World Baking Day & My Return To The Secret Recipe Club

My recent trips to Buenos Aires, Mexico and the US have made me absent from the Secret Recipe Club for months.  I've missed the SRC band of bakers! 
Life, right now, is a bit..fluid.  Though in the UK, I'm still not settled.  I miss my kitchen.  I'm living life from a suitcase.  There seems too many things to do and think about and conjuring up new recipes has, involuntarily, been put on the back burner.  The SRC is forcing me to focus.  This is good!  World Baking Day is making me very keen to get in the kitchen too.  Time to bake!

I was assigned the blog of two business partners, Serena Ball and Deanna -  Teaspoon Of Spice . The gals are registered dieticians who specialise in nutrition messaging, with a culinary focus.  Serena is  a bit of a cheese fan.  She searches out Illinois cheese makers with her husband and four children. She encourages everyone to try a new recipe or flavour every week.  (I wonder if they've tried aged tree nut cheese, like this one by Dr. Cow ?)  Deanna stays inspired to be creative in the kitchen for her husband and young daughter.

I enjoyed poking around in their virtual recipe library whilst hunting for a dish to try for the Secret Recipe challenge.  I was all set to make a vegan version of their Cucumber Avocado Soup with Moroccan Chickpeas and then I spotted their shortbread with rhubarb.  It being so close to World Baking Day too, I couldn't resist.  Serena and Deanna both write of their fond memories of a childhood where rhubarb was grown by their fathers and was an oft used ingredient.  I thought their Light Strawberry & Rhubarb Shortcake looked like it could become memorable for me too.  The rhubarb is full of Vitamin C, Vitamin K and a great source of fibre.  Their recipe is not vegan though, so I changed up the Original recipe. The fragrant, blushing strawberries brightened up a (typically) dull sky, English day.  I made shortbread instead of shortcake as I wanted the juxtaposition of the silky fruit compote and the cool melt-in-your-mouth vanilla cream cheese to the firm snap of the buttery shortbread.  Not only is it dairy free but it is gluten and sugar free too. I hope you enjoy it! 

Summer Strawberry & Rhubarb Shortcake 

Compote
1 stick of rhubarb
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/4 cup water

Vanilla Cream Cheese

Tofutti Original Cream Cheese

Vanilla extract (I use Baron, it adds a sweetness of vanilla and is alcohol free)

Pure Vanilla powder.  (I buy mine from a great little stall Borough Market in London, it has all manner of wonderful spices and herbs)

Shortcake 1/2 cup of vegan butter
1/4 cup coconut sugar
6 drops culinary lemon oil or 1 tbs fresh zest
3/4 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup potato flour
1/4 cup besan (chickpea) flour
1/3 teaspoon pink salt

Ready? Here we go...

Step 1 - Making the Shortbread

Add lemon oil (or zest) to sugar and butter and cream together.

Step 2

Sift the flours and salt.

Step 3

Gradually add the dry mixture to the creamed butter until just combined and forms a dough. 

Step 4

Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours (or overnight) (or pop in the freezer for an hour)

Step 5 - Making the compote.

Make the sauce.  Chop fresh strawberries into four and the rhubarb into 1 inch cubes.  Pop into a pan of 1/4 cup water and simmer with lid on for 10 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup fresh strawberries and leave to cool. If your strawberries are beautifully ripe you shouldn't need to add any sweetener.  If not then just drizzle a little agave syrup or stevia to taste. The sauce can be made the night before and chilled (remove from the fridge and hour before serving to bring to room temp). 

Step 6 - Rolling out the shortbread. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove your dough from the fridge and place onto a flour dusted surface.  I usually roll mine on floured baking parchment. (easier clean up and sticks less)

Step 7

Gently roll out the dough to 5-6mm thick. Have a parchment lined baking tin ready. Use a cutter or, as I did, a glass with 3.5inch diameter, and cut out your biscuits (or for my USA friends..cookies) Lift the shortbread on to the baking tray.

Step 8

Pop into the heated oven.  Bake for 15 mins.  Remove from oven and leave to cool on baking sheet for 5 mins before gentle transferring to a cooling rack and (try) to leave them rest for a further 10 minutes.

Step 9 - making the cream cheese
Put the contents of the tub of cream cheese into a bowl.  Pour on 1 tbs of vanilla essence (1 tsp if yours in concentrated..do it gradually, to taste) and sprinkle over your vanilla powder.  With a spatula, mix to incorporate the black specks of powder and the carmel coloured essence.  

Step 10 - Putting it all together.  This is where you exercise your artsy side!

Assemble on pretty little plates.  Shortbread.  Spoon over the cooled sauce. Make tiny quenelles or just dollop four beads of sweet cream cheese.  Pop on another shortbread biscuit to make a little lid or hat.  Spoon over a little more sauce and add a few fresh, chopped strawberries.  Sprinkle over a pinch of coconut sugar.  Add a quenelle of cream cheese on the top and serve.

Check out all the other players in this months Secret Recipe Club too, right below this post.