Buckwheat cranberry cake

These little babies came about as a result of a number of on-hand ingredients that helped bring the project together: a few packages of dried cranberries in the cupboard that were originally intended for another use; leftover dark and white chocolate ganaches from a couple of different projects; buckwheat flour on hand and a can of pumpkin purée on the shelf.

I know, I know. My Thanksgiving post was a pumpkin related theme but what the heck - let's do something just a little different.

I recently gave a presentation for OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) at Aquinas College here in Grand Rapids on flours, grains and seeds. This only served to fuel my desire to bake more with healthier-for-you whole grains and flours, be they wheat/gluten based or gluten free. In this case buckwheat flour is the star (yes - it's gluten free) and gives these moist-with-hints-of-spice gems an earthy, not too sweet quality.

As I've mentioned in the past, I adore silicone flexi-molds for baking cakes. This time I used my individual 15-well canelé (sometimes spelled cannelé) mold - LOVE that shape. And it worked out quite nicely when it came time to do the ganache garnishing.

Bull's eye!

The recipe is my version of Alice Medrich's "dark and spicy pumpkin loaf" from her book Flavor Flours, of which I've become a huge fan. As the name implies, the base recipe is baked in a standard loaf pan, but, being a fan of les petits gâteaux, given the choice, I go small.

The recipe is straight forward and the batter very easy to put together.

• Heat the oven to 350ºF. The flexi-molds need no preparation - COOL! Although if you decided to bake a loaf you should line the bottom and sides of an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan with parchment paper. 
• Combine 113 g (1 stick) unsalted melted butter, 190 g (scant 1 cup) sugar and 2 large eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium about 2 minutes until lighter in color.
• Add 120 g (3/4 cup) white rice flour, 40 g (1/3 cup) buckwheat flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 170g (3/4 cup) pumpkin purée and 70 g (1/2 cup) dried cranberries (or raisins or currants or what-have-you) and blend on low speed until smooth. I had considered also adding some chopped toasted pecans but I forgot!!
• Scoop or pipe the batter into the flexi-molds, filling about 2/3 full.
• Bake about 20 minutes (or 45-50 minutes if baking a loaf) until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remember to pay attention to what's happening in your oven! Do I say that often?  Mais, oui!
• Cool in the flexi-molds on a rack for a good 30 minutes (or two hours for a loaf) then gently un-mold.
• Enjoy soon or, once cooled, freeze well wrapped and enjoy later. They'll also keep in the fridge well wrapped for about 5 days.

I opted to coat my cooled cakes with dark chocolate ganache. Once that had cooled a bit I filled the center with white chocolate ganache. Not bad, eh? Another option is to blend 4 oz  cream cheese (or mascarpone) with 1/4 cup Greek yogurt and 1 tablespoon honey and spread a schmear on your mini-cake or your slice if you've gone the loaf route. You decide.

I find these cakes very pleasing - a moist and tender crumb, hints of spice, nuggets of cranberry, rustic buckwheat, a sense of pumpkin without being overwhelming (although Steve, the pumpkin disliker, might argue that point) and a flavorful marriage of chocolates. I like 'em.

Seed crackers

I ask myself why it's taken me so long to get on board the whole-grain train! But there's no time like the present, right?

While I've been using more whole wheat and white whole wheat flour in my breads and rolls, I hadn't yet embraced the wonderful array of whole grain flours available these days. This photo of the vast selection of Bob's Red Mill products alone can make one's head spin!

Whole grains are better for you. Period. Gluten or not, the whole grain contains the germ and bran which are where the important nutrients are. And the fiber! Yes.

Making your own crackers is a satisfying project, plus you can vary your toppings and additives depending on your whims. Cool.

This recipe is my variant of Peter Reinhart's crispy rye and seed crackers from his book artisan breads everyday.

As you see in the photo above, we've got pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseed meal, just to name a few. You might notice my spice grinder in the upper right - I'll be grinding the pumpkin and sunflower seeds for this one.

Here we go.

• Grind 43 g (1/4 cup) sunflower seeds and 43 g (1/4 cup) pumpkin seeds in a spice grinder. Pulse and don't blend too long or you'll have seed butter.
• Use 29 g flaxseed meal like I did OR grind 29 g (3 tablespoons) flaxseeds separately.
• Combine the above seed powders with 57 g (6 tablespoons) sesame seeds, 227 g (1 3/4 cups) rye flour or whole wheat or white whole wheat (in my case, I used the latter), 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon honey and 170 g (3/4 cup water) in a mixing bowl.
• Mix either in a mixer with the paddle attachment or by hand with a large, sturdy spoon for 1-2 minutes. The dough should form a ball quickly.

Easy peasy!

Divide the dough into four pieces. Each piece provides enough for one 1/2 sheet of crackers.

Heat the oven to 300ºF. Line sheet pans with parchment (one pan for each quarter of dough you plan to bake).

Roll out one portion of dough on a lightly floured surface, lifting the dough and re-flouring as needed to prevent sticking. The dough may resist so give it a few minutes rest before continuing, to achieve a thickness of about 1/16th inch. 

Partially there

Once you're happy with the thickness, cut your crackers in a shape that appeals to you. Diamonds are always nice (you know what they say about diamonds). Think about any garnish you might want to add to the top. You'll need a wash of some sort so that your seeds or herbs of choice stick to the top. Options are an egg white wash made by whisking one egg white with 2 tablespoons water or a sweet wash made by whisking 1 tablespoon honey with 3 tablespoons water.

I went for the sweet wash and a garnish of sesame and poppy seeds.

Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pans and bake for another 10 minutes. You may need another 5 or 10 depending on how thinly you rolled your crackers and your oven. They're done when they've turned a rich, golden brown and are dry and crisp. The beauty is that you can always return them to the oven to crisp them up.

Oh boy!

These are lovely - not at all sweet, although a hint of honey comes through - crisp, seedy and subtle. Good.

I chose to bake a couple of sheets this go around. Just wrap the unused dough and either refrigerate it for a week or freeze it for several months. Reportedly the flavor improves after a couple of days in the fridge. I have 2 portions in my freezer as we speak. Maybe I'll bake them for the New Year!

Give it a try. It's fun.