Wheat Is Rising — In Price, Not Just in Baked Goods

If you bake, and especially if you bake bread, you are nervously watching what’s happening with the world’s supply of wheat right now.

Ukraine and Russia together supply about a quarter of the world’s wheat, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Ships don’t want to pick up the wheat that’s available from Black Sea ports. And  because of bad weather during the last two years in Russia, the world supply of wheat was already low.

There are fears that the war will keep Russia and Ukraine from harvesting the winter wheat that was planted last autumn; and that the spring crop won’t get planted.

There is a war going on and there is indescribable suffering in much of the world, so it feels very Marie Antoinette to point out that the price of wheat (and flour) is rising because of the war.

But if you bake, this might be a good time either to stock up on flour before the higher prices hit our supermarket shelves (I’m sorry; I know that is hoarding).Or you might want to start looking at recipes that use little or no flour.

Coincidentally, it is also almost Passover, a time when Jewish tradition forbids eating leavened flour products. Of the five main leavening agents for flour, one is air so … short of matzo, there aren’t a lot of flour-based foods that you can eat during the spring High Holy Days.

Nowadays, there are many kinds of gluten-free bread made of alternative flours, and many of them are tasty.

For desserts, the easiest flour-free options of course are custards and fruits.

We’ve published in this column a recipe for the world’s easiest custard, the Italian panna cotta; and we’ve also published instructions on how to make meringue and coconut macaroons, all of which are popular flourless desserts. You can find them at our online archive through the Scoville Memorial Library, https://scoville.advantage-preservation.com.

This year, we offer a ricotta cake that is wonderfully light and not too sweet and, honestly, not very hard to make but very impressive. It is adapted from the Australian food genius Donna Hay.

Of note: At the moment, there is no shortage of white flour, there is only a potential price increase. But as of this week, flour is still about $6 for a 5-pound bag and super fine almond flour is about $11 for 1 pound.

Lemon, ricotta and almond flourless cake

One stick of unsalted butter, room temperature, 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract), 1/4 cup lemon zest, 4 eggs, separated and at room temperature, 2 1/2 cups of super fine almond flour, 10 1/2 ounces of good-quality ricotta (a drier denser more artisanal version will give you a better cake), sliced almonds and powdered sugar for the top.

Combine the butter, 2/3 cup of the sugar, the vanilla and the lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the mixture is creamy and pale and well-mixed.

Scrap down the sides of the bowl, then gradually add the egg yolks, one at a time, continuing to beat until fully combined.

Add the almond flour and beat to combine.

Fold the ricotta through the almond flour mixture.

Unless you have two mixers, you’ll want to move this all to another bowl and then thoroughly clean your mixing bowl. Give it a wipe with some white vinegar to be sure there is no fat left on it, because you’re now going to beat your egg whites. Gradually add the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar to the whites and continue to beat at medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 10 to 15 minutes.

While the whites are beating, preheat your oven to 325. Butter or grease an 8-inch cake pan and then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.

Gently fold a third of the egg whites into the flour/ricotta mixture, then add the rest of the egg whites.

Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and tap the sides to try and get the batter as evenly distributed as possible.

Decorate the top with a layer of the sliced almond rounds. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until you can lightly poke the center with a finger and have it bounce back.

Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack, in the baking pan.  Dust with powdered sugar.