Chocolate Pretzels

Chocolate and carbs!  How could you go wrong?!  This is the perfect quick and fairly easy snack. Start by melting chocolate over a water bath.  I like to use a vegan dark chocolate.  I like to temper the chocolate by reserving half the chips and seed-tempering:  simply remove the chocolate from the heat and add the remaining chips.  This should cause the cocoa butter crystals form properly and ensure that the chocolate stabilises at room temperature.  This isn't necessary, but it makes for a better end result.

Simply dip the pretzels and affix your favourite toppings before the chocolate solidifies.  Go wild!  I tried pecans, peanuts, and matcha powder.  I also tried drizzling chocolate over almonds and pistachios.

My favourite?  Peanuts!  There's just something magical about peanuts and pretzels and peanuts and chocolate.  But the trio, overtakes them all!

Happy snacking!

Matcha Rice with Mango

Someone showed me a few recipes that utilized tea in unique ways - in savoury dishes as well as sweet.  I was inspired to make this quick and easy sweet dessert. Pairing matcha and jasmine rice allows the fragrance of both components build on each other.

Simply prepare a couple cups of jasmine rice, adding about a teaspoon of matcha powder, a half-teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of sugar.

When the rice is done, allow it to cool slightly - it should be pleasantly warm, but not hot.  Top with sliced mango and garnish with lime.  This very fragrant dish is the perfect light conclusion to any heavy meal.

Matcha Doughnuts

Doughnuts are always a hit!  These are made from organic spelt - ground in the vitamix.

After grinding the flour, the first step is to make a dough: Water, flour, yeast, coconut oil, yeast and sugar.  I let it ferment in the fridge overnight to increase the flavour complexity.

Then, kneed and add enough flour to make a workable dough.  Sometimes, at this stage, I add a bit of baking flour to make the doughnuts really expand when fried.  Let it rest about 15 minutes to relax the gluten then roll to quarter-inch thickness.  Using cookie cutters, cut into doughnut shapes.  Allow the dough to raise for ~15 minutes to before deep frying at 350F.

When they're done frying, drain excess oil and cover in matcha-sugar while still hot (half-teaspoon of matcha powder in half-cup of sugar).

Matcha Cake

Matcha is a special green tea powder.  It adds a unique flavour when added to other foods.

Using the regular cake recipe 1:1:1:1 (eggs, butter, flour sugar), add a few tablespoons of matcha powder.

Bake and cool as normal.

The bright and earthy flavours of matcha paired well with the floral tastes of rosewater and whipped cream.