Thursday, August 27, 2015

No-Bake Strawberry Mascarpone Dessert Cups - Low Carb & Sugar Free

Today I'm sharing a new recipe on my guest post over at Honeyville. You are going to love this recipe, particularly during these last dog days of summer because it's an easy and delicious no-bake recipe. No baking whatsoever...nada, zip, zero...none! My recipe is for No-Bake Strawberry Mascarpone Dessert Cups. Think of it as a healthier and updated, more gourmet-ish version of the old Strawberry Pretzel Salads of yesteryear (which isn't even a salad to begin with...I mean WHO refers to a dessert as a "salad")!

For those of you that don't know what a "strawberry pretzel salad" is, it's a salty-sweet crust made using crushed pretzels, topped with a no-bake cheesecake-type filling and a final layer of strawberry gelatin and strawberries. Once again, it's a dessert, NOT a salad! I do have a theory, though, on how someone back then might have ended up calling this dessert a "salad" but I'll have to share my theory with you another day and not today, because today is all about this delicious, cool, no-bake dessert to help you usher summer out with a bang!

Check out my delicious No-Bake Strawberry Mascarpone Dessert Cups below. These are so very easy to make, they're quick, and absolutely delicious!  My recipe has a salty-sweet nut flour crust (using my favorite Honeyville blanched almond flour and ground walnuts) to take the place of pretzels; it has a to-die-for sugar free vanilla bean mascarpone and cream cheese filling; and it's topped with my Strawberry Chia Jam. It is "knock your socks off" good! To get to this delicious, easy peasy recipe, please click here: No-Bake Strawberry Mascarpone Dessert Cups. Enjoy!





        

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm the one who made this jam with frozen strawberries and my kids loved it with yogurt. I had made a double batch and it's already gone! I think i will make this and serve it as a breakfast for my girls. Sure it's dessert but that's ok with me. Something like this is better than traditional pancakes any day.

I'm thinking of making the jam with blueberries too. Frozen of course, since they have a much longer shelf life :)

Unknown said...

All of your recipes look so good. I am reading Wheat Belly and am new to this way of eating but I really think I can stick with it because of your blog, you make so many delicious looking food and I love to bake, so I am glad that you have a lot of desserts :) Also, where did you get those cute jars for this dessert?

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi there,

I think it's a great idea for breakfast. Think about coffee cake, donuts, etc. This is better than that I think. I bet the jam would be great with blueberries. Let me know how it turns out. I have a big bag of frozen wild blueberries in my freezer.

I'm so happy to hear your girls are enjoying this jam. Nothing like enjoying fruit as a treat. :-)

CyberSis said...

Wow, GGC, does this ever look *wonderful*! LOVE that dreamy-creamy layer! I had to search my "memory banks" on this one ... although I've never actually made the "not-salad" I do recall having it at pot luck dinners a time or two, and I seem to remember finding it on the dessert table.

This no-bake recipe will come in handy for the foreseeable future. After several great days of very pleasant fall-like weather, we're due for a rude awakening back to reality as the temps & humidity come blasting back to more seasonal levels ... it IS still Aug. after all, but I was hoping ..... :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Jen,

Thank you. You will find grain free baking quite different from "regular baking" but once you get the hang of it, you will see you can still enjoy most of your favorites. I believe I found the dessert jars at World Market. Williams Sonoma might carry them as well. :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

I actually made that "salad" a few times when my kids were little (probably because it was topped with jello...and I was somewhat of a jello freak). LOL I had to call it something else because my kids turned up their noses when I said it was "salad". I think I called it layered jello bars or something like that.

If the idea of salty pretzel-like crust doesn't sound appealing, just cut the salt in half (or omit entirely). You can taste it as you go which is what I did. I added 1/8 tsp first and then stopped at 1/4. The mascarpone filling is nice too and very decadent. The only time I've ever used mascarpone before is in Tiramisu. It doesn't have a lot of taste so easily grabs what ever you flavor it with and the vanilla bean was nice. If you like it fluffier and creamier, you can just beat in more cream. Since it's no-bake it makes it easy to keep tasting and customizing it as you go.

Too bad about your heat. We had a little few day "break" of highs in the 80s but back to the good old 90s here too. I've had the highest 2 electric bills this summer that I've ever had in 13 years in this house and we haven't done anything differently so I'm guessing it is further proof of the particularly hot summer we've had in July and August. At least now you have another easy dessert alternative that doesn't require an oven. Stay cool. :-)