Cookbook Review: BabyCakes

Shortly after it was published last May, I bought a copy of Erin McKenna's debut cookbook, BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery.

I was interested in the cookbook because, well, I adore cookbooks and tend to collect them, and because in my bakery business I would occasionally receive requests for vegan, gluten-free and "healthy" versions of my signature cookies and treats. I was curious to learn more about, and experiment with, alternative baking ingredients.

I was pretty skeptical, however, as I was raised on a semi-macrobiotic diet with very little in the way of sugar and flour. Instead of the made-from-a-box brownies that my friends' moms made, the treats at my house were infrequent and of the honey-sweetened-whole-wheat-tofu variety. (To be fair, my mom was an excellent baker whose whole wheat pie crust is still my favorite, as are the cobblers she made from the juicy blackberries that grew all over our mountain property in the summertime.)

So while my mom's wholesome treats were delicious, I grew up longing for refined sugar and white flour. This longing has informed my baking, though I've never relied on commercial mixes or chemicals. I bake with free-range, organic eggs; organic sweet cream butter; non-alkalized cocoa; unbleached organic flour; and pure extracts. My mindset has always been: if you want a treat, go for the real deal. Just make sure it's, well, real. And indulge in moderation.

But I also recognize that people with dietary restrictions deserve tasty baked treats as much as the next person. So with the BabyCakes cookbook in hand, I set out to find out if baked goods made with alternative ingredients could satisfy as much as their standard counterparts.

I read and re-read the book's recipes and primers on ingredients, techniques and tips, and decided to start with some pretty basic items: Banana Loaf and Apple-Cinnamon Toastie. I sourced and purchased the agave, coconut oil, garbanzo-fava flour, xanthan gum and other ingredients called for in the recipes, which was no small feat.

Sadly, I was not impressed with the results. Despite copious amounts of agave and cinnamon (and, in the case of the Apple-Cinnamon Toastie, raw sugar), the loaves had a gritty aftertaste of bitter beans. I chalk this up to the garbanzo-fava bean flour, which in my experience is fine in savory snacks like crackers, but doesn't taste good in cakes and loaves. (I adore garbanzo beans, so I'm not sure why garbanzo-fava flour is so distasteful in sweets. Is it the fava?)

My loaves didn't rise much, either, which is to be expected with gluten-free recipes, but mine were bricks. This may have been because I measured the coconut oil in its solid state. The cookbook doesn't specify whether the oil should be solid or melted, something McKenna has subsequently clarified via an FAQ on her website.

And about that coconut oil. I have a problem with McKenna's endorsement of coconut oil as healthier than other vegetable fats. Science just doesn't back up the claims that it's good for the thyroid or that our bodies use it more readily for immediate energy as opposed to storing it as fat.

I'm not big on McKenna's liberal use of agave, either. It's true that agave has a low glycemic index, but at roughly 90% fructose, it can raise triglycerides.

Not overly excited about my maiden voyage into BabyCakes land -- and turned off by McKenna's prosthelytizing about coconut oil and agave -- I haven't made any more recipes from the book. (Interestingly, McKenna has since backed off said prosthelytizing on her website and blog, and I believe subsequent editions of her cookbook reflect this.)

Granted, it's a lovely book that is well-designed, beautifully photographed and very well-intentioned, and I know it's been a life-saver for food-sensitive bakers. But I also know there are other "alternative" cookbooks out there with simpler recipes yielding tastier results.

But now that I'm better-educated about alternatives to gluten, dairy, eggs and soy, I might give BabyCakes another go. I just won't be using garbanzo-fava flour, soy milk, coconut oil or agave.

Have you ever baked from the BabyCakes cookbook? How did it go?

Kickass Chicken Pies

When my husband and I were in his home town, Cape Town, in March, we met an old friend of his for an afternoon snack at Jardine Bakery, the walk-up takeaway counter at the side of Jardine restaurant. The boys sampled a few sandwiches, and I went for a "Kickass Pie": a stunning muffin-sized (and shaped) chicken and mushroom hand pie.

Hand pies are ubiquitous in Cape Town, and I sampled as many as I could reasonably get away with while we were there. But Jardine's were a clear standout. The buttery, flaky crust gave way to chunks of mushroom and chicken in a tangy, creamy sauce that tasted of creme fraiche, lemon, thyme and nutmeg.

I forgot to take a photo, but the image at left (from Google Images) approximates Jardine's Kickass Pies.

I've always made individual chicken pot pies for my husband. Stored in the freezer, they can be popped into the microwave for a quick lunch or a savory bite with afternoon tea. So when we returned from Cape Town, I set out to recreate those Kickass Pies from Jardine.

However, in an effort to cut down on the fat and empty calories in my pies, I decided to make single-crust pot pies in 12-oz ramekins (the perfect size for my 6' 5" husband). You, of course, could make smaller pies in, say, 8-oz ramekins. And you could make these gluten- and/or dairy-free by making the appropriate substitutions.

Kickass Chicken Pies
Makes 6 pies if using 12-ounce ramekins

Ingredients
4 6-oz boneless, skinless free-range chicken breasts
salt & pepper
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
1 lb button and/or crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup low-sodium free-range chicken broth or stock
1 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
3 ounces creme fraiche
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
pie crust*

*If using store-bought pie crust, you will need about 1 1/2 9-inch rounds. (For my most recent batch of pies, I used Wholly Wholesome Organic Whole Wheat frozen pie shells from Whole Foods, which I thawed, then cut and cobbled together.) If using homemade, you'll need enough for 1 1/2 single-crust pies.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a half-sheet jelly roll pan with aluminum foil.

2. Generously season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes (or until internal temp of thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees/they are cooked through/juices run clear), turning over after the first 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, chop or shred into bite-sized pieces.

3. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium heat, saute the leeks in the olive oil (seasoning with a bit of salt and pepper) until they begin to soften. Add the mushrooms and saute until they are also mostly cooked and have released their liquids.

4. Add the flour to the middle of the saute pan and cook, stirring, for a minute or two. Add the chicken broth and simmer, stirring, until the mixture begins to thicken.

5. Add the creme fraiche, thyme, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg and chopped/shredded chicken. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is well-combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

6. Set the chicken mixture aside to cool (if you assemble the pies while the chicken mixture is hot, the crust will get soggy).

7. Heat the oven to 400 degrees or to the temperature specified on the pie crust package (or your pie crust recipe). Cut the pie crust to about 1/2 to 1 inch larger than the size and shape of your ramekins. Spoon the cooled chicken mixture evenly into the ramekins and cover with the pie crust, either draping it over the sides or tucking and crimping it against the insides of the ramekins. Poke holes (or cut a small hole in the middle) in each crust to vent. If desired, brush the crust with an egg wash.

8. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and flaky and the filling is bubbling. Serve immediately or, to freeze for later, cool the pies completely, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and freeze.