Sometimes I wonder if there is too much hype surrounding Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong…I am very much a romantic at heart! However I dislike how commercialization of Valentine’s Day by the marketeers has somehow made people hung up with the date of Feb 14th. Couples feel that they need to do special things only on this date. Single folks might feel depressed thinking that they need to find a date for Valentine’s day or else they will lose out! As a consequence they end up spending too much money more often than not on the wrong person! Well, the simple fact is this: If you have been fortunate enough to have found the love of your life, then everyday can be Valentine’s day. And if you haven’t been lucky to have met this person yet, it’s not likely that you will magically meet your sweetheart on Valentine’s day! Anyways the point I want to make is this: I hope that people express their love outside of Valentine’s day too and that everyday can be romantic too. All you need is the right attitude and an optimism towards life and everything beautiful. All these thoughts reminded me of a quote that I had memorized in high school – don’t ask me why 🙂
“I may not say it often
But you know that it is true
That I am always wishing
Real Happiness for you
For though I may not say so
To me you are always dear
Not only on a day like this
But Every day, Every year! ”
I had pinned this special dessert recipe specifically for Valentine’s day since it was a dessert that I could actually eat! Yes being on a dairy free and sugar free diet for almost a year now, my desserts have been mostly limited to fruits, dates and raw honey. I was so excited to see this recipe of Raspberry Coconut Panna Cotta by Eileen from Phoenix Helix. Along with the recipe what excited me was her story of how she has been battling RA too just like me and that the Autoimmune Paleo diet has been helping her control her disease for the last few years. Now isn’t that exciting!
I made some slight changes to her recipe – I added a combination of strawberries and raspberries since I find raspberries alone to be too tart. Also I upped the amount of sweetener -and used maple syrup instead of honey. I find maple syrup to provide the right amount of sweetness that I crave for in desserts. And for the sauce , since I ran out of raspberries, I made it out of cherries! The end result was one special dessert! This indeed felt like a huge treat for me having not had any frozen treats for so long! Yummy yum! thank you Eileen for this great recipe and I think this is already inspiring me to come up with other ideas of similar frozen treats.
Linking this Valentine special recipe to Fiesta Friday this week. The co-hosts this week at FF are Ai @ Ai Made It For You and Petra @ Food Eat Love.
- 1 13.5 oz can full-fat organic coconut milk
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp. gelatin
- ½ cup maple syrup (or honey)
- 1½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries
- ½ cup fresh or frozen strawberries
- ½ cup fresh or frozen cherries
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Tbsp.maple syrup
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- Place the lemon juice into a small bowl. Add gelatin keep aside for 5 minutes.
- In a small pan, heat half of the coconut milk (about 1 cup) over medium heat. Add the maple syrup (or honey) and the gelatin mixture. Stir until dissolved completely.
- Pour this mixture into the blender, along with the remaining coconut milk and the raspberries and strawberries. Blend at low speed until smooth.
- Pour it into small ramekins or small bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set (at least 4 hours).
- For the sauce, Heat all the sauce ingredients in a small pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes. let cool and then blend quickly in a blender to get a smooth sauce.
- To get the panna cotta out, dip each ramekin in a bowl of hot water for about 1 minute. Then turn them upside down onto a serving plate. Drizzle with cherry sauce on the top.
Panacotta is one of my favorite desserts. It sounds great with Maple syrup instead of honey! A perfect sharing dish for Fiesta Friday! 🙂
thank you
You’re so right, by now most of the holidays are so commercial it’s just sad.
I love making Panna Cotta with coconut milk, though I do add sugar to it. I will definitely try this version with maple syrup, as I love it. 🙂
Ronit now that I have been using maple syrup or honey only I don’t miss sugar at all. I really like pure maple syrup better than honey since its so flavorful! I will have to look at your recipe too!
Indu! It looks Yummy.
All your thoughts of Valentine’s Day I endorse.
How are you now. No news from you.
Tomorrow do see my Post on “MUSIC” scheduled for the Valentine’s.
Your blog is asking me all details and I have put.
Regards
Shiva
thank you Shiva for endorsing my thoughts! I am doing better now. I do have to incorporate the pranayama that you suggested regularly in my routine. I am doing it some days only now. However I am doing more exercise – cycling in the gym and doing aqua therapy. And yes I will surely check your post for V day!
Shiva, regarding your comment about my blog asking details it could be because I recently moved to self-hosting from wordpress.com. Hopefully once you have entered it won’t ask you again! Lmk if you are still having issues!
This does look delicious, and very special. If you are craving cold, sugar-free desserts, you might like my banana ice cream with no added sweeteners, not even maple syrup, honey, or dates!
https://israelisalad.wordpress.com/2017/02/02/international-ice-cream-for-breakfast-day-feb-4-2017-invitationgfvegan-ice-cream-recipe/
You may also like these gluten-free brownie bites with no sugar: https://israelisalad.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/gluten-free-no-bake-brownie-bites/
Both of these recipes are very easy to make. 🙂
Good luck with your diet, and feel better!
thank you Miriam. Yes I will surely check out these recipes. thx for sharing and for ur wishes!
WOW Nice 🙂
thank you 🙂