caramelized banana jam

When my banana bunches ripen, they ripen from the top down and it happens rather fast.  While I mostly freeze the bananas that over-ripen before we can eat them, I had a thought that a banana jam might be an interesting twist with hazelnut chocolate on s'mores.

1 cup evaporated cane sugar

3 cups over-ripe bananas, diced

1/3 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoons lime juice 

1 1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Heat the sugar mixture on medium-high heat, swirling the pan until the mixture caramelizes.  Once it reaches a caramel-brown color, turn the heat to medium-low and carefully add the bananas.  Stir with a wooden spoon, simmering gently until the bananas break down, 15-20 minutes.  Stir in the salt and remove from the heat.  Allow to cool slightly before stirring in the lime juice and vanilla.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

Variation: add cinnamon to taste.

The jam will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.  Makes 2+ cups.

based on a recipe from Biscuit Love

Another DIY hair pomade

 1/3 oz by weight beeswax (or 2 tsp melted)

1/4 cup fractionated coconut oil

1/4 cup light kaolin clay

several drops of essential oil (rosemary, lavender, ylang ylang, or your favorites)

In a double boiler on medium-low heat, melt beeswax.  Add oil and clay; stir to combine.  Remove from heat, add essential oils, and whip while cooling.  

pickled red onion

1 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced

Whisk all ingredients together excerpt red onion.  Add red onion and refrigerate for at least one hour, ideally overnight.

Falafel is surprisingly easy

1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (or quick soak), drained and rinsed
3 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 tsp paprika
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1 tsp sea salt

3/4 tsp baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Heat about 1/2 inch safflower or sunflower oil on medium heat in an enameled cast iron pan.

Add the drained chickpeas to a food processor.  Pulse for about 30 seconds.  Add the herbs, paprika, garlic, onion, jalapeño and salt.  Process, scraping down the bowl as needed, until it's a smooth paste, about 2 minutes, mixing in the dissolved baking soda just before frying.

 
Form about 2 tablespoons of mixture into balls, slightly flatten, and drop into the hot oil in batches (however many comfortably fit).  Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute, flip and cook another minute, until golden brown. Transfer to a towel-lined plate to drain.

Makes 12 small patties, 3-4 servings.

Serve with tahini sauce, thin sliced red onion, kalamata olives, chopped cucumber and tomato with lemon and sea salt, on homemade pita. 

Based on a recipe from the Food Network with input from my Israeli mother-from-another-brother (and sister).

sticky toffee pudding

For the cakes:
112 g medjool dates, pitted and diced
87 g boiling water or other liquid
½ tsp vanilla
109 g flour, plus extra for greasing
¾ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
42 g salted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
70 g brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
1 tsp molasses
2 tsp golden syrup
52 g milk

In a small bowl, pour hot liquid over diced dates.  Let cool for 30 minutes, then mash with fork and add vanilla.

Butter and flour 8 cupcake tins.  Heat convection oven to 350.

In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and powder together. In separate bowl, beat egg.

In mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add egg a little at a time, beating well between additions.  Beat in molasses and syrup.  Gently fold in one-third of the flour mix, then half the milk, repeating until all the flour and milk are just incorporated.  Stir the soaked dates and liquid.  Spoon batter evenly between the 8 tins and bake for 14 minutes...

For the sauce:
187 g brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
25 g butter, cut into pieces
116 g heavy cream
½ tsp molasses
1 tsp golden syrup

Heat sugar and butter in a medium saucepan with half the cream.  Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has completely dissolved.  Stir in molasses and syrup, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the cream.

Remove the puddings from the oven.  Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out.

Serve them now with the sauce drizzled over, but they’ll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce.  To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes.  Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them.  Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn’t smudge (no need to chill).  When ready to serve, heat oven to 350.  Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 15-20 mins or until the sauce is bubbling.  Serve them on their own, or with cream or custard.

Based on Angela Nilsen's recipe

Caramelized onion dip

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 T olive oil

½ t salt

3 sprigs thyme

½ t granulated garlic

a little less than ½ t white pepper

½ t Worcestershire sauce

2 cups sour cream

In large pan on medium-low heat, caramelize onion in oil with salt, adding thyme about half-way through the process. Let cool.

Mix all ingredients together at least a day before serving

English brown sauce

1/8 red onion, chopped

1 smallish apple, peeled and chopped

2 oz prunes

3 caramelized garlic cloves

a bit of apple juice (or water or other liquid) to cover to stew above ingredients on low in a small sauce pan, covered, until soft. 

Blend up with:

3 fl oz vinegar

¾ tsp Worcestershire

1/8 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp allspice

pinch cayenne

1 tsp salt

6 Tbsp sugar

makes 1 1/2 cups

Candied Ginger Scones

This recipe is based on The Great British Bake Off, my favorite show.  I love working with the precise metric measurements. I make these for holidays of the Wheel of the Year, served with whatever my latest jam is.

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

120 grams of whole wheat pastry flour 

120ish grams of spelt flour

50 grams evaporated cane sugar
50 grams butter, chilled and diced
1 backyard chicken egg
97 grams buttermilk, (or milk with 2 tablespoons of yogurt) plus more (or other milk) for brushing

115 grams crystallized ginger, rough chopped

1/2 tablespoon sugar-in-the-raw or other sugar with large crystals

Preheat the convection oven to 392°F (425°F in a conventional oven).  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

On a scale, tare a medium mixing bowl and add salt, baking powder, and whole wheat pastry four.  Add spelt flour to reach 250 grams total.  Add sugar and mix until well combined. Add the pieces of butter to the bowl and toss them in the flour just to separate and coat them. Rub the butter into the flour using the tips of your fingers, lifting your hands up above the rim of the bowl so the crumbs and flakes of the mixture fall through your fingers back into the bowl. Rub until the mixture looks like fine crumbs.

In a measuring cup, beat the egg with the buttermilk. Pour into the crumb mixture and lightly work with hands (adding ginger towards the end) just until it forms a soft, shaggy dough (don’t overwork).

Press the dough into a disc, picking up any extra floury bits, about 3cm thick. Cut the disc into 8 wedges.  Gently move scones on the baking sheet so there is space between them.

Brush them with milk, sprinkle with sugar-in-the-raw, and bake for about 12 minutes, or until a rich golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Eat warm from the oven with jam and butter, or better yet, clotted cream.

For mini scones: gently separate each of the 8 wedges in half and shape into 16 rounds.  Bake for about 10 minutes.

Strawberry Rose Petal Preserves

The local Foodshed had an amazing sale on strawberries.  The recent heat wave caused the strawberry fields to smell like jam, which is heavenly but means it's the last of the strawberries.  So it's time to jam.

I wanted to add an additional flavor; looking at what was available in my yard, I thought roses would go beautifully with strawberries.  I picked a bunch of 'purple splash' rose petals and a Meyer lemon from the garden.  I use Pomona universal pectin, mostly because that's what's available at the co-op, but also because it allows me to use less sugar than some recipes.

flower rainbow for pride month;
that's a 'purple splash' rose on the upper left corner.

1.25-1.5 cups evaporate can sugar, organic, fair trade

3 teaspoons pectin

5 cups strawberries (1.5-2 pounds), sliced thick

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 teaspoons calcium water (from the pectin packet)

2 cups rose petals, tightly packed

Place a small plate in the freezer. If canning, prep all your tools and equipment, and start boiling water for processing.  Make the calcium water.

In a small bowl, add sugar.  Sprinkle with pectin and stir well. Send aside.

Put a large cast iron enameled pot on high heat.  Add the sliced strawberries. lemon juice, and calcium water.  Bring to a boil, stirring.  Sprinkle in the sugar mix and stir vigorously to dissolve sugar while bringing it back to a boil.  Stir in the rose petals and boil for 5 minutes. Test to see if the jam is set by putting a teaspoonful of liquid jam onto the frozen plate.  Allow plate to cool for 2 minutes in the fridge.  If the jam gels, it's ready.  If not, test every 2 minutes.  When it's done, remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

If canning, fill jars leaving a half-inch head space and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 4.5 cups.  I made three batches, which made 13 cup jars—the perfect fit in my canning pot.

Artichoke and Fava Bean Pilaf

The artichokes are growing high and beautiful in my yard this spring.  They are all volunteers and there is a plethora of them at this point.  I actually started weeding them down this year because they are so prolific.  So now that I have so many artichoke plants, I try to pick them on the young side and pare them down to the heart when I cook.  I don't have to be stingy with them.

I didn't grow favas this year as a cover crop.  They can be such a pain to harvest.  But a pint basket is a small amount to deal with.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, sliced very thin
sea salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 sprigs thyme
1 cup wild rice blend
2 cups vegetable broth
freshly ground black pepper
1 pint basket of young-ish fava beans from African Sisters at the farmers market
6-7 medium-ish backyard artichokes
a backyard lemon

In a large skillet on medium-low heat, add olive oil, onion, and a sprinkling of salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and begins to caramelize.  Add garlic and thyme and cook for 2 minutes.  Add rice and broth, and a few grinds of pepper, bring to a boil, then simmer, covered until almost cooked through, about an hour.

While the rice is cooking, remove beans from their pods, then remove the skin from the beans and set beans aside.  Pare the artichokes down to almost just the heart, leaving a bit of the tender leaves and stem, removing all green color.  Cut in half and remove the choke.  Quarter and place in water with lemon juice.

When the rice is close to done, remove artichoke pieces from the acidulated water and add to pan.  Add peeled beans, cover, and cook an additional 10 minutes.  Stir in about a 1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest and remove thyme sprigs before serving.

3-4 servings

Eggplant with thai basil, garlic and fried tofu

This is the first year I've grown eggplant.  It's generally not a plant I get excited to eat, although the fruit and flowers are so beautiful and I have a strong affinity for purple vegetables.  So when I saw the Baker Creek description for Chinese string eggplant as the best-tasting they're grown, it sounded like the perfect opportunity to give eggplant a shot in my garden.  I only got one plant to take up roots but one was enough: it's been quite prolific and produces plenty for the two of us to eat eggplant once a week.  It grows right next to the Thai basil.

peanut oil
1/2 lb tofu, extra firm, blotted dry, cut in 3/4 inch cubes
1/3 yellow onion, sliced
10 Chinese string eggplants (about 1 1/4 lbs) , sliced in 1 in diagonal pieces
4 large cloves garlic, minced
large handful of Thai basil leaves
3 T rice vinegar or lime juice
1/4 c nama shoyu or soy sauce
3 T brown sugar
sriracha to taste, optional

In a large sauce pan, heat 1/8 inch of oil on high.  Cook tofu on 2 sides until golden brown.  Remove from oil and let drain.

Pour out most of the oil but leave some in the pan.  On high heat, stir fry onion until they start to soften.  Add eggplant and stir fry until mostly soft.  Add garlic and basil, stirring until basil is wilted.  Add the rest of ingredients and allow to steam and reduce until sauce thickens, softening the eggplant.  Stir in the fried tofu and serve over brown rice.

Serves 2-3

Shakshuka Verdes

I've got plethora of purple tomatillos in my garden this year, which I generally turn into roasted salsa verde, which I them turn into enchiladas mostly.  But between the tomatillos and the abundance of poblanos, I got inspired:

1/2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
sunflower oil
sea salt
1 medium zucchini, quartered, sliced thin
2 large cloves garlic, minced
6 poblanos, roasted, peeled and seeded, julienned
2 cups tomatillo sauce
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
6 eggs
3 oz jack cheese, grated

In a large pan, saute the onion with a bit of oil and salt until soft. Then add zucchini and when it begins to soften, add the garlic and saute a couple more minutes.  Stir in the poblanos and sauce, bring it to a simmer and allow to thicken a bit.  Stir in the cilantro.  Create a well for each egg, top with cheese and cook to desired doneness (I like my yolks soft but chewy, not runny) with the lid on.

Serve with sour cream or avocado with roasted potatoes, or corn or flour tortillas.

Mulberry Lemon Coffee Cake

My spouse is the baker so this is his recipe.  This is his favorite breakfast during mulberry season.

For the topping, into food processor:

2/3 cup whole wheat flour (or spelt or flour of your choice)
2/3 cup pecans (or nut of your choice)
1/2 brown sugar (or sugar of your choice)
5 tablespoons melted butter or oil of your choice (walnut would be nice)
pinch sea salt
zest of 2 lemons

Pulse until a course meal texture and set aside.

For the cake, in a separate bowl, mix:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup quinoa flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1/3 spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt

And set aside

In a separate measuring cup, mix:

juice of 1 lemon
add buttermilk to 1 1/4 cups
1 teaspoon vanilla

And set aside.

In a bowl to a stand-up mixer, cream:

4 tablespoons butter or oil of your choice
1/2 cup evaporated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
zest of 2 lemons

Add 2 eggs to mixer, (incorporate 1 at a time).

Alternately mix in a third of the flour mix, then a third of liquid, repeating until all incorporated.

Spread mixture into a buttered 9x13 pan. Sprinkle on top 4 cups of fresh mulberries. Then sprinkle on the crumbly topping.  Bake at 350 degrees 40-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean of cake (but you'll still see berries on the toothpick).

Light Vegetable Soup

I'm doing a short fast to rest my intestines.  I fasted yesterday (just water) and today I'm keeping my calories very low and drinking veg/fruit juice with little to no fiber, fat, and protein.  Tomorrow I'll add more calories and fiber, keeping my fat and protein low, with a fruit and greens smoothie for breakfast and this soup for lunch and probably dinner.  After that, I'll start to add in grains (maybe oatmeal for breakfast and a mushroom and wild rice soup for lunch), then add a bit more protein (maybe a lentil soup), then a bit more fat (adding nuts and seeds), progressing until I reach my normal diet, as long as my intestines seem to handle each day healthily. 

½ tblsp olive oil
½ cup yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup carrot, diced or julienned or thin sliced quarters
½ cup celery, diced
½ cup zucchini, chopped or sliced
1 cup tomato, diced (fresh or canned) with juice
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup fresh greens, packed, rough chop
a handful of Italian parsley leaves, fresh, chopped
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil in a pan on medium heat until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes, stirring (do not brown). Add the carrot and celery and cook until they begin to soften, about another 3 minutes. Add zucchini and cook until it begins to soften, another couple minutes.

Add the tomato and broth and simmer briefly. Stir in spinach and parsley and season to taste.

3 servings

Growing my own Kitchen Sponges

As I've endeavored towards creating zero waste, one of my issues was finding a decent, sustainable implement for cleaning dishes.

As a kid, my family had a dishwasher, which seemed to me worthless, since I had to clean the dishes before loading them.  Consequently, as an adult, I've never owned a dishwasher and have always hand washed my dishes.  I've learned to do this while using a minimal amount of water, so as not to waste this precious resource.  And now that I own my home, I've plumbed my kitchen sink water to drain into mulch basins that water fruit trees, herbs and native plants in my front yard.  I use soap especially made for grey water that breaks down into plant food; not only does it not harm the soil, it benefits the earth.

But for many years I struggled with the kitchen sponge.  Even the more natural options are still highly processed and packaged and disposable.  I tried numerous clothes, wooden scrub brushes and the like and found them unsatisfactory.  Ultimately, I hit upon the idea of loofah, typically used in the shower, but why had it never occurred to me to use it in the kitchen?

I found them offered by a small citrus farmer at the Hillcrest farmers market.  I bought all he had; four desiccated husks.  I think I paid a dollar a piece for them.  They were a total pain-in-the-ass to peel; it took forever.  I cut them up in four-inch sections and they worked beautifully!  Perfect texture for scrubbing without damaging my enameled pots.  Food bits easily rinsed away.  Each section lasted months and then they go into the compost!

And I saved the seeds!  It took me a couple years to get them to grow (and the loofahs I bought almost lasted me that long).  Now I've grown my own kitchen sponges!

And they are much easier to peel before they've completely dried out!

Holiday Loaf

A new favorite!  

Based on a recipe from The Greens Cook Book (a long-time favorite), how have I never made this before?  I didn't know it's what was missing on our holiday table.  It took Tribute Pizza (another favorite) sharing how it's their favorite on the holiday table for me to seek the recipe out and adapt it:

3/4 c brown basmati rice, cooked
3/4 c walnuts or pecans, toasted
1/4 cup cashews, toasted
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 T butter
sea salt
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms, soaked for 20 minutes in hot water
1 T fresh flat parsley leaves, chopped
1 t fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 T fresh marjoram or rosemary leaves, chopped
1/2 t fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 c cottage cheese
6 oz grated cheese (gruyere, asiago, jarlsberg or your favorite cheese blend)

2 backyard chicken eggs, beaten

freshly ground black pepper

Cook the rice (or reuse leftovers).  Finely chop the nuts.  Chop the soaked mushrooms and reserve the liquid for a later use.

Saute the onions in butter until translucent, season with salt and add the garlic, mushrooms, and herbs. Cook until any liquid released from the mushrooms is reduced.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.  Add nuts, rice, cheeses, egg, and pepper and mix to combine.  Pack into a small, buttered loaf pan and bake uncovered for about an hour at 375 degrees, until crusty and golden.  Allow to cool slightly to set before serving.

Serve with mushroom gravy or onion sauce.  It would also make a great neatloaf or veggie patty!

Double the recipe to bake in a standard loaf pan.

4-6 servings

Crackers - plain, herbed, seedy, or peppery

Crackers are a pretty simple recipe to pull off, but I've never made them before!  The trick was getting the dough rolled out as thin as I could and baking until golden, not brown, on the edges.

1 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1 t course sea salt
1 t evaporated cane sugar
3 T butter, melted, or olive oil
1/2 c water

Flavor options:

2 t fresh thyme or rosemary, chopped fine
1 t fresh ground black pepper or other spice

2 t seeds (poppy, sesame, flax, chia...)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pulse the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and any herbs, seeds or spices in a food processor until well mixed. Add the butter or oil and pulse 6 times.  Add the water and pulse about 10 seconds, just until the dough starts to stick together.  Remove dough, press together to form a ball, and cut into four, and let rest for 10 minutes.

For each piece of dough, roll out on a lightly-floured surface as thin as you can.  Cut into whatever size and shape you want.  Place on the baking sheet.  Bake 4-5 minutes, then flip each cracker and bake another 4-5 minutes, making sure they don't get too brown.  Let cool to crisp.

Makes roughly 50 small crackers

Based on Carla Hall's and Alton Brown's recipes.

Pandemic Practice

my garden
my ancestors
my breath
the seeds
the earth beneath my feet
the squirrel, the bird, butterfly, and bee

these are my teachers, my family, my sangha
i carry them with me
lightening my burden, my mind, and my path

Backyard Banana Bread

Years ago I planted a raja puri banana and this is the first harvest!  They're unexpectedly good–a little tart, a little sweet, a little firm–just a really excellent little banana.  I've got a whole big bunch ripening.  We're eating them in our breakfast, I'll be freezing a lot of them, but because of COVID-19, I'm not seeing very many people to share them with.

This is based on my mom's recipe.  Don't mash the bananas too much or it takes forever to bake.

1/2 cup safflower oil
1 cup rapadura and/or evaporated cane sugar
2 backyard eggs
1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup oat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or your mix of favorite flours)
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp sea salt
1 cup lightly mashed very ripe banana
1/4 cup yogurt or sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips or blueberries or mulberries (optional)

Beat oil, sugar & eggs. In a separate bowl, shift together dry ingredients. Alternate mixing in dry ingredients with the banana, sour cream & vanilla. Mix in the nuts & chocolate chips.  Bake in a greased & floured loaf pan at 325 degrees (convection) for 60-100 minutes until firm in the center.

Variation:

Add crisp topping before baking: 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, 3 tblsp cubed cold butter, 3 tblsp rolled oats, 1/2 tsp ground flax seed, 1/2 tsp hemp seed, 1/2 tsp chia seed, beat together until homogenous

Decadent Orange Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

I only make these once a year, to celebrate the new year.  Invite friends and family: this recipe makes 12 medium-sized rolls.  This dough works best when made early in the morning for a late morning breakfast.

Dough:
¾ cup milk
¼ cup yogurt (or sour cream or buttermilk)
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup evaporated cane sugar
2½ teaspoons yeast
1 egg
3¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a small saucepan on medium-low, heat the milk, yogurt and butter until the butter is melted and the milk is between 105° and 115°. Stir in half the sugar and the yeast. Bloom the yeast for 5 minutes. Add to mixing bowl, and whisk in the egg and the remaining sugar. Add the flour, salt and cinnamon. Using the hook attachment, mix on low speed for 4 minutes.

Place batter in a greased bowl and turn to grease top. Cover and let rise for 1-2 hours until it doubles.  

Kitchen tip:  Speed up the rise by turning your oven into a proving drawer with a pan of boiling water set on the bottom shelf.  Best proving temp is 70-115 degrees.

Filling:
1 stick butter (room temperature)
2/3 cup brown sugar (rapadura if you can find it)
2 rounded tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

an egg white

Whip the sugar, cinnamon and butter until smooth. On a floured surface, roll the dough out in a rectangle, roughly 8x12 inches, about ¼ inch thick.  Spread on the butter mixture, leaving an inch strip bare at the top of the rectangle.  Sprinkle the pecans. Gently, but tightly roll the rectangle into a log, brushing away any flour as you roll.  Brush the bare strip with egg white to form a seal.  Cut into 12 slices and place in a buttered Pyrex 9x13 baking dish. Let proof for 40 minutes.

Brush top with heavy cream before baking.  Bake at 375°(325° for convection) until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.  

Serve warm, topped with cream cheese frosting:

1 stick butter (room temperature)
6 ounces neufchâtel or cream cheese (room temperature)
5 ounces powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ rounded teaspoon sea salt

zest of an orange

Whip all ingredients together in a mixer until fluffy, about 4 minutes.