Tag Archives: coconut

Coconut Kanten w/Berry Compote

19 Mar

Coconut kanten might be an acquired taste… my husband doesn’t care for it, but I love it!  I turn to this dessert confection when I get a sweet craving.

Kanten, also known as agar agar, is extracted from seaweed.  Often used as a gelling agent in Japanese and other Asian desserts, I grew up with kanten in such desserts as anmitsu.  Low in calories and high in fiber, agar agar is a healthy gelling agent — and I recently started using agar agar with coconut milk to make coconut jelly cubes.

Agar agar often can be found in long strips.  I found agar agar flakes instead, which I think are easier to use.  The texture of this coconut kanten is harder than your typically jelly.  While I love the texture, David finds it a little weird.  (More for me, then!)

It’s super easy to make coconut kanten.  I also make a simple berry compote sweetened with Stevia, which goes nicely on top.  I can eat coconut kanten cubes just as they are — they have become my go-to snacks.

Here’s how I make it: Continue reading →

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Pot du Coco(nut) with Sherry

27 Nov

For dessert for our non-traditional Thanksgiving in Stockholm, I made a “duo of dark chocolate” — a caradamon and orange flour-less sugar-free chocolate cake and “Pot du Coco(nut).”

When I make flourless chocolate cakes, I use a recipe I found on Food52 by ChezUs.  Normally, I use Stevia to sweeten the cake, instead of regular sugar.  On this occasion, I skipped any kind of sweetener because (1)  we haven’t found Stevia in Stockholm and (2) I thought that a less-sweet, almost bitter cake might pair better with the “Pot du Coco(nut),” which is creamy and decadent.  I will post the recipe for the cake later.

The “Pot du Coco(nut)” recipe was inspired by our desire for an easy, home-made paleo dessert and a too-sweet sherry.  Recently, David and I discussed over dinner how, occasionally, it would be nice to have a little dessert.  In New York, we sometimes buy sugar-free coconut ice cream, which we love.  We wondered if we might look for something similar in Stockholm.  Also recently, we bought a Pedro Ximenez sherry, hoping it’d make a nice digestiv.  Unfortunately, the sherry is much too sweet and almost honey-like.  I hate to waste things… and then it occurred to me that I should make my own coconut milk based dessert utilizing the too sweet sherry: How about a Pot du Coco(nut)?

Here’s how I make my “Pot du Coco(nut)”:

Melt 2 bars of dark chocolate in a double boiler (about 7 o., or 200g — I use 81% cacao).  If you don’t have a double boiler (I don’t) you can use two pots, one small pot to heat water, and a small sauce pan (smaller than the pot) in which to melt chocolate over the hot water.

When the chocolate melts, add a can of coconut milk (400 ml).  Keep mixing and heating the mixture until the it is completely smooth and silky in texture.  (It’s important to heat the coconut milk with the chocolate and make sure to mix well to achieve smooth creamy texture.  I use a spatula to keep mixing and scraping the sides, until the chocolate runs smooth.)  Add about 1/4 cup of sweet sherry (or another sweet wine) into the mixture.  The sweetness from the dark chocolate and the sweetness from the wine will act as the sweeteners for the pot du coco(nut).

Pour into small glasses — I will make about 8 small portions (or 4 large portions in mugs).

Chill overnight.  This simple dessert tastes amazingly decadent, and will surely impress your guests.  The sweet sherry complements the bitter chocolate, and the coconut milk gives the Pot du Coco(nut) a beautifully velvety texture.  Our non-paleo dinner guests loved the Pot du Coco(nut), and thought it paired very nicely with the minimally sweet flour-less cake.  Since I don’t have many small glasses, I chilled the rest of the chocolate mixture in a mug, which works nicely as well.

Simple, delicious, paleo dessert that will surely impress your dinner guests — paleo or non-paleo!

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