lemon coconut milk ice cream -- dairy free and delicious

There are two advantages to making a lemon ice cream with coconut milk. One is that those who are intolerant of dairy can still enjoy it. the other is that the lemon juice won't make the coconut milk curdle. Win win!! And this ice cream was definitely a win.

ingredients

2 cans coconut milk (total 800 ml)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
generous pinch of salt
black pepper

lemon zest from one lemon

this will make just over 1 L of ice cream


directions:

1. combine the above ingredients. I use an immersion blender
2. chill
3. freeze in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturers

Lemon Date Squares -- the whole foods, lemony, vegan, delicious, low sugar version.

Well, I was trying to figure out what would make an elegant dessert for mother's day.  One that would make all the moms happy. Chocolate cake? Too heavy for lunch. Coffee cake? Too prosaic. Well, inspired by an article in the Globe and Mail of all places, I came up with this lemony date square, to be served with lemon coconut milk ice cream.  Yes, I am amazing. Bow down. Just kidding. But this simple and elegant dessert rocks. Seriously. But only if you like date squares. Which we do.

ingredients:


date filling:

2½ cups honey dates, pitted and chopped
2 cup water
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tbsp ground  vanilla
pinch sea salt
a little black pepper

ingredients:

crust:

1 cup shredded coconut

2 cups almond flour

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt
(hey if you're like me and you are a fiend for black pepper you can add some to this too)
1 tsp ground vanilla

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

directions:

crust:

1. combine the ingredients for the crust. Use a fork. Add the liquid last after everything else has been successfully mixed together

2. in a greased glass 8 x 11 pan: line with parchment and firmly press 2/3 - 3/4 of the mixture, reserving 1/4 - 1/3 as topping

directions:

date filling:

1. combine the chopped dates, lemon juice, vanilla, sea salt, black pepper and water in a pot and simmer for 5 minutes or until the dates are nice and soft and melty.

directions:

combining the two:

preheat the oven to 300

2. evenly spread the date mixture onto the pressed in crust from above

3. sprinkle the date mixture with the crumbly remains of the crust ingredients

4. bake at 300 for 60 minutes

parchment lined and greased 2L baking dish

the crust pressed in

date filling spread on the crust

remaining crust ingredients crumbled on top

after baking

plated with lemon coconut milk ice cream

Knock your socks off Lemon Cakes -- Nut free, Dairy free, Cane Sugar free

I needed something that had no nuts in it, because sometimes people walk into my nut-filled world of cooking who are nut intolerant, sensitive, or allergic. I decided to harness the power of lemon for these little cakes. The tricky thing about lemon is to manage to layer the flavours, so that the bright notes of lemony and sweet balance each other, and are also supported by an infrastructure of flavours so that the over all taste isn't just one note, but is a fully rounded flavour that harmonizes with and celebrates the lemon, showing it off, bringing out the best in it, and making it fully structured enough to stand fully on its own. That is how my brain works when it comes to cooking. You probably wish I hadn't just given you that little insight.

Anyway, here is my recipe for intensely lemony Lemon Cakes.

ingredients:

3/4 cups freshly squeeze organic lemon juice
1 1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup coconut nectar
2 organic eggs, xl
2 tbsp xylitol (optional)

1/2 tsp ground vanilla
1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cup kamut pastry flour

2 tbsp zest of organic lemons

extra zest and coconut sugar for sprinkling on top


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. zest your lemons
2. squeeze enough lemons to get approx 3/4 cup lemon juice
3. add enough hot water to the lemon juice to get 2 cups of liquid
4. add the coconut oil and let it melt
5. add the coconut nectar, coconut sugar, and xylitol
6. add the cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and sea salt
7. add the baking soda
8. add the kamut flour
9. pour the batter into prepared muffin cups
10. top the cakes with a sprinkling of lemon zest and coconut sugar
11. bake at 345 for 30 minutes