Chocolate Chevre Crazy Cake

Sometimes in the winter, the cheese I make from my goats' milk comes out very soft. It is thicker than yogurt, but still softer than cream cheese. I think its the cooler temperatures and that the goats are thinking about their spring babies. I leave the cheese unsalted, and add it to recipes in place of milk or yogurt. This Crazy Cake recipe is from the depression era, when eggs and butter were scarce, and was called crazy because vinegar is added. It is simple and allows for lots of variation, including this gluten free version.

Chocolate Chevre Crazy Cake

1 1/2 cups rice flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbsps cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup yogurt or very soft chevre
6 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare large well cupcake or muffin pans with olive oil or cooking spray. In a large bowl, place all ingredients adding dry then wet ingredients and mix until well blended. Place in pan filling each well half full. Bake 10 to 15 minutes until center is set. Remove to cooling rack and cool completely before frosting. Makes 6 large cupcakes.
Chevre Frosting
2 pounds powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup very soft chevre, approximately

Place in a medium bowl and mix with hand mixer until smooth frosting consistency.

Trail Mix Cinnamon Rolls

It's a bit of a torture to walk into those large grocery stores that have in-house bakeries on the days they make cinnamon rolls. The seem like they will taste so yummy, but then, well, they don't, and an hour later there is the carb crash, so yuck all around. While I haven't been able to make an exact replacement for cinnamon rolls using rice flour, I have found that with the extra protein of seeds in trail mix I feel full until lunch. This recipe has water and olive oil, which can also be replaced with my favorite fresh goat milk and goat butter. The trail mix I used had dried papaya, raisins, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower kernels, almonds, and dried apples. The moisture from the fresh cut apple in the filling steams all the dried fruit and softens the nuts.

3 cups whole wheat flour, plus about 1 cup additional for work surfaces
1 package quick-rise yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 cup warm water (120 degrees)

Filling
1 cup trail mix
1 finely chopped fresh apple
1/4 cup brown sugar

Granola Topping
1 cup whole oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil

In a large bowl add flour, yeast, salt, cinnamon, warm water, olive oil. Mix with a spoon to form a sticky dough, add one to two handfuls of flour and lightly knead for one to two minutes until soft dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm locaion for an hour where dough should roughly double in size. Prepare an 8x8 inch baking pan with olive oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix filling ingredients together in a small bowl, set aside. Mix granola ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.


Once risen, turn out on to a floured surface. Knead for five minutes adding flour as necessary. Roll out to about 12 inches by 18 inches. Spread trail mix, chopped apple, and brown sugar evenly on top of dough, leaving a half inch border around all edges. Carefully roll and press gently together to form a uniformly thick log. Slice in 2 inch rolls and place cross sections facing up in prepared pan. Top with granola topping and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes,until center is set, and granola topping is browned and crispy. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Makes nine large rolls.

Dark Chocolate Chevre Truffles

Super simple and super rich these are fast to make ahead of time. They can also be made sugar free or savory by using unsweetened chocolate.

1 cup of soft goat cheese
10 ounces dark chocolate pieces or unsweetened chocolate
2 teaspoons olive oil.
1-2 cups items to roll truffles in, like sprinkles, crushed nuts, instant coffee, candy bits, or if adventurous  ground chili pepper

Line a cookie sheet with foil and set aside. Place chocolate pieces in a medium bowl and microwave on high until melted, about 2 minutes, stirring after each minute. Stir in the olive oil to temper the chocolate and set aside. Place the goat cheese in a small bowl and microwave on high until very soft, about a minute, checking after 30 seconds. Stir cheese into chocolate, mixing until smooth. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the foil lined cookie sheet and refrigerate 20 minutes until more firm, but not completely solidified. Place sprinkles in a saucer, and roll each chocolate into a ball or other shapes, then roll to coat in the sprinkles. Set in mini-muffin papers or candy cups, then refrigerate until serving. Truffles will keep up to a week in the fridge. Makes 18

Five For Dinner

It's coming up on Thanksgiving, so I wanted to say how thankful I am for my goat Jezebel, or as we call her, Jelly. While she's always been a great goatie, this was the year she really stepped up.

Last year about this time we took Jelly and her sister Betty to a friend's nearby farm to be bred. We thought it was unusual they should be in season on the same day, but it turned out to be a good thing. And then five months later, since they were bred at the same time, they had babies on the same day.

Jelly went first at her usual 2am, surprising us with 4 kids. Sadly we lost one because we didn't get out to the barn in time to help, but two does and this cute little buck with hearts survived. Betty went later in the day, giving us two kids, a buck and doe.

Sadly we lost Betty two days later to milk fever. This is where Jelly stepped up. Luckily for everyone, she is a great producer, over 2 gallons per day at the peak, and she was able to feed all five of the baby goats herself.

Of course all this made Jelly very hungry!

Chevre Oatmeal Cookies

Before I had a cream separator and could make goat butter, I made lots of recipes with chevre, the soft goat cheese I make in place of butter. This recipe for oatmeal cookies came out really yummy, and since the cheese adds more protein and has less fat than butter, they are secretly healthier. I call them goat-meal cookies, and yes, the goats like them too!

3/4 cup fresh goats chevre soft cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups uncooked quick oats
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup fresh goats milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine cheese, oil and sugar. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth, then add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls, and place 2 inches apart on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown at the bottom edge. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. For best results, double the recipe because these cookies will go fast!

Upcycled Dress and Jacket from Feed Bags

Feed for my goats and ducks comes in woven polypropylene bags with a cute photo label. During the summer, I sew them into tote bags to sell at the farmers' market. During the winter though they stack up a bit and I can try new things with the extras.

The first project was a party dress made from the Layena chicken chow bags. It took two bags for the full skirt and another bag for the top. Though we did line the top with soft cotton fabric, the seams were still a bit scratchy and the dress is so stiff it stands up by itself!

The next project was a simple zipper jacket made from Purina goat chow bags. It took three bags, though I think an adult jacket would take four. Those goaties better eat up, because I think my mom wants one! I wore this to a downtown art gallery walk and got lots of complements, especially from artists who like to use recycled materials.

It's kind of tricky sewing with these feed bags because once you sew a seam it makes holes in the cute photo label and so the piece is ruined if you make a mistake. Luckily my mom helped a lot, and the patterns were very simple. Another thing is when wearing these feed bag clothes I rattle when I move which attracts all my pets who think I have food for them.

Cranberry Sauce Vinaigrette

I love fresh cranberry sauce. It's fun to cook because the berries pop like popcorn, and the color is beautiful. I like to make a large batch and preserve it in canning jars so it's handy to add to recipes all through the winter. I was making a really nice salad dressing with my blackberry jelly this summer, and found that cranberry sauce tastes great in the recipe too. It is sweet, smokey, with just a small vinaigrette bite.

I've been making a crisp fall salad with apple, crumbled cooked bacon, and spinach. Turkey and pecans are good in there too. If you have trouble convincing kids to eat salad, this vinaigrette with either cranberry sauce or blackberry jelly will sneak up on them, especially if there are loads of apple pieces! It was the deal-maker for me!

1/2 cup jellied cranberry sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
1 tsp onion salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum

Place sugar and vinegar in a small pot. Heat to a low boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Place vinegar mixture and remaining ingredients except xanthan gum in a blender. Blend to mix, then add xanthan gum and continue to mix until dressing has thickened, about 1 minute. Makes approximately 2 cups of salad dressing. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Note:  I use xanthan gum for gluten-free baking, and find it also thickens and holds oil and vinegar together. If you want to leave it out, the dressing will taste the same, just shake before use.