“I’m your huckleberry,” is one of the most iconic lines in the movie Tombstone. It took some research but I found out what that means: I’m your guy! Now, there is more than one meaning to being someone’s huckleberry, but in this case, it means I’m your guy for delicious desserts. This past weekend, we made it a point to get to the farmers’ market early. I went on a search for something new. It is definitely stone fruit season, as there were beautiful peaches as far as the eye could see. Off to the side was a lone woman with an almost empty table. Everything was sold out except a few cartons of huckleberries! She let us taste one and it was something new: tart with a musty aftertaste. It left our mouths wicked of moisture like a dry red wine would. Its tannin levels were through the roof! My mind sparked like fireworks were going off in my head. This was the ingredient I needed! Out of those fireworks came the Lavender Berry Bumble.
What is a Lavender Berry Bumble? It is a fusion of a shortbread, a buckle and a crumble. It is one of my crazy ideas that materialized into something that works quite well. To be honest, I was fairly hesitant at first, but no great cook ever created new dishes by hesitating. “Iggity ziggity zaggety zoom!” A Lavender Berry Bumble emerged out of the green smoke from my magic cauldron. Are you ready to do some magic? Remember: swish and flick!
Paleo Lavender Berry Bumble:
Shortbread:
½ Cup – Otto’s Natural Cassava Flour
¼ Cup – Gold Nugget Ghee (Chilled)
2 Tbsp – Honey
1½ Tsp – Dried Lavender
Cake:
3/4 Cup – Otto’s Natural Cassava Flour
¼ Tsp – Baking Powder
½ Tsp – Stevia Powder
Pinch of Salt
2 – Handsome Brook Farm Pasture Raised Eggs
¼ Cup – Kasandrinos Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ Cup – Desert Farms Camel Milk
¼ Cup – Honey
1 Tsp – Pure Vanilla Extract
Topping:
¼ Cup – Otto’s Natural Cassava Flour
2 Tbsp – Organic Gemini Slice Tiger Nut (Chopped)
½ Tsp – Stevia Powder
1½ Tbsp – Gold Nugget Ghee (Melted)
Berry Syrup:
1 Cup – Fresh/Frozen Huckleberries (Pitted)
1 Cup – Fresh Wild Blueberries
1 Cup – Water
8 Blocks – Palm Sugar
Peels of Half a Lemon
3-4 – Dried Juniper Berries
4-5 – Whole Black Peppercorn
I don’t think I’m going to talk about ingredients this week and go straight into the instructions… I’m just kidding. You already know I have to talk ingredients. The only ingredient we will talk about for the Lavender Berry Bumble are the berries. I know fresh huckleberries are not the easiest things to find, so feel free to substitute with whatever berries you see fit: boysenberries, cloudberries, raspberries, blackberries. It’s your choice really. Fresh huckleberries have a pit like a cherry. I use a chopstick (of course!) to push the pit out from the eye of the stem. As for stevia, I know some people don’t use it, and you can substitute it with your sweetener of choice. My Lavender Berry Bumble is really a desert that allows your personal expression. You can even do without the shortbread at the bottom if you are short on time. Let’s get to cooking!
Berry Syrup Instructions:
The berry syrup is the soul for the Lavender Berry Bumble. In a sauce pan, bring the water, berries, lemon peels and palm sugar to a boil. Bring the heat down to a simmer and allow the palm sugars to completely melt. If it is still not sweet enough for your taste buds, feel free to add extra sweetener. Let the syrup boil down a bit, about 5-10 minutes. Strain all of the berries out of the syrup and set it aside. We are using the cooked berries for the cake. Leave the strained syrup in the sauce pan, if it is getting too thick, add some warm water. Add in juniper berries and black peppercorn. These are both for aromatics. Boil for another 5-10 minutes and strain out the juniper berries and peppercorn. Let’s move on to the shortbread.
Shortbread and Topping Instructions:
The shortbread for the Lavender Berry Bumble is optional if you are in a time restraint. But if you do decide to skip it, mix the lavender in the cake and in the topping. First preheat your oven to 350°F. Mix all of the shortbread ingredients together until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half and press it flat into two 3 inch spring form pans. Bake it for 8 minutes each. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool off in the pan while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. For the topping, same thing applies: mix everything together coarsely with a fork. Let’s do the final assembly.
Cake Instructions:
This is one of the easier steps on the Lavender Berry Bumble. Now that the shortbread is almost cooled off in the pan, we can start mixing the cake batter. In a mixing bowl, mix all of the cake ingredients together until there are no lumps. Fold in the strained berries from the syrup into the batter and fill the spring form pans with the shortbread at the bottom. Sprinkle the top of the batter with the toppings we just created very generously. With slight pressure, pat the topping into the top of the batter. Pop that beauty into the oven for 35-45 or minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Once baked, you should serve it with the berry syrup along with some fresh blueberries. It is absolutely delicious. There you have it, my Paleo Lavender Berry Bumble. Until next time, eat up my friends!
