GF Star Fruit Custard Tart

GF Star Fruit Custard Tart

Fine gluten-free crust recipe here: https://simplygluten-free.com/blog/

Filling:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 Tb tapioca flour
1 1/2 Tb arrowroot powder
pinch of salt
1/4 and 1/8 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 Tb butter


1) whisk egg yolks until thick and pale - set aside
2) Mix tapioca flour, arrowroot, salt, and sugar together in bowl - set aside
3) Mix milk, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla into sauce pan
4) Heat milk mixture on medium heat until steaming
5) Add flour/sugar mixture to milk mixture and stir on medium heat until bubbling
6) Slowly pour hot milk into egg yolks while stirring constantly
7) Pour eggs yolk and milk (now fully mixed together) back into sauce pan
8) Put sauce pan on medium heat and stir constantly until mixture thickens and bubbles
9) Pour mixture back into a bowl and stir in butter
10) Cover with plastic wrap and leave custard until room temperature
11) Pour room temp custard into cooked tart crust
12) Leave tart in fridge for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight), allowing custard to set
13) Decorate tart with starfruit and any other fruit of choice

(this filling recipe makes enough to fill one small tart crust - double or triple the recipe for a large tart)

Wild Blackberry Cobbler

During this time of the year I always make cobbler with wild black berries we have in our backyard. This year, I tried a new recipe and it was amazing! I made this with gluten-free flour. I also added more vanilla extract to the crust and I didn't add lemon zest to the berries. I will definitely be making this again soon!

Here's the recipe: http://wickedgoodkitchen.com

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

For Valentine's Day this year, I made a layered chocolate raspberry cake! It was rich and delicious (plus it was gluten-free!) I found the recipe for the cake here: Fudge Mountain Cake

I ended up changing the recipe a little. First, I only made two layers and I used different frosting. I also put a white chocolate raspberry frosting in between the two layers. It turned out SO good!

Raspberry Mocha Frappuccino

Feeling fancy? This decadent frappuccino isn't just some milk, coffee, and ice thrown in a blender. I carefully created this lovely drink that is more like a posh dessert rather than an afternoon treat from Starbucks. This is a frappe that would make even the celebs jealous.

So how did I make such an elaborate drink with only a kitchen full of ingredients and my imagination to guide me? It all started with a really bad ice cream craving. For almost 3 whole years, when I was younger, I would order the exact same thing from any ice cream parlor we entered. If they had it, I would routinely order coffee and dark chocolate ice cream with fresh raspberries mixed in. I decided that I wanted to take this favorite and turn it into a drink. A fancy drink. After an hour or two of being a total mad scientist in the kitchen, I created this lovely concoction. This drink makes me wish I had a time machine so I could go back and drink it again. And again. And again. 

Are you up to the challenge of making it? Trust me, it's worth it. 

Raspberry Mocha Frappuccino 

Step 1) To start off, you are going to need to make my Simple Iced Coffee. You will need to do this either the day before or a few hours before you plan to enjoy your frappe. 

Step 2) Time to make Raspberry Chocolate Cream

1 cup of frozen raspberries

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons raspberry balsamic vinegar (optional, but definitely adds flavor and is highly recommend)

3 cups of milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1. Put the frozen raspberries in a glass bowl and microwave until thawed

2. Strain the raspberry juice into a sauce pan (just throw away the left over seeds)

3. Add the sugar and vinaigrette to the raspberry juice

4. Stir on medium heat until the sugar dissolves and it becomes like a syrup

5. Stir in the milk, vanilla, salt, cocoa powder

6. Continue to stir on medium heat until mixture becomes just like raspberry hot chocolate

7. Pour most of the hot mixture into a pitcher and stick in the fridge to cool

8. Pour the rest of the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze (about 15 cubes)

 Step 3) Now to make the Raspberry Chocolate Syrup

1 cup of frozen raspberries

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons raspberry balsamic vinegar 

25 gram bar of DARK chocolate (The darker the richer! I used 85% dark)

1. Put the frozen raspberries in a glass bowl and microwave until thawed

2. Strain the raspberry juice from the seeds into a sauce pan

3. Add the sugar and raspberry vinegar to the raspberry juice

4. Stir on medium heat until the sugar dissolved and it becomes like a syrup

5. Add the bar of chocolate and stir until it melts 

6. Leave the chocolate syrup out on the counter to use later 

Step 4) Once the coffee is cooled, the raspberry chocolate cream is cooled, and the ice cubes are frozen, you may begin the Raspberry Chocolate Whipped Cream

1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon  sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 big Tablespoon of the raspberry chocolate syrup

1. Put all the ingredients into a mixer and mix on highest setting until the cream becomes just like whipped cream. 

Step 5) Here's the very last step! Excited? Since you can't really make 7 frappuccinos all at once in one blender, I'll tell you how much to put in for just 1 or 2 frappes at a time. 

1. Pour a little less than 1/2 a cup of the Raspberry Chocolate Cream into the blender

2. Pour 1/4 cup of chilled coffee into the blender

3. Put 3 raspberry chocolate cream ice cubes and 3 coffee ice cubes in the blender

4. Put a spoonful of Raspberry Chocolate Syrup into the blender

5. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream (This is optional. It just makes it creamier) 

6. Blend away until mixture is smooth and creamy

7. Pour into glasses and spoon a generous amount of Raspberry Chocolate Whipped Cream on top. 

8. Drizzle the Raspberry Chocolate Syrup onto the top (Warning: if you're as generous as I am, you may run out quickly) 

Your masterpiece is now complete! Sit down and enjoy your frappe. I hope you feel fancy. 

Coconut Mango Smoothie

For a week, I'm going to try to post a different smoothie recipe each day. I've been really enjoying making smoothies as the weather gets warm again. Today I made a coconut mango smoothie...it was wonderful.

Coconut Mango Smoothie
1 handful of frozen raspberries
about 1 cup of frozen mango chunks
1 handful of ice
about 1 cup of coconut milk (add more if it's not blending)
1 tablespoons of vanilla protein powder (optional)
2 spoonfuls of plain/vanilla yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

Blend away and enjoy!