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
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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!

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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!

Dried Fruit Granola

This is my first, of many I hope, recipe collaborations! I have been pressuring my fiancé for many, many months to make his granola recipe for me to share with everyone! Not only is this one super tasty, but also it’s so versatile! Not a huge fan of raisins? Coconut? Substitute them!

Clearly I am excited, as I have used 5 exclamation points in the last 6 sentences!

This past week has been Thanksgiving recipe testing mania. I have been working with iamduende.com creating something extra special for all of you for the upcoming holidays! Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just 2 weeks away?! Between lots of work and endless making and remaking of desserts, there’s hardly been a moment of downtime. Keep in mind that with every recipe that I am testing for this wonderful Thanksgiving special, I am taking endless bites, I mean how else am I supposed to adjust the ingredients?!

This all leads me to just feel oh so balloon-like and even slightly more wound up than usual! I then decided that with this dessert heavy season upon us that I needed to at least have a healthy snack around to munch on instead of my bowl of holiday Rollos and Hershey kisses.

So, as I unwrap my fifth Ghirardelli chocolate bar and melt it down, instead of taking a piece for myself, I instead take a handful of slightly sweet and wonderfully crunchy homemade granola! The natural sweetness in the raisin, cranberry, coconut combination along with the fillingness of the nuts make for an all around wonderful and enjoyable snack.

Feeling extra slumpy recently because you’ve been stuffing your face with any and all things that just scream hey it’s the holiday season, you must eat me! ??! Well, let’s put a slight stop to the madness with this granola!

 

ingredients

Canola Oil—0.75 oz, or 2 TBL

Honey—3 oz, or 1/3 C

Fresh Ginger, peeled & chopped—0.75 oz, or 2” piece

Oats—9.75 oz, or 3 C

Brown Sugar—1.6 oz, or 3 TBL

Salt—0.05 oz, or ¼ tsp

Cinnamon—0.05 oz, or ¾ tsp

Pecans, chopped—2.25 oz, or ½ C

Coconut Flakes—1 oz, or 1/3 C

Dried Cranberries—2.15 oz, or 1/3 C

Raisins—2.15 oz, or 1/3 C

Candied Ginger—2.25 oz, or 1/3 C

 

process

In a small saucepot, combine the oil, honey and fresh ginger.

Preheat the oven to 300˚ F.

Put on low heat and stir to dissolve the honey. Keep on low heat until ready to use.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, chopped pecans and coconut flakes. Mix.

Remove and toss the ginger from the honey mixture. Pour the honey/oil into your oats.

Mix to coat.

Spread evenly on a sheetpan that has been lined with parchment paper.

Put in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes so that your granola toasts evenly.

Once your granola is nice and toasty (you’ll be able to smell it!), remove from the oven and allow to cool.

When it has cooled, mix in your dried cranberries, raisins and candied ginger.

Store in an airtight container, and enjoy as a snack on its own, with some plain yogurt or cashew milk—my favorite!

 

Bon Appétit!