Good morning! This week, I talked to award-winning author, recipe developer and cooking teacher Camilla Wynne about her third cookbook, Nature's Candy. Wynne shared three recipes for baking with candied fruit for the holidays, including her stunning stollen pound cake. Plus, a look at why you might want to think twice before using black plastic kitchen utensils. — Laura Brehaut |
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Camilla Wynne devotes her third book, Nature's Candy, to making and baking with candied fruit. From the quick, "almost all-purpose" to the multi-day "whole-ish," she explains nine different methods for candying followed by roughly 50 recipes for baking with the preserved peels, berries, chips and more.
If you have a suggestion for cookbook of the week, reply to this newsletter or email us at cookthis@postmedia.com. |
From tanghulu's hard sugar shell to delicate strawberries that sparkle, candying fruit has a vintage feel that captivates. "It's made it since ancient China. It's got staying power, clearly," says Toronto-based cookbook author, recipe developer and cooking teacher Camilla Wynne. Wynne, one of Canada's few master preservers, had "dabbled" in candying fruit since studying pastry at Montreal's Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec in 2002. But during the pandemic, teaching an online candied fruit workshop, she "really, really, really" got into it.
As is Wynne's way with every workshop she develops, she dove deep, looking at all the angles and studying the process to teach it better. Aside from marmalade, her candied fruit workshop was her most popular ever. "I started to go down a hole. And the interest in it made me realize that I wasn't the only one."
Read the interview, and don't miss the three recipes Wynne shared from Nature's Candy. The first, mendiant shortbread (pictured), is "somewhere between a tart and a cookie," making for a stunning holiday centrepiece.
Topped with crème fraîche ganache, you can decorate it with any candied fruit, vegetables and nuts, crystallized flowers and herbs, or dried fruit and nuts you like.
"This is a way bigger canvas than your usual two-inch mendiant, so you have nine inches to play with. And you can make a cool design. You can make it random. It makes space for a lot of creativity."
The second recipe, Welsh cakes, was a fixture of Wynne's Edmonton childhood. "They freeze well. They keep well. They're rich, and they're delicious, but they're also kind of reserved. I feel like you would feel OK eating them for breakfast. You'd be like, 'They're just little pancakes,'" says Wynne, laughing.
Her granny always had a tin in the freezer, and it took Wynne a long time to duplicate her recipe. "I was so overjoyed when I finally got it."
Wynne thinks the key lies in the spice, which she uses in the dough itself and in a sugar-nutmeg mixture used to coat the cakes after cooking. Plus, there's the fun of the cooking method. "There aren't a lot of pastries that we cook on a griddle anymore. So, it's time to bring that back."
Finally, we have Wynne's stollen pound cake featuring all the flavours of the traditional German Christmas bread save the yeast. "In the same way as stollen, it stays great on the counter for ages. Just slice some off and stuff it in your purse for an afternoon snack," says Wynne. "And arguably, it's more festive looking than those squat, long, bumpy breads. Instead, you've got this gorgeous Bundt cake. Everyone loves a Bundt cake."
Photo by Mickaël A. Bandassak (Nature's Candy, Appetite by Random House) |
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Sometimes, only eggs will do. This recipe is for just such a time. Bee Wilson's soft-centred lemon omelette uses a technique she learned from watching a Jacques Pépin video. "When you see him doing it, you're slightly goggle-eyed at first because you think, 'This goes against everything I've been taught about omelette making.' Because he's taking a fork, and he's furiously whisking underneath it, and then turning it over, and yet it miraculously turns into this pillowy thing."
If Wilson had to name one favourite ingredient she would add to almost anything, sweet or savoury, it would be lemon. "I love the zest. I love the juice. And I just had a vision in my mind that maybe I could make a lemon omelette and that this would be a very original thing. And then I discovered ... that people have been making lemon omelettes for (more than 300) years, and there's nothing new under the sun. But I found that quite a reassuring thought as well."
Photo by Matt Russell (The Secret of Cooking, W. W. Norton & Company) |
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ICYMI Should you toss your black plastic spatula? What a new study says about toxic chemicals |
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If you’ve ordered takeout or flipped an egg in the past year, chances are good that you’ve laid hands — or mouth — on black plastic. That ubiquity can come with a downside, research suggests. Despite its everyday use in kitchen utensils such as spatulas and slotted spoons, children’s toys, takeout containers and meat and produce trays, a recent study published in Chemosphere found that black-coloured plastic may contain “concerning” levels of toxic chemicals.
Scientists from Toxic-Free Future and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam found the highest levels of toxic flame retardants in a spatula, sushi tray and children’s beaded necklace sold in the United States. These chemicals (a.k.a. brominated flame retardants or BFRs) are commonly used in electronics, such as televisions, and likely made their way into household goods through “dirty” plastic recycling practices, the researchers say.
“Companies continue to use toxic flame retardants in plastic electronics, and that’s resulting in unexpected and unnecessary toxic exposures,” Megan Liu, study co-author and science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future, said in a statement. “These cancer-causing chemicals shouldn’t be used to begin with, but with recycling, they are entering our environment and our homes in more ways than one. The high levels we found are concerning.”
The study examined 203 black plastic non-electronic household items bought in the United States and found that 85 per cent contained toxic flame retardants, even though they don’t require flame retardancy. Research has linked BFRs to health risks such as cancer, endocrine disruption, nervous system problems and reproductive issues, according to the study. When “high-impact” household items contain toxic chemicals, the researchers note that children and women of childbearing age can be especially vulnerable to the ill effects.
“These results clearly demonstrate that flame retardant-containing electronics, such as the outer casings of large TVs, are being recycled into food storage containers and utensils,” said Heather Stapleton, the Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson distinguished professor at Duke University. “While it’s critical to develop sustainable approaches when addressing our plastic waste stream, we should exert some caution and ensure we’re not contributing to additional exposures to these hazardous chemicals in recycled materials.”
With the rise of recycled plastic products, Mike Schade, director of Toxic-Free Future’s market transformation program, Mind the Store, emphasized that major retailers “must require suppliers to test them to ensure toxic chemicals aren’t hiding.”
According to the nonprofit research and advocacy organization’s Retailer Report Card, many businesses have adopted voluntary chemical-reduction commitments. However, the 2024 report released on Nov. 14 found that Canadian retailers lag behind their American counterparts in addressing toxic chemicals and plastics. A handful of American retailers achieved “A” scores, while Canadian companies generally scored below the average of a “D+.”
So, should you toss your black plastic kitchen utensils and steer clear of black-coloured takeout containers? Some have suggested throwing out spatulas and slotted spoons made from recycled black plastic, saying they’re “probably leaching chemicals into your cooking oil,” while others are weighing the risk for themselves.
“The reality is nuanced: Yes, there is a real problem that’s been identified. But, on the level of the cookware in your kitchen, it’s not that concerning,” epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz wrote in Slate. The Chemosphere study showed that recycled black plastic items can contain potentially harmful chemicals. “But the data about the levels of pollutants in these products shows that they are, in fact, quite safe,” according to Meyerowitz-Katz.
On the other hand, toxicologist Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, who wasn’t involved in the study, was concerned by the findings, telling CNN, “I would recommend not using black plastic for food contact materials or buying toys with black plastic pieces.”
Photo by Getty Images |
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