I adapted the recipe from Dog Hill Kitchen‘s Cherry Pocket Pies. I generally dislike rolling out pie pastries and such, but this dough was really easy to work with, and also totally easy to make. My filling is not very sweet, so this recipe makes snack style pocket pies, but with more sugar these would be a nice portable dessert as well.

The Filling:

• about 10 dl chopped apples
• about 1 dl water (or more)
• 4 tablespoons muscovado sugar (or more)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons potato (or corn) starch, mixed with a bit of water

It’s best to start making the filling an hour or so before baking, so it’ll have time to cool down.

I rinsed and cored the apples, and cut them in small cubes. Then I placed them in a sauce pan with the water, and simmered them on medium to medium high heat until they started to soften and mush up. I added the sweeteners and the spices (muscovado through salt), and cooked until I had a nice saucy consistency with a few apple pieces here and there. Then I mixed the potato starch with a little bit of water, and poured the slurry in the apple pot, stirring all the time to ensure it wouldn’t form lumps. This thickened my filling almost instantly. I removed the pot from heat and let the filling cool down before assembling the pies.

You might need more water or less potato starch, all depending on the fruit you use. Our apples were kind of floury.

The Dough:

• 5 and 1/2 dl whole spelt flour
• 2 dl soy milk
• 5 tablespoons margarine
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I mixed the flour with the baking soda and salt, and then added the cold margarine in the bowl. Now, I used a fork to incorporate the margarine in the dry mixture. When it looked uniformly crumbly all over, I added the soy milk, and kneaded for a few minutes. The dough should come together nicely, so if it is sticky at this point, you might need to add a little bit more flour.

Now I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I divided the dough in 12 equal portions, shaped each into a ball, and rolled them out into circles. The pocket shells were about 15 cm in diameter.

To assemble, I placed about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling in the center of each dough circle, folded the sides together, and sealed them with the spikes of a fork. Now, I covered two baking sheets with baking parchment, placed the pies on the sheets, brushed them with some soy milk, and scored them thrice with a knife to make air vents.

Then I baked my little pockets, for 25 minutes, one baking sheet at a time, until they were a little brown around the edges and on the bottom side.

First, we washed our apples to remove dirt – some of the apples had been picked from the ground. Then we removed the cores with an apple core remover. Next, we cut the apples into thin slices, about 4-5mm each. Then, utilizing a needle and a thread, we pulled a thread through a bunch of apple rings, about 30 to 35 rings in one thread. Now, we had a couple of threads with apple slices, which we hung on our doorways, like pictured below:

The tricky part was the hanging of the thread without the apple rings tearing. It’s done best with one person holding the apple rings and another person tying the knots. Once the thread was in place, we carefully moved the rings apart from each other, like pictured above.

The apple rings were dry in about 5 days. Of course we could’ve dried them in our oven as well, but this way we saved some energy, and got to admire the pretty apple bracelets in our home for a few days! It’s easy to develop an addiction to dried apples. We’ve been snacking on them steadily, and our stocks are already running low. Next fall we’re going to make more of them for sure.

Here’s what I came up with: chocolate squares with grated apple, orange juice, and a hint of cardamom thrown in the batter. Moist and gently fruit-flavored, these treats made the transition to urban environment much easier for me!

I would say these are best when eaten warm, either on the day of baking or warmed up a bit on the following days. We don’t have a microwave oven, so we always warm leftovers on the stove. Today, I just heated a small non-stick frying pan and fried the cake for a minute or two on both sides, until a thin crust formed and the insides softened.

The Wet Mix:

• 70 g dark chocolate, melted
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 small apple, grated
• 1 dl freshly squeezed orange juice with pulp
• 1 dl plain soy yoghurt

The Dry Mix:

• 1 and 1/4 dl whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons chick pea flour (gram)
• 2 tablespoons potato (or corn) starch
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 dl muscovado sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

First, I melted the chocolate, set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, and covered a small (23 X 15 cm) baking dish with some parchment paper. Then I sprayed the paper with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

I set the chocolate aside to cool down a little, and mixed the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. When the oven seemed ready, I added the oil to the chocolate, and mixed until combined. Then I added the rest of the wet mix ingredients to the chocolate bowl, and stirred until the mixture was pretty smooth.

I poured the wet mix in the dry mix bowl and stirred with a fork until thoroughly combined. Then I poured the baatter in the baking dish and baked it for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake came out with a few moist crumbles.

This is the first time I’ve used olive oil in sweet baked goods, and will definitely be doing that more often from now on. The taste wasn’t overpowering by any means, there was just a hint of the olive goodness hiding somewhere amongst all the apples. I really liked how the top (or, eventually, the bottom) of the cake came out a little crunchy, which is a nice contrast with the moist cakey insides and the fruity topping. The photo is a bit yellowish because of the progressing lack of light in Helsinki, but I guess it’s best to get used to that…

The Cake Batter:

• 1 dl olive oil
• 2 and 1/2 dl sugar
• 2 dl plain soy yoghurt
• 1 dl wheat flour
• 2 and 1/2 dl whole wheat flour
• 3/4 dl coarsely ground almonds
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 dl grated apples

Topping:

• 5 small apples, sliced
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

Before starting with the batter, I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, grated the apples, and greased a round glass baking dish with a little margarine.

I started with the topping. I sliced 5 small apples, placed them in a mixing bowl, and stirred in the sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Then I poured the slices in the baking dish and arranged them so that they covered the bottom and the sides of the pan.

To make the batter, I first whisked together the olive oil, sugar, and soy yogurt until the mixture was smooth. Then I mixed the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a separate bowl, and added them to the liquids. I whisked the batter until there were no large lumps and then stirred in the grated apple. Now, I poured the batter in the baking dish over the apples.

Then I baked the cake on the lowest rack of our oven for 55 minutes, until it was well browned, and came off the sides of the baking dish. After baking, I let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then inverted the cake on a surface covered with baking parchment. We enjoyed the first slices with some vanilla ice cream, but I think that this cake is just as delicious on its own.

It’s important to choose waxy potatoes for salads, since they won’t get all mushy once cooked and cubed like their starchy relatives do. I even forgot my potatoes on the stove this time, and consequently overcooked them until their skins started to crack, but they still kept together just fine!

The Dressing:

• 1/2 dl olive oil
• 1/2 dl apple cider vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, rubbed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon red paprika powder
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

The Salad:

• 1 and 1/2 kg waxy potatoes, boiled, peeled, and cubed
• 4 Russian-style salted cucumbers, cubed (see our Stroganoff recipe for more information on Russian cucumbers)
• 35 g capers (1 small jar, or about 5 tablespoons)
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely cubed
• 1 can chick peas, rinsed, or about 3 dl cooked chick peas
• 1 small leek, rinsed and sliced
• chives (for garnish)

I just combined all the ingredients, whisked the dressing together, and mixed it in the salad. At this point, I always adjust the saltiness, and check if the salad still needs a dash of vinegar, or a little more black pepper.

Then we let the salad develop in the fridge overnight before taking it with us to the May Day picnic. This makes a big amount, and we even had leftovers with lunch for a few days after the picnic day – which is good, because this salad just gets better and better.

As a side dish, this recipe makes plenty for two.

Here’s what I used:

• 6 small potatoes, peeled and grated
• 1 red Gloster apple. peeled and grated
• 1 small onion, peeled and grated
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 tablespoon potato starch
• 1/2 dl spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried, crushed red chili
• 1/3 teaspoon (smoked) red paprika powder
• olive oil for frying

First I grated the potatoes and rinsed them in cold water to remove some of the starch – raw potatoes can have a little bit of a bitter taste, and this takes it away. Then I dried the grated potatos by spooning them on a layer of cheesecloth, placing another layer of cheesecloth over the potatoes, and pressing them lightly. (To make it quicker and easier, I’d skip the whole rinsing part, and just omit potato starch from the recipe.)

Now, I mixed all the ingredients in a small bowl, and heated two frying pans; one of them was my pancake pan that makes small pancakes with a diameter of about 8 cm, and the other a larger pan that had a diameter of about 15 cm. I poured some olive oil in the pans, and heated them on medium heat until hot.

When the pan was hot, I added about one tablespoon of the batter in each little compartment of my pancake pan, and about 3 to 4 tablespoons of batter to the larger pan, and then flattened the piles of potato to about 1/2 cm thick.

I fried my rösti for about 5-6 minutes on both sides, until they were golden brown. I find that medium or medium-high heat is best for this; on high heat the potatoes quickly burn before they’re done inside, and if the heat is too low, they won’t turn brown and get crispy.

I used all kinds of green things in these cupcakes; an apple, melon seeds, kiwi fruits, and green food coloring for the icing (had we had frozen parsley, I would have squeezed out its juice to be used as a natural food coloring). The cake itself was disappointingly pale after baking, but the artificial greenness of the icing remained. I had never heard of baking fresh kiwi fruits in a cake, and the experiment was a success: the cupcakes had a mild kiwi taste, a light and moist texture, and the kiwi fruit cubes provided a slightly tangy edge when bitten into. And these cupcakes got excellent reviews – “the best muffin I have ever tasted” remarked a relative after having one (there is no word for cupcake in Finnish), and Heikki said that they were “probably the best cupcakes you’ve ever baked”.

The Fruit:

• 2 (organic) kiwi fruits, peeled and finely cubed
• 1 Granny Smith Apple, very well washed and grated

Dry Mix:

• 1 dl pumpkin seeds, finely ground
• 2 dl wheat flour
• 1 dl potato starch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt

Wet Mix:

• 2 dl plain, unsweetened soy yogurt
• 1 dl unsweetened soy milk
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 dl confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• grated peel of 1 lemon

I ground the pumpkin seeds in our mini food processor, and preheated the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. At this point, I greased and floured my muffin tin as well.

Then I washed my apple thoroughly, and grated it. I didn’t peel the apple because I thought the peel would give the cupcakes some green color – it didn’t, so I’d say it’s best to get rid of the peels, because they have a lot of preservatives. I peeled the kiwi fruits and cut them in small cubes. I have a feeling that organic kiwi fruits are slightly larger than the non-organic ones we’ve had, so 3 smaller kiwi fruits wouldn’t be exaggeration.

Now, I mixed the wet mix and the dry mix in separate bowls, and then combined the two. I mixed the batter with a wooden fork just enough to combine, and then poured the batter in the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups about 2/3 of full.

Now, I baked the cupcakes in 175 degrees for about 23 minutes, until they were lightly browned over the top. The cupcakes were not very pretty straight out of the oven, because there’s so much fruit in the batter, but the icing makes them shiny and smooth. I let the cupcakes cool in the tin for 5 minutes, and then removed them to prevent sogginess.

Green Cashew Icing:

This icing is very rich and sweet, and the recipe makes more than enough to ice 12 cupcakes. Half the recipe would be just enough to make a thinner layer of icing.

• 1 dl cashew nuts, toasted and finely ground
• 1/2 dl unsweetened soy milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable margarine, in room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• a pinch of green food coloring
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons potato starch
• 2-3 dl confectioner’s sugar

After I’d put the cupcakes in the oven, I measured the margarine and the soy milk in small cups, and let them warm up to room temperature. I ground the cashews in our small food processor, then added the soy milk, and processed until the two were completely combined, and resembled a thick cream.

Now, I combined the margarine and the cashew mixture in a big bowl, and mixed them with a hand held mixer for a few minutes. Now, I added the rest of the ingredients one by one, beating in between: agave nectar, vanilla sugar, lemon juice, food coloring, potato starch, and confectioner’s sugar. I started with 2 dl of sugar, and added it tablespoon at a time until the consistency was still sort of runny and almost thick enough to be piped. Now, I refrigerated the frosting until my cupcakes had cooled down, and then piped it on the cupcakes.

It’s best to let the frosting dry up in room temperature for a few hours before refrigerating the frosted cupcakes. Also, I recommend only frosting the cupcakes that will be eaten on the same day, because otherwise they will get soggy in the fridge.

I’d cooked some ginger tea earlier on the baking day, and had some left, so I used it to give some extra taste to these muffins. The tea was just a bunch of sliced ginger and some grated lemon peel, cooked for half an hour in about 1 liter of water. The taste of ginger wasn’t very obvious in the baked muffins, and I think the tea just added a little depth to the overall cinnamony spiciness. It could easily be replaced with about 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder for the taste, and an extra 1 dl of soy milk for the liquid.

The cinnamon that is mostly used in Europe and in the United States is actually Chinese cinnamon, cassia, which is sold in grocery shops as cinnamon. I have used real cinnamon sometimes, and it does have a less bitter taste than the “poor-man’s-cinnamon” that cassia really is. But, real cinnamon is much more expensive than cassia, and especially in baked goods there’s not much difference. When I started making these muffins, I realized that we were out of ground cinnamon (well, cassia), and I ground up some cassia sticks we’d bought from the Asian store. Freshly ground spices are much more aromatic, and I think this produced more cinnamony flavor than I usually get from just two teaspoons.

Dry mixture:

• 3 dl spelt flour
• 1 dl wheat flour
• 3/4 dl granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon barley (or potato or corn) starch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet mixture:

• 1 dl plain, unsweetened soy yogurt
• 1/2 dl canola oil
• 1/2 dl unsweetened soy milk
• 1 dl home-brewed ginger tea (or soy milk and powdered ginger)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Apples:

• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced

Topping:

• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 dl raw cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 dl walnut, finely chopped

First, I peeled and diced my three apples. I diced the apple that went in the topping pretty finely, and left the ones that went to the batter in bigger cubes. I greased my muffin tin with a little vegan margarine, and preheated the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Now, I mixed the dry ingredients, then mixed the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, and combined the two, being careful not to over-mix the batter. I folded in the apple cubes, and then mixed the topping ingredients in a small bowl. Now, I poured the batter in the muffin tins, filling them about 3/4 full, and then spooned about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of the topping over each muffin. I pressed the topping gently in the muffins with the back of my teaspoon.

Now, I baked the muffins in 200 degrees for 22 minutes, until the tops had browned somewhat. These muffins are delicious right out of the oven, when still warm, but they’re pretty great on the next day as well, when the moist apple bits and the yummy cinnamon have had time to team up. Compared to more bread-like muffins with a dense texture, like my carrot muffins or oat and spelt muffins, these were fruity, sweet, and soft – more like a dessert than a breakfast.

This is what I used:

• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and grated
• 3 and 1/2 dl soy milk
• 3 dl spelt flour
• 2 tablespoons barley (or potato or corn) starch
• 1/2 dl granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• canola oil for frying

First, I peeled and grated the apples, and then mixed them with the soy milk. In another bowl, I mixed the rest of the ingredients (except for the oil), and then poured them to the apple-soy milk bowl. I mixed the batter with a wooden fork until combined, and then let it develop for about 30 minutes before frying the pancakes.

I used our pancake pan for frying, and heated it on medium heat. I added a little bit of canola oil in each compartment, and then poured about one and a half tablespoons of the batter in each, leveling the batter with the spoon to fill the whole compartment.

I fried these pancakes for a few minutes on each side, flipping them when the downside had turned golden brown. I had to adjust the heat every once in a while, so that the pan didn’t get too hot and burn the pancakes before they were done inside. They were still jiggly on top before flipping, so I flipped them very carefully with the help of a wooden butter knife and a wooden spatula.

During the frying process, I kept the already fried pancakes in the oven that was on 50 degrees Celsius. I placed them on a plate, and kept them uncovered to maintain some of their crispiness. We enjoyed our pancakes with blueberry-raspberry jam and our favorite whipped topping.

Here’s a photo of our pancake pan – at least for Finns and Swedes these pans with little compartments are very familiar. Traditionally they are made of cast iron, and have more compartments, but ours is non-stick and makes 4 pancakes at a time.

Here’s what I used:

Dry ingredients:

• 1,5 dl spelt flour

• 2 dl wheat flour

• 2 tablespoons corn starch

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom

• 1 dl raw cane sugar

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Liquid ingredients:

• 2,5 dl soy milk

• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar (or lemon juice or other vinegar)

• a few drops almond extract (karvasmantelioljy in Finnish)

Topping:

• 1,5 dl crushed fresh lingonberries

• 2 small Ingrid Marie Apples (or other sweet apples), cubed

• 1 tablespoon corn starch

• 3 tablespoons raw cane sugar (should have used more)

First, I preheated the oven to 175 degrees celsius.

Then, I combined the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, and the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl. I set the soy milk mixture aside for a few minutes, while I covered the pie dish with margarine and bread crumbs. The vinegar curdled soy milk and it became a little thicker, like sour milk. Then, I added the liquid ingredients to the dry mix, and stirred just enough to smooth up the batter.

Now, I poured the batter in the pie dish, and baked this in the oven for 7 minutes or so. While the batter was baking, I mixed the topping ingredients. This pie/cake ended up slightly too bitter, so it might be a good idea to add a little more sugar in the topping. I took the pie from the oven and spooned the topping on top, and then baked the pie/cake for another 20 minutes or so, until a toothpick inserted came out clean.

We had this piecake with vanilla sauce, which is really easy to make: poured 4 dl soy milk in a small cooking pan, added some sugar and 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar, heated on medium heat just until boiling, then, while stirring constantly to avoid clumps, added 2 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with a little water, and cooked for a few minutes until the sauce thickened.