We love to glean simple entertaining and style inspirations from lifestyle maven and fashion designer, Jenni Kayne. As we featured during the holidays, interior designer Nathan Turner and Jenni love to pair up for small gatherings inside her well-celebrated L.A. abode. Jenni’s garden-steeped, natural-light and raw-material-filled home could be deemed ‘The Chalkboard Dream Home’ for its perfect alignment with design we love and its frequent appearance on our pages.
This month, Jenni gathered friends to enjoy an Easter brunch with a delicious cooking tutorial and spread by blogger, Claire Thomas. Claire, who normally works her culinary magic on her blog, The Kitchy Kitchen, prepared a few vegan spring recipes like this gluten-free twist on a classic tarte tatin below. Other dishes from the brunch included a Moroccan spiced eggplant tart and an herb-infused olive oil cake, which is now one of Jenni’s favorites. Full disclosure: These tarts and cakes are incredible, but if you’re going to make just one item from the day’s menu, make it the whipped coconut cream! A true vegan revelation.
All these lovely vegan dishes deserve the proper presentation – and that’s where Jenni’s hostessing skills truly shine. Surrounded with cloudy blue 19th-century chairs Nathan had reupholstered himself in France, the duo nestled a table beneath the olive trees in Jenni’s outdoor space. The tabletops were covered in Battenburg lace and Jenni used a combination of her own antique silverware, mismatched Victorian glassware and cool Tinware Collection by Canvas stoneware that has the look of distressed, vintage metal cookware. (The Tinware can be found at Jenni Kayne in Montecito or here online at Canvas Home Store – we can’t get enough of this cobalt-blue trim for spring!)
For more spring touches, Jenni arranged for all the gorgeous organic produce Claire needed to be delivered to her doorstep via Summerland- Farm to Frontdoor and enlisted the ladies of Hollyflora to create the fava bean and artichoke-festooned floral arrangements that dotted the table. Nathan included marbleized paper leftover from the decoupaged Easter eggs at each place-setting. Stay tuned next week on Rip+Tan where Jenni and Nathan will share the DIY details for these gorgeous eggs!
For now, get to dreaming up a little healthful Easter merriment with these recipes from Claire. Check out her vegan pie crust tips below, plus her recipe for tarte tatin with coconut cream. The rest of the recipes above are available today on Rip+Tan and you can also find more decorating details today over on one our favorite new home and design sites, Domaine.
Claire’s Vegan Pie Crust 101
Must Have:
Thomas Keller’s Cup 4 Cup Gluten-Free Flour
Short stop:
Keep margarine or shortening very cold before adding to other ingredients.
Counter strike:
To keep the dough from sticking to your countertop, be sure to flour it thoroughly. Turn the dough after each and every pass with the rolling pin.
Claire’s Vegan Tarte Tatin
Ingredients:
8-10 gala or pink lady apples (any high-acid firm apple with a hint of sweetness) peeled, cored, and halved
1/2 cup margarine or coconut oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds extracted
1 recipe pie crust (recipe below), rolled out to 1/8-inch thick
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Stir together the sugar and vanilla seeds. Pat down the butter onto a skillet or round pan and sprinkle the vanilla sugar on top. Place the apple pieces vertically in the pan, snaking in a circle along the edge. Keep repeating until the whole pan is full.
Place the pan over a medium flame for 20-25 minutes, until the butter, sugar, and apples have created a golden brown caramel. It’s ok if it’s a little patchy. Let it cool for a few minutes and roll the chilled pie dough neatly onto the dish, and roll the crust on the edge.
Put in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the apples are bubbling and the crust is golden brown.
Bring to room temp (if you can wait) and flip onto a serving dish. Serve with coconut whipped cream (recipe below). Enjoy!
GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN PIE CRUST
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (Cup for Cup is best, but any gluten-free flour with xantham gum mixed in will work)
1 tsp kosher salt
4 ounces margarine or shortening (one stick), cubed and very cold
2 to 4 ounces almond milk, cold
1 Tbsp white sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt, then combine in margarine gently using your finger tips (or by pulsing in a food processor) until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle in the almond milk, one tablespoon at a time, while blending, until all ingredients are moist and a dough is forming. The dough should be dry to the touch, not tacky, so be careful not to add too much liquid.
Form the dough into a ball and wrap loosely in plastic wrap. Press down on the dough until a 1-inch thick disk forms. Pop it in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes (you may leave it in the fridge for up to three days).
When you’re ready to roll out the dough, take it out of the plastic wrap and place it on a floured countertop. If the dough is crumbly, knead the dough once or twice to bring everything together and press it back down into a disc. Sprinkle it with flour and roll out to a 1/8-inch thick, 11-inch circle. The dough will want to stick to the counter, so make sure to really flour it, and to turn the dough after each pass with the rolling pin.
COCONUT WHIPPED CREAM
Yields 3 cups
Ingredients
1 15-ounce can coconut milk (full fat is necessary, I used Native Forest)
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Set the can in the fridge overnight so that the coconut fat solids separate from the coconut water. Open the can and carefully pour out the thick coconut cream. With an electric whisk, beat the cream, agave, and vanilla extract on high until peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.
If not serving immediately, place the bowl of whipped coconut cream in the fridge and then beat it again right before serving it.
