Whole-grain epiphany changed how she cooked

For years, Kim Boyce, a pastry chef who sifted and stirred her way through some of Los Angeles' best kitchens, from Wolfgang Puck's Spago to Nancy Silverton's Campanile, worked only in white.

White flour, that is.

Curiously, she had her epiphany - make that her whole-grain epiphany - when she plopped some beet and apple purees into a bowl of 10-grain pancake mix and made pancakes on a plugged-in griddle on her dining room table.

"It was nutty and chewy and had a depth of flavor I'd never tasted before," says Boyce, whose aha! moment was born of desperation. She had a hungry 1-year-old on her hip, and, deep in house reconstruction, she didn't have a kitchen.

She'd roamed the grocery aisles that morning, in search of the most healthful food she could cook for her baby, but given that she was working without a sink, it had to be something that would end with the fewest pots to scrub in the bathtub. She settled on that 10-grain mix.

What she discovered was deliciousness.

From that bite, Boyce says, she set out to conquer the whole-grain world.

And she was set on stirring up recipes more delicious than all the white-flour financiers and puff pastries she had prepared in her professional past.

"I had never in a professional kitchen come across a bin of whole-wheat flour, or a bag of rye flour," says Boyce, who shares her discoveries in Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $29.95).

It wasn't the nutrition that led her to learn the fine points of baking with buckwheat, oat, and spelt flour. It was the flavor, Boyce insists.

Soon, her kitchen counters were lined with screw-top glass jars of flours she'd never heard of.

Baking with whole grains "is all about balance, about figuring out how to get the right combination of structure and flavor from flours that don't act the same way as regular white flour," she writes. "There is a reason whole-wheat pastry has a bad reputation."

If you're inclined to stroll down the whole-grain road, Boyce suggests you start slowly.

Choose just one flour for your first experiments; she recommends barley or rye flours, which are milder than whole wheat. (She opts for storing it in the fridge, not the freezer, if you don't think you'll use the flour quickly.)

Finally, she adds this dash of courage: Don't be disappointed. And don't give up.

The whole-grain deliciousness is worth your time in the experimental pastry kitchen.

Makes 12 wafflesEndTextStartText

1 cup multigrain flour mix (see note)

1 cup whole-grain pastry flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

3 eggs

2 cups whipping cream

4 tablespoons butter, melted

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1. Turn waffle iron to highest setting. Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl.

2. Whisk eggs and cream together. Pour into dry ingredients. Gently fold mixtures together until batter is thick and pillowlike, with large pockets of deflated bubbles on surface.

3. Brush waffle iron generously with butter. Ladle on 1/2 cup batter; close. Remove waffle with fork when indicator light shows it's done, 4-6 minutes. Repeat.

Note: For multigrain flour mix, mix in a bowl 1 cup each whole-wheat flour, oat flour, and barley flour; 1/2 cup each millet flour and rye flour. Whisk.

Per serving: 274 calories, 5 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 20 grams fat, 118 milligrams cholesterol, 253 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber. EndText

Makes 18 cookies

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1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

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1. Place two racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; heat to 350 degrees. Rub two baking sheets with butter. Sift dry ingredients onto board or countertop; mix. Add butter; rub in butter with the heel of your hand to make a crumbly dough. Knead dough together a few times.

2. Pinch off 1-tablespoon pieces of dough; roll into balls. Set each on countertop; gently flatten the ball into a circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough.

3. Transfer cookies to buttered baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between them. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until edges are dark golden, 20 minutes. Cool briefly on pan; transfer to racks to cool completely.

Per serving: 130 calories, 2 grams protein, 14 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams fat, 20 milligrams cholesterol, 82 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.EndText

Makes 9 muffins

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Butter for the tins

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

For peach topping:

1 large or 2 small peaches, ripe but firm

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon honey

For dry mix:

1 cup oat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For wet mix:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger

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1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350. Rub muffin tins with a 1/3-cup capacity with butter.

2. Grate the ginger into a large bowl. Some will be used for the topping and the rest for the batter.

3. For the topping, halve the peaches, remove the pit, and slice the halves into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Add the butter, honey, and 1 teaspoon of the grated ginger to a medium-size skillet. Place the skillet over a medium flame to melt the mixture, stirring to combine. Cook until the syrup begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Add the peaches, toss the pan to coat them with the syrup, and set aside.

4. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the grated ginger and whisk until throughly combined. Using a spatula, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently combine.

5. Scoop the batter into 9 muffin cups, using a spoon or an ice cream scoop. The batter should be slightly mounded above the edge. Toss the pan of peaches to coat them with the pan juices. Lay one slice of peach over each of the muffins, tucking a second slice partway into the batter. Any extra peaches are delicious over yogurt or ice cream. Spoon the pan juices over the peaches.

6. Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. The muffins are ready to come out when they smell nutty, their bottoms are golden in color (twist a muffin out of the pan to check), and the edges of the peaches are caramelized. Take the tins out of the oven, twist each muffin out, and place it on its side in the cup to cool. This ensures that the muffin stays crusty instead of getting soggy. These muffins are best eaten the same day they are made. They can also be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or frozen and reheated.

Note: To encourage even baking and to allow each muffin enough room to have an individual dome top, fill alternate cups in a 24-cup tin, or use two 12-cup tins.

Per muffin: 266 calories, 4 grams protein, 29 grams carbohydrates, 14 grams sugar, 15 grams fat, 59 milligrams cholesterol, 361 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber.EndText