May 17, 2009

Failed attempt!

Yesterday I tried to make Maple-Raisin Almond Butter, but I failed. I don't know what I did wrong... so please nut butter experts, take a look of how I made and tell me what I did wrong!!!
I used about 1 oz. of raisin, 1/2 pounds of roasted almonds and 1 tbsp of maple butterHalf way through of the grounding I added raisin and maple butter.Continued with the grounding for another 10 min. I remember last I made almond butter, by then, it began to release the fat and formed the butter. But yesterday, no matter how long I grounded, I couldn't have the butter consistency that I wanted. So, end product:not butter definitely, although it is delicious!
Any thoughts about my failure?

okay. the rest of my day (not exciting at all). For the first time in years I woke up by the alarm at 7am. I had to go to school to proctor a final exam so no time for a proper breakfast. Just two toasted WW bread with LC and homemade almond butter. Oh... the reason of my sleep in was a movie that I watched the night before called "Nothing but the Truth". It's really really good, watch it if you have the chance. It's drama I think... not the easy kind of movie, but very deep and insightful.
Anyway, back home around 10.30, I had my second part of the breakfast: another toast with LC and an apple.And a cup of powdered soy milk. A shouting out of my new watch (gift from Star)
Blogging and finishing the spread sheet about food nutrition for Dad, I had a yummy lunch. I used the fillet I bought in Costco, marinated with cooking wine, soy sauce, miso paste and a korean chili paste, sesame oil, sesame seeds and brown sugar. Baked it for abour 20 min.As side dish I had cherry tomatoes and a sauteed cucumber with mushrooms and spinach.DELICIOSO!!!!!
Dessert: 1 min pumpkin cheesecake = 1/4 c. cottage cheese + 1/4 c. greek yogurt + 1/4 c. pumpkin + cinnamon + pumpkin spiceThen, the funniest part of my day began: GRADING (82 exams). It took me almost the ENTIRE afternoon. When I was done with it, I felt needing some kind of workout! So I did 60 min flow yoga at home and walked around the neighbor with Qiao another hour.
PM snack was greek yogurt + blueberries (from Costco which wasn't as good as organic ones, not sweet and tasty enough) + wheat berries.And a gigantic grapefruit from Costco which was sweet and juicy.Dinner had to be quick (I came back from the walk at 8.30pm). So I had another sauteed romaine with chili flakes; scrambled egg with 1 gigantic red pepper; millet porridge.Although it was simple, I really enjoyed it! Sometimes I'm so easy to please! ^_^
Dessert: white fungus drink + blueberries cheesecake.
Question: Have you made nut butter? How was your experience?

18 comments:

Gina; The Candid RD said...

Hmmm..It looks like you needed to add more maple butter, since it adds more moisture. Did it still taste good, despite the consistency?

Love the new watch. Perfect for the summer whites :)

Anonymous said...

Bummer! I hate kitchen fails! I think you just used the wrong amounts of things. I think you would need heaps more almonds than the other ingredients. I once made honey and cinammon nut butter and roasted the nuts in the honey. I'm not sure if that helps at all... Sorry!

Your cheesecake looks nice! Did you make any modifications from your recipe, other than just adding blueberries?

Krista said...

Love the watch, fish and cheesecake!

I wonder if the raisins had anything to do with it? Maybe they need to be manually stirred in the mix at the end? Plus, I usually use 1lb of almonds and less extras....just a thought!

Mara @ What's For Dinner? said...

I only tried to make nut butter ONCE with my stick blender and it was a nightmare. I think Krista is right though, raisins should probably go in at the end!

Sharon said...

I think the raisins for sure have something to do with it. Pack in more almonds to get the right consistency, since I guess the raisins didn't compensate for the extra moisture that would be needed. Or maybe add some flax oil or something, so that it would be a smoother consistency.

Anonymous said...

Pretty new watch! I'm not sure about how to make nut butter, but maybe more almonds?

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately I hate nuts, so I couldn't help you there.
I love the new watch by the way. I'm a bit of a watch aholic and love collecting them.

Pearl said...

hmm i think you have to get it to a very very THIN (watery) consistency before adding the raisins in. do you want the raisins to be processed in? or do you like chunks of raisins in there? cause once you add something with sugar (i think), it hardens up, so it has to be very VERY VERY smooth (dip a spoon in there and if it's dripping off the spoon like a runny liquid, then you've reached the desired consistency) before adding anything in.

janetha said...

ive never made nut butter so i cant help you there, sorry! but at least it is not a total waste since it tastes good, no?

that fish looks epic! i bet it was so gooood. i need some fishies in my life soon.


i love that you eat your gfruit like an orange! makes me happy.

dang lotsa papers, no fun.. good luck with the grading marathon! xo.

Maggie said...

I eat my grapefruit like that too!

I've never made nut butter, so I don't know what happened... i would love to make that flavor though. I really like the flavor of the PB&Co one, but I don't like the hard raisins so they would be better blended in.

Anonymous said...

i think that, next time, you should grind the nuts completely to the texture you want before adding the other ingredients. regardless, your maple-raisin paste looks abbbbbbsolutely amazing!

The Dainty Pig said...

wow! all of your food looks great! I can't wait to try making fish like how you did :) And what a nice watch! I haven't made any nut butter yet, because I only have a blender, not a food processor...but it looks to me like you were doing everything right...hrmmm. In anycase, it should be a wonderful topping on top of oats! And how are you making the millet porridge? Just cooking it with lots of water?

Melissa @ For the Love of Health said...

Amazig looking foods!! I have never tried making nut butter. In fact, I never even thought about it until reading your blog recently...looks amazing!!

Have a great night!

Trying To Heal said...

i tried making cashew walnut cinnamon butter but it didn't work out very well because my bullet was starting to smell like it was burning...boo! one day i'll get a good grinder!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh boo! I've never tried because it seems hard to make. I'm sorry it didn't work out! But I bet it'll be better next time around.
That is some seriously grading. Ew!
That watch is beautiful. Star is a really awesome man!

Alison Can Read said...

Too bad about the nut butter. At least it tasted good. I really want to try to make some myself. It does seem hard to get the consistency right.

I love your filet. Looks delicious!

ChickPea said...

That sounds like such a yummy nut butter combination--I hope you get some tips for next time. I have no idea what went wrong!

I just made pecan butter last week. It went fairly well, and didn't take too much blending. It's still not quite silky smooth though--maybe I should be more patient next time?

Anonymous said...

sorry about the failed attempt. that combo sounds amazing though, and i bet it does still delish! love the new watch...so cute :D

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