yeast Archives - Heavenlynn Healthy

Healthy Easter Braid

Lynn — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Healthy Easter Braid to keep those German Easter traditions alive.

There are many traditional baking recipes that are only known in the German speaking countries. This Easter Braid is definitely one of them. What carrot cake is to many English speaking countries during Easter times, the easter braid is to the German-speaking countries. The dough is traditionally made of flour, sugar, eggs and butter (who would have guessed), but my version is of course much lighter with healthier ingredients that make it healthier, better digestible and available for people with intolerances or allergies.I did a quick research on the background of these yeast braids, because I love digging into the past of such traditional German recipes. One legend says that apparently women sacrificed their hair braids when their husbands died, and placed their hair next to their husbands during the funeral. So I guess one smart lady was too sentimental about her hair and came up with this sneaky bread to resemble her braid. You gotta give it to her – this was pretty clever. Don’t mess with a woman’s hair.

So back to the ingredients, which have pretty much nothing to do with the original. If you have tried a traditional German Easter Braid before, then I gotta tell you that this version tastes a lot different. It is pretty much impossible to recreate the taste of the original with healthy ingredients, but I have to be honest: I liked the healthier version much better. The traditional one belongs to the kinds of breads that you just cannot stop eating, because it is made out of addictive wheat flour. I used a mix of brown rice flour, buckwheat and millet flour instead – to keep the blood sugar level steady when you eat the braid. The flours and the lack of butter and sugar make it taste differently, but good.

Different is good, at least in my world.

Instead of white sugar, I used apple sauce, which not only acts as a binding ingredient in this recipe, it also makes it naturally sweet without having to add large amounts of refined sugar. I also swapped the eggs for sparkling water, which makes the dough extra fluffy and moist. If you do not like the taste of coconut oil, you could also use vegan butter (though it is not as healthy as coconut oil) or regular butter (which is actually healthier than vegan butter, because it does not contain any additives.

The only tricky part will be the braiding itself as the dough is gluten-free and therefore a little tricky to form. I’ve added some braiding tips in the recipe section below. Just be patient and treat the dough with respect, and it should work just fine.

With this I am wishing you Happy Easter! There will be a super duper exciting giveaway next week here on the blog, so keep your eyes peeled.

Healthy Easter Braid

Author: Lynn Hoefer

Ingredients

200g (2 cups) of brown rice flour
100g (1cup) of buckwheat flour
200g (2 cups) of millet flour
1½ TL locust bean gum or tapioca
a pinch of cardamom
1 pck. aluminium-free baking powder (17g)
1 pck. gluten-free dry yeast
150ml (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) of almond milk + more for the glaze
100ml (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon) of sparkling water
100g (1/2 cup) unsweetened apple sauce + 2 tablespoons for the glaze
50g (3 tablespoons) of extra-virgin coconut oil
a handful of almond slices

Instructions

Quickly heat the almond milk to lukewarm, not hot (test this with your pinky, it cannot be hot or the yeast will die). Combine 50g (1/4 cup) of almond milk with the yeast and 1 tablespoon of apple sauce. Set aside for 10 minutes until bubbly.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
Quickly heat the coconut oil, add the apple sauce and remaining almond milk. Mix well and add the wet mix and the yeast to the dry ingredients while constantly stirring with a spoon or a hand mixer. You can also do this process in your food processor. Finally add the sparkling water. Knead the dough for five minutes with your food processor or your hands (this will be sticky, however). Transfer the dough into a clean mixing bowl, cover with a clean towel and let sit for 1½ - 2 hours until it has visibly doubled in size.
Transfer the dough on a clean surface covered with a little bit of flour. Separate the dough into three equal pieces, and roll each part into equally long strands. You will need wet hands and probably some more flour as the dough is quite delicate. Place the strands diagonally onto a baking tray that you covered with baking paper. Press the three strands together at the top and begin braiding. Secure the end in the same way. Cover the braid with the towel and let it rest for another 15 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (360°C) in the meantime.
Glaze the mix with 2 tablespoons of almond milk and sprinkle it with almond slices. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the bread is beginning to have a nice golden-brownish color.
Glaze the braid with a mix of 2 tablespoons of apple sauce and 1 tablespoon of almond milk right after you take it out of the oven. Let it dry for 10 minutes and enjoy.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

The post Healthy Easter Braid appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

Plum Cake with Buckwheat & Spelt Dough

Lynn — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 06:00:52 +0000

I’ve had some exciting few weeks, which is why it has been a bit quiet on the recipe side, but today, I’d like to introduce you to a German specialty: plum cake with buckwheat & spelt dough. The original dough is obviously not made with buckwheat or spelt, but normal white flour, but white flour isn’t really nutritious, so whole-wheat it is. Germans eat their plum cake with a yeast dough – now, this might seem very strange to non-Germans, but trust me, it’s divine. The dough is similar to that of bread: flour, yeast, almond milk and a bit of coconut oil, and you simply top it with fruit, but you normally only see it with plums, or damsons, a special and very sweet kind of plum that we get over here.

The real hero of this post, however, are my new plates and mugs from Broste Copenhagen*, one of my favorite interior and pottery brands. It’s funny, but you would think that I have a large cupboard of plates and bowls and could host a large number of people. However, I do have plenty of bowls and plates, but never more than two matching ones. So when Broste Copenhagen sent me this generous gift with their Nordic Sand collection, I did a long happy dance, because I am now finally able to host more than four people with matching plates and bowls. And look at how beautiful they are. I am madly, deeply in love with this brand. I already had a few of their items before, but I am now so proud of my collection – what a big step towards being a grown-up.

So now that we’ve briefly discussed my love for pretty tableware, let’s get back to this plum cake with buckwheat & spelt dough. Plum cake brings back so many childhood memories. For me it means family time in my grandmother’s garden. It means bees swirling around the cake, it means kids birthday parties, barefoot handstands and wheels on the grass. Those were the perfect summer days, and I remember it like it was yesterday. Now, unfortunately my grandmother is no longer with us, but I still feel the urge to make a plum cake every late summer according to her recipe.

Of course the traditional recipe has been tweaked to healthify it: instead of white flour I used a mix of buckwheat and spelt flour to give it more fiber and protein. The dough is also made of delicious coconut oil, almond milk, rice syrup (or raw honey) sparkling water to make it fluffy, as well as yeast. All recipes add up to a warming, but not overly sweet base, which, topped with sweet plums make for the perfect goodbye-summer and hello fall cake.

Now, to all my non-German friends, this plum cake with buckwheat & spelt dough is something to get used to, and they are not for everybody. I just wanted to tell you this straight up front, so you know not to expect a normal sweet cake dough. If you do decide to give it a try though, I promise that you will try something that you have never tried before.

Plum Cake with Buckwheat & Spelt Dough

Prep time

60 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

Author: Lynn Hoefer

Serves: 12

Ingredients

250g buckwheat flour
250g spelt whole wheat or brown rice flour if gluten-free
1 package dry yeast or 40g of fresh yeast if available
2 tablespoons of lukewarm almond milk or water
5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of rice syrup or raw honey
250ml of sparkling water
50g extra-virgin coconut oil
1kg of plums
3 tablespoons of coconut sugar (optional)
hemp seeds for decorating (optional)
a pinch of salt

Instructions

Add the yeast to a small bowl. If you are using fresh yeast, then break it down into small pieces. Slowly add the lukewarm almond milk or water, as well as one teaspoon of rice syrup or honey. Set aside for 10 minutes. The yeast should start to form bubbles, then you know it's been activated.
Next, add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Then add the rice syrup or raw honey, coconut oil and sparkling water. Finally, add the yeast mix and knead the dough with your hands or a kitchen machine for 5 to 6 minutes. The dough will be sticky, so using a machine will definitely help here.
Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and set aside for 30 minutes so it can double its volume. It helps if you place the bowl in a warm environment, such as the oven set on low heat (30°C or 86°F).
While the dough rests, wash the plums, cut them in half and remove the stones.
Once the dough has doubled its volume, spread it on a baking tray that you greased with coconut oil or aligned with baking paper. Using a spatula or your hands and spread the dough evenly. This will be quite tricky as the dough is very sticky. It helps if you wet your hands before spreading it. Be patient, you will be able to spread the dough eventually. Trust me.
Place the plums on the dough, row after row, until every inch of dough is covered.
Bake at 180°C (360°F) for about 40 minutes. The exact time will vary depending on your oven.
Once the dough is slightly browned, but not burned, take the cake out of the oven. Sprinkle it with coconut sugar if you have a sweet tooth while it's still warm.
I decorated my cake with hemp seeds, but this is totally optional (though a nice additional protein boost).
The cake tastes delicious with whipped coconut creak or coconut yoghurt.

Enjoy!

*A big Thank You goes out to Broste Copenhagen for equipping the Heavenlynn Healthy kitchen with a generous amount of their beautiful plates and bowls. Thank you, Sarah, for the wonderful gift!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

The post Plum Cake with Buckwheat & Spelt Dough appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.