Strawberry Coconut Shortcake

When I lived i Wellington 42 years ago, I fell in love with this strawberry shortcake from a little organic cafe I found upstairs in Cuba street. I eventually figured out how to make it and all this time later I am still reinventing it. I don't generally do dessert, for pudding's sake, but I sometimes work it in to being part of a meal. This take on the classic strawberry shortcake is made with a base of wholemeal, coconut and almond flours, the topping a mix fresh strawberries, coconut & brown sugar. 

This is the most brilliant recipe because it can be made with almost any fruit. Apricot and coconut are delicious together too. A great way to use up fruit that might otherwise be wasted.

Base: cream 100 gms of softened butter with 1/3 cup of brown sugar

Add an egg and beat again

Fold in 2 cups (total) of an even mix of coconut flour, spelt flour and ground almonds

And a tsp of baking powder 

Press mix in to a greased baking paper lined tin

Pop in to the fridge while you're preparing the topping.

Topping: slice up a large punnet (which I guess is a kilo) of washed strawberries in to a large bowl

Add 1 cup of fine coconut & 1 cup of shredded coconut (or whatever you have on hand)

And 1/2 cup of brown sugar

Lastly a splash of rosewater.

Mix together 

Spoon the strawberry coconut mix over the base and smooth out

Bake for 40 minutes in a moderate oven until firm

Keeps really well in the fridge 

In the last photo the shortcake is topped with coconut chia pudding made with coconut cream chia seeds, rosewater and honey, red and gold raspberries, white alpine strawberries and pansies from the garden.

So good!

The next version I made was apricot.

 With juicy fruit it's a good idea to turn down the heat and cook for another 5 or 10 minutes until the fruit topping has firmed well and set.

I am thinking that Black Boy peach would be amazing and also pineapple and passionfruit.

Katie X

Strawberry Yoghurt Cheesecake

Sometimes it's nice to follow a recipe & go out & buy the ingredients especially & other times, it's fine just to use what you have & make it up as you go along. This, around Christmas time "cheesecake" was one of those make it up jobs & it was so delicious.

I have decided that the only base worth making for an uncooked cheesecake is this one. It is so good.

 1/3 cup each of broken cashews, walnut pieces (toast these first if you like) and coconut, 

add 4 or 5 soft dates (remove the stones first) 

Add a tbsp of melted coconut oil and briefly combine in a food processor until mixed to a fine crumb. Press in to a greased springform tin. 

The middle part is super easy- I had a kilo of strawberry Greek yoghurt in the fridge that I bought from Reduced to Clear for $2.50!

In a small saucepan soak a large rounded dsp of gelatine in a little juice, or water.

Let stand for 5 minutes & then stir over low heat until the gelatine is dissolved. 

Stir in a large dsp of honey.

Once cooled, stir in 1/2 cup or so of the yoghurt & stir again.

Now pour the gelatine in to the yoghurt & stir through thoroughly.

Pour over the base. Pop in to the fridge.

The topping is so flavoursome & a great way to make use of an abundance of gorgeous strawberries at this time of the year. I had a large punnet of juicy fat strawberries (seconds are brilliant for this) in the fridge that I washed & sliced & spread out in a roasting pan. Sprinkle a dsp of raw sugar over the fruit (actually I did this part the night before). Cook at around 130o until well roasted & syrupy, but not dry.

The process is the same again- 1 large rounded tsp of powdered gelatine soaked in the liquid of the roasted strawberries, once bloomed, gentle heat to dissolve. Stir through the strawberries add a splash of rose water & once the yoghurt part has started to set, gently pour over the cheesecake. 

Cover & refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Back in the day, when no one even knew what they were, my grandmother Edna would serve bowls of whole strawberries & tinned lychees for dessert. These Japanese wineberries are ready in our garden over summertime & are equally as good with lychees & especially this strawberry cheesecake.

A cheesecake that is light & still nourishing yet feels like a celebration food. It also lasts well in the fridge.

Katie X