Fried Sweet Tortilla "Cakes"

“Sticking with uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic - this is the spiritual path.”

— Pema Chödrön

Let me just start with saying that with the oh so incredible yet exhausting life with an ever growing and developing 6-month-old, this dessert couldn’t have popped into my mind at a better time! Oliver is truly the most wonderful, perfect little guy, but dang does he know how to wear mama out!

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been ALL about those quick nap time desserts. I’m no “30 Minute Meals,” but I can whip up a mean dessert in less than an hour, so this sleepy woman is proud of herself! I would say that these sweet fried tortillas are the quickest thing I’ve ever put together, and also probably the most insanely good. Think cinnamon-toast-crunch-plus-caramel-and-whipped-cream. Sound strange? No? I didn’t think so!

This all started when the beautiful Siete Foods family sent me this unreal little care package, full of their grain free chips, their hot sauces, and these babies: TORTILLAS! Of course, I ripped into everything immediately, devouring quite a bit before taking a step back and deciding that I should actually make something with this besides just shoving it all into my mouth. Honestly, they couldn’t have come at a more perfect time! The past couple of weeks have been tiring, I’ve felt kind of deflated, just in a slump. I would say it has a lot to do with the fact that my husband, son, dog and I have been at home since February, unable to really go anywhere, see anyone, and some days I just feel like we will be here forever!

Of course, I know that’s not true and it’s just quarantine brain getting to me, but these feelings are real, y’all.

When this beautiful box arrived on our doorstep, I could have cried tears of joy! It’s the little things, truly. The Siete family is probably one of the sweetest families I have never met, and they relit my creative spark! Their tortillas, let me tell ya, are out. of. this. world. Cassava flour? Almond Meal? Chickpeas?! Like what the heck!! And they don’t taste like all other weird grain free/GF things. I’m certainly a gluten lover, but I will never turn down something as satisfying as these tortillas! Our freezer is now stocked, thank you very much!!

All of that being said, I didn’t want to take away from their flavor, texture, goodness, but also I wanted to spice them up a bit with just a few little additions. My husband kept saying “just make a tortilla cake!” To that, I had no idea what he meant but then these were born! Fried them up a bit in coconut oil, coated in my all-time childhood favorite of cinnamon + sugar (and some cayenne this time!), then covered in some whipped coconut cream + DF caramel sauce. Huge thank you to Wild Friends Foods for introducing me to their almond cashew butter *drool* Is this a tortilla cake? Maybe? Sure? I guess my husband gave me some inspiration! And is this something you will need to create whenever we can have dinner parties again? ABSOLUTELY!! It’s a little messy, a lot sweet, and one of the best nap-time desserts/snacks out there!

nut butter caramel ingredients

Almond Butter, Wild Friends Foods is my preferred—4.25 oz, or ½ C

Coconut Oil—1.85 oz, or ¼ C

Vanilla Extract—1 tsp

Coconut Sugar—1.5 oz, or ¼ C

Salt—2 tsp

process

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan

Bring to a simmer, and allow to lightly boil for 2-3 minutes

Remove from heat and let cool just slightly before using, it’s hot!

cinnamon sugar ingredients

Cinnamon—1 TBL

Cayenne Pepper—1 tsp

Coconut Sugar—2.25 oz, or ¼ C + 2 TBL

process

Combine altogether in small bowl!

coconut milk whipped cream ingredients

Coconut Milk, full fat—1 can

Vanilla Extract—1 tsp

process

Put your coconut milk in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours in order for the fat to firm up

When you are ready to make the whipped cream, take the coconut milk out of the fridge and spoon out the top, which is the firm fat of the coconut milk

Place this in your mixer and whip on medium-high until it begins to thicken

Slowly drizzle in the vanilla extract

Turn off the mixer when it has become thick and fluffy

frying tortillas

In a small skillet (I love a good cast iron one!), heat a tablespoon of coconut oil

Once melted and shimmering, put in one of your tortilla. Siete Foods tortillas are AMAZING! They are grain free, but don’t use any funky ingredients to substitute that out—instead, it’s foods like almonds, cassava, chickpea, cashew, and chia! The flavor is certainly NOT sacrificed!!

Fry on each side for about 20-30 seconds

Allow excess oil to drip off of the tortilla, then transfer to either a plate or cutting board and sprinkle both sides with the cinnamon sugar mix

Do this with the remaining tortillas! I used 4 for this recipe!

assembly

Take one of your fried and spiced tortillas, place a large dollop of the coco whipped cream on top, drizzle with your caramel, top with another of the tortillas

Continue to do this until you’ve used up all of the fried tortillas!

This is definitely the easiest yet most delicious recipe I have made!! You can add as much or as little of the toppings as you want and makes for such a satisfactory afternoon snack or evening dessert! The toppings keep SO well, so you can make a larger batch of them and just fry up the tortillas “to order!”

Bon Appétit!

Coconut Chocolate Tart

“When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible”

— Brené Brown

I believe I say this with each recipe, but dang, this gf/df coconut chocolate tart is making mama proud this week!

As I (think?) mentioned, your girl has joined the dairy free club! I always insisted that I just ate too much whenever I was getting sick from ice cream, pizza,  lattes ... but guess what? I stopped consuming dairy and BOOM! my stomach issues are almost nonexistent!

I'm sure that story was so whatever to y'all, but sometimes I just need a disclaimer, okay?!

I'm currently transitioning my life to a place that I want, not what annnyyyyone else wants, and it feels SO damn good. See that quote up at the top? Yeah, we're all worthy of every single happiness and we need to stop tricking our minds to think otherwise. It breaks my heart that I was really self-sabotaging, I was telling myself I had to do x, try y, be z all for every. one. else. Then these past few months I said screw that, get your booty back into school because you want to, make a decision for your career that's going to make you happy, join that kickboxing gym you've had your eye on for months because it'll make you feel like a badass (and hopefully become one soon enough!). I was tired of letting my anxiety control my life - no one's letting that happen but me!

Et voilá! My (soon to be) M.S. in Nutrition + my degree in baking + my LOVE for sugar has all brought me here. All brought y'all this recipe! I'm honestly so in love. Like a few notches below my love for my pup and husband (...yes, you see who I put first there, oops!). First off, we all love a good graham cracker crust. This one happens to have some coconut sugar, maca powder (hellloooo salted caramel taste and energy boost) and it's all combined with coconut oil! How could it not be a winner? And what else - uhh how about a layer of toasted coconut then topped with a dairy free chocolate filling. AH I need a slice right now, please. The filling is so dang simple: coconut milk + 70-80% dark chocolate + coconut oil. Add some coarse salt after it has set and THERE YOU HAVE IT! Something so beautiful.

With the help of my amazing husband, who tried everything I asked/begged him to, the perfect gluten free/dairy free coconut chocolate tart was born! Ohhhh and is it a beauty. It is just one of those desserts that I know will become a staple because 1. it's quick, 2. minimal and clean ingredients, 3. it will satisfy all of those dietary restrictions, and 4. IT'S SO FREAKING GOOD! I'm not kidding. I mean I just screamed that at you, didn't I?!

Decided to go light on the rambling today because, I mean, you need to just get to the photos, to the recipe, get yourself a bit covered in coconut and chocolate, and have yourself a sweet evening! You can thank me in about 4 hours when the tart is finished and you're on your third piece ;)

crust ingredients

Graham Cracker Crumbs—5.5 oz, or 1 ½ C

Coconut Sugar—1.75 oz, or 1/3 C

Coconut Oil, melted—5.5 oz, or ½ C

Maca Powder—1 tsp

Coconut, toasted—1 oz, or 1/3 C

process

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Spread the coconut onto a sheet tray and toast for ~10 minutes.

You want the coconut to be a nice, golden brown.

While coconut is toasting, combine the crumbs, coconut sugar and maca powder (optional!) in a medium bowl.

Melt the coconut oil over low heat. Once melted, pour over the crumb mixture.

Mix to combine.

This should be a wet-like-sand consistency.

Press the crust into a tart shell—pie shell also works fine!

Bake in the already preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, until slightly more golden.

Allow to cool completely before sprinkling the coconut flakes evenly in the bottom of the crust.

Store wrapped in freezer until ready to use.

tart filling ingredients

Coconut Milk—10 oz, or 1 ¼ C

Chocolate, 70%—5 oz

Coconut Oil, melted—2.75 oz, or ¼ C

process

Scale out all of your ingredients separately.

Melt the coconut milk over low-medium heat.

Once it begins to simmer, pour over your chocolate (chopped, in a heat proof bowl).

Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.

Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until the milk/chocolate mixture is homogenous and smooth.

Add in the coconut oil, stir.

Once all of the ingredients are completely combined and smooth, pour into your prepped graham crust shell.

Place in refrigerator for at least 3 hours so the chocolate filling can set.

Once set, sprinkle some coarse salt on top, slice and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!

My Favorite Cornbread

Let me start off by asking, did this month fly by or is it just me?! I can’t believe that it’s already February! Luckily, this is one of the most fun months for me—between Roberto and mine’s anniversary, the Superbowl and Valentine’s Day, there are so many more excuses for me to bake lots and lots of goodies and eat them more guilt free than normal!

But warning! This post is all about the Superbowl and all about my unconditional love (Sorry Roberto) for the Patriots!

First off, the Patriots should be playing this coming weekend, and there are many reasons as to why they lost to the Broncos that are just unfair! There. Done being whiny!

More importantly though, even though the amazing, talented, super cute Patriot men won’t be running around on the 7th of this month, it doesn’t mean I will be sulking and not enjoying the game anyways—I mean there is still the Puppybowl to keep me happy…

As well as strange commercials I always look forward to, a lot of food that will be consumed, oh and the football game too. Whether it’s tacos, nachos, lasagna, chili, cake, cornbread, all of the hearty foods come out to play on Superbowl Sunday! A must have all season long is this cornbread. Roberto makes a huge pot of chili=cornbread on the side; we have some loaded up tacos=cornbread on the side; lots and lots of football=cornbread on the side.

You get the picture!

Besides the obvious reasons, why is this here cornbread the best, most incredibly corny recipe you ever did see?!

WELL! Not only is it oh so moist, but it is just the right amount of sweetness that you crave while shoveling chips, salsa, and wings into your mouth. There’s a slight uniqueness in the flavor because normally I am using a coconut-almond milk blend—it’s just what we use here in the Bem/Henry household—and that minor change just from the milk truly is a game-changer in this recipe.

Not convinced yet? This beautiful recipe below is the perfect vehicle for all of the flavors! I love a little bit of spice in my cornbread, along with cumin and/or cinnamon for some warmth, and let me tell you, this cornbread is beyond welcoming for all flavors! Want to keep it simple? Easy, take out the pepper, cumin and garlic. Feel like truly jazzing it up? Go crazy and add cayenne, cinnamon, chorizo and cheese!

Is this cornbread is as sweet and wonderful as the Patriots? Obviously :)

…Oh yes, I went there!

So, whether you love football, hate it, just watch the Superbowl to be social and eat a lot, or all of the above—this cornbread is an amazing addition, and it’s a staple in my life even after the big game is over! (Hell, it partners with some grilled summer seafood amazingly well, too—you’re welcome!)

I hope that you all are surrounded by the best of people this coming Sunday, and more importantly, that you bring this flavorful and moist cornbread to the party to truly cheer up all of us Pats fans for this Superbowl!

ingredients

Sugar—7 oz, or 1 C

Flour—9 oz, or 1 ½ C

Cornmeal—4 oz, or ½ C + 3 TBL

Salt—0.3 oz, or 1 ½ tsp

Baking Powder—0.4 oz, or 2 ½ tsp

Crushed Red Pepper—2 tsp

Cumin—½ tsp

Minced Garlic—0.25 oz, or ½ tsp

Eggs—2

Milk—8 oz, or 1 C

Olive Oil—4.5 oz, or ½ C

process

Preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

In a bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients—flour, sugar, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, spices, garlic.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk and olive oil.

You may either do this with your mixer, or just using a spatula to fold the ingredients together!

Slowly add your wet ingredients until your dry.

Mix only until just combined.

Spray either an 8”x 8” pan or a loaf pan with nonstick spray.

Pour your cornbread batter into whichever pan, spreading evenly.

Sprinkle with turbinado/coarse sugar.

Bake in your preheated oven for 50 minutes, until it is golden and there are no parts that jiggle when you move the pan. Doing the toothpick test is great as well!

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before taking it out of the pan, and to cool completely before cutting.

Bon Appétit!