This delicious desert is not only tantalizing to the tastebuds and has a luxurious mouth-feel, but it is also good for your body, in particular your brain and spine, immune and nervous system – a neuroendocrineimmune recipe which also stimulates oxytocin when it comes in the shape of a heart. A perfect treat for Valentines day. The nutrient dense foods also are good for your adrenals and gonads to help with potency for sensual stamina and overall good lovin’!

I developed this recipe in memory of my mother-in-law, Oma Harriet, on the first anniversary of her passing away. August 30th was her birthday so it seems appropriate to post this recipe today. They came out surprisingly well! I used coconut flour for the crust and the delicate coconut flavor is a nice complement to the rich, sweet lemon curd.

Oma Harriet was a great collector of old recipe books so I searched them for lemon squares recipes. I discovered that it seems to be a relatively recent recipe probably first created in the 1950s or later. It also seems to be a uniquely American recipe. If anyone has any more info on the origins of this recipe I’d love to hear it!

Very simple, refreshing and delightfully delicious. So wonderful when lychees are in season and the weather is hot!

• 1 c fresh frozen lychees
• 1 can (330mL) coconut water
• sprig mint

Method:
Peel and seed 1 bunch of lychees and freeze overnight. The next morning simply blend the lychees with 1 can of coconut water. Top with a sprig of mint and enjoy.

These special truffles are made with egg yolks, cream, butter, real chocolate and honey. The egg yolks help to give it a specially creamy mouth-feel that makes it all the more rich and decadent.

• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/2 c cream
• 1/4 c butter
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate
• dash salt

Yule Kaka (Christmas Cake) is a tradition in our house. Yule kaka is a sweet, buttery, cardamom-flavoured fruit bread that is eaten with jam and cream. I was delighted to find that cashew butter and flour have just the right sort of fat and flavor to be a perfect substitute for wheat flour in this recipe. Personally I find it especially delicious with raspberry or rose-hip jam. The slight tartness that they add to this treat is just the thing. This year I tried it with goji berries, dried cherries and pistachio nuts. But I think it would be much better without the pistachios and with raisins as well.

This delicious coconut syrup toffee is unique and addictive. It was quite by accident that this recipe came into being, one of those wonderful experiences when you put whatever you have around into a pot and the result just comes out divine. The minerals in the coconut water give it a gently salty flavor which goes well with the buttery toffee effect.

These delightful, simple, delicious homemade marshmallows are very unique. 4 cans of coconut water are reduced to a syrup and whipped into gelatin, creating a mineral-rich, slightly salty treat that can be used in many ways. They have a flavor that reminds me of good ole fashioned salt-water taffy.

Cherries and pecans are both incredibly high in antioxidants and the coconut cream and oil in these tasty pompoms are also very good for you. These are easy to make and hard to stop eating! They remind me of Santa’s Whiskers Christmas cookies … they taste like fresh wintery snowballs, especially if you keep them chilled. Maybe it is because I grew up in Papua New Guinea, but I always associate coconut with Christmas.

• 1 c chopped dates
• 1 1/2 c chopped pecans
• 1 c dried cherries
• 2 pods cardamom ground
• dash salt
• 1 c coconut cream (manna)
• 1/2 c butter or coconut oil
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa (optional)

Many years ago I worked in an Italian restaurant during the America’s cup races in New Zealand. One of our favorite desserts that summer was a light and creamy traditional zabaglione. This version, made with a coconut water reduction and honey instead of marsala and sugar is a real treat on a winter’s night.

Technically, a zabaglione is a caudle, a hot, wine-fortified drink made as a healing draught for a sick person. The noun later morphed into the verb “to coddle,” meaning “to treat with extreme or excessive care or kindness.” Which isn’t a bad way to describe how zabaglione makes me feel. –Zabaglione Love

Every once in a while I get lucky and today I got lucky.  I am landscaping a section of my parent’s garden, which means I have to go up to their place in North Van.  If I have a car on my trip up there and it is the summer time then I always, always, always stop at Bob’s fruit stand.  This is especially true during peach season.  I can easily eat five peaches in a sitting and allow myself to gorge on them during their short, beautiful season.  Bob’s trucks their produce up from the Okanagan so their stuff is local and absolutely gorgeous.

As I was preparing for my peach fix, I happened to notice a little something new at Bob’s.  Sour cherries.  I asked about them and discovered that the season here is about a week long, which is why I have never seen them before.

These little beauties are going to be my secret weapon in an upcoming pie competition.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  My next pie competition is coming up and the judges are not going to know what hit them!

Right now my plan is top secret so I can’t share too many details.  One ingredient that my utterly delicious pie will contain though is roasted sour cherries.  Here’s how to do it.

Directions

1) Stem your cherries, toss them with a little olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Pop them in the oven at 350 F and stir every ten minutes or so.

2) The cherries will split and release their juice and once they are soft, they are done.  Let them cool and then remove the pits.  I am freezing mine because I didn’t want to take a chance on them spoiling if canning didn’t work.  I drained the juice before freezing and froze it separately.

Check back in September for my ultra-decadent pie entry.

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Shonagh explores the guts of food in An Offal Experiment.