dessert

Pawpaw Carmel Ice-Cream

This is all about a flavor sensation: pawpaw. They are the only native to America tropical fruit. Looks like a small funky green mango. tastes like a banana and a mango had a baby but with a touch of wild toasted coconut flavor. Squishy soft yellow flesh with dark brown seeds embedded in its flesh. Its skin can look pretty mangy but when you peel the skin off the insides are ripe and perfect for eating. They are not sold commercially as their season is very short and they are a delicate fruit that doesn’t travel well. They grow in the wild in the woods in the mid-Atlantic states, but I know someone with 2 trees, and they share with me. The first few times I ate it I was not sure I liked it; too weird a flavor. I persevered at eating a few and grew to find them interesting eaten fresh. Eventually I fell completely in love with these squishy treats.

I mostly eat them raw, but I am branching out this fall. I made a pawpaw pie yesterday, tasty especially with a dollop of freshly whipped cream on top. The other week I made a batch of pawpaw jam. Very tasty it was. This ice cream is my latest thing. I took an ice cream recipe out of my old Betty Crocker cookbook and revised it and made a small 1/3 batch.

I used coconut palm sugar and that gave it a delicate caramel flavor that was very appealing. You could use brown sugar or even plain white sugar if you can’t get the coconut palm sugar, but it won’t be as delicious. I also use the coconut palm sugar as it is low on the hypoglycemic index making it a healthy choice for a pre-diabetic diet.

It needs heavy cream for that rich texture and flavor. I don’t have any suggestions for a substitute. If you get your hands on some pawpaws, this is the recipe to try out with them!

PawPaw Caramel Ice-Cream

1/3 cup whole milk

2 Tbsp. coconut palm sugar

a pinch of sea salt

1 large or extra large egg yolk

1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream.

Directions: pour the milk, sugar and sea salt in a medium 1 qt sauce pan, add the egg yolk, Beat with a whisk constantly as you heat it on medium heat. Once the outside edge has lots of tiny bubbles turn it off, add the vanilla and the cream. Pour in a dish and chill in the fridge until cold; at least an hour.

Peel and seed 1-3 pawpaws until you have a heaping half cup of pulp. Chop up with a knife. Add to the custard and pour in your ice cream maker; I have a Donvier hand crank machine; French and a tiny capacity so this small recipe is as much as I can make in it for a batch. You could easily double or triple this recipe for a bigger ice cream maker. Turn until firm and then scrape into a freezer container and chill 1-2 hours to allow it to ripen. Enjoy!

Blueberry Apple Cobbler September Delight!

I make a lot of blueberry cobbler when we are camping. Since the blueberry season is pretty much over, I decided to add some fresh apple cubes and they made it taste so bright and lively, cobbler delightful!

This recipe is modified from one in Bette Hagman’s book, More from the Gluten-Free Gourmet and is based on a flour mix that will give you 4 cups of the dry ingredients.  One cup is the base for an 8×8 pan of cobbler topping.  I bet two cups dry mix will make a big 9×13 cobbler. Store the dry mix in an airtight container in the freezer to keep it fresh.

I have tried a number of cobbler recipes but nothing has been better than this one, so I generally stick to what works for me.  But I have modified it a bit lately; cut out one egg, less milk, coconut palm sugar in the filling and I grate cold butter on large hole side for great dumpling texture.

I always get the fruit cooking before putting the topping together so the fruit is hot and ready for the topping and can go right into the oven. I always let it stand 10-20 minutes as it is way too hot to eat fresh off the campfire or the oven.

Dry Cobbler Mix

2 ¼ cups white rice flour

½ cup potato starch

½ cup tapioca flour

1 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/3 cup sugar

Cobbler Topping

1 cup dry baking mix

1 egg

2 tbsp grated cold butter

1/4 cup milk/buttermilk

½ tsp. vanilla

Mix the wet ingredients and then add to the dry mix in a big bowl. Grate in butter BEFORE adding the wet ingredients; i stir it gently after grating it in.

Fruit Filling

2 cups blueberries

2 cups cubed peeled and cored apples; 2 medium apples was enough.

1/3 ½cup coconut palm sugar

2-3 tbsp. GF flour like rice flour, tapioca flour (use 3 if juicy)

½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Put the fruit in a thick bottomed saucepan. Stir together the sugar, cinnamon and flour and mix into the fruit.  Cook on the stove top for 3-5 minutes until it is thickened and hot.  Pour into a buttered 8 inch square or round oven pan, top with big blops of the cobbler topping. Bake immediately: at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  The top should be light brown and spring back when you poke it with your finger.  If it looks damp or squishy bake it 5 more minutes. This happens if I use more than 4 cups of fruit; slows it down, sometimes even ten extra minutes if you put 5 or so cups of fruit in it.

Let cool 10-20 minutes before serving as it will burn your mouth right out of the oven!  Some people love it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Cobbler is perfect just on its own.

Note: if you use oil and almond milk then this cobbler will be dairy free.  Spray the cobbler pan with cooking oil instead of rubbing with butter. I think you can use any sort of milk you can find or even fruit juice.

No new pictures; we were camping and I didn’t take any pictures.

Rhubarb Crisp For Dessert…or Breakfast.

It’s still rhubarb season, at least at my house and garden. This dessert is super easy and super yummy. I swear it tasted like there were cherries in there! I never made rhubarb crisp until last spring; I make apple crisp all the time in the fall and winter…so glad I tried it.  I am sharing this tasty quick dessert with you once again.  Makes a yummy breakfast too!

It keeps about 3 days depending on humidity. I have a glass baking dish with a plastic lid for keeping things fresh; works great.

Notes: any gf flour blend will do, I use King Arthur blend.  You can use sliced or slivered almonds. Or no nuts! Tried it with both nuts and I prefer walnuts.  I think the walnuts add a hint of cherry flavor to the result. But great with no nuts too…

Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

Fruit layer

4-5 cups rhubarb cut into ½ inch bits (I do 5 cups)

¾ cup sugar (could use up to a cup if you like it sweeter)

¼ cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch if you chose)

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

Topping

½ cup gf flour blend

1 cup gf rolled oats (not quick ones!)

½ cup light brown sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup brown sugar, not packed

¼ cup butter, cold

½ cup walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of 8×12 glass baking dish; any dish roughly that size will do. In a large mixing bowl dump all the dry ingredients; sugar, starch and cinnamon. Mix a bit; add rhubarb, mix well. Dump into baking dish.

Dump all dry ingredients left except nuts into the bowl of a stand mixer, blend briefly. Add butter which you have cut up into about 12 or more tiny bits; a few cuts with a knife do it quick. Blend a minute or so until you can’t see the butter. Add nuts. Pour over the rhubarb. Bake on middle shelf for 35 to 40 minutes; the thicker the layer of fruit is the longer it takes; you want it bubbling and the top lightly browned. Let cool at least 15 or 20 minutes.  Goes great with vanilla ice cream or plain Greek yogurt on top. Store with a tight lid on top. Enjoy! rhubarb crisp in dish

Apple Bread Pudding

This is a great take on bread pudding, adding fruit for flavor and added nutritional value. Apples are good for you and knowing they are in the pudding makes me able to rationalize this rich and delicious dessert concoction. I found this recipe online; it had a caramel sauce but honestly it seems sweet enough without that addition. I make a version that is more or less halved the original one. It’s in my fridge calling to me!

I used some Wide pan whole grain Aldi’s gluten free bread that was getting dry; perfect usage for it. I used more apple than the original as I love apple flavor. When in doubt I increase fruits/veggies in most dishes.

This can be gluten free as it was for me or use any bread you want. Enjoy!

Angie’s Apple Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup 2 percent milk

2 small apples, peeled and cored and sliced on the thin side

2 Tbsp. melted butter, melted in a glass ramekin

1/2 tsp. cinnamon, divided

3-4 cups of cubed bread; I used 4 slices plus the end crust

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan or a 9×4 baking pan; I used cooking spray.

Cut the bread into the cubes and get the apples ready. I like thin slices as they go further and cook easily. Crack eggs into a large mixing bowl; whisk briefly to blend, add milk and cream and whisk good. Measure the sugar and set 1/2 Tsp sugar aside; add that to the 2 Tbsp. melted butter and add 1/4 tsp. cinnamon; blend and set aside. Pour the rest of the cinnamon, sugar and the vanilla into the milk and egg mixture and whisk until well blended. Put the bread cubes in the liquid and press into it to absorb the wet into the dry cubes using a large wooden spoon. Then pour half of it into the buttered pan and put apple slices all over the bottom; half of what you cut up. top with the rest of the bread/egg mixture and then with the rest of the apples. Pour the melted butter/cinnamon mixture over the top to cover the apples and bread mixture evenly. Bake about 40 minutes; should still be slightly jiggly when you take it out. Let the pan cool at least 15-20 minutes before serving.

Limoncello Tiramisu Teacups

I wanted a special dessert using some leftover ladyfingers. I only had 4 but honestly, I wanted to try making lemoncello tiramisu and a whole big dish of said tiramisu would destroy what is left of my waistline! I cannot resist tiramisu so making a small test version for a lunch dessert for someone’s birthday treat seemed like a good idea. This will make 3 full-sized desserts. I put mine in antique teacups, so fun and gives me a good shape to create it within. Use whatever cup you have; in 4–7-ounce size.
I used homemade Limoncello using Meyer lemons my brother sent me from Texas. I altered the recipe I liked to make less of it and because it doesn’t have whipped cream and I wanted some of that in there.
Be sure to chill it about 3 hours, bare minimum of 2.

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