Coconut Black Walnut Crumble at Big Bear Cafe

Prompted by a Paleolithic dinner,  hosted at Big Bear Cafe,  John and I came up with a new fruit crumble topping recipe.  We both ended up liking it so much it made it onto our master recipe list and onto the Big Bear dinner menu for the time being.
This topping would pair well with most fruits I can think of but it is particularly delicious at the moment with the fruit John is using, Reid's Red Gooseberries and Path Valley's White Donut Peaches.
Coconut Black Walnut Crumble Topping
2 1/2 cups coconut flakes (larger than shredded sometimes called chips)
3/4 cup black walnuts (ours are from Path Valley but link is to a very good source)
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons coconut butter 
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Place the coconut flakes, black walnuts, maple syrup, coconut butter and salt in a mixer and process until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.
Crumble topping over berries or sliced fruit and cook until top is browned and fruit is softened

Almond Torte with Frozen Lemon Verbena, Path Valley Blueberries and Candied Almonds

Had a couple friends over for lunch, have lots of lemon verbena growing in our garden–  made this dessert...

Almond Torte with Frozen Lemon Verbena, Blueberries and Candied Almonds

Almond Torte

3/4 cups sugar, 4 oz almonds, 1 1/2 teaspoons honey, 4 oz earth balance, 3/4 cup pureed silken tofu, 1/2 cup flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a food processor combine sugar, almond and honey.  Process for 2 full minutes.  Put aside.
  3. In a mixer cream earth balance and add almond sugar mixture, process until combined.  Add pureed tofu, flour and baking powder and mix until just combined.
  4. Bake in individual cake molds or any shape individual silicone molds.  Cook until cakes test clean, about 20 minutes.

Frozen Lemon Verbena

1 cup young coconut water, 1 cup young coconut meat, 3 cups coconut milk, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut butter, 1/2 cup agave nectar, 1 teaspoon himalyan salt, 3 tablespoons leaves of lemon verbena

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a high speed blender.  Adjust sweetness to your liking.
  2. Chill and freeze in an ice cream maker.
Candied Almond
 

1 cup almonds, 2 tablespoons honey, large pinch of sea salt, large pinch of sugar

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine all  ingredients on a baking sheet and place in oven.  Cook until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

To Assemble Dessert

Top torte with a scoop of frozen lemon verbena, fresh blueberries, a small handful of almonds and julienned lemon verbena.