Cranberry orange clafoutis

We don't fuss too much over Valentine's Day.  Rather, I should say that I don't fuss too much over V-Day.  I'm a minimal kind of gal when it comes to most holidays.  Tara, on the other hand, is sort of a holiday maniac.  (It has taken us years to find a happy medium.  Compromise is the key to a healthy and long-term relationship folks.) 

Anyway, because of my holiday mentality,  I usually suck at gift-giving, particularly with romantical events.   So, I tend to fall back on the tried-and-true fancied-up homemade dinner and dessert to make it more gift-appropriate.  Dinner was an easy choice of Penne a la Vodka, which is Tara's favorite meal that I make.  For dessert, I had originally thought about doing something strawberry (you know, because it was V-Day), but as soon as I saw the recipe for Cranberry Orange Clafoutis over at BowlLicking, I knew I had to make it. 

I'm so happy that I went with this dessert. Cranberry-orange is one of Tara's favorite flavor combos.  Plus, the preparation was simple and quick (prep was 5 minutes, tops), but it looked elegant in a rustic sort of way.

So often, it's hard to find a high-impact dessert that's easy to make for two.  Inevitably, there's always one ingredient that refuses to be broken down further (I'm talking to you, "one large egg".) or there's an odd fraction of an ingredient (1/8 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon?).  This recipe, however, was pretty reasonable; it was easily halved (or scaled up) and, if you're using an egg replacer, you could break it down even more.

Despite the heavy cream, egg, and sugar, the dish was rather light.  I'd call it a mix of a souffle and a custard (like creme brulee).  Don't skimp on the butter and sugar coating on the dish; it adds a nice caramelized crunch to the edge.

This recipe is extremely flexible, based on the multiple variations I saw when I did a super-quick Google search.  Check below the recipe for gluten-free and dairy-free variations.

Cranberry Orange Clafoutis
Barely adapted from BowlLicking, who adapted it from Martha Stewart

Yield: 4 small servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 tablespoon unsalted butter (or nondairy alternative), melted, for ramekins
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon+ granulated sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or gluten free alternative)
• heaping 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch ground ginger (optional)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3/8 cup) heavy cream (or non-dairy cream alternative)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3/8 cup) whole milk (or non-dairy alternative)
• 1/4 teaspoon orange oil (or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract or 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest)
• 3/4 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
• Powdered sugar, to dust

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Brush melted butter all over the bottom and sides of 4 small ramekins; sprinkle 1 tablespoon (or more as needed) sugar all over.

Whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, flour, salt, and ground ginger (if using) in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together egg, cream, milk and oil (or extract or zest) in a small mixing bowl. In two additions, whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins. Scatter cranberries evenly on top. Bake on top of a baking sheet (to catch any overflow) for 15-20 minutes, until puffed, barely set in the center, and light brown around the edges. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes or so. As you can tell from the pictures above, the mixture will rise pretty high while cooking and then fall while cooling.

Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Options

Gluten-free:  Use an appropriate flour substitute such as pre-made GF flour or a nut flour.

Dairy-free:   Use whatever non-dairy milk you prefer to replace the milk.  To keep with the richness in this particular recipe, I would substitute the cream with the separated coconut milk from the can (the white-stuff on top after it separates).  Finally, you can use a non-flavored oil or non-dairy, soy-free butter substitute in place of the butter to coat the ramekins (like this Organic Coconut Spread that I talked about in my last post on Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins).

Key West coconut butter lime cookies

These cookies are the result of a total fail. I got the idea to make coconut butter from Edible Perspective and, while I had such high hopes for it, I just didn't like it. First, I used shaved coconut instead of coconut flour and I couldn't get it completely smooth so there were little pieces of coconut throughout. Second, and most importantly, I love the smell of coconut, but I don't really like the taste of it! I attempted to improve the flavor a bit by adding a little lime oil, but it didn't work.

I didn't want to waste it so I stuck it in the fridge until I could figure something out to do with it. Finally, I had the brilliant idea to make coconut butter cookies (a la peanut butter cookies).  Success!  These cookies are ridiculously good!  They remind me of  the lime sugar cookies that Tara and I couldn't get enough of during our last trip to the Keys.  One of my friends said that they were a cross between a margarita and Key West (because Key West is a flavor, right?).

What is it about the smell of coconut that makes you think of the beach and summer?

Before I give you the recipe, I present: Cookie Art, by Tara.  :)

Key West coconut lime butter cookies
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 75th year anniversary

A few observations: (1) If you decide to make your own coconut butter (and you should, because these cookies rock), make sure you get unsulphured and unsweetened dessicated coconut.  (2) Both the lime and the coconut (say it with me: put the lime in the coconut...) are actually pretty mild. 

You can purchase your lime oil from Boyajin; I gotta say, they are well worth the money. You can substitute lime extract, but increase the level to 1 teaspoon.  Also, if you're not a fan of lime, you could substitute 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract; I still have some coconut butter left, so I may make a version like this - I bet it would smell amazing!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup coconut butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon lime oil
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.  In a large mixing bowl beat butter and coconut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and lime until combined . Beat in the flour, stirring if necessary. If the dough is difficult to handle, cover and chill for about 30 minutes.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in additional granulated sugar to coat. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten by making crisscross marks with the tines of a fork. Bake for 9 to 13 minutes (less for softer cookies) or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer to a wrack and let cool.
 

Key lime pie ice cream

I like to make homemade ice cream and I'll use any excuse to prepare it more frequently, so imagine my excitement when I saw that Scoopalicious was having an ice cream contest sponsored by Eagle Brand.  To be considered for the contest, the recipe must include Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.  Key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts and it's one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about sweetened condensed milk.  So, naturally, I had to make key lime pie ice cream for the contest.  

I'm used to working with higher fat ingredients when making ice cream, so I wasn't sure about using the 2% milk that this recipe called for.  If I wasn't so steadfast about making a recipe as written the first time, I would have used full-fat milk or half and half and definitely a higher cream ratio (I'd still like to experiment with this in the future).  In any event, I'm glad I followed the recipe because the lower fat content allowed the key lime flavor to shine.  It also lent a slight iciness to the ice cream that was refreshing, especially after letting it sit in the freezer for a day.  

 

If you can swing buying organic dairy ingredients, definitely do that.  It may just be me, but I think that organic milk and cream add a little extra something to ice cream. 

Since I'm not in the habit of using bottled lime or lemon juice, I bought a bag of key limes to squeeze - Oh, the benefits of living in South Florida!  I also zested the key limes, but I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you're a bit of a masochist because it took far too long for a such a small amount of zest.  I won't do that again. The actual cutting and squeezing of the limes was pretty quick because they are so small.

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

Slightly adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

If you can't find real key limes or bottled Key Lime juice - make sure it's Key Lime juice, not Key West lime juice - you could use regular limes or bottled lime juice.  Also, double check the ingredients of the bottled juice to make sure there's no sulfur in it.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups 2%  milk
• 1/2 cup Key lime juice 
• Key lime zest, optional
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• dash of salt
• 1 (14-ounce) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
• handful or so honey graham sticks (or 2 cookie sheets of conventional graham crackers), coarsely crushed

Directions

Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk.  If you're using an ice cream maker, freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Fold graham cracker crumbs into the ice cream.  Transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. 

If you are not using and ice cream maker, pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container and freeze for 6 hours or until firm.  When the ice cream is slightly firm, fold the graham cracker crumbs into the ice cream.

When I served this, I put some of the remaining graham cracker crumbs on the bottom of each dish before I scooped in the ice cream.  

Makes 1 1/2 qts.