Thursday, December 25, 2008

Holiday Baking

A few baking projects of interest during the holiday season....

I made this membrillo a while back, but I didn't get around to blogging it. Membrillo is a thick quince jelly. It's sugary and gritty and quincy. Apparently it's a very popular item in Spain. Back when I had quince coming out of my ears, I made a huge batch of this stuff... but in truth, I don't really know what to do with it. I welcome your suggestions! I used this recipe, but the "cook for one hour" thing really wasn't working out. So, I just cooked it and cooked it and cooked it. Then I looked up the recipe on Saveur, and found that it recommends cooking for 15 hours. I think that's about what it took! What a culinary adventure. While there, I also noticed a few other intriguing vegan or veganizable quince recipes to try out next year. I can hardly wait!

A week or two ago, we were invited over to some friends' house for dinner, so I made this gorgeous and delicious "Pear and Cornmeal Tart" from "Healthy Hedonist." Wow! This tart was so beautiful and had such interesting and sophisticated flavors. There are three layers: a dense crust on the bottom, a cornmeal cake, and poached pears.

For Christmas I made two pies. First, a mince pie. Back at Thanksgiving, I asked my grandpa what was his favorite kind of pie. Immediately he said "Mince pie!" I'm sure I'm not the only one out here in Veganland totally freaked out by the word "mince meat," but I was happy when johnp over on the PPK forums mentioned that The Joy of Cooking had a great vegetarian mince pie. Sure enough, this recipe was super easy to veganize. It was a big hit with my grandpa and my cousin's British husband who said "Christmas isn't Christmas without a mince pie!" It's rich and strongly flavored... apples, walnuts, spices, apple juice, brandy, raisins... yum! This isn't the prettiest picture I took of it, but you can see the mince filling best in this one.

And I also made this lovely & delicious "Cranberry Orange Tart" from "Voluptuous Vegan." If you have this cookbook, I really recommend this delicious tart. It's got a crust with toasted flour, and a layer of almond butter, walnuts, and a cranberry-orange mix on top. Tart, sweet, and rich. Very nice and so beautiful... it's great for company.

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:41 AM

    delicious looking treats!
    especially that cranberry orange tart

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  2. Lovely desserts, Amey!!

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  3. Anonymous5:30 AM

    Everything looks great--especially those pies! The cranberry tart sounds fabulous.

    Hope you had a lovely holiday!

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  4. Membrillo looks kinda weird. I wouldn't know what to do with it!

    Your desserts are fabulous as usual!

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  5. Oh my gosh, all these beautiful desserts are too much!

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  6. I love membrillo! YUM!! I did not know it took so long to make though! Yikes!

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  7. Anonymous8:19 AM

    all of your treats look amazing. i would've fallen over if i knew that jelly took 15 hours. how insane?!?! did it taste good? heck, it should taste amazing after that long.

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  8. Hi Amey! I'm about 4 hours away from NOLA, but I will probably be there the weekend of 17th/18th. If you're there then, maybe we can do a meetup with Kittee :)

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  9. Anonymous8:42 AM

    I adore the lattice work you did on that pie, Amey.

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  10. Your fruit pies are so beautiful!!
    That membrillo does look rather intriguing... 15 hours of cooking! Wow, now that's patience.

    And oh my goodness I was just in complete awe of how adorable your holiday cookzine was!! Thank you so so much. The drawings were awesome and I'm so excited to try out those recipes! I feel so lucky :-)

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  11. Anonymous1:52 PM

    Hi Amey, I saw this deal and thought of you. Year subscription to Yoga magazine for $5.29.

    http://www.bestdealmagazines.com/deal.asp

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  12. Hi Amey! Your Cranberry Orange Tart looks incredibly delicious!! UV has a quince-cranberry sauce recipe coming in her cookbook that might be up your alley. Thank you so much for your amazing Christmas card and cookbook! I squeeled with delight when I opened it. Your drawings are so amazing!! LOVE it! XOXO

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  13. Anonymous5:47 PM

    Membrillo looks like MEAT.

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  14. NEW POSTS STARTING IN 2009 on my new and improved blog:
    http://cookingforaveganlover.wordpress.com/
    until then please visit:
    http://cookingforaveganlover.blogspot.com

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  15. Hi, again, Amey! Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for my holiday cookbook you sent me! You are such a sweetie to take the time to make those and send them out.

    And I think you asked about my sugar cookies - I veganized (EB and egg replacer) a recipe for Lofthouse Cookies, which I found somewhere on the net.

    Happy New Year, Amey!!!!!

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  16. Anonymous11:36 AM

    hahaha mince pies don't ever have meat in them... mincemeat means like sultanas and zest and spices here in england we have loads of little ones at xmas

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  17. Anonymous11:36 AM

    hahaha mince pies don't ever have meat in them... mincemeat means like sultanas and zest and spices here in england we have loads of little ones at xmas

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  18. Anonymous11:36 AM

    hahaha mince pies don't ever have meat in them... mincemeat means like sultanas and zest and spices here in england we have loads of little ones at xmas

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