Summer is becoming lazy and hazy. Soon, it will change and the prospect of the inevitable change is making me lazier and hazier. I spend my nights making to-do lists in my head before I give them up to dreams. Come morning, I am loath to budge from the grateful cup of morning tea and bowl of granola and my latest obsession. The to-do list stares at me reproachfully from my desk. I shy away from a direct gaze upon it, until my conscience goads me sufficiently enough to stir me from my cozy chair and table flower and, yes, my obsession.
There are stories to tell, magazines to write, things to publish, and places to talk about. But, there are also stories to read, news to catch up on, friends to say hello to and somehow morning slips between the minutes. A rumbling stomach reminds of my promises to nourish myself, and, I seek the excuse to try to restart again. Mostly, this time, I give into the whimsy of cooking, encouraged by the omniscience of air-conditioning.
Seemingly, even a baking 375 degree blast is preferable to the lethargy of my mind to push ahead with the to-do list! Oh because, while the stuff bakes, I use the lack of contiguous time between the prep, the shoot and eating to shy away from the list and give in to the obsession.
Ah, what can I say in my defense? Nothing really. I am a possessed woman. Books have their way with me. Always have. I am weak in the face of the escape they offer. I find myself tumbling hopelessly down the rabbit hole of fantasy and then losing all will to clamber back out. Not for me, the fear of the unknown. The suspense keeps me alive. It keeps me whole. It takes me away from real life, yes, but I say it is a small price to pay for the joy living a thousand lives!
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." - George R.R. Martin
I have the last few chapters of the last published book yet left to read. And, the suspense is nigh killing me. You see, the story is not all that was shown on TV, as you have probably heard several times by now. Much as every novel to screen adaptation I know of, the original text is far better and much more engaging. The story weaves in a complexity of events but more importantly a it wrings a web of characters often parts of each other under different circumstances. There is no good nor evil, all simply human. I have found it perhaps on the most engaging philosophies ever written. If you go beneath the plot, there is as much The Song of Ice and Fire says to you as Infinite Jest.
So, you will pardon me I hope when I leave you no more a story, just the recipe. It is indeed a very good one. I find myself using the equal part blend of oat and almond flours for my every day sweet bakes from cakes to shortbreads to tarts. With additions of starch, egg and psyllium, I have found this blend to be sufficiently versatile and incredibly tasty. Since, I repurpose the pulp from the almond milk I make, I also find this a rather cost-efficient one.
Without further ado, I present to you a Gluten Free Blueberry Pound Cake. Eat as you will, but a dollop of plain vanilla is an elegant partner for this moist and light cake.
{Gluten Free} Oat and Almond Blueberry Pound Cake
3/4 cup oat flour
3/4 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs, seperated
2/3 cup light muscovado sugar
6 T salted butter, room temperature
4 T almond milk
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
a pile of blueberries
Pre heat oven to 375F.
In a bowl, whip butter with the sugar until pale. Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat to incorporate. Add in almond milk and mix well.
Sift together the flours and baking soda and mix into the liquid mixture in three parts, whipping until just combined.
In a separate bowl, whip the whites to stiff peaks.
Fold a third into the batter to loosen it. Fold this batter into the remaining whites in quick yet gently strokes.
Pour into in a prepared pan and pile on the blueberries on top.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden on top (where the crust peaks through) and springy to touch. If there are no spots to test the crust, insert a toothpick in the center and it should come out clean.
Cool on rack for 15 minutes, before slicing.
