Bienenstich (Beesting)

You wouldn't believe me that I have been baking all week, with no posts to speak of, would you? Long story about my battery recharger being recharged with non-compliant batteries (lost of explodies), therefore the ability of my energy-hungry digital camera to take pictures was significantly compromised.

This week we have been enjoying the deliciously decadent and mostly-bad for you Bee Sting. This makes a lot, so be prepared to share. Actually, you have to share because of the amount of fat in the creamy filling alone (250g margarine. I kid you not. I freaked out after seeing how much margarine was required in the creamy filling). Though that didn't stop us from grabbing a few extra slices. This batch was made up to send to K's workplace, where it was a hit (as well as the Fig Date Nut Loaf, Apfelkuchen and Black Cherry 'Strudel' - all from The Joy of Vegan Baking). Needless to say, I am still recovering, though I have a lot more baking adventures on the horizon. This recipe comes from a vintage Dr Oetker recipe book, translated by my mum and veganised by me.

Equipment

You'll need a set of measuring scales, large bowl, a lamington pan (a rectangular pan with the following dimensions: 31cm x 25cm x 3cm (12in x 10in x 1.2in) or 18cm x 28cm x 3cm (7in x 11in x 1.2in)) and lots of human power for this one

Beesting (Bienenstich)

BASE

• 500g (1.1lb) plain flour
• 1 sachet of dried yeast (about 7-8g (0.25-o.3oz))
• 1t sugar
• 125mL of lukewarm soy milk
• 75g (2.6oz) sugar
• 1t vanilla extract
• 100g (3.5oz) of melted margarine
• Egg replacer to the equivalent of 2 eggs (I use Organ's No Egg)
  

Mix the yeast with the teaspoon of sugar and milk. Allow to stand in a warm place for about 15 min. The yeast mixture should become bubbly and rise.

Sift the four into a large bowl stir in the sugar and then make a well in the centre of the four. Add the yeast mixture to the well and cover with some flour, you should have a little flour mountain in the centre of the bowl. Distribute the remaining ingredients (margarine, vanilla extract, egg replacer) around this.

Now starting from the centre and using a wooden spoon start beating the mix together. Once it is all mixed find a comfortable chair and holding the bowl between your knees. Using both hands to hold the spoon, beat the mix vigorously until small bubbles form (this is the human energy required part- I guess you could mix using a beater with a dough hook, but I have always done this by hand. You may need a 'volunteer' to help if doing this by hand). The dough should be soft and shiny. Cover the dough in the bowl (with plastic wrap and a tea towel) and put in a warm place until it has doubled in size (usually takes about an hour, maybe less or more depending on the ambient temperature).

Butter and flour a lamington tin. Once the dough has risen, roll and shape it to fit in the tin- roll out the dough to a rough rectangle, then smooth out edges to fill inside the tin. Cover the dough in the tin while you make the topping.


TOPPING

• 100g (3.5oz) butter
• 150g (5.3oz) sugar
• 1t vanilla essence
• 10mL liquid glucose (corn syrup)
• 2T vegan milk (I used rice)
• 200g (7oz) of flaked almonds

Put all the ingredients, except the almonds, into a saucepan and stir over gentle heat until dissolved.

Remove from the heat and stir in the almonds. Allow it to cool to lukewarm, then spread it evenly over the dough in the lamington tin.

Again cover the dough and allow it to rise in a warm spot.

When risen bake at 180C (355F) for 15 to 25 minutes or until cooked. Use a skewer to check for doneness- start checking after 15min.

Be aware that the sugar syrup in the topping may bubble over- have a tray underneath in the oven to catch in drips- just in case.

FILLING

Okay, for the filling you need a stiff creamy-custard recipe. What I ended up doing was modifying the Pastry Cream recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking.

• 500mL vegan milk (I used rice)
• 2.5T plain flour
• 4.5T cornflour
• 1/3 c sugar
• 2t vanilla extract
• 250g vegan margarine

Mix the plain flour, corn flour and sugar together. Add about 60 to 90mL of the rice milk and mix until it is a smooth paste.

Place the remaining milk in a saucepan and heat until it starts to simmer. Scoop out about 85mL/1/3 c of the warm milk and rapidly beat it into the flour/milk paste, using either a wooden spoon or a whisk. Turn down the heat to medium-low and quickly mix the paste into the simmering milk.

Keep stirring continuously until it is nice and thick. Take the saucepan off the stove, transfer to a bowl and beat in the vanilla extract. Cover and cool.

When the pastry cream is cooled, beat in all the margarine until light and fluffy using an electric mixer. Refrigerate until ready to use.

ASSEMBLY

Once the cake is cooled, slice it horizontally and spread on the filling. I tend to slice it into large pieces first then sandwich the filling in between. Replace top, and refrigerate for a bit before slicing into smaller pieces, as the filling may ooze out if too warm.

Scones- my daily breakfast

Most vegan cookbooks I have are from the US. Although I have some Australia ones, I can count them all on one hand- and they are less than 5. It is always interesting to see the differences in US and Australian cooking- different names for ingredients, utensils, even baked goods.

Once such example is cookies- we don't have cookies over here - we have biscuits (although the word is getting more usage). And what are called biscuits in the US are called scones over here (and in the UK/NZ).

I have been missing scones for the past few weeks, dreaming of the flaky buttery morsels drenched in raspberry jam and topped with a cloud of cream.

After a few attempts, I have mostly perfected my own vegan scone and cream recipe. Although the cream is not an exact representation of the dairy version, when placed atop a jam-covered scone it has the same "mouthfeel,"making it difficult to assume that the scone could be any different.

You will need wait to prepare the cream at least 4 hours before making the scones. Resist the urge to use the cream early- tofu's strength comes from its ability to absorb other flavours while receding its own 'beany' flavour, to the point where you would never guess that the food had tofu in it.

Vegan Cream:

- 300g silken firm tofu
- 1/4 c vegan margarine (I use Nuttelex)
- 1/4 c icing sugar (make sure it is pure sugar and free of cornstarch)
- 1 t pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 c water
- 2 t agar powder

First blanch your tofu. The instructions here are very good - bring a pot of water to boil, remove from heat and add the roughly chopped tofu. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Set aside to drain well in a strainer for at least 30 minutes.

Place the tofu, margarine, vanilla and icing sugar in a blender. Set aside.

Place the water and agar powder into a small saucepan. Heat the saucepan over medium heat and stir until the mixture thickens. Quickly remove from heat and place the mixture into the blender.

Blend all ingredients together, scraping down the sides occasionally.

Pour the cream into a bowl and refrigerate for a few hours. This will allow the cream to solidify and the creamy vanilla flavour to develop.


Now for the scones- make sure your oven is hot and at the correct temperature- use an oven thermometer!

Scones - makes approximately 8 scones:

- 1 1/2 c plain flour
- 2 t baking powder
- 1 T sugar
- 1/3 c vegan margarine, chilled + cut
- 1/3 c soy milk

Preheat oven 220 C (430 F). This may take a while, so start preheating at least 15 minutes before making the scones.

Lay a piece of baking paper over a baking tray.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar.

Add the margarine into the flour mix. Using a knife, start cutting the butter into the flour. When they resemble small lumps, rub the butter and flour together between your fingers. Use rapid motions and continue until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs.


Add the soy milk and stir the dough together with a knife. It may look like it won't come together, but it will. Once this happens, bring the dough together with your hands and lightly knead it for two turns- this should only take less than 30 seconds.

Flatten the dough with the palm of your hand, until it is roughly 1.5-2 cm in height. Grease the inside and outside rim of a glass drinking cup- this will be your scone cutter. Use the glass to cut circular scone shapes out of the dough.

Place scones onto the baking tray, put in the oven and bake for 15 - 25 min or until the scone tops are lightly golden.

Mohnstrudel - showcasing the humble poppyseed

There are many ingredients in the baking world that seem to not be popular enough to be used to their full flavour potential. Peanut butter, chocolate and cinnamon to me have been oversaturated in sweets.

What of other tantalising delights, such as kiwifruit, pistachios, and poppy seeds?

Poppy seeds especially have been misunderstood in their potential, being shoved into the nearest citrus flavoured cake or sprinkled on top of bread. Their potential shines when finely ground with a spice/coffee grinder and boiled with sugar and milk to produce a sweet, tasty and dare I say- addictive filling.

My favourite variation of using poppy seeds is the mohnstrudel.


Mohnstrudel comprises of two components: the sweet yeast dough that will be used as the 'pastry' and the tasty poppy seed filling (mohn is translated as poppy seed). Some people may find this strudel unusual, being used to the flaky pastry layers of strudel dough used in the popular apfelstrudel. This dough is also used to make a strudel variation using walnuts and is used in many sweet dumpling recipes.

One of the best recipes online for mohnstrudel is found at Bernhard's Austrian Cooking. I modified the recipe ingredients slightly for vegans below, but I do recommend to go over to his website and follow the excellent instructions to make tasty mohnstrudels of your own.

Instructions and filling recipe for mohnstrudel by Bernhard's.

Vegan recipe for sweet yeast dough:

- 3 c flour
- 1 1/4 t dry yeast
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4c + 2 T vegan milk (add more milk a tablespoon at a time if dough is too dry)

Bernhard mixes all the ingredients together, however I gently heat the vegan milk and sugar together first, until the sugar is mostly dissolved and the milk is lukewarm- not burning hot (or you will kill the yeast!).

I add this liquid mixture to the yeast to activate it and watch for it to start foaming. Then I stir in the yeast/milk/sugar mix with the flour.

Strudel filing:

Follow ingredients for filling, but replace honey with:
- 2 T rice syrup

Of course, the best bit is always eating the filling!