Einkorn Walnut Coffee Biscotti

It is rather a warm Spring day here in SC. So it inspires me to create something to enjoy with my iced coffee. Going through my many Einkorn recipes I have collected over the years I decide this one from Food52 will do nicely. So happy dipping!

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 cup Einkorn flour or
  

• 2 cup whole wheat flour
  

• 1 tsp baking powder
  

• 2/3 cup packed dark or light brown sugar (I make my own)
  

• 4 tbs unsalted melted butter
  

• 2 large eggs
  

• 1/4 tsp salt
  

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I make my own)
  

• 1 cup walnuts
  

• 1 tbs dark roasted ground coffee (I roast my own)
  
  Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

  Combine the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and mix together thoroughly.

  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar, butter, eggs, salt, and vanilla for 2 to 3 minutes, until thick and pale. Add in the ground coffee

  Add the flour mixture and the nuts and stir until all the ingredients are moistened. Einkorn flour results in a stickier dough, so do not overmix. Scrape the dough onto a lined or greased cookie sheet and spread into a 6-by-15-inch rectangle with a rubber spatula.

  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the loaf has puffed and is firm but springy to the touch. Rotate the sheet halfway through to ensure even baking. Set the sheet on a rack to cool for at least 15 minutes. Leave the oven on, turning it down to 300ºF.

  Transfer the loaf carefully to a cutting board. If you used a liner, slide a metal spatula under the loaf to detach and remove the liner. Using a long serrated knife, cut the loaf into slices 1/2 inch thick. Transfer the slices to the unlined cookie sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cookies turn golden, rotating the sheet halfway through to ensure even baking. Set the sheet on a rack. Cool the cookies completely before stacking or storing. May be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
  

Overnight Einkorn Kefir Coffee Cake

I borrow this recipe from Carla Bartoluccia’s cookbook Einkorn. Recipes For Nature’s Original Wheat. There is one substitution I make and that is I substitute Bellwether Farms Sheep’s milk yogurt for the kefir. They have wonderful yogurt and I am thankful that Whole Foods here in SC carries it. It comes from Sonoma County California. When I do not have an animal in milk I do not keep milk kefir grains. So I find the sheep’s yogurt to be a wonderful substitution. I add three tablespoons of sour dough starter to the yogurt to give it a kick start. So here is the recipe as written in the cookbook and you may make the substitution if you like.

For the cake: 2 1/2 cups (300 g) of all purpose einkorn flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 10 tbsp butter (140 g) @ room temperature. A bit more for buttering the pan. 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar, 1/2 cup (110 g) dark brown sugar (packed), 3 large eggs, 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 cup kefir (240 g)

For the crumb topping: 3/4c (90g) all purpose einkorn flour, 1/4 c (50 g) granulated sugar1/4 tsp fine sea salt, 6 tbsp (84 g) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4” cubes, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar for dusting.

Make the cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and the salt in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on med-low speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the sugars and mix on med-low speed for another 1-2 minutes until the butter is fluffy and whipped. Add the eggs and vanilla on med-low till mixed. Scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl. Detach bowl from mixer. Using a spatula fold half of the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Fold 1/2 cup of the kefir, then repeat with remaining flour mixture and kefir until everything is just combined. (Do not overwork the batter) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator all night or at least 8 hours. When ready to bake, butter a 9x13” baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and spread into prepared baking dish. Set aside. Make the topping: Mix together the flour, granulated sugar, and the salt in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until the butter is completely incorporated leaving only small chunks of butter. The topping can be made at night and stored in the refrigerator with the cake batter. Sprinkle half the mixture on top of the cake. In a small bowl combine the cinnamon and cocoa powder and sprinkle over the topping. Sprinkle remaining topping over the topping. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon and cocoa. Bake for 42 minutes or until the middle springs back when pressed. Let cake sit in the pan for 1 hour until completely cooled. Dust generously with organic powdered sugar. .

Einkorn Soft German Pretzels

This lovely recipe comes from the Jovial Foods Founder and author the late Carla Bartolucci. They are excellent.

1 batch of sourdough levain or you can use a yeast levain as well.

1/2 cup plus two tablespoons of warm water

1 teaspoon pure maple syrup

4 cups (480 g) einkorn all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2/3 cup (100g) baking soda

Coarse sea salt or rock salt, for dusting

in a medium bowl, combine the Levain, water, and maple syrup. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the wet mixture to the flour and mix with a spatula as much as you can. Add the butter And knead in the bowl with your hands until the dough holds together in a firm ball. Cover the plate and let rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Turn the dough once and then lightly seal the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rest for three hours.

Brush a long piece of parchment paper lightly with oil. Divide the dough in 10 pieces, then roll each piece into a tight ball. Use your hands to roll each ball into a 22 inch strip of dough that is much thicker in the center and has tapered ends. Form each strip into a long U shape. Lift up both ends and cross one over the other two times then bring the ends to the bottom of the oval and press on each side, leaving the tip up slightly. Place the shaped pretzel on the prepared parchment and repeat with the remaining dough. Cover with oil brushed plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes. It is important to catch them just before the surface of the dough has visible bubbles.

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Spread the baking soda in a 9 x 13 glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake the baking soda for one hour.

Remove the dish from the oven, then increase the heat 475°F. Line two clean baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add 6 cups of cold water to a medium bowl and 4 cups of cold water to a second bowl. Slowly whisk the baking soda into the second bowl until it dissolves. Working in batches of two or three pretzels, immerse the pretzels in the baking soda solution for two minutes, keeping them submerged, and turning after one minute. Lift up each pretzel with a spoon and dip it quickly into the clean water to remove excess baking soda arrange the pretzels on the prepared baking sheet so they are not touching and sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes until the pretzels are deep brown. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.

sourdough levain is made by taking 2 tablespoons of Einkorn sourdough starter adding a half a cup +1 tablespoon of warm water to 1 cup of all purpose Einkorn flour which comes out to about 120 g of flour, mix it all together and cover. Allow it to sit for 6 to 10 hoursa at room temperature till it’s nice and bubbly and ready to be used as a leavener. ***

commercial pretzels are dipped into a lye bath solution before baking. Carla read a New York Times article in which if you heat baking soda for an hour it changes the pH which promotes the Maillard reaction that gives the pretzels that deeply characteristic brown color, unique texture and authentic flavor.

Welcome Warmer Days!

Greetings farm followers! As winter slowly fades here in the Upstate of SC the signs of Spring and renewal are evident everywhere. As we continue to look forward to new endeavors for 2022 we forget not the hardship we all endured these last two years. God is good all the time and He continues to teach and guide us even in the most trying of times.

As I reflect back on all of my blogs posts since I began this website my most popular blog post ever was my small tribute to Carla Bartolucci. I wrote a short tribute post after her sudden passing just about 10 months ago. I wrote that post out of deep admiration for Carla’s skill as a baker, her genuine love for teaching others and her vibrant dreams for the future. Einkorn is a gift truly and Carla and her team taught me so very much how to use this wonderful unchanged wheat to enrich the lives of so many others. Her daughter Guilia is doing a wonderful job. I am sure she is a tremendous blessing to her father, sister and her Uncle Mike Carla’s brother. I look forward to the future of this company and buying einkorn flour from them for years to come as God allows.

We have many things on our to do list for this year. We are raising New Zealand rabbits for meat. We are also busy raising our Pembroke Corgi puppies. It is a joint endeavor my daughter Ashley and I have undertaken. We have promised our breeder to raise these dogs the best way we can and so far we have done well. Both Ember and Ariston are growing like weeds and looking like fine dogs. We hope to start our breeding program when the pups hit their second birthday. Ariston is 30 weeks old and Ember just 2 weeks younger. So we do have a good space of time to let them grow. They were given great training by their breeder using the Puppy Culture program and let me tell you it shows. Also since their DNA testing for the major Corgi genetic disorders were clear we are confident that the Lord will allow us to breed healthy, solid dogs.

Our chickens and ducks are laying beautiful eggs once again praise God! We are now actually getting 8-10 eggs daily. We feed an organic soy free, corn free ration to all our birds and everyone free ranges daily. We are raising a few rare breeds that hopefully we will be able to sell some hatching eggs or baby chicks later in the year. We have several Cream Legbars, Lavender Wyandottes and a larger breed called Bielfelders. Though these breeds take a good amount of time to mature we hope they will prove to be worth the investment in preserving rare breeds and supplying lots of diversity to our back yard flocks. We just purchased a brand new incubator from Premier1, it is called a Borotto. They are made in Italy. Hopefully this month I will attempt my first hatch. Saving up some eggs to give this incubator a trial run. Our turkeys have not started laying as of yet but hopefully our Beltsville’s and Narragansett’s will start soon.

My tomato, eggplant and hopefully my pepper seedlings will be ready for the Spring planting. I am busily nurturing them in my makeshift basement greenhouse area. Definitely will be adding at least two or three more garden boxes this year. Food prices continue to rise and it just spurs us on to become more and more self sustainable. God gives wisdom and we are very thankful. We have 25 Cornish cross females coming on April 12th and we will once again raise these for our family’s poultry meat supply. Many folks would rather we raise a “heritage breed” but we have come to the place that the Cornish cross raised slower and just a bit longer do extremely well organically. We raised the females last year and they were much better than the males. Once we put them out on grass we will start another 25. Lord willing God will bless our hands and all will make it to the freezer. I am very thankful for my husband’s willingness to take on these projects as he works very diligently sometimes six days a week off the farm. He has a somewhat demanding job but he does so enjoy his work. So I once again give thanks to God for all of His wonderful kindnesses to us and trust we will progress as He sees fit.

My little Bakeshop has been quiet these last few months. As I continue to work on strengthening my body from my brush with Covid in November. I am so very grateful for so much progress that has been achieved. I have much to be thankful for, God watched over and cared for me in my most critical times and the hands and feet of so many people ministered His love to me. Baking is a passion for me and I enjoy creating wonderfully healthy food. So I am not done yet and I believe the best is yet to come.

Thank you all so much for reading. I trust you too are filled with the joy of knowing that God is still in charge and we can hope for good things as He sovereignly works out our providence’s!

Einkorn Sourdough English Muffins

This is a recipe that I have adapted from a wonderful Einkorn cookbook written a few years ago by Shanna and Tim Mallon. There are quite a few recipes out the on the wide world web but this one works for me every time. I do not use a frying pan to cook my muffins instead I use a Baking Steel heated up in my oven to 450°. I let the muffins cook a minimum of 5 minutes per side and test for done with a wooden skewer. You want to let the muffins cook fully so it might take 15 minutes total but they are worth it.

For the preferment: 1/2 cup (110g) of sourdough starter, 1/2 cup (120 ml) whole milk, 1/2 cup (120 ml) water, 2/3-1 cup (83-120 g) All purpose einkorn flour. Mix this together and let ferment overnight covered on the counter.

English Muffin dough: 1/2-1 cup (83-120 g) of einkorn all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of organic cane sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda and oil of choice for brushing the tops for baking.

Now I find that most time I have to add just a bit more flour depending on the hydration rate of my starter. You need to be able to separate the dough into 8 equal portions so add flour as needed to achieve that. I weigh the dough as a total and divide by 8 so I can get equal portions. I form each portion of dough into a english muffin shape and let rise on a pan lined with parchment paper dusted with flour for at least 45 minutes. I use this rise time to heat up my Baking Steel to 450° Which I check with an infrared thermometer. If the steel gets too hot the outside cooks fast and they are not baked enough inside and vice versa. Even the failures taste awesome so do not give up. I fork split mine so they have the knooks and crannies we all so love!