Fudgy Cranberry Gingerbread “Cake Balls”

If you can make cake balls, you can make these! Aren’t they just adorable?!

I am entering this recipe in the Creative Holiday Recipe Contest hosted by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups! Good luck to me! J

I can’t think of one thing that isn’t improved upon by adding “fudgyness.” These have a really great fudgy texture with tangy pieces of cranberry, and a nice hint of molasses and spice.

The perfect holiday treat. And fancy enough to give as a gift! Imagine a dozen of these little guys nestled together in a cute little Christmas tin. 

For ease,  I used a doctored up boxed gingerbread mix (lots of different brands are available, use your favorite),  or certainly make your own cake from scratch. You must, you just must, make this frosting. 

Fudgy Cranberry Gingerbread “Cake Balls”

1 box gingerbread cake mix

½ cup natural cocoa powder

½ cup milk

8 Tbs salted butter, room temperature

4oz plain cream cheese, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup cranberry sauce (homemade or canned, whole berry)

12-15oz milk chocolate

¼ cup very finely chopped dried cranberries

1 Tbs very finely chopped crystalized ginger

Make the gingerbread cake by first following the direction on the box, plus adding the cocoa powder and milk. Bake accordingly and then allow the cake to completely cool.

Put your cranberry sauce onto a cutting board and run a knife through it a bunch on times to chop up the cranberries; whole berries are just a little too big for these guys.

To prepare the frosting, beat together the butter and cream cheese until combined and smooth. Add in two cups of powdered sugar and beat for 3-5 minutes on high. Next add in the last cup of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and the cranberry sauce; beat again for several minutes or until smooth. The frosting should be fairly loose.

*Depending on which cake brand you used, you may have a different volume of cake. To make these come out perfectly, you should use a ratio of 4:1 cake to frosting. For all you mathematically challenged bakers, that’s 1 cup cake crumbs to ¼ cup frosting. Aaaand, 1 cup crumbs plus 1/4 cup frosting makes about a dozen little gingerbread men. 

Crumble the cooled cake into a large bowl and use your hand to make sure it is really broken up into a fine crumb. Add in the frosting and mix with a fork until everything is combined; the crumbs should be moist and stick together easily when pinched together, if they are not, add more cranberry sauce to moisten until they are. Err on the side of too moist rather than not moist enough.

Dump out the crumbs onto parchment paper and form them into a large flat mass- no rolling pin necessary. Press them firmly together and aim for somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2” thick. Go at it with your cookie cutter- I used about a 2” tall little gingerbread man, which turned out just perfect!

Keep your cut-out men covered with a damp towel as you continue to cut them out and prepare the chocolate coating. If they dry out too much, they may loose an arm, or a head, oh my! 

We don’t want any casualties.

Make sure your cranberries and crystalized ginger are chopped super small and ready to go. Melt your chocolate (I used chocolate chips, melted in the microwave, stirring every 10 seconds) and get ready. Also, I did have to reheat the chocolate for 8 seconds several times to keep it runny.

I found it easiest to set the little man in the bowl of chocolate and use a fork to push melty chocolate up around his sides, then flip him over. Then I slid the fork underneath him, supporting his entire person and then gently tapped the fork on the side of the bowl to even out the chocolate and get rid of the excess chocolate. Lastly, I dragged the bottom of the fork on the edge of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate on the bottom. Then I used a paring knife to slide the man off the fork and on to parchment paper to dry. I hope that all makes sense…

The first one I did, I did not have his head properly supported and well, let’s just say it didn’t end well for him.

Add a little sprinkle of the cranberries and ginger- before the chocolate has a chance to set up, of course. 

Happy Baking & Merry Christmas!

Orange & Black Tea Sol Ice Cream

Sol Sunflower Beverage, never heard of it? Think almond milk but made from sunflower seeds instead. And it's full of vitamins, minerals, and good fats.

Try this recipe for a guilt-free summer treat! I just love the combination of fresh orange and Earl Grey tea, and it is especially good with the creamy Sol Sunflower Beverage!

This is creamy, flavorful, and just what you want on a hot summer day!

Orange & Black Tea Sol Ice Cream 

3 cups Sol Unsweetened Sunflower Beverage

1 medium banana

3 Tbs dark sugar (brown, coconut palm, sucanat)

2 tsp orange zest

1 Earl Grey tea bag

2 oz. dark chocolate bar (optional)

1. In a blender combine the Sol Sunflower Beverage, banana, dark sugar, orange zest, and the entire contents of the tea bag. Blend for about ten seconds, or until well-combined.

2. Very finely chop the chocolate into small shavings and add it with the creamy mixture into your ice cream maker and process for 15-20 minutes or until chilled. Serve immediately.

Alternately, if you do not have an ice cream maker, line a loaf pan with plastic wrap, pour in the mixture and freeze. Once frozen, remove from the pan and plastic wrap, place in a blender or food processor and whirl until creamy! Enjoy!

Fresh Coconut & Roasted Cashew Caramel Tart

Are you drooling yet?

salty + sweet caramel
roasted nutty cashew
light + luxurious coconut cream
fresh sliced toasted coconut piled on top...

How about now?

{Pats myself on the back} If I only got to eat one thing for the rest of my life, this just might be it...
Yes, it was that good.

The coconut topping is fresh coconut that you shave yourself and toast in the oven. And there's nothing else like it! In order to get thick, meaty slices, I used a mandolin slicer A regular knife just won't cut it. Haha, get it, it's a slicing joke! For this recipe I used one thin and one thicker setting because I like both the thick meaty slice of coconut and the thin kind-of-curly ones too.

Fresh Coconut & Roasted Cashew Caramel Tart

ROASTED CASHEW TART SHELL
1/2 cup toasted unsalted cashew halves and pieces
1 Tbs brown sugar
½ cup + 2 Tbs flour
3 Tbs cold butter, cut into pieces
5 tsp cold water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind cashews in a food processor until a coarse meal is formed, add in brown sugar and flour; pulse until combined and then add in the butter and continue to pulse until the mixture forms a coarse crumb. Slowly add in the water while pulsing until it comes together in a ball.

2. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave some hanging out of the top (to lift the baked tart out when it is done). Press mixture into bottom of the loaf pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until starting to turn golden brown. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

SHAVED COCONUT TOPPING

1 whole coconut

1. Remove coconut meat from the shell in large pieces; see instructions here if you need them.  Use a mandoline slicer on both the larger and smaller settings to slice the coconut meat to get both thicker and thinner more curly slice. You will need about two cups for the dessert. Place the shaved coconut on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. (The thinner slices browned quicker, so I removed those first.) 

I always slice and toast extras while I'm at it because I looove toasted fresh coconut as a snack and also on yogurt with fresh pineapple! But I digress...

COCONUT CREAM

1 can full fat coconut milk, chilled, not shaken

2 Tbs powdered sugar

1. Open the can and take the top cream layer, in the bottom will be left a clear milky liquid, save that for a rainy day. With an electric mixer, beat the cream layer along with the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Keep this in the refrigerator on stand-by. 

CASHEW CARAMEL

½ cup granulated sugar

1 Tbs light corn syrup

1 vanilla bean

2 Tbs water

¼ cup plus 2 Tbs heavy cream

1½ Tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

½ tsp fleur de sel (crushed finely)

1 cup toasted unsalted cashew halves and pieces

1. In a small to medium saucepan combine the sugar, corn syrup, seeds scraped from inside vanilla bean, and water; add the ingredients carefully and try not to get any sugar on the side of the pan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil without stirring. Continue cooking just until the syrup turns amber in color.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and add in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up, carefully stir until it is uniform. Quickly add in the butter and stir until melted and well combined.  Transfer the caramel to a dish and then stir in the salt and cashews. Let it cool completely.

ASSEMBLY

Top the baked and cooled tart shell with the cashew caramel; you should use almost all of it. Top that with almost all of the chilled coconut cream and then top that with lots of toasted shaved coconut slices. Store in the refrigerator; I think this was best served slightly chilled. Keeps wonderfully for several days; you can eat a slice for breakfast three days in a row if you want.... :/

Enjoy!

-Crystal

Blueberry Almond Smoothie with Toasted Almond Sugar Swirl

If you want to make an impressive looking smoothie, this is it! 

BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE:

1.5 cups frozen blueberries + 1 cup milk + 2 Tbs almond butter + 1 tsp almond extract: whip it all up. 

TOASTED ALMOND SUGAR SWIRL

1/4 cup greek yogurt + 2 Tbs very finely chopped toasted almonds + 2 Tbs coconut palm sugar 

 Just mix it all together in a small bowl.

Pour your blueberry mixture into two tall glasses, then take a spoonful of the yogurt mixture and press it up against the inside of the glass to the bottom. Release a little pressure and drag the spoon back up. It's really simple! You can go straight up and down or swirl it. It's smoothie art. 

Natural Medicine Center of Wisconsin

Hello Friends!
Natural Medicine Center of Wisconsin is now open for business. Located in Hudson, WI- I am happy to be serving the people of Western Wisconsin and the Twin Cities. Please send your friends and family my way!


www.naturalmedicinewi.com


Natural Medicine: The patients I see have often been to multiple medical doctors and specialists, have had many different tests run, and have not gotten the results they are looking for.  They may not even be looking for a “natural” treatment option, but rather someone with the ability to dig deep and figure out what is causing your problems. I enjoy treating more challenging patients because when they improve, and they always do- it is extremely rewarding. 

    Common conditions I enjoy working with are:
    Thyroid conditions
    Hormone related issues- anything from infertility to PCOS to menopause
    Lyme Disease
    Depression
    Chronic Fatigue
    Diabetes
    Autoimmune diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
    Celiac disease and other forms of gluten allergies or gluten sensitivities. 

Chiropractic: I am a Chiropractor who won't have you coming back to my office forever and ever. My goal is to get you well as quick as possible, get you back to doing what you love, and get you out of my office! My treatments are very thorough, and they address all aspects of your complaint- because of this, I can achieve results much quicker than many other doctors.