins were dubious, as well as weird and slimy to the touch. The bread was lacking in some fundamental goodness. After some thinking and researching, I decided that I would try baking bread without these things (which, by the way, are all designed to replace the sticky, gummy qualites of gluten) and instead use other more natural sticky gummy ingredients. The top three that came to mind were ground flax seed, chia seeds, and eggs. Other experimental bloggers seemed to concur.

After a bunch of trial and error, I feel that I have a pretty good recipe that is also very flexible. The bread, while not as sturdy as a wheat bread, has a good crumb and moist texture. You can add pretty much anything you want to the recipe as long as you keep the ratio of wet to dry consistent. If it looks too wet or too dry in the first 10 minutes of mixing, you can adjust accordingly.

I haven't tried making this without the machine. When I do I will report the results with due diligence as I realize most of you may not actually have a bread machine...or a wish to use one. 

This is another in my series of recipes dealing with my consistent surplus of fresh almond pulp. Stay tuned for more.

rising in the machine

Basic Gluten Free Bread Machine Bread

1 cup almond pulp
3 cups other flour, or a mix.
   Try oat flour, millet flour, lentil flour, quinoa flour, or corn meal
1 cup ground flax meal
3 teaspoons chia seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon active yeast
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

1 cup warm water
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs honey
2 eggs

Combine the first group of ingredients in a bowl. Put the second group of ingredients into the bottom of the bread maker's receptacle. Pour the dry ingredients on top of the wet. Secure the receptacle and bake.....Easy

I have tried almost all the settings on my machine, getting good results with both "whole wheat", which takes 3 hours and 40 minutes, to "express bake" which takes a mere 80 minutes. I think the longer the better though, so if you've got the time, go for that one. In the first few minutes, keep an eye on the bread. If it is too wet, like brownie mix, add a little flour of some sort. If it seems too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water at a time, slowly until it looks like it is holding its own shape but moist enough to settle into the shape of the pan.

If you'd like to add any other flavorings or ingredients, go ahead and do that after you've poured the dry onto the wet. Some of our favorites: olives, chopped pepper, black pepper & herbes de provence, sun dried tomatoes, jalapeno. Or go with a sweet bread and add sugar and cinnamon along with raisins or other dried fruit.

Home Made Almond Milk & Amazing Chocolate Cake

Almond milk, how do I love thee? Heaps of ways!

Let it suffice to say that, once you know how easy it is to make, and how delicious it is to drink, you will never go back. I make almond milk every couple of days to enjoy in coffee, with cereal, or to use in some recipe or another instead of regular milk. I think its better than milk, and far better than boxed soy or almond milk.

Almond Milk's only drawback is that you have to figure out what to do with the almond pulp after straining. Lucky for you,  I have a bunch of recipe solutions for that, too.

All you need to make this delicious drink is a blender and nutmilk bag (or a paint straining bag from the hardware store). I get mine at Home Depot, about $2 for two 1-gallon size bags (be sure not to get the 5 gallon bag). It helps to soak the almonds for a few hours before you blend, but if you don't, no big deal.

all you need (besides a blender & almonds) to make almond milk

Fresh Almond Milk*

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 6-8 cups filtered water

If possible, soak the almonds over night (soaking softens the nuts and switches off the enzyme inhibitors, making the almonds more nutritionally available and easy to digest...and creamier). Blend with the water for at least 30 seconds, until completely pulverized. Place the straining bag in a pitcher or bowl and pour the blended almonds and water through. Squeeze and strain (imagine you are milking an almond cow) until as much moisture is out of the pulp as possible. You now have fresh, delicious almond milk. I like mine plain, pure, and simple. But feel free to add sweetener, vanilla, a pinch of salt, or whatever floats your boat.

*For a slightly more viscous result, try adding a few tablespoons of chia seeds to the blender with the almonds. It makes it a little more difficult to strain, but the result is thicker. Also, if you want something more like a cream, use less water, or more almonds.

You should also know...this fresh almond milk lasts no longer than 2-3 days, so drink up! Or don't make too much.

soaked almonds, fresh almond milk, and my favorite way to enjoy: in a foamy cup of coffee

The question is, what to do with all this pulp? I used to stick it in a ziploc bag, throw it in the freezer and forget about it. Then one day I realized that I had about 7 gallons of almond pulp. These days, I try to create some kind of baked good with the pulp in order to keep up with the volume. This works out well for us here who don't eat wheat products. I make bread, muffins, and cake most often. Ryan makes pancakes and chocolate chip cookies.

what to do with almond pulp???

David Lebovitz, the Paris based food writer, wrote in The Sweet Life in Paris, "Every Frenchwoman I know loves chocolate so much she has a chocolate cake in her repetoire that she's committed to memory, one she can make on a moment's notice".  Although not French, I have taken this predilection to heart. My recipe is based on this flourless chocolate cake recipe, updated by yours truly to incorporate the almond pulp & a couple of other things. (I realize that this post is listed as 'vegan'...that would refer to the almond milk, and not this cake. Sorry, vegans.)

Amazing Chocolate Cake

• 6 oz chocolate chips (good dark chocolate)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (I suppose you could use butter)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar (unrefined if possible)
• 1 tsp peppermint oil (optional but delicious)
• 1 cup almond pulp
• 3 egg yolks & one egg (this makes for a very soft cake, but 3 regular eggs will also work fine)

Preheat oven to 375°.
Oil & Line 8" round pan with parchment.
Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil over a double boiler. Add all other ingredients, eggs last & mix well. Pour into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes until done.

Voila! This cake is seriously amazing. It is not fluffy, but rather very dense and fudgy. No need for any embellishments. Sometimes I omit the peppermint oil and add cayenne, cinnamon, and dried cherries. Or I just make it plain. Sometimes I sprinkle more chocolate chips on top before baking it. Yum!

Enjoy! More almond pulp recipes to come...