I've been taking a crack at a few variations of the Elven Lembas bread recipe from Lord of the Rings, because I'm a nerd and like to make random things. A common recipe I see linked in various blogs is this: http://www.geekychef.com/2008/12/elven-lembas-bread.html
I've modified the recipe a little bit (ie: swapped out macadamia nuts for almonds, and I ground up about 50 raisins and added them in too. Also, I used coconut oil in place of melted butter, and added a banana instead of the kumquats). So, the final recipe would be:
- 3 eggs
- 1 c. honey
- 1 banana
- 3 oz. chopped almonds
- ¼ c. melted coconut oil
- 2 ¼ c. whole wheat flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ c. chopped raisins
I don't have access to a pizelle iron or a krumcake iron, so I tried baking these in the over. I ended up having to use more like 3½ cups of flour instead of the 2¼ the recipe calls for, just so it didn't have the consistency of runny semi-cooked eggs. The taste is good, but even after baking at 350 degrees (F) for 20 minutes, it comes out as a semi-soft, heavy lump and tasty doughy/undercooked inside. It also gives me some cramps, so I'm attributing that (hopefully correctly) to it being undercooked.
In the movie, these treats looked very solid in shape, kind of like a lemon bar (very flat top and bottom and clear-cut edges), and they looked flaky and crispy when eaten, kind of like a really thick cracker.
Are there any suggestions on preparation or the recipe in general that would allow me to have these more thoroughly cooked AND have a crispy texture rather than a heavy doughy one? I'm currently making them 4"x4"½x" in size each.
EDIT
I've since revisited the recipe, and now have something closer to what I wanted. It's not dry like a cracker or thick cookie, but it tastes good, texture is palatable, and after calculating the nutrition profile by hand (fat, vitamin, fibre, protein, etc), I'm quite please with the result. The modified ingredient list is now:
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup honey
- 1 banana
- 1 puréed mandarin orange (thoroughly washed, seedless, entire orange plus skin and pith included)
- 1 cup chopped almonds (ground to small pieces, almost a flour)
- ¼ c. melted coconut oil
- 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
- 2 cups corn meal
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ c. chopped raisins
- 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast in ½ cup of warm water, let to dissolve for five minutes
The whole thing basically gets a trip in the food processor, except the flour, which is added after in a separate bowl. I bought some small 3" x 6" individual cake pans. I scoop a ½" thick layer into a pre-buttered/greased pan, and let it cook for about 20-25 minutes at 350 deg. F. The texture is roughly like that of a very heavy banana bread, and tastes good, just off sweet. The only thing I might modify is the amount of coconut oil.
nutrition
tag, because it is confusing to new users, so if you want to give us the point of view of one who has experienced the negative side of it, you can do so here: meta.cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/1854/….