Lemon Ricotta Cake

Lemon Ricotta Cake – Low Carb, Gluten Free

1 CAKES – SERVES 10 

•                125g soft unsalted butter (1/2 c.)

•                80g of sweetener (I used 40g of Sukrin Gold and 40g of Xylitol) (1/3c)

•                1 tsp of vanilla powder

•                zest from 3 large organic lemons

•                4 eggs, separated in whites and yolks

•                250g og almond flour (1 c.)

•                1-2 tablespoons of psyllium husks

•                250g of ricotta cheese (1 c.)

•                flakes almonds for topping

•                some Sukrin Icing Sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 320°F/160°C fan.

2. In a bowl, beat butter, vanilla and lemon zest well together.

3. Add egg yolks one by one and beat well until fully combined.

4. Add almond meal and psyllium husks and beat to combine. Your batter will now become thick and firm.

5. Fold or toss ricotta cheese into the batter.

6. In a different bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Mix the egg whites into the batter with a spoon.

7. Pour the batter into a greased spring form (about 20-22 cm) and smooth it with a spatula or palette knife. Decorate with almons flakes and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is firm to touch. If it starts to get too dark at the top, put over some tinfoil and bake it for the rest of the time..

8. Allow the cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before you serve it. Dust with icing sugar before serving.  

Black Bottom Banana Bars

I added chocolate chips to the banana layer - yum!

Black-Bottom Banana Bars Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup baking cocoa

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in the bananas. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. 

2. Divide batter in half. Add cocoa to half; spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Spoon remaining batter on top and swirl with a knife. 

3. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until the a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. 

Yield: 2-1/2 to 3 dozen.  

Read more: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/black-bottom-banana-bars#ixzz3YcZR81N3

Pear Butter

My friend Kristi mentioned that she attempted some pear butter for her kids, as they are starting the elimination diet. Doesn't that sound fabulous? (the pear butter, NOT the elimination diet...) When I found pears 10 for $10 at Kroger, it was game time. It came out pretty much the same consistency of my apple butter recipe - very spreadable and delicious.

INGREDIENTS:
5 lbs pears (about 10 pears)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon (*I used Cinnamon Plus)

DIRECTIONS:
Wash pears, then quarter and remove seeds and skins.  Put into dutch oven with 3/4 water and boil for 30 minutes or until very soft. Remove from heat, drain and mash with whatever you have that mashes well. (I used a slotted spoon).  Return to pot and add sugar, OJ and cinnamon.  Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Simmer on low heat, stirring every hour or so for about three hours or until reduced to a spreadable consistency.

This made about 36 oz of pear butter. I put half in a container to freeze and half in the fridge to enjoy!

Strawberry Country Cake

Have I really not shared this yet? It's our favorite version of shortcake (with exception to Ivanhoe's!)

Strawberry Country Cake (with my adjustments)

* Sometimes I make as muffins and everyone has individual strawberry shortcake – just adjust cooking time as necessary.

 Ingredients

•                12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

•                2 cups sugar (I do rounded cups to give it a touch extra sugar)

•                4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

•                3/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature (I sometimes use light sour cream with fine results)

•                1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest (optional)

•                1/2 teaspoon grated fresh orange zest (optional)

•                1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

•                2 cups all-purpose flour

•                1/4 cup cornstarch

•                1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

•                1 teaspoon baking soda

•                extra sugar to sprinkle on top after baking (optional)

**I sometimes use canned whipped cream or cool whip instead of the following

For the filling for each cake:

•                1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream, chilled

•                3 tablespoons sugar

•                1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

•                1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter the bottom of two 8-inch cake pans. Then line them with parchment paper and butter and flour the lined pans. Important to flour them well.

Cream the butter and sugar on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, then the sour cream, zests, and vanilla, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and combine just until smooth.

Pour the batter evenly into the pans, smooth the tops, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle just a bit of sugar on top (optional). Let cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then remove to wire racks and let cool to room temperature. If using 1 cake, wrap the second well and freeze.

To make the filling for one cake, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until firm. Slice one of the cakes in half with a long, sharp knife. Place the bottom slice of the cake on a serving platter, spread with 1/2 the whipped cream and scatter with sliced strawberries. Cover with the top slice of the cake and spread with the remaining cream. Decorate with strawberries.

Banana Chocolate Ice Cream

Ok - so this is NOT real ice cream.  Technically it may be a sorbet? But it is very yummy (provided you like bananas) and really satisfies my ice cream craving without all the calories and sugar.  I've tried a couple different variations of this "banana ice cream" and this one from Always Order Dessert is my favorite. See my modifications below:



Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 squirt of chocolate syrup (sugar-free if possible)

Directions:
Peel and slice the bananas into small chunks. Spread on a tray (*on wax paper) and freeze overnight or for at least 4 hours.

In a food processor or blender, combine the frozen banana pieces, peanut butter, and cocoa. Begin to puree.  Add one quick squirt of chocolate syrup to help the process along. Puree until smooth, pausing to scrape down sides and push down banana chunks as needed.  This may take a few minutes!

 Eat right away (it will have a soft-serve like texture), or refreeze for 2 hours to give it a more scoopable texture.

Store in freezer in an air-tight freezer safe container. Can be made up to 48 hours in advance.

Yield: 3 servings

Strawberry Shortcake

This is our new favorite shortcake from Paula Deen. Use a regular yellow cake mix and instead of the water add the same amount of buttermilk. Follow the rest of the directions on the cake mix, but it does finish baking a five minutes sooner than the regular cake. The buttermilk makes the cake heavier and almost crunchy.

Raspberry Sauce from Barefoot Contessa

This sauce is very easy and has a gourmet taste. I don't bother putting it into a food processor. We serve it over fruit salad, strawberrries and shortcake.

Ingredients
1 half-pint fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup seedless raspberry jam (12 ounces)
1 tablespoon framboise liqueur (I used Brandy

Directions
Combine the raspberries, sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour the cooked raspberries, jam, and framboise into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until very smooth. Chill.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

I found this great recipe on allrecipes.com and pretty much copied it with only a couple minor changes. It was to die for! Perfect to bring to a summer picnic or party.

Ingredients
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Fuji apples - peeled, cored and diced (plus dipped into lemon/lime soda to prevent browning)
1-2 mangoes
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons strawberry preserves
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
cinnamon sugar (1 cup sugar + 1 tbsp cinnamon)

Directions:
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, mangoes, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and strawberry preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Coat one side of a flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Flip it over and spray the other side as well. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar. Set on a large baking sheet and cut into wedges with pizza cutter.

Bake in the preheated oven about 15 minutes. Make sure they are crisp and not chewy! Repeat with remaining tortillas. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

I make these with a 16 oz. bag of frozen blueberries instead of the fresh and it turns out just fine. I usually thaw the unopened bag by putting it in a bowl of hot water and then drain out the juice. This could be dessert with ice cream or as a breakfast treat! (Taken from allrecipes.)

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Frozen Fruit

My friend Heather in Real Moms always makes this when it's our turn to bring breakfast. It's SO awesome, I had to have the recipe. I made it for our scrapbooking weekend.

Ingredients:
6 mashed bananas
1 can crushed pineapple
2-10 oz. cartons frozen strawberries (sliced)
12 oz. frozen OJ
Blueberries (I used one carton of frozen)
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. water

Directions:
* Thaw frozen ingredients
* Combine all ingredients in a large freezable container
* Freeze overnight
* Set out 1 hour before serving