Articles and Recipes — Cooling Rack

Just when you thought cookie season was over, I would like to introduce you to two traditional Chinese New Year Cookie recipes Hup Toh So and Almond Cookies.  

Almond Cookies are created using traditional wooden molds, last year I demonstrated using husMait round cookie cutters and the bottom of husMait measuring cups. See that post here. The base of the 1/3 cup Stainless Steel Measuring Cup fits perfectly into the second smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters and the 1/8 Stainless Steel Cup can be used in the smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutter.

This year I was able to go to Shanghai Street, in Hong Kong to buy the traditional wooden molds, and I am returning to Helen Au’s A Step Full of You for her Vegan Chinese Almond Cake Biscuit recipe. I love the way the traditional molds shaped the cookies.

Hup Toh So is a walnut cookie this year I am using a recipe from Daily Cooking Quest by Anita. If you are looking for a vegan version, I like this one from What To Cook Today, or simply replace the butter with vegan butter or vegetable shortening.

Products used in baking these recipes: 

Today I am adapting a traditional recipe from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook, circa 1950, which I inherited from my mother-in-law. Many traditional recipes are adapted to become gluten-free & vegan easily.  

A few things I look for when considering a recipe: Is there a 'rise' that will be affected? Is there a textural element that will be affected? Sometimes I can compensate for these changes by increasing raising agents such as baking powder, cream of tartar, or substituting aquafaba whip for egg whites. Also being aware of how each raising agent works is important, it may need to be added later, or mixed minimally. For texture, it may be adapted by adding a glutenous grain such as rice flour, xantham gum, or oat flour or molding pastry crusts rather than rolling them. 

I have learned a few things from my recent experiences adapting traditional recipes. One is that vegan butter has a much lower melting temperature than butter. Vegan butter is almost liquid at room temperature, therefore, chilling the dough is a great solution for a too soft dough. The gluten-free dough also benefits from resting either in the refrigerator or at room temperature. The flax egg is a great substitute, so long as you do not mind the look of the flax meal in your bake.  

This is my updated Gluten-free Vegan Chocolate - Mint Wafer recipe.

Chocolate Wafer Ingredients 
2/3 cups (5.3 oz) Vegan Butter
1 cup sugar
1 flax egg ***
2 cups 1-1 Gluten-Free Flour 
3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup soy or almond milk

Mint Filling Ingredients
1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup Crisco shortening 
Crushed candy canes

Cooling rack  

Method: 
1) In a medium bowl measure and whisk thoroughly gluten-free flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

2) In a large bowl cream the vegan butter and sugar. When fully creamed add the flax egg. Whip until light and fluffy. 

3) Alternately add dry ingredients and vegan milk. Mixing well and scraping the bowl between additions. 

4) Divide the dough into 4 and chill thoroughly. 

Preheat oven to 350F

5) Remove a quarter of the dough and roll to 1/8".  Cut into shapes. Repeat with the other quarters. Refrigerate the scraps that become too soft between rolling. 

6) Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. Cool 

7) Make the filling by beating together confectioners sugar, peppermint extract, and Crisco until spreading consistency.

8) Spread a thin layer of frosting onto the bottom of a cookie, and top with another, finally roll in crushed candy canes. 

Note:
 Double the filling ingredients if you like a lot of filling!
***1 Tablespoon flax meal + 3 Tablespoons warm water, stir and let stand 5 minutes

If you would like more information on this recipe there is a process tutorial and more still photos of these cookies over on our Instagram page husMait_home 

We would love to hear from you in the comments below if you try this or any of our recipes  

Sending warm wishes to your home, 
from the husMait home kitchen. 

It’s rhubarb season, which lasts from April to July in most places. The warmer the climate the shorter the season.

My memories of rhubarb go back to spring and my teenage years when I picked rhubarb from the back garden, where I recall it growing all summer long. Rhubarb pie is one of the first pies I learned to bake and was my dad’s favorite. 

Fast forward to heart-healthy eating and fewer people at home to eat a pie and I need my rhubarb fix in a different way.  I was really pleased to find this recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp from  Once Upon a Chef.  I decided to try her recipe because of the simplicity of the ingredients and the added pecans and oats in the topping. 

I was also very excited that this was a quick recipe to assemble and would be easy to transport to a picnic or beautifully elegant to serve at a dinner party. 

I did make two changes - first I substituted gluten-free Namaste Perfect Flour Blend and second Miyoko’s European-style vegan butter. This recipe calls for a 2-quart baking dish, I used my 9.5 inch Pyrex pie dish which worked fantastically.

The two-part method is easy. First, wash and cut your fruit. Then mix the fruit well with granulated sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla in a large bowl. Transfer this to the baking dish. 

Second, create the topping by combining flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, and cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter. Then stir in the oats and chopped pecans. Spoon this mixture over the fruit. 

The crumble smelled delicious as it baked and the topping came out crispy and browned with lovely bubbly fruit beneath.  We ate it simply as it was. Adding whipped cream or ice cream would have been heavenly! 

Equipment used: Our Bowl Sets are currently on SALE June 2021

Today we welcome Mallory, of The Crassy Cookie, as host and writer of our blog.

You can find more recipes and great ideas from Mallory at her website and Instagram accounts. 

I'm sharing with you two things today:

1. My favorite chocolate buttercream recipe and 2. A sweet deal! 🎉

This is the richest and fudgiest chocolate buttercream and it's super easy to make it. I make all of by buttercreams in a stand mixer but for this one, I always use my trusty hand mixer. Here's the recipe:

·3 cups powdered sugar
·3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa (@valrhonausa is the best)
·1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder
·1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
·1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I use @rodellevanilla always)
·3 to 4 tablepoons of heavy whipping cream
·pinch of kosher salt

In a large bowl, beat the butter and salt on medium speed until it becomes creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa and espresso powder. Slowly add in sugar mixture with the butter, mixing on low speed. Alternate between the heavy whipping cream and sugar mixture until it's fully incorporated. Mix on medium-high speed for about 1 minute and make sure not to over whip. This will be a thicker buttercream but you can achieve the desired texture by adding more cream.

These stainless steal measuring cups are from @husmait_home and I love everything about them! The shape, weight and sturdiness make these a gem to bake with and hold accurate measurements. Use code CRASSY21 to get 15% off any purchase at Husmait.Co 

We are grateful to Mallory for sharing her talents with us!

With warm wishes for your home, from the husMait home kitchen. 

Here in the husMait kitchen, we look for a great treat that will satisfy our sweet tooth and have some redeeming qualities. We found this recipe posted over on Instagram, and it looks so moist and delicious, not to mention the recipe had simple ingredients and was easy to follow. Baking Envy, Flourless Orange Cake 

Assemble all of your utensils: knife, cutting board, pan, measuring cups, measuring spoons, mixing bowl, blender and 8 inch round cake tin.

Assemble all of the ingredients: oranges, sugar, almond meal, eggs, vanilla essence, and baking powder.  Then follow the recipe linked above. 

The recipe calls for whole oranges, which are boiled and then processed in a blender, unfortunately, the oranges I used were a bit pithy and left a slightly bitter flavor in the cake. For that reason, I would take the time to peel the zest and cut the pith away from the fruit before boiling it. Another slight change I made was to cook the remaining orange/sugar water down until it was beginning to be jammy. That made a wonderful glaze that remained on the top of the cake instead of disappearing into the cake.  

Everyone here loved this cake's excellent taste and texture. The use of the almond meal was sheer brilliance as it adds a luscious texture and flavor to the cake. To add a professional finish to this cake I would add some candied orange tweels to the top.

This would be a lovely cake for an afternoon tea or formal dinner dessert as you can bake it up to three days in advance, storing it in the refrigerator, or frozen for six months remembering to leave the glaze off until you are ready to serve it. 

If you bake this cake let us know how it turns out, and go give Chloe, over at Baking Envy a review as well. 

A family favorite traditional Gingerbread cookie recipe that I have been baking for close to 40 years, and have substituted gluten-free flour, plant-based milk, and plant-based butter. 

We loved the crisp texture and ginger flavor these cookies delivered!

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