Tag Archives: dessert

Lemon Almond Shortbread Cake aka…HEAVEN in your mouth!

2 Replies

Here’s another favorite from my childhood, before anyone ever uttered Paleo or Whole30 :).

It is in no way healthy, but again…worth every caloric bite.  I mean, what’s life without the occasional indulgence??  BORING 😉 Blog Lemon Almond Layer Shortbread Cake-3Blog Lemon Almond Layer Shortbread Cake-4Ingredients

Crust/Topping

  • 2 2/3 Cup Flour
  • 1 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 1 1/2 Soft Butter
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Egg

Filling

  • 1 Cup finely chopped almonds
  • 1/2 Cup Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon lemon peel
  • 1 Egg (slightly beaten)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 325 and grease a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan
  • Mix crust on low either in mixer or cuisinart til it forms a ball.
  • Divide dough in half.  Spread 1/2 in the bottom of the pan.  Put other half in the refrigerator.
  • Toss almonds in Cuisinart until finely chopped (or buy pre diced almonds).  Toss the rest of the ingredients in and blend.
  • Spread filling over crust to within a 1/2 inch of the edge.
  • Press remaining dough on waxed paper to 9 or 10 inch circle.  Place over filling and press into place.
  • Place foil underneath pan and bake for 55-60 minutes until edges get light brown.  It will leak all over your oven if you don’t.
  • Cool for at least 15 minutes.  It keeps really well, so I even make it the night before I want to eat it, and it’s still dense and moist.  YUM!!!  Serve all on it’s own, or with yogurt or ice cream and some fresh fruit!  ENJOY!dit-elle-Lauren

Summer Fruit & Coconut Milk Popsicles

1 Reply

It’s summer! And nothing says summer like sweet refreshing popsicles! This is a GREAT kitchen project to involve kids in – Ava LOVES to help make these. I chop the fruit, she adds it to the cup and pours the coconut milk in. Together we use the blender to mix it all up and then we fill the popsicle forms. And it is SO exciting to take them out of the freezer later. So easy, fun and these make a great summer snack.

Blog fruit coconut popsicles (2)

Ingredients

  • Note that quantities will depend on how many popsicles you are making – this batch made 8 for us. Also – you can throw in whatever fruit or berries you have. Strawberries make a beautiful pink color, blueberries will turn everything purple. Enjoy! 🙂
  • 1 peach or nectarine
  • 1 orange
  • 1 large slice of cantaloupe
  • 2/3 cup coconut milk

Directions

  • Peel, chop and blend everything till smooth
  • Pour in your popsicle molds
  • Freeze and serve

dit-elle-Esther

Lemon Granita

2 Replies

Well, it’s pushing 90 in Seattle this week which really is not bad given the damp chilly weather we had this winter. OK, 90 does start to feel a little hot, but that’s when you make awesome Lemon Granita! 🙂

Blog lemon honey granita

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar (or 2/3 cups honey)
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons chopped fresh basil, mint, lemon balm or rosemary (optional)
  • 1 1/4 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

Preparation

  • Combine water and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
  • Remove from heat and stir in optional fresh herbs. Cool to room temperature; strain.
  • Stir together herbed simple syrup, lemon juice and zest. Transfer to a non-reactive baking dish and freeze for 30 minutes. Thoroughly scrape the entire pan with a fork, breaking up ice crystals. Repeat this freezing and scraping process every 30 minutes, until granita is firm but not frozen solid, 2 to 4 hours.
  • Spoon into small glasses and serve.

Thanks and inspired by the PCC Granita de Limone recipe!

dit-elle-Esther

Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes // Gluten Free

6 Replies

What makes Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins even better?  FROSTING!! 🙂  I didn’t have any cream cheese on hand, so I thought I’d try something with goat cheese.  I love getting creative with what’s on hand!Blog Healthy Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes-1 Blog Healthy Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes-2I left the room for a minute.  When I came back, Maya had taken a bite out of every carrot and was working her way through this one 🙂Blog Healthy Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes-3Blog Healthy Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes-4I’m reposting the recipe for the muffins turned cupcakes 🙂

Ingredients (makes 12)

Muffins

  • 4-5 small organic carrots (about a cup)
  • 1/2 Cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 6 Medjul Dates (pitted)
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/8th teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/8th teaspoon salt
  • 1/8th teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8th teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I cheat and use this)
  • 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Pure Organic Honey
  • 1 Cup Cooked Quinoa
  • 1/4 Cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Frosting

  • 3 oz goat cheese (I get the little individual 1 oz packs from Trader Joe’s)
  • 2 6 oz containers of Non Fat Greek Yogurt
  • 1 Tablespoon Pure Organic Honey

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350
  • Peel and break in half the carrots and pulse in a Cuisinart til shredded.
  • Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse til blended.
  • Scoop 1/4 of a cup of the mixture into muffin tins
  • Sprinkle shredded coconut on top
  • Bake for 50-55 minutes.
  • Place a big dollop of frosting on and ENJOY!
  • These are really moist.  I’m not sure why.  They don’t do well if you seal them up in a container, so just refrigerate what doesn’t get gobbled up immediately, and they will not dry out.

Nutritional Facts (I entered all the ingredients into Calorie Count)

Cupcakes

Serves 12 //  Calories per frosted cupcake- 160 // Total Fat- 5.9g // Saturated Fat- 3.9g // Cholestererol- 35mg // Sodium- 178mg  // Total Carbohydrates-18.7g // Dietary Fiber-1.5 // Sugars- 12.6g // Protein- 8g

dit-elle-Lauren

Blueberry Paleo Muffins

Leave a reply

Yum yum yum. I love that these are dairy free, gluten free, and nut free! Oh, and delicious!

Blog blueberrypaleomuffins2 Blog blueberrypaleomuffins1

Ingredients

  • ½ cup coconut flour, sifted
  • small dash of sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 6 eggs
  • ⅓ cup agave nectar
  • ⅓ cup grapeseed oil (I used coconut oil, butter is great as well)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
  2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, agave, grapeseed oil and vanilla and blend well with a hand blender
  3. Mix dry ingredients into wet, blending with a hand mixer
  4. Gently fold in blueberries
  5. Place batter into a paper lined muffin pan
  6. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes
  7. Cool and serve

Thanks Elana’s Pantry!

dit-elle-Esther

Frozen Raspberry Cashew Cream Cake

1 Reply

It reached 90 degrees last week and the forecast is for 80+ all week. Yay!!!! This is when Seattle seems the most gorgeous place to live – snow capped mountains in the east and west, lake Washington on one side, the sound (ocean) on the other, green and lush and blue sky covering it all. Anyway, who wants to bake or cook when it’s 90 degrees out? Not me! We’re a little helpless here when it gets above 90 as most houses do not have A/C. Need a cool dessert? This is a no bake, super easy, frosty treat! Oh, and paleo(ish)! 🙂

Blog frozen raspberry paleo tart Blog frozen raspberry paleo tart 3 Blog frozen raspberry paleo tart 4 Blog frozenraspberrypaleotart2 Blog frozen raspberry paleo tart 5

Ingredients

Directions

  • Place dates, walnuts, coconut and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is fairly fine and uniform. When a small amount of the mixture is pinched between the fingers and sticks together, it is ready to form the crust. Press the crust mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform or pie pan, making sure the edges are well packed. Rinse the food processor well.
  • Place cashews, coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon zest in the food processor. Blend until very smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to help with the blending process.
  • Pour about 2/3 of the cashew mixture on top of the crust and smooth the surface. Add raspberries to the remaining filling and blend until smooth. Pour the raspberry mixture on top of the first layer.
  • Freeze cake until firm, 2 to 4 hours. Allow to warm up for 30 minutes before slicing. Garnish with fresh raspberries and serve.

Thanks PCC

dit-elle-Esther

Rhubarb Clafouti

1 Reply

Tart rhubarb pairs so well with this sweet custardy Clafouti. What’s Clafouti?  It’s a baked French dessert of fruit (traditionally black cherries) covered in batter and baked! In other words, yummy not-quite-cake, not-quite-pudding goodness. It would be delicious with fresh peaches or cherries, but given that it’s rhubarb season.. well enough said! I added some raspberries as well and it turned out great!

blog rhubarb clafouti 2 Blog rhubarb clafouti 1

Ingredients

  • 1.5 c. chopped rhubarb
  • 1/2 c. raspberries or strawberries
  • 4 Tbsps agave syrup (less if you are using another type of fruit, as rhubarb is so tart.. it needs a little extra sweetener)
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions

  • Put all ingredients except for rhubarb in blender and process for 1-2 minutes until frothy
  • Put chopped rhubarb (and optionally berries) in baking dish and cover with batter
  • Bake at 375* for ~45 minutes or until golden and fork comes out clean
  • Serve with cinnamon, a splash of heavy cream or ice cream (the French dish is served with a dusting of powdered sugar as well :-))

dit-elle-Esther

Denver Chocolate Sheet Cake

Leave a reply

This was probably the most requested dessert of my childhood (ok, behind my request for cherry chip cake with cherry icing every year for my birthday haha :)), and it is hands down the most requested dessert in my family now.  It is in no way healthy or paleo, but it is worth every caloric bite!  I don’t even like chocolate (I know, right?!), but this cake is so ooey goey and almost fudgelike, that I’ve honestly never met someone who didn’t love it!  How’s that for an endorsement? Blog Denver Chocolate Sheet Cake-1 Blog Denver Chocolate Sheet Cake-2The ONLY downside to it, is that it doesn’t “look” that pretty… The frosting is almost liquid like when you pour it on, but then it solidifies (hence it being easiest as a sheet cake).  As I was wishing that it looked better, I had the idea to refridgerate half the frosting, do it as a layer cake, and then drizzle the other half over.  I seriously, wanted to remake another one as soon as I thought about it!!  But…need a little break before I can handle all the temptation again 🙂  I’ll “edit to add” when I try it the other way! Blog Denver Chocolate Sheet Cake-3Little helper 🙂 Blog Denver Chocolate Sheet Cake-4Ingredients

Cake

  • 2 1/3 Cup Flour
  • 2 Cups Sugar
  • 1 1/4 Cups Water
  •  4 Tablespoons Cocoa
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 Cup Butter
  • 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
  • 2 Eggs Beaten

Frosting

  • 1/2 Cup Butter
  • 6 Tablespoons Buttermilk
  • 1 pound powder sugar
  • 4 Tablespoons Cocoa
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Directions

Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Mix flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl.
  • Bring butter, water, and Cocoa to boil in a saucepan, and then pour over dry ingredients.
  • Mix thoroughly.
  • Add Buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and beat well.
  • Pour into 9×13 inch pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until center is not sticky to the touch.

Frosting

  • When cake is done or almost done heat butter, cocoa, and buttermilk to a boil (I use the same pan that I used for the cake-win!)
  • Remove from the heat and mix in vanilla and sugar (you can add walnuts, but I’m not a big fan :))
  • Frosting will be very runny, but pour over the cake before it cools.  The frosting will harden to a soft fudgelike consistency, and it traps in moisture of the cake!  Takes a few hours to harden, so keep in mind when you are baking.  I usually make it the morning of, or you can make it the day before.  It stays so moist, that it’s just as good the next day!

Great with Ice cream, or all by itself.

ENJOY!

dit-elle-Lauren

Rhubarb Crisp

1 Reply

Love rhubarb? Me too! Rhubarb seems to grow well in the Pacific NW climate, and makes a wonderful filling for pies, crisps, cobblers.. It’s the season, so here’s another rhubarb winner – the classic crisp!

Blog rhubarbcrisp3 blog rhubarbcrisp2C Blog rhubarbcrisp1

Ingredients

Filling

  • 4 c. rhubarb, diced
  • 2/3 c. sugar (I used coconut sugar)
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping

  • 1 c. rolled oats
  • 1/4 c. butter
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 c. almonds, sliced (optional)

Instructions

  • Toss the filling ingredients until evenly coated
  • Pour into 8×8 baking dish
  • Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over rhubarb
  • Bake @ 375 for ~35 minutes or until golden and bubbly
  • Serve with vanilla ice cream or coconut milk! 🙂

Thanks for the inspiration – TheBakingBeauties.com

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Rhubarb Strawberry Tart

2 Replies

It’s rhubarb season! My little crop of rhubarb has done very well this year, shooting up thick strong red stalks that make perfect sauce or pies!

Blog paleorhubarbstrawberrytart3 Blog paleorhubarbstrawberrytart2 Blog paleorhubarbstrawberrytart1

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 1.5 cups nut flour (almond, cashew, etc)
  • 1/2 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
  • 6 dates, pitted
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract and/or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling

  • 2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1-2 cups berries, fresh or frozen (raspberries, strawberries)
  • 4-6 dates, pitted
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Agave syrup (optional, to taste if more sweetness is desired)

Directions

  • Place all crust ingredients in a food processor and blend until a dough forms and everything is thoroughly mixed
  • Place all filling ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil, let simmer until fruit is soft, then process with a hand blender until it turns into a smooth puree
  • Pat crust down into a glass pie dish until you get an even and consistent thickness
  • Pour filling over crust and chill in fridge until ready to serve
  • Garnish with fresh berries, mint leaves or edible flowers
  • Enjoy with fresh coconut milk, or ice cream for a non paleo treat! 🙂

dit-elle-Esther