My Take On Moka Dupont

It was too good a recipe to pass up. Dorie Greenspan wrote up an interesting and what I thought was an easy take on a French icebox cake in last week's Sunday New York Times magazine. The ingredients were simple, Social Tea biscuits, sugar chocolate and sugar along with eggs and butter. I had to make it. What fun! Especially with the warm weather here.

I couldn't find Social Teas so I used  Leibniz butter cookies. I think they come close to the original ones used in 1950's France.They're also a little more buttery too than Social Teas.

These are soaked in espresso with a tablespoons of sugar which I omitted. I felt the French buttercream was too sweet already.

I used Aldi's brand Beaumont coffee. 

The icing was the hardest. I used Lindt's 90 per cent dark chocolate which is almost like Baker's chocolate.

This was broken and melted for one minute and a half in the microwave.

The recipe called for a stick of butter (it is French after all).Instead I used  a stick of Country Crock margarine.It's vegan and does taste like butter.

along with Vegg egg substitute

it calls for one egg with the yolk and the white separately whisked. However this is a vegan household so I used 1/8 th of  a teaspoon  and then fork whisked this with a tablespoon of water.

 It was added to the creamed butter and granulated sugar. The melted chocolate was then folded into all of this.

It's a very gritty , grainy butter cream.

These are the soaked biscuits ,in a casserole pan. Some fell apart.

Then it's layered with icing and cookies.

There was only one problem. The recipe calls for four layers of cookies which I had thanks to buying two packets. However I had to quickly made another batch of icing to accommodate the other two layers. Again I overbought the Lindt chocolate and quickly whipped up another batch.

This is it. A lot of work for a cake that's supposed to be easy to make. As for the taste.I like the fact the icing chilled to a buttery tasting fudge and I do like my choice of Leibniz biscuits just for their buttery taste. The espresso taste works well too. The only thing that does take getting used to is the grainy texture of the icing. 

This is my take on the famed Moka Dupont icebox cake. Would I make it again, knowing all the work involved? Maybe .It does taste yummy for a labor intensive treat.

Vegetarian In A Time Of Shortages

Getting food nowadays is akin to our ancestors foraging and hunting for food. The store shelves are scant with good food and nutritious choices. Is it worse for vegetarians? Maybe not.

If there is ever a time to go meatless now is the time. The meat section may be bereft of chicken cutlets and ground beef but there is still Beyond Meat burgers and their version of chopped meat.These taste like the real thing and are just as versatile as their meaty counterparts. You can make anything from your own version of Beef-A-Roni or patty melts, both would be hits with the kids. The company also has sausage patties and sausage links. The first  can be used to make a breakfast sandwich with vegan eggs and vegan cheese. Another faux meat brand is Gardein. The company has a wide array of different types. For a nice family meal try their turkey cutlets with gravy. These kind of are like a  turkey schnitzel  that tastes like the bird itself along with the gravy which has a homemade taste. Pair it with Stovetop  Stuffing or the homemade kind along with yams and green beans. They have excellent chicken strips , perfect with barbecue sauce and a side of fries. The family will love their Friday night fish fry with Gardein's crunchy filets which taste like Gorton's and Mrs. Paul's. Add fries for a real fish and chips experience. The company also produces  faux crab cakes which would be perfect for at home  mocktail parties with the kids.

Butter and eggs are also in short supply right now. Not to worry. You can easily find substitutes on line and in the stores. I've recently discovered Vegg egg substitute and was quite pleased with it. I  bought their egg yolk mix.It's just adding water and microwaving it for a couple of seconds. It produces a yolk-y sauce that you can dip toast into, but I found it makes a wonderful base for Hollandaise sauce. One of their other products is power scramble which creates a curd like scrambled sub in when water is added. It's cooked for a few minutes in the microwave. It's perfect with  Morningstar's Farms soy bacon strips.  Throw in some chopped bell peppers, onions and tomatoes for a Spanish style vegan omelet. The company also sells a French toast mix and cake mixes with the egg substitute already added in. Try the Vegg eggs with some melted faux butter  on toast. Real butter seems to be flying off the shelves too right now. The plant base butters , however, are still there and they're great for cooking and baking. Country Crock has them made out of olive oil. For a real buttery taste go for Miyoko's European Style Cultured Vegan Butter made out of cashews! This is perfect for cooking and just for slathering on  any homemade bread.

Yes, there are shortages right now. Yet if you go vegetarian or vegan, you'll be OK. There are many meatless and plant derived foods right now that can see you through these tough times.