Monday, October 15, 2012

'3-sister' berry Paleo dessert

I needed a dessert and I needed one FAST.

I needed something to bring to a dinner with friends (European) and I couldn't use the general 'dessert' ingredients (sugar, grains, dairy) because of the Lurong Living Challenge I'm doing. I also knew that less sweet dessert are preferred by many Europeans, so I figured a paleo dessert might just work!

So I did a quick inventory and realized I had NO eggs, NO bananas, NO apples, (NO FRESH FRUIT-it's the day BEFORE my weekly grocery store run PEOPLE!) but I had 2 bags of frozen strawberries, 1 bag of blueberries, and 1 bag of raspberries. I also had multiple bags of fresh walnuts, walnut oil, coconut nectar, korintje cinnamon, and unsweetened coconut flakes.

So I put the fruit on the stove and added 2/3 cup of coconut nectar and 1 tbs of Mexican vanilla. I cooked the fruit down until it the the consistency was jam like.

In the food processor, I coarse chopped 1-16oz bag of walnuts. I mixed the nuts with 1/3 cup of coconut nectar, and 1 tbls of cinnamon, and 1/3 cup(+/-) of walnut oil.

This crust mixture was enough for 2 dishes (and about a cup left over). I pressed it down with a fork on the bottom and partly the sides.
I scooped 3 cups of the fruit mixture into each dish.
I sprinkled on top about 1/3 cup of the crust mixture and 1/3 cup of the unsweetened coconut.

I cooked it for about 45 minutes @ 350 degrees. When I pulled it out I was nervous b/c the color darkened considerably and it was still wiggly.

After the dinner (the dessert was in the freezer still cooling), I served the others my dessert and a scoop of gelato (Tahitian vanilla and a Caribbean coconut). (Matt and I stopped by BiLO to grab the gelato on the way to the dinner party.)

The dessert was a hit with the texture and natural fruit flavor. It wasn't sweet in the conventional sense, which allowed for the gelato flavor to really be present.

I only brought 1 dish of the dessert over and I barely had enough for the 6 of us there.
I was SO grateful that my dessert experiment worked out b/c now I have a go to recipe for when I want something fruity and in the spring, when the fruit is fresh, I'll have an amazing dessert to share. :)


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