strawberry Archives - Page 2 of 2

Matcha Mug Cake

March 17, 2015 By Becky 17 Comments

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Matcha Mug Cake (Paleo, Gluten-free) | acalculatedwhisk.com

You’re less than ten minutes away from a scrumptious, grain-free matcha mug cake! It’s paleo friendly, dairy free, and sweetened with honey or maple syrup.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I made you a matcha mug cake. It’s not at all Irish, but at least it’s green!

I was excited to make something green for St. Patty’s Day, but I don’t like to use artificial coloring in my food. Since I had my heart set on making a dessert, using spinach or kale as coloring agents didn’t seem very appealing. Matcha was the perfect solution.

Ingredients for Matcha Mug Cake (Paleo, Gluten-free) | acalculatedwhisk.com

If you haven’t discovered matcha yet, I highly recommend it! It’s just very finely ground green tea leaves, so it has a bit of caffeine and all the great antioxidants contained in green tea. The flavor is hard to describe, but it’s exotic and a bit earthy. Matcha is delicious on its own in desserts, but also pairs well with chocolate. I’ve made this matcha mug cake with and without chocolate chips and still can’t decide which one I prefer.

Pico de gallo de frutas

May 2, 2014 By Becky 4 Comments

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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.

Strawberry Banana Pancakes

July 23, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

The almond flour pancakes I made a few days ago were so good that I was eager to try another version of paleo pancakes. This time, I was inspired by a cinnamon banana pancake recipe in Easy Paleo Diet Recipes, and added a twist to make them even better.

Do you have a favorite diner? Mine is the Maugus, which is just down the street from my mom’s apartment in my hometown. It’s run by a big Greek family, and the hardest part of being a regular there is when they close for three weeks every summer to go to Greece. They are closed right now and I have to tell you, it has been rough. One of my favorite things to get there is pancakes–their pancakes are HUGE! I’m a big fan of both the strawberry and the banana pancakes. They have nice rounds of freshly sliced fruit cooked right in. They will even make you pancakes with both strawberries AND bananas if you can’t decide. And, if you are not into fruity pancakes (who are you and why are you still reading?) you can get chocolate chip pancakes or cinnamon walnut french toast.

Anyway, inspired by the Maugus, I put sliced strawberries into these banana pancakes. The banana is mashed up with the batter so the pancakes do not have a strong banana flavor, but they are pleasantly reminiscent of banana bread. And if you have never tried sliced strawberries in your pancakes, you HAVE to. They are cooked just to the point of being fabulously juicy, and it is much more exciting than just putting sliced strawberries on top of your pancakes. Trust me.

Since I am doing the Whole 30 for real now, I omitted the honey from the original recipe. However, with the bananas and the strawberries, I thought these pancakes were sweet enough. I ate mine with the extra banana and strawberry slices on top and a little butter, and my boyfriend enjoyed his with some syrup.

Ingredients (serves 2; makes 6-7 pancakes):

1 and 1/2 cups almond flour
1/3 cup mashed banana (about half a medium banana–slice the rest to serve with the pancakes)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons coconut milk
4 eggs
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, thinly sliced, plus extra for serving
Butter or coconut oil for cooking

Combine all the ingredients except the strawberries in a food processor and process until smooth. Heat some oil or butter in a small, heavy skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot (a drop of water will dance across the surface), add about 1/4 cup of batter. Place some strawberry slices on top. Cook until many bubbles have formed on the surface (the bottom should be browned). Carefully slide a large spatula under the pancake and flip it quickly. If you flip these pancakes too soon or use a small spatula, you may lose some of your strawberries during the turn. Cook for a minute or less on the second side, until browned and cooked through. Add more oil or butter before cooking a second pancake. Top with fresh fruit and butter if desired and serve hot.

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Strawberry Ice Cream (Paleo, Vegan)

July 20, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

Okay guys, so technically when you go paleo, you are supposed to be really hard core for 30 days. You are not just supposed to jump into making a million and one paleo desserts. You are not supposed to have any desserts at all for that first month. But, BUT…I just had to make one last dessert. It’s what I do. And it’s really good. You’ll understand when you taste it!

This ice cream is made with coconut milk and sweetened with honey (or maple syrup or agave for a vegan version). The strawberry syrup has a little balsamic vinegar in it, just to deepen the flavor. Don’t worry, you won’t taste it. You can hardly even taste the honey and coconut–this is mainly just strawberries and cream flavored. It’s fabulous, and there’s nothing bad or unnatural in it.

Ingredients (makes about a quart):

For the strawberry syrup:

2 cups fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon honey, agave, or maple syrup
3 tablespoons water
1 scant tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt

For the ice cream base:

1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
1/2 cup honey, agave, or maple syrup (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla

To make the strawberry syrup, hull and halve the strawberries. Place them in a saucepan over medium heat with the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring often, until the strawberries have softened and are starting to break up (about 10 minutes). Cool slightly, then transfer to a food processor. Blend until smooth, and strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds, pressing on the pulp to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard pulp and refrigerate syrup until cold.

To make the ice cream, whisk together all the ice cream base ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk in the cold strawberry syrup, taste, and adjust the sweetness as desired. Refrigerate until chilled, and freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for at least 3 hours before serving.

Double Strawberry Ice Cream

May 26, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

You may have noticed I am on a bit of a strawberry kick recently (see no-bake strawberry swirl cheesecake bars, strawberry shortcakes with balsamic chocolate glaze, strawberry & cream margaritas, and strawberry curd). Well, the strawberry love continues. This is partly because I still have a jar of strawberry curd in my fridge, and am tempted to add it to just about anything. However, if you don’t feel like making strawberry curd (but really, why wouldn’t you? twenty minutes and your strawberries will last for weeks in the fridge in a delicious, spreadable form) you can still make this ice cream. Just omit the strawberry curd for single strawberry ice cream, or replace it with an equal amount of fresh strawberry puree.

This ice cream is rich and creamy thanks to the vanilla bean, strawberry curd, and custard base. You have to try it! It’s also a wonderfully pastel shade of pink, my favorite color.

Ingredients (makes 1 1/2 quarts, adapted from Martha Stewart):

8 egg yolks (save the whites for breakfast or meringues)
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 cups milk (I used 2%, but Martha calls for skim)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 vanilla bean
1 pound strawberries, hulled and finely chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup strawberry curd or fresh strawberry puree

In a saucepan (off the heat for now), combine the egg yolks, 2/3 cup of sugar, and salt. Gradually whisk in the milk. Scrape the seeds of half a vanilla bean into the mix, and throw the bean in, too.

Heat the mixture over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened, about 10-15 minutes.

Prepare a bowl set oven an ice bath (a larger bowl filled with ice or ice water). Place a fine-meshed sieve on top. Pour the thickened custard through the sieve, discarding the vanilla bean. Stir in the cream and strawberry curd. Let the mixture chill, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is cold, I recommend you refrigerate it overnight to make sure it’s REALLY chilled.

Mix the chopped strawberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar and set aside.

When the custard mixture is completely chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker. A few minutes before the ice cream is ready, add in the strawberries.

Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

You can also sandwich some of this between two honey vanilla cookies for the world’s best ice cream sandwich!

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Strawberry Curd

May 18, 2013 By Becky 10 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.

Strawberry & Cream Margaritas

May 5, 2013 By Becky Leave a Comment

You didn’t think I was going to leave you without an idea of which margarita to enjoy with your cupcakes, did you? I am here for you!

This is delicious. I am not sure if it really counts as a margarita, but it has tequila in it. And it has something on the rim (not salt, but who’s counting?).

Ingredients (makes two servings):

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 cup coconut milk

4 ice cubes

2-3 shots silver tequila

Squeeze of lemon or lime juice, plus extra

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons honey (for a paleo-friendly version) or agave nectar (for a vegan version)

Sugar for glasses

Blend all ingredients except the sugar in a blender until smooth. Taste, and add more lemon juice or agave nectar (or tequila!) if desired.

Dip the rims of two glasses into lemon juice and then sugar. Pour into the glasses and enjoy!

¡Salud!

Strawberry Moscato Fool

April 11, 2013 By Becky 2 Comments

So, these pictures do not really convey how fresh and delicious this dessert was. It’s even almost healthy, because it has no sugar and is half fruit. It has a splash of wine, which is great for your heart. Also, it is fast and easy to make. A FOOL could make this! And, you would be a fool not to.

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 cup strawberries (I used frozen and didn’t have time to defrost, so I popped them in the microwave)
1 teaspoon Stevia powder
1 1/2 tablespoons red Moscato
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream

Blend the first four ingredients and set aside. Whip the cream using a mixer until it holds stiff peaks. Fold about half of the strawberry puree, or whatever amount you prefer, into the whipped cream. Serve with additional strawberry puree on top.

I tried to make a marbled design on top of mine, and it looked slightly better than this in real life.

So, have you ever made a fool? What kinds of fruit have you tried? I am totally into this because it’s the easiest dessert ever and I love to whip cream. Maybe I’ll try it with whipped coconut cream next time.