Pumpkin Freezer Fudge (Paleo, Vegan)

Fall is my all-time favorite season. Apple picking, pumpkin carving, watching the leaves change colors, brisk mornings and evenings, what’s there not to love! Well- in my opinion- the sugary, artificial “pumpkin spice” everything is a bit overkill. Pumpkin is a squash and therefore it’s not inherently the sweetest ingredient for baked goods but it is easily complimented by natural sweeteners to make some delicious, nutrient dense treats. Pumpkin pie is probably the most common- but this freezer fudge is definitely a new favorite of mine. The recipe is quick and easy and it’s sure to please a wide array of audiences. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cups coconut butter
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch of sea salt
• 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Instructions:

-Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper.

-Add all ingredients except the walnuts into a food processor and process until smooth.

-Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, use spatula to smooth.

-Sprinkle walnuts evenly over the mixture and freeze for an hour or until firm.

-Remove from freezer and let sit out for 5 minutes before cutting into squares.

-Enjoy!

I typically cut and then individually wrap each square and place them back into the freezer to grab whenever I need a treat! These are best eaten within 2 weeks if stored in the fridge or freezer.

 

 

 

Rum Cake (Gluten Free, Mostly Paleo)

Is rum even Paleo? Technically if it’s made from raw sugar cane it should be mildy acceptable, right? Or you could just call this (already-treat) an exception, because you definitely don’t want to miss trying this one!

This year has brought a lot of new experiences and self discovery for me. I haven’t been posting much because I’ve been trying to.. we’ll say.. “figure things out”. I’ll save the long story for its own post but the inspiration for this recipe was a well-deserved vacation to Bermuda, which is apparently the land of Rum Cakes, but not so much gluten-free or paleo versions (insert meltdown).

A lot of rum cake recipes I looked up had things like instant pudding mix and dry milk… ingredients that I’ve never really baked with before and therefore swapping out some gluten free subs for these proved to be quite interesting. By some miracle my first attempt at this recipe yielded much positive feedback from a vast array of taste testers. With a few minor suggestions and my own creative tweaks, it only took two tries to get “spot on” from my most trusted and experienced Guinea pig, Alex Washut, head chef and co-owner of Jake’s.

Disclaimer: this recipe isn’t 100% Paleo, I used Gluten free flour mix and of course rum to make this cake.

Ingredients for the Cake:

• 1 cup chopped toasted pecans (or walnuts)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 cup maple sugar
• 1/8 cup toasted coconut flakes (shredded)
• 1 1/8 cup coconut sugar
• 1 3/4 cup gluten free flour (I used Bobs 1:1 GF flour mix, if you don’t use a GF flour mix with xanthum gum in it already, add 3/4 tsp xanthum gum to mix)
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 3 TB arrowroot
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 4 TB rum (I used coconut rum for this part)
• 4 eggs (at room temp)
• 2/3 cup coconut milk

Ingredients for the Glaze:

• 6 TB grass-fed butter
• 3 TB water
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 8 TB dark rum

Directions (Cake):

-Preheat oven to 300 degrees

-Chop and toast pecans(or walnuts) and shredded coconut on a large baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Check and stir frequently as these will go from golden to burnt very quickly. Once toasted, remove from oven and place in a small mixing bowl.

-Increase oven temp to 325 degrees

-In a small mixing bowl combine nuts, shredded coconut, maple sugar and vanilla extract. Add this mixture to the bottom of your bundt pan

-In a large mixing bowl combine the rest of the dry ingredients (coconut sugar, gluten free and almond flour, arrowroot, baking soda and cream of tartar.

-In another small mixing bowl whisk together the wet ingredients (melted coconut oil, rum, eggs and coconut milk).

-Mix wet ingredients into dry and stir until thoroughly combined. Add this mixture on top of the existing mixture in the bundt pan.

-Bake for 40 minutes if you’re using a dark pan, 45min if using a light colored pan.

Directions (Glaze):

-In a saucepan combine all ingredients except rum and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently.

-Once mixture bubbles, remove it from heat and add rum, mix thoroughly.

-Add the rum mixture back to medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until the mixture has reduced to 1/4 of original.

-Once the cake is out of the oven, let it cool for 10min and loosen the sides (I use a knife to gently pull away the sides and then shake the pan to make sure the bottom is lose as well)

-Poke some small holes in the cake (you can use a toothpick, or something as large as a butter knife) while still in the bundt pan and using a turkey baster inject the glaze into and on top of the cake.

-Let the glaze sit for a few minutes so it can absorb (It won’t all absorb, I take the excess back up with the baster and move in back into the sauce pan to then apply to the top once the cake is out of the pan)

-Carefully remove the cake from the pan and serve warm! If you can’t eat it all at once it will still definitely be delicious another day, store in the fridge for up tand let it warm back up to room temperature the next time you’re in need of a sweet treat!