food

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Sesame, Soy, Spice review

“Sesame, Soy, Spice: 90 Asian-ish Vegan and Glute-free Recipes to Reconnect, Root, and Restore” is the first cookbook by Remy Morimoto Park, a health and wellness blogger based in NYC. She also comes with a Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese background. According to the author/book, the recipes “are love letters to her family members, to the countries she’s lived in, and to her teenage self – the one who thought she had to reject the food of her culture to live authentically for herself.”

The chapters are listed as:

  • First things first,
  • Salads that don’t suck (and other delicious vegetables),
  • Snacks that smile back,
  • Crying over spilt soymilk,
  • Long life noodles, rice, and other mains,
  • More things my family members, who never measure anything, like to make,
  • You deserve it

At first glance, I was confused by the title “crying over spilled milk” but that chapter talks about the heavy topic of substance abuse at a young age, and turning to sobriety. It then offers recipes for alcohol-free drinks.

Some recipes that I think sound good are:

  • Just-add-mylk pancake mix,
  • Miso-glazed mushroom toast,
  • Vegan cream cheese,
  • Smoky maple tempeh bacon,
  • Matcha and pistachio granola,
  • Crunchy togarashi asparagus,
  • Scallion pesto,
  • Korean bbq-loaded nachos,
  • Perfect pistachio milk,
  • Pistachio milk matcha with cheesecake cream,
  • Black sesame cacao smoothie,
  • Cucumber sesame noodles,
  • Shredded Korean bbq bulgogi tofu,
  • Spicy peanut ramen,
  • Thai basil tempeh,
  • Popcorn tofu,
  • Chinese peanut cookies,
  • Thai tea panna cotta,
  • Miso caramel creme brulee,
  • Black sesame chocolate chip bliss balls,
  • Miso butter chocolate chip cookies

My only real criticism of the book is that not all of the recipes are “Asian-ish” which is what I was expecting based on the title.  The recipes I highlighted above are but there’s also recipes like “snap pea slaw” and “quinoa salad with raspberry poppyseed dressing” which really are not.  (You can make the raspberry poppyseed dressing more Asian inspired by adding gochujang but that’s listed as an optional ingredient.) It’s only when you read the inside jacket that it says “elegant, easy-to-make plant-based takes on Asian-ish and international dishes.”

The first recipe I made is not Asian in any way, but sounds delicious: chocolate quinoa breakfast bowl.  It’s made with quinoa, water, plant milk, maple syrup, cacao powder, almond butter, vanilla, and topped with fruits/nuts of choosing.  It’s pretty easy to make but take more time than you might think.  You first cook the quinoa in water for 10-12 minutes, and then finish cooking it in the plant milk for another 7-8 minutes.    My recommendation is to use less plant milk to start than what is listed.  I used an oatmilk brand that I had never used before, and it was very thin.  I used the full amount, and my final results were more watery than what the book photo presents.  It does thicken up if you store leftovers in the fridge, but my oatmilk was so thin that it still felt too watery to me the next day.  Admittedly, I made this recipe because One Degree Organic Foods’ Organic Sprouted Oat Granola Quinoa Cacao is one of my favorite snacks.  They are very different chocolate quinoa recipes.  The porridge here is more bittersweet, and the quinoa flavor is more pronounced.  That doesn’t mean that I think it’s bad or anything.  It’s just different.  The porridge is also very filling.  The recipe says it’s for 2 servings, but with nuts and fruits (and a serving of yogurt which I have every morning), I was able to stretch this into 5 servings.  This a great option for meal prepping.

The second recipe I made also came from the same chapter but I ate them for lunch: super scallion quiche cups.  It’s inspired by egg bites and scallion pancakes.  It’s made with oil, leeks, scallions, extra firm tofu, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, plant milk, miso, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Essentially, these all get blended together to make the quiche batter.  The recipe was written for a 24 mini muffin tin, but I used a standard 12 cup muffin tin.  The recipe says to blend until spoonable but not too runny.  I took that mean a hummus like consistency which was a pain in the butt to scoop out of my blender as I got closer to the blades.  I think I will try this in a food processor next time.  This is also a great meal prep item, especially if you’re on the go.  Overall I enjoyed this, but I think I can add more scallions, nutritional yeast, miso, and onion/garlic powders.  The tofu can take it.  Otherwise, it might be fun to garnish with a flavored schmear of choice.

The book has a fun array of vegan recipes.  I think this book will appeal to anyone new to veganism, long-time vegans looking for new ideas, or anyone looking for recipes to increase their vegetable consumption.  Just don’t get this book for you’re expecting Asian inspired recipes only.  

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from William Morrow/Harper Collins for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This cookbook is available for purchase from your favorite bookshops.

Reference Links:

https://www.instagram.com/veggiekins/?hl=en

https://veggiekinsblog.com/

https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/remy-morimoto-park-84771

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Anything’s Pastable review

I didn’t realize that Dan Pashman of cascatelli fame had a new cookbook until I saw he was recently a guest on the “Hotdog is a Sandwich” podcast.  I suppose it should not be be a surprise that the new cookbook is called “Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People.”  This is not a collection of recipes that an Italian nonna is going to have, and that’s what I love about it.  There is a lot of global influence, and well thought out fusion recipes.

The book is divided into: 

  • Pestos, pangrattatos, and the jarred tomato sauce decision tree
  • Classic comfort: Hugs on a plate
  • Carby and crispy: adventures in texture
  • Zing: flavor bombs, not belly bombs
  • Stews, rouxes, and ragus: thick and hearty, warm and toasty
  • Pasta salads redeemed: fresh and bright, hold the mayo
  • To the forno!: baked pasta dishes

You’ll find recipes like: 

  • Ritz cracker and chive pangrattato,
  • Shells with miso butter and scallions,
  • Mac ‘n’ dal,
  • Scallion oil bucatini with runny eggs,
  • Swordfish with salsa verde sagne a pezzi,
  • Kimchi carbonara,
  • Shakshuka and shells,
  • Gnocchi with bacon and sauerkraut,
  • Keema bolognese,
  • Mapo tofu cascatelli,
  • Tteokbokki bolognese,
  • Cavatelli with crunchy fresh corn, tomatoes, ricotta salata, and mozzarella,
  • Crispy gnocchi salad with preserved lemon-tomato dressing,
  • Italian cafeteria hot dog pasta salad with canned vegetables,
  • Pasta pizza,
  • Smoked cheddar and chicken manicotti “enchiladas”

The recipe that immediately caught my attention was tortellini in kimchi parmesan brodo.  It’s made with butter, bacon, scallions, napa cabbage kimchi, gochugaru, chicken stock, lemon, Parmesan, black pepper, and refrigerated cheese or spinach-and-cheese tortellini.  Freshly made, I liked the soup but I wasn’t in love with it.  For me, the lemon flavor seemed to overtake the cheese flavor.  But then I realized that I liked this recipe so much more as leftovers.  I found the lemon mellowed out and gave a nice acidity, and the cheese flavor seemed stronger the next day.  Overall, it was better balanced.  There’s a lot of liquid for the amount of pasta, but it gave me the flexibility to bulk up the leftovers with tofu and kale.

The second recipe I made was for ssamjang aglio olio which has a short ingredient list: salt garlic, extra virgin olive oil, ssamjang, red pepper flakes, mafalde (bucatini, fettuccine, spaghetti), and roasted unsalted peanuts.  (I used fettuccine.)  I’ve never made the original aglio e olio even though I am a garlic lover.  This recipe took me longer to make than I thought it would, but I assume that it’ll go faster next time.  Basically, you make a garlic infused oil, then use it for the ssamjang sauce base.  Next, you boil the pasta, and finish the pasta and sauce together with pasta cooking water.  Plate up the pasta, and garnish with peanuts.

There’s really not much to say except that I loved the ssamjang aglio olio.  I think everyone who loves Asian flavors will love this pasta sauce. It also reminds me to use ssamjang more often.

I can’t wait to cook more from this book.  I recommend this book to everyone.  And I mean “everyone.” Don’t eat pasta much?  Doesn’t matter!  Feel free to serve the sauces over tofu, over vegetables, etc.  Not to sound hyperbolic, but this might be my favorite cookbook of 2024.

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from William Morrow/Harper Collins for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This cookbook is available for purchase from your favorite bookshops.

Reference Links:

https://www.sporkful.com/

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/anythings-pastable-dan-pashman

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Gohan cookbook review

Emiko Davies, the Australian-Japanese cookbook author based in Italy, is mostly known for her Italian cooking.  She’s written five books on Italian cooking, and I recognize her name from the work she’s done for Food52.  My introduction to her was a Food52 Youtube video in the days of the covid-19 pandemic where she made Torta Caprese.  But more recently, in September 2023, she release a Japanese cookbook with Smith Street Books.

“Gohan”, by Davies, almost feels like looking through a family photo album. At first glance, the recipes are unpretentious and ageless. Here, you’ll find basic Japanese cooking and flavors.

The book is divided into:

  • Home-made pantry staples
  • Rice
  • Noodles and street food
  • The West meets Japan
  • Japanese Breakfast
  • Vegetables
  • Family favorites
  • Sweets

When I say basic Japanese cooking, I mean items like onigiri (rice balls) and grilled fish.  It’s humble, and not glitzy for internet fame. You can also find recipes like:

  • No-waste furikake seasoning
  • All-purpose soup base
  • Tonkatsu sauce
  • Pickled ginger
  • My mother’s lemon-pickled daikon
  • Scrambled eggs with garlic chives
  • Salmon donburi
  • Fried and braised lotus root and carrot
  • Golden taro and potatoes in soy butter
  • Cold somen noodles with cucumber and ginger
  • Winter hotpot (oden)
  • Potato salad
  • Curry rice
  • Japanese milk bread
  • Red bean buns
  • Kanten fruit jelly cups

The first recipe I made from the book was for braised tofu. The ingredient list is uncomplicated: firm tofu, onion, scallion, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and water.  The results were pretty much what I imagined they would be. It’s a simple but tasty way to consume tofu. (Typically you would serve with rice, but I must admit that I ate with broccoli and pasta instead.) I will definitely remake in the future.

The other recipe I made was for kinako and chestnut cake. It’s made with lots of butter, sugar, Okinawan black sugar (alternately brown sugar), lots of eggs, all purpose flour, kinako (aka roasted soybean powder), and whole chestnuts.  For the chestnuts, I cheated and used one 100g bag of roasted chestnuts from the market. I adore chestnuts but I don’t really eat them in other dishes, so I was curious how this dessert would turn out. I’ve also never thought about using kinako in baked goods. I’ve only used it as a condiment for Korean BBQ. This recipe ended up being surprisingly difficult for me. I probably should have stayed away when I realized that there were no leavening agents. All of the loft is made from the eggs (which I am generally not great at). I followed the recipe to the T, making sure that the wet ingredients were well mixed with an electric mixer and timed it. But the batter is extremely thick and sticky, almost more like a cookie batter than like a cake batter. By the time I folded in all of the flour, I worked out too much air from the eggs.

My cake still rose, but not much, and I ended up with a fairly dense crumb. But more importantly, how was the flavor? It was not at all what I was expecting, but at the same time, it is the epitome of a Japanese dessert. (I know that’s a terrible description.) It’s not too sweet, and it’s very light in flavor. I’m not sure I’d make it as written again. Next time, I will give in to the temptation to add some baking powder. I might also add some vanilla, or alter the sugar ratio for more brown sugar (I do not have black sugar in my pantry). I’m not sure. It’s probably the American in me, but I wanted just a bit more oomph (especially for the amount of effort).

Baking technicalities aside, I’m glad I made it. A more talented home baker will not have trouble with it. (Or do I remake it as written just to prove to myself that I can do it? Hmmm…) I wish a little that I made the matcha almond cookies recipe instead. I didn’t choose that one because my matcha powder is old and the bright green color has oxidized into a dull green.

I think anyone who appreciates Japanese food will enjoy this book. I think the photos are gorgeous, and there are lovely stories and ingredient information. My only caution is that this book is in weighed amounts, no US volumetric.

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Smith Street Books/Rizzoli New York for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This cookbook is available for purchase from your favorite bookshops.

Reference Links:

https://food52.com/users/23872-emiko/articles

https://www.emikodavies.com

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Compact Cooking, cookbook review

Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry I haven’t posted in some time. It’s because books that I was expecting to get before the holidays all got delayed. It is what it is. But here’s to the first cookbook review of 2024!

I think it’s pretty obvious that I don’t live in a dorm since I have a cookbook review blog. I have a functional kitchen, but I don’t have a great kitchen.  I have zero counter space, and barely a work table.  It’s probably why I dislike doing complicated cooking projects. I’m also someone who mostly cooks for one, so Jenna Hunter’s new cookbook, “Compact Cooking: Big Flavor from Small Kitchens”, captured my attention by title alone.  The recipes in this book vary in cooking methods, utilizing the air fryer, the slow cooker, the microwave, hot plate/stove top, and toaster oven/standard oven.  But most of the recipes only make 1-2 servings.  (Some make 3 servings, and I think there’s only 1 recipe that makes more than 3.)

The book is broken down into:

  • Simple Breakfasts (Feelin’ Somethin’ Savory?  Feelin’ Somethin’ Sweet?)
  • Effortless Lunches (Simple Soups, Satisfying Salads, Sandwichin’ It)
  • Satisfying Snacks
  • Easy-Peasy Dinners (Dinners in a Dash, Slow and Steady Suppers)
  • Sweet Treats (Quick Fixes, Indulgent Treats)

Some things you’ll find in here are:

  • Lazy tomato and egg bake
  • Baked sliced peach
  • Cake for breakfast
  • Warm chicken and kale salad
  • Hearty vegetarian bowl
  • Mom’s couscous salad
  • Sweet ‘n salty turkey melt
  • Baked jalapeno, raspberry, and cream cheese dip
  • Air fryer crab cakes
  • Cheesy garlicky spaghetti squash
  • Chicken tikka masala
  • Tavern pot roast
  • Garlic chicken parm pasta
  • Date caramel dip
  • Mason jar cinnamon-spiced vanilla ice cream

Because I had leftover bread that I really wanted to use up, I first made the “Any Berry French Toast Muffins.”  Made from whole wheat bread, eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and frozen berries (cherries for me), this is a very easy recipe to put together.  The only change I made was to use a small cake pan to bake the French toast/bread pudding/casserole, instead of a muffin pan.  I loved the amount it made.  I didn’t have to worry about being stuck with too much in leftovers.  It is a little on the bland side because there isn’t any added sugar or salt.  However, it’s the perfect vehicle for a drizzle of maple syrup (my favorite sweetener of all time).  I’m already planning on remaking this but maybe swapping out the frozen berries with fruit spread (which I have in abundance in my fridge).

The second recipe I made was for the “Comforting Winter Soup.”  I don’t know why but I fixated on this recipe the moment I saw it.  It’s made with smoked sausage, butternut squash, spinach, onion, beef broth, smoked paprika, black pepper, and garlic powder in a slow cooker.  Since this recipe was for 3 servings, I used my 4.5 quart slow cooker which ended up being a mistake.  Even before I added the spinach, my slow cooker was filled nearly to the top.  I ended up letting this cook until the butternut squash was done, spooning it out, and then adding the spinach to cook.  While very easy to put together, I didn’t love this soup as much as I thought I would.  I wonder if I would like this better on the stovetop.  Butternut squash is one of my favorite vegetables, but the flavor of it mostly disappeared here on the long cook time.  Maybe I would prefer to use a different spice over the smoked paprika?  Would that let the butternut squash flavor come though stronger?  I really liked the warmth the black pepper provided without being overly peppery but I think I need to workshop this recipe to appeal more to my taste buds.

I was originally going to stop at 2 recipe tests, but I felt bad that I didn’t love the winter soup.  So, I made the “Microwave Cranberry Pecan Breakfast Cookie.”  It’s made with applesauce, oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, quick oats, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, and white chocolate (optional).  I didn’t have cranberries, but I had pecans and white chocolate on hand so they went into the batter.  The reality is that it’s cooked in a microwave and will never get a cookie texture.  In essence, this is baked oatmeal for one.  The flavor is great, and it’s sweet like a cookie. It can definitely satisfy a sweet craving. If you don’t like the texture of baked oatmeal, you might not like this. In that case, maybe try eating this cold as it will firm up a bit. (It still won’t be a cookie, but it’ll feel less like baked oatmeal.) The only critique I have about this recipe is that it wants you to cook the batter in a 5″ microwave-safe bowl.  I technically didn’t have one, and I think most people won’t as well.  I ended up using my smallest Pyrex mixing bowl, and just shaping the batter nicely at the bottom.

Overall, I think this is a cute book. All recipes come with a photo of the finished dish so if you’re less comfortable with cooking, you might find the photos to be helpful. If you’re looking to cook with as few leftovers as possible, this is the book for you. If you’re looking for small kitchen appliance meal ideas and inspiration, or because you don’t have access to a normal kitchen, this book is for you. 

Disclaimer – I kindly received this book from Freemont Press/Victory Belt for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own. The book is available for purchase now from your preferred vendor.

Reference Links:

https://www.tiktok.com/@thehealthyhophead?lang=en

https://www.fremontpress.com/

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River Cottage Great Roasts

When I think of “roast dinners” as part of a cultural identity, it is British cuisine that comes to mind.  According to Food52, “the origins of the British Sunday roast reportedly date back as far as the 15th century, but the ritual—which is enjoyed across the United Kingdom and Ireland—became popular in the 19th century.”  While I didn’t grow up with roast dinners, cooking food in the oven is my favorite method.  (It also helps warm up my New England kitchen on a cold day.) I think it’s a lovely dining habit to have.

And when one thinks of British cuisine, the River Cottage brand may come to mind. My introduction to the River Cottage came by way of Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks blog, when she wrote about making homemade bouillon using a River Cottage recipe.  The brand has done television series, cookery courses, events, restaurants and products such as beer and organic yogurts.  The latest cookbook from the brand is “River Cottage Great Roasts” by Gelf Alderson.

The chapters you’ll find here are:

  • Breakfast and brunch,
  • Snacky things,
  • One-tray wonders,
  • All about veg,
  • Sunday roast,
  • Super sides,
  • Fruity numbers

The recipes seem to be an interesting variety:

  • Roast asparagus, lettuce, and eggs
  • Roast plums with star anise, oats, and kefir
  • Spiced roasted carrot and orange hummus
  • Fennel pork crackling
  • Smoked haddock with potatoes, spinach, cream, and thyme
  • Sausages with lentils and squash
  • Roast lettuce, spinach, and peas with herby breadcrumbs
  • Roast beetroot, cumin, and tomato crumble
  • Roast mushrooms with beer and dumplings
  • Roast parsnip, leek, and fennel curry
  • Spelt, kimchi, and apple pilaf with mangetout (snowpeas in the US) and green beans
  • Pot-roast brisket with beer, orange, and star anise
  • Roast purple sprouting broccoli with kimchi butter
  • Brussels sprouts with prunes, walnuts, and clementines
  • Roast swede (rutabaga in the US), Cheddar, and spring onion mash
  • Roast pears with ginger and toffee

While I’m not vegetarian, I find that it is the vegetarian recipes in this book that appeal to me the most.  I wanted to test a dessert recipe, but summer is already long gone so it was going to be challenging to find some of the ingredients (rhubarb, I’m looking at you).  I am also not cooking for 6-8 people, so I gravitated to the breakfast chapter the most.

The first recipe I made was crispy potatoes with bacon, tomatoes, and spinach.   Maybe this was cheating as I knew the flavors were all going to work together.  (The only other ingredients in this recipe were oil, salt, and pepper.)  But it never occurred to me to try to do it as a sheet pan recipe.  You start by cooking the potatoes and bacon, later adding the tomatoes, and finally throwing on the spinach to wilt toward the end of cooking.  While the recipe specified unsmoked bacon, it was just easier for me to get smoked thick cut bacon.  Even though I got the thick cut, it was too thin for cooking over the whole duration of this recipe.  I think next time, I’ll start with just the bacon, and then remove it before proceeding with the recipe.  What I liked best is that this is also lovely for lunch, or even a side dish for dinner.  This was so tasty, satisfying, and simple that this will probably go into regular rotation in my kitchen. (Hey, maybe I’ll put it on the Thanksgiving dinner table.)

The other recipe I tried was for spiced apple compote with apricots and toasted cereals.  The ingredients are apples, dried apricots, whole grain flakes (I used old fashioned rolled oats but rye flakes or wheat flakes are options), pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds.  My market was out of pumpkin seeds the day I was shopping, so I picked up sliced almonds instead.  You bake the fruit first, mash it, top with the oats and seeds, and bake a few minutes more.  I had doubts about baking the apricots with the apples.  I really worried that they would dry out.  They even looked a touch dry when I took the baking dish out of the oven to mash.  However, the mashing went on without issue, so I guess my fears were unfounded.  (But I might soak the dried apricots in water or apple juice next time just out of curiosity.)  The end results are like baked oatmeal without being baked oatmeal.  The topping doesn’t sink and bake into the fruit.  It stays pretty dry so it’s more like a crumble. I thought the color was a little anemic when it came out of the oven (there’s no oil in this recipe) so I broiled it for color.  If that is something that you think you also want to do, don’t walk away!  I got distracted and came pretty close to burning it.  (oops?)  But since the topping was still dry and loose, it was easy to spoon out the bits that were a touch too dark.  No real harm done, and it was totally my fault.  (Browning it was not part of the instructions.)  I loved this as a warm breakfast option.  I want to try other fresh fruits and dried fruits so this is also on the remake list.

If you’re on the hunt for comfy content, this book might be it. While some of the recipes have a lengthy ingredient list, most of the recipes are not fussy. For cooks who are not comfortable cooking in the metric system, beware that there is no U.S volumetric measurements listed in this book (but small measurements like teaspoons are given). Most of the recipes have a photo of the finished product, so I think the savvier cook could probably get away with visually guessing the amounts of main ingredients. If you’re looking to expand your oven cooking repertoire, then “Great Roasts” might fit the bill.

Disclaimer – I kindly received this book from Bloomsbury for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own. The book is available for purchase now from your preferred vendor.

Reference Links:

https://www.rivercottage.net/

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Sweet Little Cakes From Mrs. Zabar’s Bakeshop review

I love baking desserts.  The only downside is that it means I am one person with too many desserts in the house.  Enter “Sweet Little Cakes From Mrs. Zabar’s Bakeshop” by Tracey Zabar.  This book offers 6″ cakes, 5″ bundt cakes, some of 8″x8″ bakes, etc.  Most of the recipes are meant to serve 4 people. Perfect.

The book is simply divided into the seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer.

All of the recipes seem approachable, and appetizing.  Some of the desserts you’ll find here are:

  • Honey cake,
  • Pecan bars,
  • Almond-topped cake,
  • Pear cake,
  • Mango cake,
  • Lamingtons,
  • Pistachio cherry cake,
  • Pineapple-coconut cake,
  • Cheesecake with cherry sauce,
  • Chocolate roll,
  • Blueberry cake,
  • Apricot right-side-up cake,
  • Berry and fig muffins

The first recipe I tried was for chocolate chip muffins, mainly because I had all the ingredients: butter, sugar, egg, sour cream, vanilla extra, flour, baking powder, and chocolate chips.  It’s a pretty standard cake method where you cream the butter and sugar first.  And then you add the egg, and then the rest of the liquids.  Finally, you mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.  This recipe makes four cupcakes, but I admittedly made two jumbo cupcakes instead.

Then you have a choice of making a vanilla frosting or a chocolate frosting.  I went with the chocolate frosting, specifically a ganache frosting.  I had never made a proper ganache before.  My cream got too hot and I broke the ganache.  Luckily, it’s pretty easy to fix (with a little help of the internet).  I let mine cool down, added a touch more cream, and then re-whipped.  A related observation… Troubleshooting tips aren’t part of the format of the book – I think mostly because this isn’t a large book. You’re not getting any long recipe introductions or stories here.

The texture of my cupcakes didn’t quite look but that’s totally on me, not the recipe.  It wasn’t the jumbo size that caused the slightly dense texture but the fact that I baked them in my air fryer.  The outside set too quickly.  I thought perhaps that, since the batter was divided, it wouldn’t be a problem. (A more detailed post about baking in my air fryer to come in the near future.)

Texture aside, these were lovely cupcakes!  My frosting skills could use some work, but I really liked the cupcakes themselves.  They weren’t too heavy or too buttery, and the chocolate chips gave pops of flavor.  Above all, I loved that I didn’t have to worry about a load of leftovers.

Because I still didn’t want to go shopping for ingredients, the second recipe I tried was the everyday chocolate cake.  This recipe is technically for a 6-inch loaf cake, but I don’t own such a pan.  I do own a 6″ round cake pan, so I used that instead.  This cake is made with butter, sugar, bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, Dutch process cocoa, eggs, vanilla extract, cake flour, baking powder, and salt.  There’s also an option to add grated orange zest but chocolate and orange is not a flavor combo that I adore.  Making this cake was a lot like making brownies.  You melt the chocolate and butter together, then mix in the cocoa powder.  In another bowl, you mix the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Then you mix the two liquids together.  You finish by mixing in the dry ingredients until just combined, and bake.

The results were delicious but I would describe it as a cakey brownie overall.  I’ve had long conversations with my best friends (both of whom prefer chocolate cakes over brownies, while I think brownies reign supreme), and when they have chocolate cake, they don’t want it to taste like brownies.  I think it’s ultimately “a melted chocolate” vs “cocoa powder only” in the batter debate.  All that is to say this recipe is good but might not be what you imagine from an everyday chocolate cake.  I realized afterward that there is a recipe for a checkerboard cake that is vanilla and chocolate layers.  That recipe doesn’t utilize melted chocolate, so I might have to experiment with a half batch of that recipe.

Weirdly, this last comment relates to my only critique of the book – there’s quite a bit of chocolate related recipes.  There’s a chocolate babka, a flourless chocolate cake, an everything cake (which I think actually is a brownie recipe without saying brownie in the title), and chocolate chip madeleines.  Oh, wait – there’s also the fudgy cake recipe which is a second flourless chocolate cake. I love chocolate but I’m not sure I needed that many chocolate recipes. (I guess time will tell.)

For non-U.S. readers, it should also be noted that this book is only in volumetric measurements, no gram measurements.  It’s kind of a bummer, but I can see the argument that it’s less of an issue since you’re baking on a smaller scale.  Some ingredients wouldn’t weigh well unless you have a gram scale/pastry scale anyway.

But boy oh boy, if you like baking desserts and just don’t want too much in leftovers, this is a much desired book! I also appreciate the aesthetics of the book. The photos are bright and simple, simply concentrating on the baked goods. The book is focused on cakes. If cookies are more your thing, it looks like Zabar has an older release titled “Chocolate Chip Sweets: Celebrated Chefs Share Favorite Recipes”.

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Rizzoli New York for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This book is available for purchase through your favorite retailer, and will be released next week on September 5th.

Reference Links:

https://traceyzabar.com/

https://zabars.typepad.com/zabars/

https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9780847873623/

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The Official Fablehaven Cookbook review

Fablehaven is a fantasy book series by Brandon Mull for kids in grades 3-8, about two siblings and a secret preserve for magical creatures.  There are five books in the series, followed by another five book series called Dragonwatch.  Inspired by the series, Brandon and his sister-in-law, Cherie Mull, have written “The Official Fablehaven Cookbook”.  I’d classify this book as cooking with the family although some recipes are more “cooking for your kids” rather than “cooking with your kids”, unless your kids are pretty comfortable around a kitchen like a Masterchef Junior contestant.

The contents are:

  • The Missing Brownies, a Fablehaven adventure
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch and Snacks
  • Midsummer’s Eve
  • Treats
  • Drinks
  • Brandon’s Favorites
  • Crafts

Here are some examples of recipes you’ll find:

  • Apple pancakes
  • Lena’s loaded crepes
  • Ogre stew (white chicken chili)
  • Lost Mesa corn avocado salsa 
  • Grunhold garlic hummus
  • Midsummer strawberry salsa with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips
  • Zombie cake eyeballs
  • Grandma Sorenson’s apple pie
  • Calico bread (banana bread/chocolate bread swirl)
  • Dragon egg cupcakes
  • Oozing tar cakes (chocolate lava cakes)
  • Kendra’s chocolate-covered krispies
  • Chessmen banana pudding dessert
  • Hugo’s kinetic sand (crafts chapter)
  • Vanessa’s invisible ink (crafts chapter)

The book is mix of scratch cooking and semi-homemade.  Me, being me, tried out only scratch cooking recipes.  First up, I made Muriel’s pretzel knots.  It’s a yeasted dough that you dip into a baking soda solution before you bake.  After baking, you brush melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt.  Why did I pick this recipe?  Mostly because it was one of the more complicated recipes in the book, but also because I’ve never baked my own soft pretzels before.  

The good news?  These made very yummy pretzels.  The bad news?  It was not written by a recipe developer.  If you’re an experienced enough home baker, you’ll survive as I did.  But if you’re not, don’t start here.  There’s no indication of how much this recipe makes.  And this is a flaw of all the recipes in the book.  Some of them you can quickly estimate how much it makes based on volume.  (3-4 stuffed bell peppers are means 3-4 bell peppers.  The fairy toast recipe only asks for 2 pieces of bread.)  But the pretzels are made with 4 cups of flour total.  How many pretzels is this meant for?  Your guess is as good as mine.  4 cups of flour is also basically a loaf of bread, so I made the decision to halve it.

The recipe instructs you to make ropes of dough 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick.  It forgets to tell you how long your ropes of dough should be.  In the end, I kept making them “too short.”  They were just long enough to knot, but not long enough to match the photo in the book.  This became more obvious after they had baked as they barely looked like knots after rising in the oven.  I got 9 knots out of the half batch.  8 is probably what I should have aimed for.

The last issue I had with this recipe, which was minor, was that I didn’t know how warm the baking soda solution should be.  I suspect it mostly doesn’t matter?  I think you just want it warm enough so that the baking soda stays well dissolved.  The book says to stir often, but I kept the water at about 90F and found that I never needed to stir it.

I bake and cook regularly so I still got a tasty product in the end.  (But they don’t look great because they over-proofed.  I have become unaccustomed to baking with yeasted breads in the summer.)  So the ingredients and their proportions work great, it’s recipe instructions I had issues with.

For my second test, I went simple and made the secret satyr soft granola.  This recipe has oats, ground flaxseed, powered milk, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, chia seeds, salt, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla.  I was drawn to this recipe because I’ve never made my granola with powered milk and/or ground flaxseed before.  I made the full recipe because, skimming through the ingredients, I knew I was going to end up with about 3 1/2 cups of granola.  It seemed reasonable.  The recipe says you can use either sweetened or unsweetened coconut, but I recommend using unsweetened.  There’s enough honey in the recipe that I think sweetened coconut would be overkill. (More desserty, less breakfasty/snacky.)  It clumped and browned beautifully that I forgot that this was a soft granola.  Fresh out of the oven, it doesn’t seem that soft.  But after a couple of hours, it was noticeably softer.  I assume it’s the ground flaxseed that mostly contributed to the texture since it has gelling properties.  Overall, I loved this granola.  I think I like it more than previous granola recipes I’ve tried.  Full disclosure, I ended up swapping the chia seeds with whole flaxseeds, and coconut oil with a butter-avocado oil blend because that’s what I had on hand. 

And since I felt a little bad about ingredient substitutions in the granola, I tested a third recipe which I don’t often do.  This might be cheating, but I made the vanilla sauce which is one of the four components that go into the calico bread.  It was simply milk, heavy cream, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla.  After making it, I realized that it’s basically melted ice cream but with a different texture from the cornstarch.  It’s a nice dessert sauce/topping.  And I realized afterward that you can probably have fun with the flavor by swapping the vanilla out.  I’m a bit curious to see how a rosewater or orange blossom water version would turn out.  I’m also not sure if I’m convinced that cornstarch is the best thickener for this.  It’s fine as is freshly made, but cornstarch doesn’t store great upon cooling.  (Leftovers have a jammy consistency.) I’m tempted to try ground flaxseeds or psyllium husk instead of cornstarch.  But even as I’m thinking about all of the variations, it’s a nice recipe as is.

Overall, everything in this book seems to taste great which is a testament to Cherie Mull’s talent. The author blurb says that she owns a thriving baking business, so no wonder her brother-in-law worked on this with her.

If your family is a fan of the Fablehaven series and you like cooking, then the book is fun to have.  You can make the magical milk referenced in the very first book.  If you like “official” cookbooks and have a sweet tooth, this may be a fun addition to your collection.  On the other hand, even if your family likes the Fablehaven series but cooking doesn’t come naturally, maybe pass on this.  If you prefer scratch cooking only, nothing semi-homemade, then maybe this book isn’t going to appeal to you. Some of the semi-homemade recipes you’ll find are tortilla pizzas, mummy dogs (crescent rolls wrapped around hot dogs), and fairy garden cupcakes (which are made with boxed cake mix and instant pudding mix).

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Shadow Mountain for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This book is available for purchase through your favorite retailer, and will be released on August 1st.

Reference Links:

https://shadowmountain.com/product/the-official-fablehaven-cookbook/ https://shadowmountain.com/author-book/brandon-mull/
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“Egg Rolls and Sweet Tea” review

This might be my favorite cookbook released this year, and this isn’t hyperbole.  “Egg Rolls and Sweet Tea” by Natalie Keng is an “Asian inspired, Southern style” cookbook that I related to on a very personal level.  She’s the daughter of Cantonese-Chinese immigrants who moved to Georgia, U.S.A.  Her palate was formed by both her heritage and her environment.  (Swap Georgia with Boston, Massachusetts, and that’s me.) For Keng, “fusion food” isn’t a trend from the 1990s, it’s simply a way of life because “authenticity” isn’t black and white. 

The chapters in this book are:

  • Wrap and Roll
  • Wild About Rice
  • Veggie Mania and Wok the Garden
  • Lil’ Plates, Appetizers, and Snacks
  • Noodles, Salads, and Slaw
  • Buddha Bubba, Meat and Bones
  • Gone Fishin’
  • Gettin’ Saucy
  • Semisweets

Some of the recipes that I want to try are:

  • Oven-Baked Country Bacon and Collard Egg Rolls
  • Ginger-Spiced Sweet Plantains
  • Five-Spice Mashed Rutabaga
  • Sweet Chili Peach Napa Slaw
  • Savory Miso-Butter Garlic Noodles
  • Mom’s Chinese Spaghetti
  • Game-Day Five-Spice Sausage Meatballs with Teriyaki Sauce
  • Joy Luck BBQ Pulled Pork Bao Buns
  • Late-Night Fish Sticks Congee
  • Gotcha Matcha Ice Cream Pie
  • Zesty Ginger-Peach Cobbler
  • Black Sesame Cupcakes with Matcha Frosting
  • Jasmine and Honey Sweet Tea
  • Golden Milk and Sorghum Hot Toddy

My inaugural recipe was for the cinnamon-molasses oolong milk tea, because it sounded delicious but more importantly because I had all the ingredients: cinnamon sticks, oolong tea, milk, molasses, and vanilla.  I was impressed because these were not flavors that I would have picked on my own to pair.  It was sweet, but not much more so than if I were to go to a bubble tea shop and order a drink with “less sugar.”  (If you’re going to use loose tea, I think you’ll need at least 1.5 tsp worth.  I used 1 tsp for the recipe and I think the flavor should have been stronger.  I could still taste it, but it took a backseat to the other flavors.)

The second recipe I made was the first recipe of the book: smoked salmon summer rolls.  (Rice paper wrappers are my favorite.)  It’s reminiscent of a tuna salad and of a lox bagel, but served as a favorite hot weather dish from Asia.  It’s made with smoked salmon, minced basil, minced mint, chopped scallions, capers, mayo, wasabi powder, milk, cucumber, rice vermicelli noodles, and rice paper wrappers. This was both fun and delicious.

Normally, I test 2 recipes from a book (sometimes 3), with very little alterations. I think it’s only fair to make recipes as written for reviews. But I just couldn’t resist making a third recipe with a major method change. I really wanted to make “Mom’s unfried red rice with berries” which includes goji berries. I may or may not have too much goji berries in my pantry, courtesy of my mother. My family mostly uses it for soups, so I liked the idea of putting it into a rice dish. This recipe has you cook red rice with some bouillon, water, raisins, dried goji berries, dried cranberries, nuts or seeds, garlic powder, white pepper, five-spice powder, and salt on the stovetop for almost an hour, before mixing in some butter. I’m not an Asian snob who will only make rice in a rice cooker (in fact, I don’t use a rice cooker at home) but I really didn’t want to simmer rice on a muggy June day. So, I broke out my electric pressure cooker. Stovetop red rice instructions seem to generally be 1 part rice to 2 parts water, but pressure cookers don’t that much water because the water is not evaporating off. For the 1 1/2 cups of rice in this recipe, I tried 2 1/2 cups water. It was a touch too much water. So, dear reader, if you get your hands on a copy of this book and want to make the red rice in a pressure cooker as well, try either 2 1/4 cups or 2 1/3 cups water. If your dried fruits are dried out, try 2 1/3 cups. If not, try 2 1/4 cups. But even so, the flavors of the final dish were fantastic. I can’t wait to try this out on my family during our next potluck.

If you appreciate fusion food for what it really is, you will enjoy this book. If you have an Asian American background, I think you will enjoy this book. If you’re looking for creative takes on Southern cooking, try out this book. I’m not saying that I’m going to make all of Keng’s recipes. After all, I have too many recipes that I want to make and never enough time, or fridge/pantry space. And like any cookbook (or restaurant menu for that matter), not everything appeals to me. But so much of this book sounds fun and somehow familiar, that I look forward to sharing with friends and family.

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Gibbs Smith for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This book is available for purchase now through your favorite retailer.

Reference Links:

https://chinesesouthernbelle.com/

https://gibbs-smith.com/

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The Vegan Guide to Tokyo, review

I have happy memories of Japan. It’s been over 10 years since my last visit, and when I was there, I wasn’t documenting food experiences the way I do now. Food related social media was still mostly in the blogging stage, and I was less financially stable. I think there was only one expensive restaurant that my friends and I went to. It was mostly eating wherever was convenient, and navigable as English-speakers. There was some CoCo Ichibanya (we all love Coco-ichi!), udon soup ramen from small shops, maybe a Moss Burger visit, and LOTS OF CONVENIENCE STORE FOOD. (Though it sounds terrible to say convenience stores, grabbing cutlet buns and onigiri from 7-11 and Lawson is never to be regretted.)

I can’t imagine trying to explore the food scene with food restrictions back then, but things are different now.

If you’re vegan and staying in the Tokyo area, you can easily look things up in English online (a quick Google search gave 12 million results). But if you want a centralized reference that isn’t a listicle of the “15 best”, then I recommend giving “The Vegan Guide to Tokyo” by Chiara Terzuolo a read.

The book is divided by locations which makes it easier to plan where you’re going to eat based where you’re going to be:

  • Shinjuku,
  • Shibuya/Yoyogi,
  • Ginza,
  • Harajuku/Omotesando/Aoyama,
  • Asakusa/Ueno,
  • Roppongi,
  • Shimokitazawa,
  • Airports and Tokyo Station,
  • Ebisu/Daikanyama,
  • Jiyugaoka,
  • Nakameguro,
  • Honourable Mentions (gives 1 recommendation per neighborhood like Kichijoji and Komagome),
  • Day Trips from Tokyo,
  • Kyoto and Osaka

Almost every entry provides the address, directions, store hours, general cost, and some of the items that you’ll find on the menu. The photos are appealing and inviting. The restaurants listed cover a large variety of offerings: pizza, tapas, yoshoku (Japanese-style Western cuisine), desserts, coffee shops, etc.

If I could go to Tokyo right now, I’d put Ovgo B.A.K.E.R Meiji St. on my to-do list. They offer cookies and scone/cookie hybrids. Baked goods are 400-600 yen, and they even offer a banana split for 1980 yen. (Note – they only serve 20 banana splits per day!) Some of the cookies are American-style but some are Japanese-inspired flavors like matcha coconut.

On the more extravagant side, I would also put Sougo on my to-do list. Located in Roppongi, Michelin-star chef Daisuke Nomura provides fully vegan Buddhist cuisine at Sougo. The menu rotates and is seasonal. Cost is 8800 yen for lunch (approximately 67 USD at the time of this post), and 14,300 yen for dinner (about 108 USD). So, this restaurant is ‘omakase’ style, meaning it’s a set menu completely curated by the chef. You are not ordering off a menu.

Toward the back of the book, you can find some handy phrases like “does this contain honey?” or “does this contain gluten?”. The best and cutest little item is the very last page where you punch out a card that says “I am vegan, and do not eat meat, fish, seafood (including soup bases or flavorings), or any animal products (eggs, milk products, honey).” So you can whip out the card whenever communication is a problem!

I know this isn’t my usual type of post, but I thought “The Vegan Guide to Tokyo” seems useful for anyone ready to go back into international travel and aiming to head to Japan. You don’t have to be vegan as all the restaurants sound good.

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Smith Street Books/Rizzoli New York for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This travel book is available for pre-purchase from your favorite bookshops, and gets released next week.

Reference Links:

https://www.instagram.com/tokyoveganguide

https://www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9781922754196/

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Natural Bakes review

Before I offer a positive review for “Natural Bakes” by Caroline Griffiths, I want to set expectations.  The subtitle of the cover is “everyday gluten-free, sugar-free baking.”  Yes, the recipes here are gluten-free, but it’s the “sugar-free” claim that I want to nitpick.  What the book really means is that it is mainly sucrose free. In addition to not finding granulated sugar here, there’s no coconut sugar, no maple syrup, no honey.  The main sweeteners used are dextrose and rice malt syrup. (So I’m not exactly sure if you want to call this “natural” either. But that’s a different topic.)  There is a little bit of use of applesauce/apple puree and dates, but not significantly.  (There is also a lot of use of pure monk fruit extract but more on that later.)  I understand the overall reason for it.  I’m not a scientist or a nutritionist, so apologies for the following speedy explanation.  The author is relying on forms of glucose as the main sweetener. Glucose is the main source of energy in our bodies, meaning the body can process it effectively.  Sucrose, on the other hand, is 50-50 of fructose and glucose.  It’s fructose that our bodies might have trouble absorbing because it’s a more complicated process.  Also to note, glucose facilitates the break down of fructose so, if we’re ingesting too much fructose, we’re increasing the likelihood of health issues.

If you’re diabetic or pre-diabetic, either skip this book or be prepared to use the sweetener substitution that I used because pure glucose will impact your blood sugar levels.  

Now, let’s get to the actual review.

This book isn’t a tome, and is simply broken down into:

  • Cookies,
  • Small bakes,
  • Cakes,
  • Celebration cakes,
  • Sweet endings,
  • Basics

Some of the recipes that I would have liked to make but couldn’t because I didn’t have the right ingredients are:

  • Chocolate sandwich cookies,
  • Passionfruit cashew cream melting moments,
  • Fudgy roasted cocoa cookies,
  • Banana chai blondies,
  • Almond, mandarin and orange blossom madeleines,
  • Carrot, parsnip and cardamom loaf,
  • Lime cheesecake tart,
  • Chocolaty sweet potato and macadamia cream cake,
  • Lemon tart,
  • Creamy raspberry and orange tart

I’ve thought about baking with dextrose before but I think I was intimidated by the “quit sugar” culture.  I remember reading something akin to “if you go down this route, you must never touch sugar again!” which, in hindsight, doesn’t fully make sense.  But more importantly, I try not to keep too many uncommon pantry ingredients.  So dextrose, rice malt syrup, and pure monk fruit extract were items that I didn’t have on hand for this review.  I scoured through the ingredient lists to find what I could reasonably make with little alteration as possible.

The first recipe I made was for the brown butter shortbread fingers.  The ingredients are few: butter, gluten-free blend #1 (found in the Basics chapter), dextrose, monk fruit extract (listed as optional), pecans, and vanilla.  Gluten-free blend #1 is made of a third brown rice flour, and the rest is tapioca and potato starches.  

I’ve heard that dextrose is less sweet than table sugar so I thought allulose would be a reasonable replacement as allulose is also less sweet.  While allulose would qualify as a specialty pantry ingredient, I have been experimenting with it for almost a year now because one of my best friends has type 2 diabetes.  Allulose is a rare naturally occurring sugar that doesn’t spike blood sugar levels, is deemed safe so far, and bakes pretty well as a sugar replacement.  And since monk fruit extract was listed as optional, I didn’t feel bad about leaving it out completely.

The recipe itself is easy.  The butter is melted, browned, and then cooled.  The dry ingredients are mixed, then mixed with the browned butter, vanilla, and nuts.  When they’re done baking, you cut them into bars (I did squares) before they completely cool.  Overall, the results are good.  These cookies are very barely sweet, and the toasted pecans help to make them more interesting.  I wonder if I should have browned the butter a touch longer as the flavor was lighter than I expected.  It still satisfied my cookie cravings, and I didn’t have to go out to buy anything special.  I already had on hand the ingredients.  My only real critique is that I think the flavor and texture is too starchy.  It almost feels gummy as I chew on a cookie, like the starches are hydrating in my mouth, so I think it’s the flour blend that I’m not in love with.  I’d be curious to remake these cookies with a different flour blend. 

I’ve not experimented with monk fruit extract yet.  Most monk fruit products that I can easily find in the northeastern area of the U.S. are always blended with a sugar substitute like erythritol.**  Real monk fruit is extremely sweet, so a little of the extract will go a long way.  If you really have a sweet tooth, I recommend adding the optional extract in this recipe.

The second recipe I made was the spiced apple and cream cheese muffins.  The muffins use a different flour blend from the Basics chapter (sorghum, potato starch, tapioca starch, and glutinous rice flour) along with dextrose, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed pie spice/pumpkin spice, monk fruit extract, almond flour, diced apple, cream cheese, eggs, and buttermilk.  This time, there was more monk fruit extract and it was not marked as optional ingredient, which made sense only 1/3 cup dextrose was used for 12 muffins.  This was the only time I made a major change.  I skipped the monk fruit and upped the sweetener to 1/2 cup of allulose.  Otherwise, this was another easy recipe to make.  You mix the cream cheese with the eggs, but don’t worry about making this smooth.  We want lumps of cream cheese.  Then add the buttermilk.  You mix the dry ingredients in another bowl, and then mix everything together.  When baked up, you have a delightful muffin that has little sweet pockets of apple and little tangy bits of cream cheese. I originally worried that the recipe asked for too much of the spice, but it worked out fine.

While I disliked the flour blend of the cookies, the flour blend for the muffins worked well.  The texture and flavor were good.

There are a couple more recipes that I want to make but I can’t do it without the rice malt syrup so I think I’ll give in and seek it out.  I don’t think I’m going to pick up some dextrose at this time though.  I’m ok with using allulose instead.  (Or dare I just go rogue and swap the rice malt syrup with honey or maple syrup?) For now, I’ll see how far I can go without the monk fruit extract.

If you don’t have any qualms about buying specialty ingredients and you don’t have any health issues wherein you need to watch your blood sugar, then this seems to be a good book. More so, if you’re gluten-free.  You might have to adjust some things to your liking.  For example, there’s no salt mentioned in any of the recipes.  Maybe it’s because these recipes aren’t sweet enough to warrant salt to balance the flavor?  I didn’t add any salt to the cookies or muffins, and they seem to be ok to me.

Oh, and this book is originally Australian so it uses weighed measurements. It offers grams and ounces, but if you’re insistent on volumetric measurements, then this will matter to you. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I like to work in both systems so I have a kitchen scale. The book was also written for a fan-forced oven aka convection oven. I don’t have one, and I think most American households still don’t. I simply increased the baking temperature, so if a recipe was 350F with fan, I used 375F without fan.

** = I hate the “fake” monk fruit products.  It’s mostly erythritol because of cost.  I think they taste weird and bitter.  

Disclaimer – I kindly received a copy of this book from Smith Street Books/Rizzoli New York for this review.  I’m not getting paid for this post. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.  This cookbook is currently available for purchase from your favorite bookshops.

Reference Links:

A timely Youtube link if you’d like to listen to Adam Ragusea talk about sugar

www.rizzoliusa.com/book/9781922754141/

The apple cream cheese muffin recipe, but not the gluten-free version (has volumetric measurements though)