Keto yogurt v2, 13% butterfat

Based on:

• https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-yogurt/
• https://thisoldgal.com/instant-pot-greek-yogurt/
• Instant Pot manual, p.16
• http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/yogurt.html

Ingredients:

• Large portion
• 12.5 C whole milk = 2,953 g (this is about the maximum that will fit)
• 5 C cream = 1,183 g
• Small portion
• 10 C whole milk = 2,362 g
• 4 C cream = 946 g
• 2 T Fage plain yogurt

Directions:

1. Sterilize the Instant Pot. Put 2 C of water in the inner pot, along with the trivet, a whisk, a glass bowl, a spoon, and a 1/2 C measure. Have a thermometer handy. Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes.
2. Pour out the the water from the pot. Pour milk and cream in. 
3. Push Yogurt button then Adjust button, until the screen reads "boil." Let cook about 50 minutes, until it beeps. Whisk occasionally. Check that temperature has come up to 182 - 185 F. If temperature is too low when it beeps, use Slow Cook Less.
4. Remove the inner pot, and set on top of a large ice pack. Allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees, whisking occasionally. This will take over 1 hour.
5. Put the yogurt into the glass bowl, and whisk it a bit to break it up. Scoop out 1/2 C of the warm milk mixture into the glass bowl, and whisk with the yogurt until dissolved. Then whisk the mixture back into the pot.
6. Put the inner pot back into the Instant Pot. Cover, and set to Yogurt Normal for 24 hours.
7. The next day, after it beeps, pour the yogurt into 2 red plastic containers. Put the containers in the refrigerator undisturbed for 6 to 8 hours, to cool and set.

Calculator:

Mint chocolate ice cream

Ingredients

• 4 oz. chocolate chips (about ¾ cup) -- I prefer Guittard  
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 pint cream
• 1 tsp mint extract -- I prefer Nielsen-Massey
• ¼ tsp salt

Equipment

• ice cream maker

Instructions

1. Put the chocolate chips, sugar, and 1/4 of the cream in a bowl. 
2. Microwave to melt, about 1 minute.
3. Whisk chocolate mixture until smooth.
4. Add remaining cream in 3 portions, whisking after each addition.
5. Mix in vanilla and salt.
6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
7. Freeze in ice cream maker.

Chocolate butter cupcakes with chocolate whipped cream

For Noah's birthday today, we made chocolate cupcakes. We used Rose Levy Beranbaum's chocolate butter cupcake recipe from her Heavenly Cakes book. (It's an amazing book. All of her books are worth buying and reading and baking from.) I won't post it here -- just buy the book. :)

One of the rewarding things about Rose's cake recipes is that they come out perfectly flat on top, which makes it easy to apply frosting.

The texture is lighter and softer than a typical chocolate cake, partly due to the use of cake flour and superfine sugar, rather than all-purpose flour and granulated sugar, and partly due to her special mixing technique, which involves mixing softened butter into the dry ingredients, prior to adding the liquids.

For frosting, Noah wanted something chocolaty but light, so we used my version of chocolate whipped cream. It goes like this:

Chocolate whipped cream

-- adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

• 3 T cocoa powder (I prefer Guittard Cocoa Rouge)
• 3 T sugar
• 1 C cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Tools

• Electric hand mixer

Directions

• Measure the cocoa powder and sugar into a metal bowl. Put the bowl and the beaters from the mixer into the freezer, to chill.
• Add 3 T of the cream, and the vanilla, to the dry ingredients. Mix to form a paste.
• Add the rest of the cream in a couple of batches, mixing to uniformity after each addition.
• Whip until there are stiff peaks.
• Yield: 4 servings

Happy birthday!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Background

These pancakes are delicately flavored with lemon and cardamom. They are gluten-free and wheat-free, but contain dairy and eggs -- ricotta and eggs give them their body, meaning very little flour is required. To make them low carb, replace the maple syrup with a low-calorie sweetener. These are currently the favorite pancake variation at my house.

Ingredients

• 3/4 C chickpea flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 2 1/2 C ricotta (whole milk)
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract (I prefer Nielsen-Massey); or use lemon zest
• 1/3 C maple syrup
• butter for frying

Directions

1. Combine the dry ingredients (first 4).
2. Combine the wet ingredients (next 5).
3. Mix the dry into the wet, thoroughly.
4. Let the batter rest for about 10 minutes.
5. Fry pancakes in butter, on medium-high heat. They are rather delicate, so flip them carefully. It helps to make them fairly small, about 1 tablespoon of batter per pancake. Don't use as high a flame as you would for standard pancakes, or they won't cook through before they burn on the outside.
6. Serves 5 for breakfast.

Chickpea Sunbutter Muffins

This is a recipe I developed over the course of a couple of years, starting from a variety of muffin recipes.

The muffins are appropriate for those with allergies to wheat, nuts, and peanuts. The chickpea flour and sunbutter give them a higher protein content than most muffins, but with the brown sugar and currants they don't count as low carb.

These are intended to be more savory than sweet, with the cardamom rounding out the chickpea flavor. They freeze well, and can be microwaved for a few seconds to be a quick warm breakfast for the kids.

Dry ingredients

• 4 C chickpea flour
• 2 T baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cardamom
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Wet ingredients

• 4 T butter, melted
• ½ C brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 C sunbutter (about half a jar)
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 2 C buttermilk (or plain milk)

Additions

• 2 C currants
• butter for pans

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl
• Electric mixer
• 5 mini-muffin pans
• Baking sheet
• Measuring cups and spoons

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients, using a hand mixer. Dump out the dry mixture onto two plates.
2. Melt the butter in the mixing bowl, in the microwave, about 30 seconds.
3. Mix brown sugar with the butter, until uniform.
4. Mix in eggs, vanilla, and sunbutter.
5. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
6. Add half of the dry mixture, then the buttermilk, then the other half of the dry. Mix until uniform.
7. Mix in currants.
8. While the batter rests and thickens, line a cookie sheet with foil, and butter two mini-muffin tins.
9. Spoon batter into tins, to form 24 mini-muffins. Fill to near the top of each hole, but do not overfill.
10. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 F.
11. Repeat until you use up all of the batter. It will be about 5 pans / 60 muffins.
12. Wait 10-15 minutes before removing muffins from pans.

Yield: about 60 mini-muffins (5 tins).

Hamantaschen recipe

Grandma Evie’s Hamantaschen

These are based on the recipe of my maternal grandmother.

Dough ingredients:

·      4 C flour

·      ½ tsp salt

·      4 Tbsp sugar

·      2 ¼ tsp yeast

·      ¾ C orange juice

·      3 eggs

·      ½ lb butter, melted (2 sticks)

Filling

·      assorted jams (apricot, raspberry, etc)

Directions

·      combine all ingredients, in order listed, using a fork

·      knead in bowl to finish mixing

·      cover and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours

·      refrigerate 1 hour

·      roll out ½ of the dough at a time

·      cut 3” circles, and place on a buttered cookie sheet

·      reroll scraps, and cut more circles (you’ll get about 20 from half of the dough)

·      put half a teaspoon of jam in the middle of each cookie

·      fold into triangles

·      cover and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour

·      bake at 350 F for 30 minutes

Pancake recipe

Pancakes

Adapted from Joy of Cooking (1975)

Dry ingredients

·      1½ C flour (I use whole wheat, can be all-purpose)

·      1 tsp salt

·      1¾ tsp baking powder

Wet ingredients

·      3 Tbsp butter, melted

·      2 eggs

·      1¼ C whole milk

·      1/3 C maple syrup

·      1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1.     In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Dump out onto a plate.

2.     In the same bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. (Make sure the bowl is covered with plastic wrap, so the butter does not spatter.)

3.     Add the eggs to the butter, and mix thoroughly.

4.     Add the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla, and mix.

5.     Dump the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix gently, smooshing any lumps with a fork. Don’t overmix.

6.     Let the batter sit for a few minutes, to thicken.

7.     Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan, and swirl around.

8.     Use a ¼ C measure, scoop to fill it with batter, and pour out ½ of it at a time into the pan, to make 2 pancakes. Repeat until pan is filled, 5-6 medium-sized pancakes in a large pan.

9.     Let the pancakes cook until lots of bubbles come up through the top, and the edges are firm. Then flip them with a large spatula. (For flipping, it may help to tip the pan, or to use a fork in your off hand.)

10. Cook on the second side for a shorter time than on the first side. When steam starts to rise from the pancakes, they are done.

11. Repeat steps (7)-(10) until all batter is used. Meanwhile, serve the pancakes and let people eat them immediately. These require no syrup or butter. Fresh berries are a great accompaniment.