Paleo-Plum Cake Cockaigne

paleo-plum-cockaigne

This recipe is a grain-free version of the traditional cake cockaigne. It’s a great way to use up the bounty of fruit in your garden.

This recipe is safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, GAPS or the modified paleo diet.

Every year the permaculture garden produces something to excess. Storing this bounty by drying or canning is one solution. Giving some of the it away is another. I also like finding new recipes to utilize the excess food. Each year that goes by, I learn more and more new recipes and how to see these windfalls as a great blessing and not a result of bad planning!

This year the permaculture garden has a bounty of plums. Plums, plums and more plums. We enjoy eating pounds and pounds of the fresh fruit but sometimes a cooked dessert is welcome. This recipe is a grain-free version of cake cockaigne. Finely grinding the flaked coconut is the secret to a creamy cake-like topping.

Filling
4-6c pitted garden plums, sliced
1 garden apple, chopped
1T local honey (optional)
1T organic unsalted butter

Cake Topping
1c organic coconut flakes, very finely ground
3T organic unsalted butter
pinch of sea salt
1T honey
3 whole organic eggs
3T organic whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter the cake pan well. Cut up the apple and plums and mix together well. Add some honey if the plums are too sour though this dessert is naturally a bit sour. Press down the fruit into the cake pan.

In a Vitamix machine, finely grind the coconut in small amounts and put the finely ground coconut into a bowl. I usually do about 1/3c at a time for the best results. (You could substitute coconut flour for the coconut flakes but I prefer to use whole ingredients whenever possible.) Add the salt and crumble in the butter. Add the eggs, honey and cream in the Vitamix machine and blend well. Add the coconut mixture in three amounts and blend very well. The cake mixture should have the yellow colour and texture of a normal white cake. Spoon the cake mixture on top of the filling and spread evenly over the fruit. Cook for 20-25 minutes until brown on top.

This dessert is best served at room temperature with whipping cream which also cuts the tart taste.