The Strawberries are Coming: Again, Almost Amanda's Strawberry Tart

I picked the first handful of garden strawberries this morning, marking the beginning of my 2014 berry season out in my yard. I am planning to make this pie again as soon as full production begins, hopefully within a week, if the sun comes out and it stays dry for a few days. My pal Brad may just get a homemade strawberry tart for his birthday dinner. Please enjoy this post from about a year ago. It's one of the best strawberry tarts you'll eat.

A day or so ago, I was ogling a beautiful peach tart over on Food52. Even Pinned it to make soon. Peaches, so far are not great, and a peach tart will have to wait a few weeks until the height of the season. What I do have is a small glut of homegrown strawberries, small sweet Mara des Bois. And Chuck has been asking for a strawberry pie since I brought in the first bowlful from the garden. Amanda Hesser wrote the recipe on Food52, and she got me when she said the recipe had been her mother's. I am a total sucker for family recipes. I started to read the comments, too and found that many other cooks, since the recipe is a couple of years old, used fruit other than peaches with great success.

I'd told Chuck there would be no strawberry pie since I'd used my last frozen homemade pie shell, and I refuse to use store-bought. He uses them all the time, but I won't. Any fool can make a decent filling; I rest my laurels on my butter and lard pie crust. So, with some trepidation I decided to try this press-in crust from Amanda's recipe that uses oil. Handed-down recipes are almost always good, and this is no exception. I made a few minor recipe changes, besides using strawberries, but it's still pretty much Amanda's mom's recipe, I think. Easy to toss together, for sure. So this version is for you, Amanda, and please thank your mom from all of us.

The best tip ever is in the video with the original recipe over on Food52: pat the crust into the pan from the rim toward the center. With a big tart like this, sometimes it feels like you won't have enough dough to make a nice rim if you start from the center out. This method totally eliminates the problem.

This strawberry tart is wonderful. The berries get an almost jammy consistency, but still have a fresh berry flavor. Please try to use good, local ripe berries for this; those huge, shipped-far, underripe berries just don't match the deliciousness of  the local ones.

Almost Amanda's Strawberry Tart
Too hot to cut yet, but, oh boy!

Almost Amanda's Strawberry Tart

Serves 8
Adapted slightly from Amanda Hesser's Peach Tart on Food52

Note: oils seeds are among the most genetically modified crops on the planet, and the only way to assure you are not using GMO oil is to use organic oils. Light flavored olive oils, are usually overly processed, too. So choose your ingredients accordingly. I use all organic products, but choosing organic oil is probably the most important.

Tools: 11"(or a 9") tart pan with removable bottom


1-1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
3/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup organic canola, corn or vegetable oil
2T light cream or organic coconut creamer
1/2  teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1 quart small strawberries, hulled and halved lengthwise (about 2-1/2 lb)

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.  In a bowl, mix together with a whisk, 1-1/2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. In another bowl, whisk together the oil, the cream and the almond extract. Pour the oil mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork until it's all just combined and crumbly, don't over work it. Dump it into the tart pan, and working from the rim edge towards the center, pat the dough in place, about 1/8" thick.

2. Mix with your fingertips in a bowl, the 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1/4  teaspoon of salt and the butter until it's crumbly and sandy looking.

3. Starting out at the rim, start placing the berry halves, cut side down, in tight concentric circles on top of the dough. Fill in gaps with smaller berries or tear off pieces of strawberry. Sprinkle all of the the sugar-flour mixture evenly over the top of the fruit, and bake for 35 to 45 (mine took 35) minutes until the pastry is lightly browned and the berries look bubbly and jam-like. Cool on a rack and serve at room temp or slightly chilled, with healthy dollops of whipped creme fraiche or whipped cream.

Shockingly Delicious: Mango Banana Curry Ice Cream

Creamy, sweet, spicy, each flavor pops on your palate in harmony. Shockingly delicious, Mango Banana Curry Ice Cream. Must. Have. More. 


I know there are plenty of unusual ice creams out there. Sweet corn. Beet. But this is different. It's strangely addicting. Seriously addicting. Like you want to grab the tub and lock yourself away with it so you don't have to share. I served this to my roommate John and his unsuspecting sister Susan, along with some homemade vanilla ice cream, and we all wanted seconds on the Mango, Banana Curry ice cream. And then thirds. Poor vanilla.


I'm a sucker for the Ataulfo mangoes when they come into season in the spring. I eat too many, really. After the first couple of weeks, though, I usually have more of them parked in the fridge, dead ripe, than I can eat. So sometimes I freeze them. As I put a bag of the peeled and pitted mangoes into the freezer, I saw a couple of forlorn-looking frozen bananas on my frozen fruit shelf (yes, I have a frozen fruit shelf in my big freezer). They wound up there when they were too soft to eat, and were destined for banana muffins that I never  made.  A lightbulb moment: Cold- Mango- Banana. Hmmm...ho-hum....wait...Indian seasonings work in sweet mango  chutneys...Eureka.

Rich, creamy golden goodness,  Mango Banana Curry ice cream

This Mango Banana Curry ice cream is absolutely ravishing, both to the eye, in it's bright yellow hue, and on the palate. Be brave, make it today. I promise it'll be the best thing you've eaten this year so far.

Shockingly Delicious: Mango Banana Curry Ice Cream

Note: The vodka (alcohol) is simply to keep the ice cream from getting icy and and rock hard while it ripens in the freezer after churning. If you can't or won't use it, leave it out, but you'll have to take the ice cream out of the freezer to let it thaw a bit before serving. And use a sweet or mild curry powder here, you don't want to pack heat here, though it probably wouldn't be a bad thing if your family and guests are into it.

Mango Banana Curry Ice Cream

1 lb. peeled and diced mango, (preferably Ataulfo Mango in season) though thawed frozen mango works

2 very ripe medium-small bananas, peeled and mashed
1/4 cup water

3/4 cup cane sugar

2 tsp. sweet curry powder (I use Penzeys)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup creme fraiche or natural sour cream
2T vodka (or a light colored rum would work, too, yum)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Juice from 1/2 lime

In a medium saucepan, place the mango, the bananas and the water. Add the sugar and the curry powder, stir and cook over low heat until the mango softens, and becomes sauce-like. Place the mango mixture in a food processor, or blender container. Add the cream, creme fraiche, the vodka, the vanilla and the lime juice. Puree until smooth. Place in a metal bowl and chill for at least 2 hours or until the mixture is below 40ºF. Or put the mixture into a zip-top bag, and place into an ice and water bath until fully cold.

Place into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. After churning, freeze the mixture in a freezer container for three hours or more to ripen and harden. Makes about 1 .5 pints.

Baking Hack Redux: Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

This is a rerun. A very, very good rerun. This cake is wonderful. But still a rerun, and I have a reasonably good excuse: I haven't been posting in quite a while because my sweet, brave husband died much sooner than expected from pancreatic cancer back in late February. Been a very hard couple of months. I have lost my blogging mojo; I have lost my zest for many things, but I am putting one foot in front of the other, and really want to get back to cooking and blogging. So I thought it would be a great idea to sign myself up for BlogHer's May challenge to post to my blog every day in May. The topic we're writing around...and on, is "Nourish". Because if anything, this blog nourishes me  in so many ways, and I hope it does you, too. Holy Crap. What was I thinking. Of course I totally forgot until just now, and it's May 1st at 7 PM. So, here I am whomping up an oldie but goodie, and will get myself in gear earlier tomorrow. Promise.  Luckily this cake is SO good, I feel no guilt whatsoever.

Cake Hack: Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

I will admit, that one of the best coconut layer cakes I ever ate was from Joanne Chang's"Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe". I will also admit that while delicious, it is not the fastest, least messy recipe, either. In a weak moment, a few months ago, I promised my friend Matt a coconut birthday cake, completely forgetting the fact that his birthday comes when I am frantically getting the garden ready for the growing season. I had to come up with a cake that wouldn't take a half day to make since I needed some of that day to fool with raised beds and irrigation systems. It also had to be a wonderful cake since Matt is a fine cook / chef. Luckily he's no food snob, but he sure knows merely "good" from good.
Yes, I am making excuses for this cake hack. But this cake is good, really good, and as long as you don't go all food-snotty on me I'll share the recipe, because there are things like cake mix, and marshmallow fluff in it. You don't need any excuses to make it, not even a birthday. Just make it because it's Monday and you survived the weekend. Make it and hold your head high.

Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

For the cake:

1 16.25 oz. box white cake mix
cooking spray
1-1/4 cups canned coconut milk, full fat
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
3 egg whites
1-1/2 tsp. natural coconut extract

For the frosting and filling:

16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
14 oz. tub of marshmallow fluff, minus 1/4 cup
2 tsp. natural coconut extract
1 14 oz. bag of sweetened, flaked coconut


1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF or to the temperature recommended on your cake mix box. Spray 2 round cake pans (8" or 9") with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Mix the cake according to the package directions, substituting the coconut milk for the water or other liquid, the coconut oil for the vegetable oil, and after adding the egg whites, add the coconut extract. Beat on low speed with a hand mixer until just blended. 

3. Pour the batter into the pans, dividing it evenly between them, and bake until it just springs back when touched. Use the box instructions as a guideline, but mine was done in about 30 minutes. cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn the cakes onto a rack to cool completely

4. When the cake has cooled completely, place the softened cream cheese into a medium mixing bowl, and with an electric hand mixer whip the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the coconut extract, and then gradually add the marshmallow fluff a few spoonfuls at a time until the frosting is of a spreadable consistency.

5. Remove about 2 cups of the frosting to another container, and mix in 1 cup of the flaked coconut. This is the filling for between the layers. Cover both bowls and chill for about an hour.

6. Set one cake layer, domed side down on a cake plate and spread the filling evenly over the top. Place the second layer, flat side down on the filling and covert the cake with the frosting. Once the cake is completely iced, carefully press palmfuls of flaked coconut around the sides of the cake...feel free to do the top, too, if you wish. Store covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours, or or covered and refrigerated for up to 3 day, although it won't last that long. Serves 8 more or less...

Almost Amanda's Strawberry Tart

A day or so ago, I was ogling a beautiful peach tart over on Food52. Even Pinned it to make soon. Peaches, so far are not great, and a peach tart will have to wait a few weeks until the height of the season. What I do have is a small glut of homegrown strawberries, small sweet Mara des Bois. And Chuck has been asking for a strawberry pie since I brought in the first bowlful from the garden. Amanda Hesser wrote the recipe on Food52, and she got me when she said the recipe had been her mother's. I am a total sucker for family recipes. I started to read the comments, too and found that many other cooks, since the recipe is a couple of years old, used fruit other than peaches with great success.

I'd told Chuck there would be no strawberry pie since I'd used my last frozen homemade pie shell, and I refuse to use store-bought. He uses them all the time, but I won't. Any fool can make a decent filling; I rest my laurels on my butter and lard pie crust. So, with some trepidation I decided to try this press-in crust from Amanda's recipe that uses oil. Handed-down recipes are almost always good, and this is no exception. I made a few minor recipe changes, besides using strawberries, but it's still pretty much Amanda's mom's recipe, I think. Easy to toss together, for sure. So this version is for you, Amanda, and please thank your mom from all of us.

The best tip ever is in the video with the original recipe over on Food52: pat the crust into the pan from the rim toward the center. With a big tart like this, sometimes it feels like you won't have enough dough to make a nice rim if you start from the center out. This method totally eliminates the problem.

This strawberry tart is wonderful. The berries get an almost jammy consistency, but still have a fresh berry flavor. Please try to use good, local ripe berries for this; those huge, shipped-far, underripe berries just don't match the deliciousness of  the local ones.

Almost Amanda's Strawberry Tart
Too hot to cut yet, but, oh boy!

Almost Amanda's Strawberry Tart
Serves 8
Adapted slightly from Amanda Hesser's Peach Tart on Food52

Note: oils seeds are among the most genetically modified crops on the planet, and the only way to assure you are not using GMO oil is to use organic oils. Light flavored olive oils, are usually overly processed, too. So choose your ingredients accordingly. I use all organic products, but choosing organic oil is probably the most important.

Tools: 11"(or a 9") tart pan with removable bottom


1-1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
3/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup organic canola, corn or vegetable oil
2T light cream or organic coconut creamer
1/2  teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1 quart small strawberries, hulled and halved lengthwise (about 2-1/2 lb)

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.  In a bowl, mix together with a whisk, 1-1/2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. In another bowl, whisk together the oil, the cream and the almond extract. Pour the oil mixture into the flour mixture and mix gently with a fork until it's all just combined and crumbly, don't over work it. Dump it into the tart pan, and working from the rim edge towards the center, pat the dough in place, about 1/8" thick.

2. Mix with your fingertips in a bowl, the 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1/4  teaspoon of salt and the butter until it's crumbly and sandy looking.

3. Starting out at the rim, start placing the berry halves, cut side down, in tight concentric circles on top of the dough. Fill in gaps with smaller berries or tear off pieces of strawberry. Sprinkle all of the the sugar-flour mixture evenly over the top of the fruit, and bake for 35 to 45 (mine took 35) minutes until the pastry is lightly browned and the berries look bubbly and jam-like. Cool on a rack and serve at room temp or slightly chilled, with healthy dollops of whipped creme fraiche or whipped cream.

Brown Sugar Roasted Strawberries with Vanilla

Brown Sugar Roasted Strawberries with Vanilla,
 and yep, in a big Weck Jar from Amy

I have this strawberry bed. It was completely unintentional; they came free with my seed order about three years ago. They didn't look like much, but the variety was called Mara des Bois, a French bred berry that is sweet like a woodland strawberry, and not quite as small, but easily cultivated. I plopped the half-dozen plants in an unused corner of the garden and promptly ignored them for the most part.

Few fruit the first season, and last year I DID feed them, but had so much trouble keeping them properly bird-netted that the birds won nearly all of the berries. This year I figured out a much simpler and effective way to net them, and with some compost and tending, we're getting a real crop. I picked a little over two pounds of deep red, sweet homegrown strawberries. More to come, too.  Strawberry plants do multiply and those original half-dozen have begat at least four dozen plants. I highly recommend the variety; Jung Seeds has Mara des Bois strawberry plants at a very reasonable price. You'll never look at one of those white cored, bland berries coming from the left coast quite the same way after you grow some at home.

Still, a couple of pounds of berries is quite a lot for the two of us to consume, and I'm really not ready to start freezing stuff yet. A few weeks ago I had a dessert in a local restaurant that was topped with roasted strawberries. Roasted berries were quite the thing a several years back, and I'd forgotten how roasting strawberries concentrates the flavors. It is also a great way to make a bounty of berries last in the fridge, unless you eat them all with a spoon right out of the jar. These are won-der-ful. Chuck really wanted me to make a pie, but there are no homemade pie crusts in my freezer and they're on my to-do list. Far down. But it did get me thinking. Suppose I doodle up the berries with some sugar and vanilla, roast them and then, if I make some quick tart shells later in the week I can just spoon in the roasted strawberries. And using a dark sugar like coconut or turbinado will add a rich, deep, roasty note of flavor. If you can't find either of those sugars, granulated Sugar in the Raw, or plain old granulated brown sugar will work. But even if I don't use the roasted berries in tarts, I can see a roasted strawberry fool (whipped cream and roasted strawberries) or even in a dish with a dab of creme fraiche or Greek yogurt.

Note: If you can't get local berries, wait until you can. Makes a huge difference.

Big flavor from just a few ingredients,
just make sure your ingredients are top-notch.

Brown Sugar Roasted Strawberries with Vanilla

2 lb. ripe local strawberries, stemmed, and halved if larger than 1"
4 tsp. vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup granular brown sugar (coconut, turbinado, or raw sugar)
pinch of sea salt

1. In a medium bowl, mix the vanilla bean paste, the brown sugar, and the salt until evenly mixed. Add the berries and stir gently until the berries are covered with the sugar mixture. Let the berry mixture stand for 5-10 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Spray a rimmed baking sheet lightly with cooking oil spray and set aside.

3. Spread the strawberries evenly in the prepared pan, including all the juices, and roast for 10 minutes. Stir gently and return to the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes until the tops of the berries are just beginning to caramelize. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Gorgeous, huh?

4. Carefully, spoon the berries into a heatproof jar, and pour the juices over top. If the juice is a bit too runny, you can reduce it over medium heat in a saucepan until it's as thick as you like before pouring over the jarred berries.

Makes about 3 cups, with juice.

Baking Hack: Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

Cake Hack: Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

I will admit, that one of the best coconut layer cakes I ever ate was from Joanne Chang's
"Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe". I will also admit that while delicious, it is not the fastest, least messy recipe, either. In a weak moment, a few months ago, I promised my friend Matt a coconut birthday cake, completely forgetting the fact that his birthday comes when I am frantically getting the garden ready for the growing season. I had to come up with a cake that wouldn't take a half day to make since I needed some of that day to fool with raised beds and irrigation systems. It also had to be a wonderful cake since Matt is a fine cook / chef. Luckily he's no food snob, but he sure knows merely "good" from good.

Yes, I am making excuses for this cake hack. But this cake is good, really good, and as long as you don't go all food-snotty on me I'll share the recipe, because there are things like cake mix, and marshmallow fluff in it. You don't need any excuses to make it, not even a birthday. Just make it because it's Monday and you survived the weekend. Make it and hold your head high.

Coconut Layer Cake with Fluffy Coconut Frosting

For the cake:

1 16.25 oz. box white cake mix
cooking spray
1-1/4 cups canned coconut milk, full fat
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
3 egg whites
1-1/2 tsp. natural coconut extract

For the frosting and filling:

16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
14 oz. tub of marshmallow fluff, minus 1/4 cup
2 tsp. natural coconut extract
1 14 oz. bag of sweetened, flaked coconut


1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF or to the temperature recommended on your cake mix box. Spray 2 round cake pans (8" or 9") with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Mix the cake according to the package directions, substituting the coconut milk for the water or other liquid, the coconut oil for the vegetable oil, and after adding the egg whites, add the coconut extract. Beat on low speed with a hand mixer until just blended.

3. Pour the batter into the pans, dividing it evenly between them, and bake until it just springs back when touched. Use the box instructions as a guideline, but mine was done in about 30 minutes. cool in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn the cakes onto a rack to cool completely

4. When the cake has cooled completely, place the softened cream cheese into a medium mixing bowl, and with an electric hand mixer whip the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the coconut extract, and then gradually add the marshmallow fluff a few spoonfuls at a time until the frosting is of a spreadable consistency.

5. Remove about 2 cups of the frosting to another container, and mix in 1 cup of the flaked coconut. This is the filling for between the layers. Cover both bowls and chill for about an hour.

6. Set one cake layer, domed side down on a cake plate and spread the filling evenly over the top. Place the second layer, flat side down on the filling and covert the cake with the frosting. Once the cake is completely iced, carefully press palmfuls of flaked coconut around the sides of the cake...feel free to do the top, too, if you wish. Store covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours, or or covered and refrigerated for up to 3 day, although it won't last that long. Serves 8 more or less...

Fee, Fie, Foe, Friday: Remember Junket Desserts?

Junket Chocolate Custard. Those three words were just about my favorite answer when I asked my Mom what we were having for dessert. It wasn't too sweet, and not terribly chocolatey, but it was creamy and delicious. It was hugely popular through the 1960's but seemed to just slide over the horizon. I hadn't seen those iconic Junket boxes in the supermarket in years. Until today.


For those of you not born around the middle of the last century, Junket custard is a milk custard that is thickened using rennet. Rennet is an enzyme that causes milk to coagulate and separate into curds and whey. Most cheeses generally are made with some sort of rennet. Rennet can come from animal sources, vegetable sources and microbial sources and others  Junket is not made form animal rennet, but vegetable rennet. The topic came up a couple of weeks ago while my friend Sue and I were trying to come up with a vegetarian panna cotta. Most of them are made with commercial gelatin, which is an animal product. We were speculating if the rennet in it would thicken cream, but neither of us had any Junket to try it.

So as Chuck and I were tooling down the baking aisle in our local Wegman's, what should I spot out of the corner of my eye above the myriad of pudding mixes, but those little iconic boxes. Not the dessert mix, but Junket Tablets. Now I can experiment. Except that I forgot to buy cream....  So when I get something good going, I'll let you all know.

Just when we'd given up hope of finding Junket...there it was1

Peachy Keen Cobbler Cake: Another Grainless Wonder

Another "bean" cake? Yep. It's absolutely peachy good, too. Cross between a peach cobbler and a cake. When you turn it out of the pan, the top has the soft, juicy texture of a cobbler with cake at the bottom. Homely looking like a cobbler, but you can slice it like a cake, and so, so delish. Add some whipped cream, or some (low carb??) ice cream and it's peachy heaven. I also ran some nice raspberries through a sieve and covered the plate with the puree. Kind of a "Melba-ish" flavor, with the tart berries offsetting the sweet peach dessert.

Deprivation.  One of the things that drives people back to their less healthy eating habits is deprivation. If I didn't have one of these cakes or cupcakes lurking in the fridge, I'd really feel deprived. It's hard to stick to a no sugar, no grain eating plan when you're constantly surrounded by breads and cakes at home and at work. And then, gluten free desserts available are generally loaded with sugar and calories and the sugar-free options generally on the market are shot full of artificial sweeteners. That puts those of us who avoid grain and sugar either in the "no dessert category" or we have to find something else equally delicious. This, I think fills the bill. It ain't pretty, but boy, is it good.

While still low carb, this peach dessert is not as low as some of the others I've made, but I was starting to see the end of the peach season looming, and peaches, luckily, are not so high in carbohydrate that we can't indulge every now and then. The peaches I used today are from a local orchard, Highland Orchards, and they are BIG, as big as a baseball, and sweet. Go now and look for some local peaches before they become extinct until next summer. The other nice thing is that this is largely made in the blender, so the clean up post baking is easy.

Peachy Keen Grain-Free Cobbler Cake

Peach Cake, raspberries and whipped cream. No grain.  Life is good.

Ingredients:

1T Lime juice
1T honey
2T water
2T granular erythritol
2 Large peaches,  peeled, halved, pitted and sliced 1/8" thick
1/2 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of sea salt
7T coconut flour
5 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
1 15 oz. can of navy beans, drained and rinsed
4 tsp. natural vanilla extract.
2 tsp. almond extract
3/4 cup granular erythritol
1/2 tsp. pure stevia extract powder
6T melted butter, cooled slightly

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9" round cake pan with cooking spray, and then place a round of cooking parchment into the bottom and spray it, too.

2. Place he lime juice, honey, water and the 2T of erythritol in a small saucepan and bring gently to a boil stirring to dissolve the erythritol when the erythritol has dissolved, carefully pour the syrup over the bottom of the prepared cake pan and arrange the sliced peaches in concentric circles over the syrup. Set the pan aside.

3. In a small bowl, mix together the nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder,sea salt and the coconut flour with  whisk or fork until blended and set aside.

4. Into your blender container place the eggs and yolk, the drained beans, the vanilla, the almond extract,the erythritol and the stevia and process until smooth. add rhe melted buter and process again for a few seconds until mixed. add the dry ingredients from the small bowl and blend until the mixture is completely homogenous, about 1 minute. Stir if necessary and blend again until smooth.

5. Carefully pour the batter from the blender container over the peaches,  smack the cake pan on the counter a couple of times to release any trapped air, and place it in the oven. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a cake tester or a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Cool the cooked cake on a rack for about 30 minutes before inverting onto a flat serving plate, and carefully peeling off the parchment. Garnish with whipped cream and raspberries if you like. Serves 8. if you aren't too greedy.

Grainless Wonder: Lime Coconut Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

Put the Lime in the Coconut and eat them all up.

Coconut Lime Cupcakes. She put the lime in the coconut...I was so enamored of the cake Chuck made for me for my birthday, that I just had to try another version, using white beans. Honestly, if I didn't tell you they were made with beans, stevia and erythritol, you'd never know. Coconut and lime seem summery to me, and I also had the ingredients on hand. Noting having to run to the store is key for me. 

♫ Brother bought a coconut, he bought it for a dime

His sister had another one, she paid it for a lime.

She put the lime in the coconut, she drank them both up...♫

Every time I say the name of these cupcakes, I want to start singing the Harry Nilsson version of this song. Fortunately, this cupcake recipe will not give anyone a bellyache ( like the song says) because it is grain free, gluten free and sugar free. It's also pretty low carb, too, by my calculations, less than 6g per cupcake. Your calculation may differ.



No coconut shreds in them, but they do have excellent coconut flavor, ideally use the Frontier coconut flavoring; but real coconut extract will do. Coconut flour and coconut oil really up the flavor ante. The lime keeps them from being too sweet. You can buy the Boyajian Lime oil here, or over at Amazon, and in some good baking stores. You can leave it out if you want, but I'd double up on the zest if you do. I started out with a recipe I found called Healthy Yellow Cupcakes over on the blog Healthy Indulgences, and ran with it. They're topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting pumped up with some lime zest, lime juice and lime oil. I've used navy beans, as they have the least beany flavor, which totally disappears after the cakes stand for about 8 hours. Keep the frosted cupcakes refrigerated. We ate our first cupcakes after about 5 hours and noticed no bean taste at all. Just deliciousness.

Almost eaten all up.

Adapted from Healthy Indulgences

Coconut Lime Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

1 15 oz. can of navy beans, drained

6 large eggs

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

3/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract

2/3 cup granular erythritol

2 tsp. natural vanilla extract

2 tsp. Frontier alcohol-free Coconut Flavoring

1/2 tsp. Boyajian Lime oil

6 packed tablespoons of coconut flour

2 T lime zest

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place 12 cupcake papers into a  cupcake pan, and spray the inside of the papers with cooking spray. Set aside. In a blender container or a food processor, place the beans, and all the ingredients through the lime oil. In a small bowl, mix the coconut flour, the lime zest the salt, the baking soda, and the baking powder. Set aside. Puree or process until perfectly smooth, scraping down the container as necessary. Add the coconut flour mixture and blend or process until mixed in completely. Fill the 12 prepared cupcake cups with the batter, place in the oven, and bake about 20-25 minutes until they are beginning to brown at the edges. Let stand on a rack about 10 minutes, then carefully remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool completely on a rack before frosting. 

Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup granular erythritol

1/8 teaspoon pure stevia extract

1/2 tsp. Boyajian Lime oil

3 T lime zest

2T fresh lime juice

Pinch of sea salt

With a hand mixer, beat everything together in a medium size bowl, beat about 3-4 minutes until the erythritol dissolves and is no longer grainy. Frost cupcakes as desired. Make enough frosting for 12 cupcakes.