April
2008
Eat This Today, Feel Better Tomorrow: Dessert Edition!
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Don’t worry: we haven’t gone soft. But we do realize that life (or a loved one) calls for a bit of indulgence once in a while. With all of the delectable options out there, why settle for the typical processed and/or sugar-laden desserts?
Think fresh fruit paired with artisan block and mascarpone cheeses, toasted nuts with sweet root vegetables, and ingredients like dark chocolate, cocoa, unsweetened coconut, fresh cream, rich butter, Greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey if that’s your thing. The idea here is to favor the least processed, highest benefit treats.
If you’re going to indulge, we suggest you make it something tasty and even reasonably good for you. Look for the richest, best quality ingredients you can get your hands on. (As always we advocate portion control.) But it’s amazing what a single square of really good chocolate can do. Whether it’s for your own indulgence or for sharing with your favorite people, here are a few possibilities you can peruse.
Sweet After-Dinner Salad
Mix some fresh spring greens with slices of pear or sweet apple along with some toasted pecans or walnuts, pine nuts, seeds and sweet vinaigrette made with nut oil and fruit juice.
Figs, Berries, Cheeses, Nuts
Fruit with Honey
Dark Chocolate (excellent paired with red wine or melted for dipping ripe berries)
Fruit and Nut Crumble
Spread whole pecans or other desired nuts on parchment lined baking pan. Toast in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool. Using food processor, grind 1 cup toasted nuts to approximate size of baby peas. (You can also mince nuts with large knife.) Set aside.
Slice and sauté favorite fruits (apples, pears, plums, peaches are a few that work well) in butter until softened and/or warmed through. Add desired spices (e.g. cinnamon, ginger, allspice, etc.) and mix for additional minute over heat.
Mix toasted nuts with 2 Tbsp. melted but slightly cooled butter. Pour fruit into dish and top with nut crumble and dollop of freshly whipped cream if desired.
Fresh Fruit with Greek Style Yogurt
Sweet Potato with Butter, Cinnamon and Toasted Pecans
Berries with Mascarpone Cheese
Whip a small container of mascarpone with a quarter cup of unsweetened coconut and a splash of cream. Serve with strawberries, cherries or your own favorite fruit.
Almond Macaroons
(Recipe from Paleodiet.com)
1-1/4 cups almonds
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
2 egg whites, beaten
1/4 cup raw honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Grind almonds coarsely. Combine cinnamon and lemon and add. Beat egg whites very stiff, fold in honey and continue beating. Fold in lemon juice with almond mixture and blend. Drop from a teaspoon onto ungreased parchment paper. Bake 30 minutes at 250 degrees F. Remove from paper while still slightly warm. Makes 30 macaroons.
We hope this edition (and the yummy photos) lightened up your day. Do share your comments – and your own favorite MDA-style sweet treats!
Thom, quinn.anya, ulterior epicure, jypsygen, Marvin Kuo, SummerTX, tiny banquet committee, SiFu Renka, matuko amini, stickii, Jen Chan Flickr Photos (CC)
Further Reading:
Eat This Today, Feel Better Tomorrow: Editions 1, 2, 3, Intermittent Fasting, and Special Occasions
With tiny bit reduction in the added sugars (like honey), I can eat just about all of these desserts you posted and not have a high blood glucose reading later. Yum!
My favorite easy, fast dessert Crema di Mascarpone: 8 oz. of mascarpone cheese beaten a minute or two with two raw egg yolks until well mixed and creamy, with a drizzle of a favorite brandy, cognac, or liqueur, then chilled a couple hours (you could substitute with softened plain cream cheese, but that is saltier, so tends to need too much sweetening). Just a tiny bit does it, as it is so rich and delicious. Excellent with fresh fruit. I serve it in tiny espresso cups with demitasse spoons so it can be savored instead of gobbled up. It’s also and easy make ahead, elegant dessert to serve to company.
I’m trying to raise my dietary fat consumption % (which is harder than I expected because it is so satisfying) and this is a delicious way.
Those almond macaroons look brutally good. I just hope I don’t eat the whole batch all at once!
The other day I made this:
1 jar (8oz) date mango puree
1/2 c each raisins and crasins
1/2 c cocoa
1-2 c walnuts
Process and form into little balls, freeze and be cautious as I call these choc bombs.
Sub all dry fruit, add cinn., roll in coconut, sub diff nuts, possibilities are endless!
These are great ideas!! Love the greek yogurt one. I have that “dessert” about once a day:) But what’s up with the almond macaroons having no coconut in them? I’m no chef but it seems like macaroons should have a bunch of coconut. Could I use half (unsweetened) coconut with half the almonds? Coconuts totally paleo, right?
I’ve been baking with nut flours more this year, mostly tarts. It works better with small tarts rather than larger ones. Try mixing hazelnut and almond flour with butter, a pinch of salt, cold water, and a dash of vanilla. Press it into the bottom of mini tart pans. Bake it until slightly golden and then either fill with baking fruit (like pear or thinly-sliced apple) mixed with cinnamon and butter and bake more, or simply fill the tart shells with creme fraiche and fresh berries.
Speaking of berries, that picture of blueberries makes me wish it were blueberry season right now.
Food Is Love
Sarena, have you analyzed the sugar content of your choc ball combo?
Has anyone made Schwetty Balls?
Charlotte, I totally agree about the inclusion of coconut in macaroons. I make coconut butter cookies from Bruce Fife’s coconut flour cookbook, sometimes with added almond meal and/or almond slivers. Gluten-free, high in fiber for those who think they need it, lots of great medium chain and saturated fatty acids, and protein/nutrients from eggs. I make a low sugar variation, but it doesn’t taste like a “good for you” cookie.
Unless I am ravenous, I find it hard to overeat these rich buttery cookies, and 1-3 make a filling, energetic snack without blowing my BG goals. They are a hit at my son’s soccer games, especially with the gluten-free kids (but not with the two coconut-hating kids).
Oooh Anna! I’ll have to see if I can get that cookbook from teh library. I’d love to try that recipe! Thanks for the tips.
PS> I just made the macaroons with my kids - they’re baking so I haven’t tried one yet but they look delish! (And I did add some coconut)
Anna, now why would I analyze the sugar content:)?? I said the are chocolate bombs!! I generally don’t do sweets, so dont get me started!
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My sweet tooth just keeps getting smaller and smaller. My new favorite dessert is fresh (or at this time of year, frozen) fruit with homemade crème fraĂ®che. Crème fraĂ®che takes some thinking ahead, but it is absolutely the laziest recipe I’ve ever made; Father Time does all the work.
1 T buttermilk (commercial or homemade)
1 pint heavy cream
Mix. Cover. Let sit at room temperature 12 to 24 hours until thick. (Depends on how warm the room is.)
I got this from one of the Moosewood Cookbooks, which recommends adding maple syrup for dessert uses; I like it plain. It’s not very sour at all, just fresh tasting, as it’s French name implies. And if you don’t sweeten it, you can also use it to garnish savory dishes, like scrambled eggs or soups or stews.
I also like Greek yogurt with chopped nuts and some cinnamon and maybe a little flax oil or some freshly ground flax seeds.
Migraineur, thank you for that. I never really knew exactly what crème fraĂ®che was before, just had a vague idea. I’ll have to try that, sounds wonderful.
Lately my favorite dessert has been frozen blueberries in coconut milk. The coconut milk gets all frozen yogurty & sticks to the berries, it’s unreal. Coconut milk would probably be good in smoothies, but I haven’t tried that yet.
Heather,
Regular heavy cream is good with frozen berries, too. My son *loves* that combo. Coconut milk *is* great in smoothies, as well as baked egg custard, homemade ice cream, and cheesecake. Coconut milk is one of the few canned foods I am happy to buy. I keep my cupboard stocked.
I’ve been meaning to try just regular heavy cream, actually bought some recently to put on pears. Then my husband made some asparagus soup (we cook asparagus, save the brothy stuff & make soup with it) and used the tiny container up…
I don’t know that I’ve ever tried heavy cream before, I came from a 2% milk & Half & Half family, and I’ve cut out nearly all dairy over the past year. But I figure a little of the good quality stuff won’t be too awful for me… Thanks for the suggestion. =)
[...] of Eat This Today, Feel Better Tomorrow: 1, 2, 3, Intermittent Fasting, Special Occasions and Dessert [...]
I like the desserts, but my favorite would have to be chocolate! I was wondering, what kind of dark chocolate is best, and is it actually healthy for you to eat some every day? Especially if you are trying to get that last 5 to 10 pounds off