Berry Shortcake

Cranberry Walnut Bread, remember that recipe I posted awhile back?  Well, it is very versatile.  I made a "shortbread" out of it, kind of like my Mom always made it.  Sort of biscuit-y tasting, not sweet, really meant to sop up the juices from sweetened berries.

The way I did it was to use the basic recipe but omit the cranberries and walnuts and cut down on the sweetener and used lemon juice (only a little) instead of lemon extract.  Then I baked it in a cake round instead of a loaf pan, mostly because my loaf pan was a scratched up rusty mess and I had to get rid of it.

Then, I defrost, or warm, my berries (I have blueberries and raspberries on hand) and pour them on top of a slice of shortcake.  Dollop on a globule of lemon custard and, if you're doing dairy, either some sour cream (which is what my family liked on shortcake) or whipped cream.

I'll post a picture later.

Cranberry Walnut Bread

• 8 eggs
• ½ cup coconut oil or butter, melted
• ½ cup coconut milk
• I used half and half this time as I had it on hand and didn't have any coconut milk open.
  
• ½ cup sugar substitute
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• I used lemon juice, no extract on hand. About 1/4 cup.
  
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup sifted coconut flour
• I use Aloha Nu brand coconut flour which I buy online.
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup walnuts, chopped
  

Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar substitute, vanilla, lemon extract, and salt. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk thoroughly into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in cranberry sauce and nuts. Pour into greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 60 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

This comes from Nancy542 on the Low Carb forum

My guests raved over this. They couldn't believe it was low carb and gluten free.

The only thing I'd change about this bread is using sugar free cranberries however, they're impossible to find. Next time I'll probably just use a shredded apple instead of cranberries.

Coconut Flour Crust

I have been making a lot of desserts lately for holidays and parties and my usual low carb, Paleo-ish choice is almond meal. However almonds don't really agree with me all that well and I've never been all that crazy about how the crusts turn out. So on a whim I thought to try coconut flour, which I had bought online. The brand was "Aloha Nu". I've heard bad things about certain coconut flours which you can buy in health food, I think the brand was Bob's Red Mill. It is orange colored (from what I've heard). I can't imagine why coconut flour would be orange. Anyway, I've only used Aloha Nu and it seems to be pretty good stuff.

I have worked with coconut flour before, it is quite challenging stuff. It absorbs moisture like nothing I've ever seen and can turn into a crumbling, dry sponge that sucks all the water out of your mouth, if you're not careful. So I had my doubts about using it as a crust. However I do love to experiment!

So I experimented and I'm actually quite pleased with the result. Out of the oven it was a bit crunchy and I can only describe it as flaky, almost like a wheat crust. When I put the filling in it lost the crunchiness but still retained it's shape nicely and had a great taste and remained flaky. It's only oddness was it expands in the mouth. But I didn't mind, it just lent to that flaky texture feeling. I love the little bit of salt added, I think it makes a big difference in the taste of the crust.

Unfortunately I can't give exact measurements on some things because I just added them until the texture was right, but I think I can tell you what to look for.

1 Cup of coconut flour (Aloha Nu)
Lard -- right out of the fridge
2 Tbl Butter -- Room temperature is ok
Salt -- 1/8-1/4 tsp
Sweetener -- about 1/8 - 1/4 cup depending how sweet you like your crust

Put coconut flour, sweetener and salt in your food processor and whiz until mixed.

Now start to add lumps (roughly 2 Tbsp) of lard at a time. I also added about 2 Tbl of butter, because I love the taste. Whiz.

Continue adding the cold lard and processing until the dough just begins to look like it will soon want to clump. Don't put too much in! You really want to be able to pour it into your pan and spread it out easily and press it into place. If you add too much, the dough will be too sticky.

After placing the dough and patting it into place beat an egg white until foamy and paint the crust with it. This will help it get crisp and waterproof it a bit. Try to use the entire white.

Bake the crust at 350' for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

I have to say Alton Brown inspired the idea to use lard instead of butter. He used it in his wheat pie crust recipe (along with butter) saying that the lard has a higher melting point and helps keep things flaky.

Update:  Be sure to bake this crust before filling, like you would a graham cracker crust.  The egg provides a kind of waterproof seal (sort of) and it should help keep the filling from soaking in too much. 

Coconut Flour dalliances

I've been toying with coconut flour again. I made my sister a muffin from coconut flour, egg, lemon juice, sweetener and baking powder and she loved it. As usual I didn't measure, I just guessed. So I didn't have a recipe to give her. Now I'm trying to nail down a recipe and I can't duplicate it.

Well, sooner or later I'm bound to get it right and when I do I will post it here.