Today’s post comes from Jennifer at Predominantly Paleo. I was so impressed by Jennifer’s creative recipes, especially her use of yucca, that I asked her to share a recipe here. Don’t forget to visit her at PredominantlyPaleo.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.
Paleo St
rawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake is the quintessential summer treat! It is fresh and cool and creamy and sweet. When giving up gluten, this recipe is still fairly simple to transition; but when giving up grain and dairy, it presents an entirely new set of challenges.
So how can we make a delicious shortbread AND top it with a freshly whipped cream? Believe it or not it is completely possible and still delicious. This version was apparently so delicious that a certain mister in this household ate about 10 of them in one sitting. They are Autoimmune Paleo Friendly and allergen friendly as well, so this is a dessert worth bringing along to just about any occasion!
How to prepare Yucca
Note from Lauren: Yuca is also called cassava, tapioca and manoic. Jennifer shows you below how to create a dough from yuca root – you can use either fresh or frozen yuca for the dough. To learn more about cooking with yuca, please read my Yuca 101 post here.
- 1 cup yuca (peeled, coarsely chopped, boiled for 20-25 minutes, drained, and cooled)
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar (find it here)
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour (find it here)
- ½ teaspoon organic vanilla extract
- 6 large strawberries diced finely
- 1-2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
- Refrigerated cream separated from 1 can organic coconut milk (find it here)
- Optional: 10-20 drops vanilla flavored stevia drops OR 1 Tbs. honey OR 1 Tbs. coconut sugar
- Preheat oven to 350. For the shells, combine the boiled, drained yucca, avocado oil, coconut palm sugar and vanilla in a sturdy blender (like a Vitamix).
- Blend until you have made a “dough” and all ingredients are well-combined. Empty contents from blender onto a piece of parchment paper. Remove any “twiggy” type pieces from the dough (these are from the core)
- Sprinkle on the coconut flour and begin working it into the dough. If your yuca is extra sticky, you can add a little more coconut flour, but 1 tablespoon should be enough.
- Once your dough is firm and can be pinched off, take a little less than a tablespoon and press it into a silicone tartlet mold (or mini muffin tray – silicone works best here too). Each cavity should have a piece of dough that is slightly hollow in the center and forms a “cup” to hold your strawberry mixture
- Once your entire mold is filled, bake your shells for 20 minutes or until they are nicely browned
- While your shells are baking, take the finely diced strawberries and sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar over them. Gently toss until sugar is dissolved and well distributed among strawberry pieces.
- Remove shells from oven and allow to cool. While cooling, take your refrigerated cream from the coconut milk, add (if desired) the sweetener, and whip either with a hand mixer or in a small blender like a Nutribullet. Now that your shells are cooled, spoon the diced strawberries on top of each shell. Top with desired amount of whipped coconut cream and serve
About Jennifer from Predominantly Paleo
Jennifer is a wife and mother of 3 in pursuit of better health for her family. After being gluten free for 4 years, and having a multitude of chronic health issues, she realized there was still too much processed “food” in her pantry and change was needed. Jennifer began feeding her family more meals from WHOLE foods and less from boxes. Her recipes are predominantly paleo, meaning they are free of grain, gluten, dairy, and refined sugar, but make allowances for a few treats and sweets. She believes food can be medicine when used appropriately and that a few changes now can equate to huge benefits later. Healthy food does not need to be flavorless and void of personality, which she aims to accomplish through her many recipes. Visit her at PredominantlyPaleo.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.
Hi,
Thanks for a great website! I’m unfortunately allergic to all nuts and coconut so struggle to make treats! Do you know of a good paleo dairy-free gluten-free substitute for coconut flour? Would tapioca flour work…?
Thanks again,
Annette
I’ve used arrowroot flour when working with the yuca dough. Just like the coconut flour, it takes some of the stickiness out of the dough. So yes, I think you could replace the coconut flour with tapioca flour here. Unfortunately, in most other recipes, there is not a straight-forward substitute for coconut flour.
Thanks for the advice! I have arrowroot flour so I will try that some time. I actually made the shells yesterday and didn’t need any flour in the end after drying the drained yuca out over heat with some oil, but it did get a little sticky in the end so will try with flour next time. Thanks again!
Looks terrific. I have never seen yuca around here either fresh or frozen. Could you substitute roasted sweet potato?
No, unfortunately there is no substitute for the yuca here.
I thought coconut sugar is not AIP. Am I incorrect? (Hope so!)
Is coconut sugar AIP? I thought not. I hope so! 🙂
Yucca, interesting! I’ve never cooked with that, but it is one ingredient I know I can find where I am living (Malaysia). A lot of specialty ingredients I can’t get. Strawberries- so beautiful! And shortcake is my favorite. Pinned 🙂
Can I use yuca/cassava flour in the recipe?
I cannot find a post from the other day about sunscreen. I believe it was combo of organic young carrot seed oil & coconut oil, by using these 2 together it makes it 40spf?
Thank you, Lisa
Can you tell me if the shells can be frozen for future use?
With cassava you must to be careful how to prepare, it can be poison if not correct prepared.