Homemade Seasonal Fruit Gummies

homemade-gummies

These homemade gummies are made with plums, sour cherries and raspberries.

This recipe is safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or GAPS.

Gummies are easy to make and are a nice (healthy) treat for children (and adults).

Homemade Seasonal Fruit Gummies

2c seasonal fruit juice or any clear, organic juice
8T Great Lakes Gelatin
In a small bowl, mix the gelatine with about 1/2c cold water and let the gelatine mixture sit for at least 5 minutes. Make some fruit juice using the recipe from Gelatin Jelly Dessert. Heat up the fruit juice to a boil. Remove from heat and add the gelatine mixture. Stir very well and pour into a glass bread pan. Refrigerate the gummies overnight before cutting into tiny squares. Store covered in the fridge.

Gelatine Jelly Dessert

gelatine-dessert

This gelatine dessert is made with a mixture of frozen plum, sour cherries and raspberries. Gelatine Dessert is refreshing on hot, summer days!

This recipe is safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or GAPS.

“It is always best to soak the gelatine first, and then stir it in a small saucepan by the side of the fire in a very small quantity of water until dissolved.”
Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (1861)

Most of us know gelatine desserts by the modern brand name, Jello. Gelatine (or jellies) were once a very popular dessert but have fallen out of fashion. These desserts are very easy to make and are a good way to consume more gelatine while using up excessive, seasonal fruit. The trick to making a good jelly is to use one tablespoon of gelatin for every two cups of hot, fruit juice.

“Jellies may be described as solutions of gelatine in water, with wine, fruit and other additions, and their clear, brilliant transparency one of their chief recommendations.”

Gelatine Jelly Dessert

3c assorted seasonal fruit: raspberries, sour cherries and plums
3c filtered water
1 organic lemon peel, grated
1T local honey (optional)
3T Great Lakes Gelatin
In a small bowl, mix the gelatine with about 1/2c cold water and let the gelatine mixture sit for at least 5 minutes. In a large sauce pan, bring the seasonal fruit, lemon zest and water to a boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Strain the cooked fruit through a sieve, lined with cheese cloth. Compost the fruit pulp and reserve the fruit juice. Add the honey and gelatine mixture to the hot fruit juice and stir well. Pour the juice mixture into small glass bowls. Refrigerate until firm. Serve the jelly desert cold.

“Calf’s foot jelly, which is stiffened by the gelatine extracted from the feet by boiling, has the advantage of being perfectly pure, but it is no more nourishing than the jelly made from bought gelatine. When nourishing jelly is required, it is better made from good veal stock.”

Sweet Potato Custard

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Sweet Potato Custard is a very rich dessert with a complex, deep flavor.

This recipe is NOT safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or GAPS.

This recipe originally came from The Joy of Cooking. I’ve made some changes to the recipe. Even though it’s messy and a hassle, it’s necessary to put the cooked sweet potatoes through a sieve for a smooth custard.

sweet-potato-custard-1

Put the cooked sweet potatoes through a sieve for a smooth custard.

sweet-potato-custard-2

This recipe requires using a water bath for making the custard.

Sweet Potato Custard
1 1/2c organic sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed, and cooked
1/4c local honey
1/4c organic butter, cubed
1T homemade vanilla extract
4T organic lemon, juice
1tsp organic cinnamon, ground
1tsp organic nutmeg, freshly ground
1/2tsp sea salt
5 pastured eggs, whole
1c organic whipping cream

Peel about 4 cups of sweet potatoes and cut into small cubes. In a double boiler, stream the cubes for 20 minutes or until very soft. Force the well cooked sweet potato cubes through a sieve. You will need about 1.5 cups of sweet potatoes. Use the extra sweet potatoes for another meal. Preheat the oven to 325F. Get a large glass tray for the water bath and 6-8 glass bowls for the custard.

In a food processor, puree the sweet potatoes, honey, butter, vanilla extract, lemon juice, spices and salt until very smooth. Add one egg at a time, then add the whipping cream at the end.

Pour the mixture into 6-8 glass bowls. Place these glass bowls into a water bath. The water for the bath should be hot water from the tap. Carefully transfer the tray into the oven and cook at 325F for 20-30 minutes. Check the custard to see if it has set. Sweet potato custard sets up fast so keep an eye on it. The Joy of Cooking states: “The trick is to pull the pie from the oven as soon as the filling has thickened to a gelatin-like consistency in the center.”

Don’t overcook custard! Quickly remove the custard bowls from the water bath and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Quickly remove the custard bowls from the water bath and let cool.

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Spoon the fried bananas and nuts over the top of the custard. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Banana Filling
4 organic bananas, sliced
1/4c organic coconut oil
1/4c organic butter
1/2tsp sea salt
1c organic walnuts
1-2T local honey

In a fry pan, warm the coconut oil, butter and salt over medium heat. Toast the walnuts until just browned slightly. Add the banana slices and brown. Remove from the heat and add the honey. After the banana filling has cooled to room temperature, spoon out an equal amount of filling onto each custard. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Whip Cream Topping and Drizzled Chocolate

2c organic whipping cream
1T local honey
1 pinch sea salt
1/2c organic 70% dark chocolate, pieces

Half fill a sauce pan with water. Place a Pyrex measuring cup filled with chocolate pieces in the water and bring to a simmer. Stir and let the chocolate melt before removing from the heat. Use a teaspoon for drizzling the melted chocolate on the banana layer.

In a food processor, add the whipping cream, honey and salt and blend until the whipping cream is firm. Top each custard with whipping cream and use the last of the melted chocolate to drizzle on top of the whipping cream. Serve immediately!

Chocolate Avocado Pie

cacoa-avocado-pie-2

This Chocolate Avocado Pie is a great use for over-ripe avocados and bananas. Actually, over-ripe will give you the best results.

This recipe is NOT safe for someone on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

Avocado Pie? Sounds disgusting, right? Well, give it a try and get back to me. This recipe is based on the recipe Choconot (not a spelling mistake) Mousse Pie with Vanilla Cream (not real cream) Frosting from Living Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods by Renee Loux Underkoffler. This is a raw food, vegan cookbook. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you know that the Weston A Price Foundation does not consider vegan diets healthy, especially for people wanting to have children. Since I respect the diet opinions from the WAPF, I just want to be clear that I don’t endorse the vegan diet either. Nevertheless, this book is a great source for nut-based desserts!

I’ve made a few changes to the recipe, and yes, I recommend topping this delicious dessert with lots of organic, whipping cream! You could use carob instead of cocoa, if desired. If you can’t consume whipping cream, whipped coconut cream makes a nice replacement.

cacoa-avocado-pie-1

Here’s the pie with some sprinkled cocoa powder. Melted dark chocolate is also very nice.

Crust
6 organic dates, softened if needed
2c organic walnuts or almonds, or mixture of both
2tsp organic cinnamon
2 pinches sea salt
1T organic coconut oil, to grease pan

If the dates are older and dry, re-hydrate them by pouring some boiling water over the dates and covering for 20 minutes, until soft. Soften 3/4c of dates for both the crust and the filling at the same time. Remove the ends and the pits. In a food processor, blend the six dates for the crust into a paste. Add the nuts, spices and sea salt. Blend until the dough starts to form a ball in the food processor. Remove the dough ball from the food processor and evenly spread in a greased pan.

Filling
1/2-2/3c organic dates, softened if needed
2-3T homemade vanilla extract
1/2tsp sea salt
3-4 organic avocados, very ripe
3 organic bananas, very ripe
2/3c organic cocoa powder
3-4T organic coconut oil
organic cocoa powder, sprinkled (optional)
70% organic dark chocolate, melted and sprinkled (optional)

Use the rest of the softened dates for the filling. In a food processor, blend the dates, vanilla extract and sea salt into a smooth paste. Add the very ripe avocados and blend until smooth. Add the very ripe bananas and blend until smooth. Use a spatula to help mix the ingredient. (Close your eyes and taste the mixture before adding the cocoa. Does it taste good with your eyes closed?) Add the cocoa powder and coconut oil and blend until smooth. The food processor will likely be laboring under the thickness of the filling. This is a good sign. Pour the filling on top of the crust in the greased pan. Top with sprinkled cocoa powder or drizzle with melted, 70% dark chocolate. Refrigerate until chilled and serve with whipped, coconut cream or whipping cream. Both are excellent.

More Troubles with Eatkamloops.org

happy-easter

Deviled Eggs for the devilish aspects of the internet!

I just wanted to send a short note to users of eatkamloops.org. We are still having problems with malicious malware. A few days ago, our email system was shut down by our server because we were spamming ourselves! The CAPTCHA on eatkamloops.org was out-of-date or not working properly.

On Monday, with the help from Purple Pig and Netfirms we solved the problem but we’ve had to disable the comments on the blog. So now you can’t write me and I can’t respond.

If you need to get in touch with me to update information about your farm or ranch please call 250.374.4646 between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday PST.