fruit Archives - A Calculated Whisk

15 Naturally-Sweetened Cocktails for Summer Celebrations

May 21, 2017 By Becky Leave a Comment

These 15 delicious drinks are made without refined sugar to help keep your summertime soirées a little healthier without missing out on any of the fun. If you have favorite naturally-sweetened cocktails for summer, I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Watermelon Gin Cooler from A Calculated Whisk: This refreshing drink is made with honey-basil simple syrup and botanical gin.

Grilled Mango Habanero Margaritas from Wicked Spatula: This sweet & spicy cocktail is sweetened with honey. Grilling the mango adds a little bit of smoky flavor!

Strawberry-Peach Crisp with Hazelnut-Pepita Crumble

August 27, 2015 By Becky 12 Comments

This gluten-free strawberry-peach crisp is lightly sweetened with maple syrup

and topped with a rich crumble made with hazelnut flour and pumpkin seeds.

Hello from Chattanooga, our new home! Ben and I packed everything up and drove from Boston to Tennessee across two days, arriving last night a little after midnight. I’m in love with my new city, which is Ben’s hometown, already. So far we’ve driven around a bit looking at houses, and had amazing burgers at Main Street Meats (see my bunless burger on Insta!). We’re also dogsitting for Ben’s sister, so I get to spend time with this guy.

I spent a while editing the photos of this fabulous strawberry-peach crisp with hazelnut-pepita crumble today. The photographs make me a little sad, because this was the last photo shoot I did in our apartment in Boston, where I’ve taken all the photos for the blog so far and all the photos for my cookbook, Paleo Planet. I hope our next apartment has light that I like just as much!

Anyway, enough wistful reminiscing about the natural light at my old apartment. We’re talking crisp today! I had some good-looking strawberries and peaches, but wanted to do more than just eat them. In part because I was trying to avoid packing, I decided to bake. (Yes, when I’m feeling stressed, I avoid whatever I’m worried about and bake instead. No, my fiancé has never complained!)

I put the freshly cut fruit right into the greased baking dish and added a little maple syrup, a tiny bit of tapioca flour to keep the juices under control, and a pinch of salt and the seeds of half a vanilla bean to bring out the natural sweetness of the fruit. I mixed it all together right in the dish to avoid having to wash an extra bowl. (I did have to wash the bowl I made the crumble in, but that’s it for this recipe: one bowl + the baking dish).

Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

May 30, 2015 By Becky 20 Comments

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Last weekend I went to an amazing food photography and styling workshop in Plymouth, MA (more on that here), yesterday I took the comprehensive exams for my master’s program, and somewhere in there I turned 30.

I actually love birthdays (especially mine), and so far I am feeling good about being 30. Ben’s birthday is just a week and a half before mine, so we celebrated with a joint make-your-own ice cream sandwich party. It’s hard to imagine anything more fun than smooshing ice cream between cookies with your closest friends!

This ice cream was not present at the party because it hadn’t occurred to me yet–I was actually inspired to make this because of all the leftover buttermilk I had after making Ben’s birthday cake. (He always wants a gluten cake for his big day, and who am I to deny a birthday boy? It’s the only glutinous baking I do all year. I made him this chocolate cake and it was fabulous. The only change I made was using avocado oil instead of canola. The avocado oil is tasteless and worked great in the cake!)

For the party I made a classic vanilla ice cream in my ice cream maker and Nigella Lawson’s no-churn coffee ice cream. If you don’t have an ice cream maker (or even if you do!) you HAVE to try this no-churn business. I was blown away by the awesome, creamy texture and how easy it was to make. (It is, however, less healthy than what I normally make due to copious amounts of sweetened condensed milk. Worth it for a special occasion, though!)

Watermelon Raspberry Agua Fresca

May 14, 2015 By Becky 12 Comments

I “graduated” from my master’s program on Monday. We all walked across the stage, shook the provost’s hand, and got our picture taken with a little rolled up “diploma” that, when opened, basically congratulated us on having ALMOST finished our degrees. Even though the speech-language pathology program goes through August, my school only has one graduation ceremony a year, which means we all walk before taking our comprehensive exams and before our final semester has even begun.

Although it was, as my classmates are calling it, a “frauduation”, I deemed it cause for an actual celebration.

And what better way to celebrate than with a refreshing drink?

This agua fresca is so easy to make, but its unique color and flavor make it feel special. Agua fresca is often made with just watermelon, but I added raspberries here, too, to amp up the flavor and deepen the hue. The cool, sweet watermelon and tart raspberries make a great pair.

Orange Peach Raspberry Smoothie

March 9, 2015 By Becky 4 Comments

This orange peach raspberry smoothie is bright, easy, tasty, and full of antioxidants. Avocado and a bit of turmeric give this smoothie great depth of flavor.

When I’m sick, I crave smoothies. Just thinking about blending together a bunch of vitamin-packed produce makes me feel a tad better, and my outlook only improves once I’m actually drinking it. Smoothies, especially ones that look like sunshine in a glass, also help me momentarily forget about winter. For me, they’re are an important aspect of self-care.

I wanted this smoothie to have plenty of Vitamin C, so I used oranges, peaches, and raspberries. Also, like I almost always do, I added an avocado. It makes the smoothie really creamy, but you won’t taste it. The healthy fat from the avocado also makes this nice and filling.

To make the smoothie pack even more of a punch, I added some turmeric and fresh ginger. In addition to providing more potential health benefits, these rhizomes add depth of flavor, and the turmeric deepens the golden color.

The cara cara oranges I used also contributed to the hue of this drink. I bet using blood oranges would make the color pop even more!

Why Avocado Belongs in Your Smoothies

June 14, 2014 By Becky 2 Comments

photos via Instagram

I have a new morning routine. It begins at 5:30, and goes like this. First, I stumble to the sink, get a glass of water, and drink it on the couch, usually while staring blankly at my Instagram feed. After a minute, I’ve built up the energy necessary to take steps to obtain coffee, which then fuels the rest of my activities. If there is coffee in the machine from the day before, I drop in three ice cubes and congratulate myself on making iced coffee. If the machine is empty, I grumble a lot, make a new pot, and settle for hot coffee.

When the coffee hits, it’s time to make a smoothie. The smoothie is the highlight of my morning, and it’s all because of the humble avocado.

A friend gave me an incredulous look recently when I mentioned putting avocado in my smoothies. I only started adding them in April, but they’ve already become such a smoothie essential for me that I was totally flabbergasted by her response. I am writing this blog post on the off chance that you, like my friend, have not tried putting avocado in your smoothies yet.

Here are five quick reasons you should do it:

Pico de gallo de frutas

May 2, 2014 By Becky 4 Comments

This pico de gallo de frutas is a spicy take on fruit salad that is paleo, gluten free, and vegan. It’s perfect for Cinco de mayo or anytime!

After I graduated from college, I moved to Houston and became a bilingual teacher. I had the most amazing group of students, and was lucky enough to be their teacher for three years in a row: kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. We spoke Spanish almost all day, except for an hour or so of ESL. Their kindergarten year was my first year of teaching, as well as my first year living far away from home. While those things made it a difficult year for me, my kids and their families were absolutely fabulous. A lot of people may say this, but I truly think I could not have asked for a better group of students. They worked as a team almost from the beginning–embracing me, each other, and all the new students that trickled in (and sometimes out, and sometimes back again) over the course of our three years together. They were unbelievably kind, patient, tolerant, bright, and hilarious.

At the end of three years, I had learned a huge amount of Spanish (I had thought I was fluent before taking the job, but the Spanish spoken in Texas is so different from what I’d practiced while studying abroad in Argentina that I had to learn new words for much of what I wanted to say). Most of them had learned a huge amount of English, and had learned to read in both languages. I had also learned so much about teaching, about children and families, and about life. I know that sounds very expansive, but it was a foundational experience for me, and I think of those kids and their families almost everyday. Shockingly (to me, because it makes me feel so old), they’re in middle school now, and I’m happy to still be in touch with several of them.

Cherry Clafoutis (Gluten free, Grain free)

February 1, 2014 By Becky 6 Comments

This gluten free, grain free cherry clafoutis is as easy as pancake batter to whip up, and bakes into a fluffy cake that’s as wonderful for breakfast as dessert.

I really missed baking during my Whole30. As soon as my 30 days were up, I wanted to bake something with dairy (the first food I’m reintroducing) that was still gluten-free and on the lighter side. I’ve found that it’s much easier to make gluten-free versions of baked goods that call for a relatively small amount of flour as compared to the other ingredients. So when I came across this classic cherry clafoutis from Saveur, which only calls for 3/4 cup flour, plus 6 eggs and over a cup of milk, I figured it would be a good candidate. Guess what? I was right.

Strawberry Curd

May 18, 2013 By Becky 8 Comments

Have you made lemon curd yet? Either way, you’re going to love this sweeter, pinker version. I’m thinking you could put this on a dutch baby, pipe it inside some cupcakes, spread it on your toast, or drizzle it on some vanilla ice cream.

It’s easy to make, and tastes like spring in a jar! What are you waiting for?

In case you’re not convinced, here are just a few delicious recipes you’ll be able to make with your strawberry curd:

No-Bake Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Double Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry Creamsicle Sherbet

Rest assured that it’s also fabulous just eaten by the spoonful.

Ingredients (adapted from this recipe on Lavender & Lovage; makes about 1 1/2 cups):

1/2 pound organic strawberries, hulled
Zest and juice of one organic orange
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), cubed
4 large eggs

In a food processor, puree the strawberries and orange zest until very smooth.

Heat water to a simmer in a double boiler or a saucepan. In the top of the double boiler or a heatproof bowl, combine the puree, juices, salt, sugar, and butter. Place the bowl on top of the pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t actually touching the water. Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl. Cook, whisking constantly, until the curd comes together and thickens, about ten minutes. When the curd is done, it will coat the back of a spoon.

(Full disclosure: my strawberry curd was that grayish-pink color that used to be trendy but was never appetizing. I added a few drops of red food coloring and one drop of yellow to perk it up.)

Store in sterilized jars in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Berry Coconut Smoothie

April 11, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment