Rum Raisin Ice Cream (Primal)

primal rum raisin ice cream

primal rum raisin ice creamThe twenty year anniversary of my father’s death came and went a couple of weeks ago. He has come to my mind at least once a day for the last twenty years but marking the date caused me to talk about him more than usual. In telling my sons a few fun facts about the grandfather they will never meet (in this life) the subject of ice cream came up. My youngest son, Nathaniel, upon hearing my dad’s favorite ice cream was rum raisin, became fascinated with this fact. He also knows I never saw my father take a drink of alcohol so Nathaniel was a little perplexed about the rum raisin situation. I tried to reassure him the amount of alcohol in rum raisin ice cream is pretty negligible but it made for an interesting conversation.

cup of primal rum raisin ice cream: PaleoSpirit.com

The recent dairy-free Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream recipe went over well (surprise!) so I thought taking on homemade rum raisin ice cream might be a possibility. This time I’m using milk and cream in an effort to recreate my father’s favorite ice cream flavor. It is sweetened only with raisins and maple syrup and has lots of nutritious egg yolks. The taste is exceptionally creamy and our family loved it. We even fought over the ice cream a little but I took that as a positive sign of a delicious result!

Primal Rum Raisin Ice Cream: PaleoSpirit

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Paleo Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-free and Vegan)

Paleo Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Paleo Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

I generally use coconut flour for Paleo dessert recipes because our oldest son, Benjamin, is allergic to nuts. But after hearing great things about it, I finally ordered some blanched almond flour. I started out to create paleo chocolate chip cookies but creativity got the best of me and I ended up with something a little different. I decided to make a Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie instead. And remembering how coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate, something I learned when making the Chocolate Paleo Snack Cake, I also added a packet of Starbucks Via (instant coffee) to the cookie batter.

Starbucks ViaThere’s enough of a resulting coffee flavor in the cookie that the word “mocha” seems appropriate to describe the coffee and chocolate combination.

It seems a little mean to bake these mocha chocolate chip cookies when Ben cannot eat them. But he was a good sport about it saying, “it’s okay, I’m used to it.” I’m not really sure what he meant by that since I go out of my way to ensure he can eat most of my recipes. But he let me off the hook so I won’t worry too much about it. He knows I’ll make him something tasty that he can eat a little later.Paleo Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Update:

During subsequent allergy testing, we discovered Ben is not allergic to almonds. His allergist even told me I should feed him almonds or almond flour goods every so often to keep up his immunity.

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Paleo Chocolate Cheesecake

Paleo Chocolate Cheesecake is a bit of a misnomer because the Paleo Diet, by definition, does not include dairy products. Cheesecake, obviously, has LOTS of cheese which may have you scratching your head.  In strict Paleo Diet circles this recipe would probably be referred to as “Faileo” instead of Paleo.  But here’s the deal, my … Read more

Spiced Apple Compote

Paleo Spiced Apple Compote

This compote recipe started out as a way to “spice up” a family favorite. My kids love applesauce. I have always served them unsweetened applesauce and they don’t seem to mind, but when it comes to dessert they expect something a little more exciting. For this recipe I used ghee, which is clarified butter. (Learn … Read more