by Libby Klein
Add the flours (cassava, gluten-free, and almond) and salt and beat until a dough has formed. Press between two sheets of parchment and roll out to ¼-inch thickness. Chill until the dough is firm—two hours if you have the time.
Peel the top layer of parchment off the dough. Cut dough into desired shapes using cookie cutters, a glass, a lid from a jar—whatever you want.
Sprinkle tops of cookies with decorative sugars, if desired. Pat down slightly so the sugar doesn’t roll off when you pick up the finished cookie.
Bake for 10–12 minutes or just until the cookies start to turn slightly brown on the edges. Remove from oven and let sit on the pan for a few minutes to finish baking before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
These go really well served with Lemon Crème Brûlée, or with a scoop of ice cream or sorbet sandwiched between two of them.
NO-BAKE PASSION FRUIT CHILI CHEESECAKE
I wouldn’t normally make a no-bake cheesecake, but I wanted to provide the recipe Poppy used during the competition. This no-bake version uses gelatin instead of eggs. Mini springform pans enable the cheesecake to set up quickly, or you could make one big 8- or 9-inch cheesecake if you’d rather. You would just need to let it chill for several hours to be firm enough to cut.
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling
1–2 chili peppers*
1 envelope Knox plain gelatin
3 Tablespoons cold water
¾ cup frozen passion fruit pulp, thawed (You could also use fresh passion fruit, pulped,
and strained.)
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can dulce de leche (or sweetened condensed
milk, about 1 ¼ cups)
almond meal—a few Tablespoons to dust the
bottom of the spring form pans. (You could
also make yourself a crust if you want, but
Poppy just made the cheesecake without a
cookie bottom.)
*I used red serrano chilis for a gentle heat. If you
want more of a bite you can use habaneros. Use
rubber or latex kitchen gloves when cutting chili
peppers. Be sure to remove gloves when you’re
finished and don’t touch anything the gloves have
touched.
Passion Fruit Jelly topping
1 envelope Knox plain gelatin
3 Tablespoons cold water
¼ cup sugar
4 ounces frozen passion fruit juice, thawed
Directions
Cheesecake Filling
Wearing rubber gloves, seed and chop your chilis. Don’t touch anything else. Don’t rub your eye or scratch your face. When your chilis are chopped very small, add them to your passion fruit pulp. Clean up the area and equipment you used and throw away your gloves.
Mix the gelatin with the water and let it bloom. Then, microwave the gelatin for 20 to 30 seconds until it melts. Add it to the passion fruit/pepper mixture.
In a mixing bowl, whip your softened cream cheese until it’s smooth. Doing this now will help the finished batter not be lumpy. When the cheese is fluffy and smooth, add the dulce de leche (or sweetened condensed milk). At the lowest speed, beat for 1 to 1 ½ minutes until the mixture is well blended. Add the passion fruit/pepper mixture and fold or beat at the lowest speed until the mixture is incorporated.
Sprinkle the bottom of your springform pan(s) with almond meal. Use enough to cover the bottom to make releasing the cheesecake easier.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the pan(s). Smooth out the surface because what it looks like now is what it’s going to look like later. It isn’t going to move. Refrigerate until set—30 minutes for minis or several hours for a large cheesecake.
Passion Fruit Jelly Topping
Mix the gelatin with the water and let it bloom. Then, microwave the gelatin for 20 to 30 seconds until it melts. Add in ¼ cup of sugar and microwave another 40 to 60 seconds, until melted. Keep your eye on it so it doesn’t boil over. Using oven mitts or a towel, remove bowl from microwave. Add 4 ounces thawed passion fruit juice.
When this mixture is nice and cool—it doesn’t have to be cold, but it can’t be warm—and the cheesecake is cold, gently pour the passion fruit liquid on top of the cheesecake(s). Chill for another 2 to 4 hours.
When you’re ready to serve, use a butter knife to gently go around the inside of the springform pan to help release the cheesecake from the liner. The cheesecake should come off the bottom easily because of the almond meal.
PALEO EARL GREY MADELEINES
Ingredients
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus additional for molds, room temperature (You can always use coconut oil if you are sensitive to dairy. Refined coconut oil will not have a coconut flavor.)
4 Tablespoons loose Earl Grey tea or tea from 4 teabags
⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon coconut flour
½ cup arrowroot starch
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
teaspoon xanthan gum
3 eggs
⅓ cup raw honey
¼ cup butter, melted (You can always use coconut oil if you are sensitive to dairy. Refined coconut oil will not have a coconut flavor.)
¼ cup coconut milk
zest of 1 lemon
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt 5 Tablespoons butter in saucepan over low heat. Mix in the tea. Let steep 10 minutes.
Grease two madeleine pans with remaining butter.
In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, arrowroot starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Set aside.
Whip the eggs until thick and lemon colored.
Strain butter/tea mixture well—you want as much of the butter as possible. Throw away the tea.
Add the honey, melted butter, coconut milk, lemon zest, and strained butter/tea mixture into the beaten eggs, while mixing on low.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
Use a cookie scoop to evenly divide the batter among the greased madeleine molds in the pans. You should fill the madeleine molds just about entirely. Do not bang the pan or pat down the batter.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine were done in 12 minutes.
Let cool in pans for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to completely cool.
Optional: sprinkle with powdered sugar (not a Paleo option).
DARK CHOCOLATE POTS DE CRÈME
Naturally gluten free and grain free (not Paleo)
Ingredients
1½ cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
4 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons sugar
⅓ teaspoon sea salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a heavy saucepan, bring cream and milk to a boil. Remove from heat; whisk in chopped chocolate until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the yolks, sugar and salt. Temper the yolks with a little of the hot chocolate. Then, whisking constantly, slowly pour the rest of the hot chocolate into yolks. Strain through a very fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, a pitcher, or your blender so it’s easy to pour.
Divide mixture into 2- to 4-ounce espresso cups or small ramekins. I used ramekins and it made 6.
Put a large roasting pan on the pulled-out rack in the center of the preheated oven. Set filled cups in the roasting pan while it’s in the oven. Add very hot tap water to pan, halfway up the sides of cups. Cover pan with foil; use a fork to prick holes in foil. Very gently push the rack into the oven, taking care not to splash water into your chocolate pots.
Bake until edges are lightly set (lifting foil to check) but the center—about the size of a quarter or less—is still jiggly. It will set as it cools—30 to 35 minutes. If the
chocolate is still very runny in an area bigger than a quarter, you will need to bake it longer.
Transfer cups to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving with whipped cream and an Earl Grey Madeleine.
PALEO BISCUITS
Ingredients
½ cup coconut cream—use the thick cream at
the top of the can
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup almond flour
1 cup tapioca flour
½ cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
5 Tablespoons butter, cold
2 eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk together the coconut cream and the lemon juice; let it set for a few minutes.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.
Add the cold butter to the dry ingredients and cut in using your fingers, until it resembles a coarse meal.
Add the eggs until well combined.
Pour the liquid ingredients into a well formed in the dry ingredients and stir together until a wet dough is formed.
Let the dough rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Using an ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto baking sheet. Flatten the tops and sides into a well-formed biscuit shape.
Place biscuits 2 inches apart.
TIP: I had to chill mine for a couple of hours on the cookie sheet because I had to go to a meeting before I could bake them. They were very firm when I took them out of the refrigerator. You don’t have to do this, but if you have trouble with them keeping their shape, try it.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the tops have turned lightly golden brown. I baked mine for 15 minutes because they started out cold. They came out perfect.
Cool on a wire rack.
Serve warm with butter and Aunt Ginny’s Fig Jam.
AUNT GINNY’S FIG JAM
Aunt Ginny uses dried figs when she needs an excuse to use a bottle of port and fresh figs aren’t in season. I serve this with Paleo biscuits, but it’s yummy as a sauce over meat or ice cream too.
Ingredients
14 ounces dried mission figs, stemmed and
chopped
1 cup water
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup honey
1 cup ruby port
pinch nutmeg
Directions
In a large, nonreactive saucepan, toss the fig pieces with the water, lemon juice, and honey.
Bring to a boil, stirring with wooden spoon. Add the port. Simmer jam over moderate heat with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the figs are soft and the syrup is thick—about 30 minutes. Add the pinch of nutmeg.
Using an immersion blender (you can also transfer mixture to a stand blender), blend until smoother, but not pureed. You want to cut up the fig pieces without losing them altogether. Blend until you have the consistency you want.
Spoon the jam into a clean, sterilized mason jar. The jam keeps for several months in the refrigerator like this, or you can seal the jam either with paraffin or by using a canning method in a water bath. Then it keeps for a couple of years on the shelf.
