Strawberry Banana Chia Pudding with Coconut Milk Whipped Cream
Ingredients
Chia pudding:
· Strawberries
· 2 Bananas
· Chia seeds
· Agave nectar
· Filtered Water
Whipped Cream:
- 1 Can refrigerated Coconut Milk
- Agave Nectar
- Vanilla Extract
To make the pudding simply blend all fruit together (I used an entire package of strawberries and 2 medium bananas) then add agave nectar to taste. Dilute with water to the desired amount of pudding. Stir in Chia seeds (it’s 1 part Chia seeds to 9 parts liquid…and the more you use the thicker the pudding). Spoon into serving cups, cover with cling film, and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Once the pudding has set, you can bust out the whipped cream. Simply scoop out the solids from the refrigerated can of coconut milk (best for it to have refrigerated overnight) into a mixing bowl and leave the water at the bottom—it can be used in smoothies, etc. Using a hand mixer, beat the coconut cream until it’s light and fluffy. Add agave nectar and vanilla extract to taste.
Top the pudding with the whipped cream and serve!
Passion Fruit Cheesecake (Vegan/Mostly Raw)
Ingredients
Cheesecake Crust:
- Mix of Walnuts and Almonds—Soaked (you can choose whatever nuts you prefer!)
- Dates (Soaked if Not Moist)
Cheesecake Filling:
- Cashews—Soaked
- Raw Coconut Oil
- Lemon Juice (about ½ a lemon)
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
- Agave Nectar
- Chia Gel
- Passion Fruit
This does require some preparation in advance, so make sure you know when you’re going to want that cheesecake! Firstly, unless you have a high power blender such as a Vita-Mix (and by the way, I hate you if you do), you’ll need to soak your nuts. All of your nuts. I soaked a mix of almonds and walnuts in one glass jar of water and my cashews in another jar of water. The amount of nuts depends on how much you’d like to make. Use your best judgment and any extra crust mixture can always be put to use. Or just eaten as is.
I soaked them for nearly an entire day, but that’s probably unnecessary. I also made “Chia gel” at the same time as getting the nuts soaking where I merely put one tablespoon of Chia seeds in a glass jar with nine tablespoons of filtered water. I left it on the counter for about 15 minutes before placing a tight lid on it and popping it in the fridge.
You’ll see how it turns into this amazing gelatin with little seeds suspended inside. Amazing stuff and incredibly healthy—I used it here to cut down on the amount of cashews and increase the nutritional value of this dessert all at once! It does have some texture to it, so if you prefer it to be smoother you can actually grind the seeds in a coffee grinder first and then add the water.
Before starting on the crust mixture I put about a tablespoon of raw coconut oil in a cup placed inside of another cup that was filled with hot water to liquefy it for use in the filling. It took care of itself really, but you can give it a stir every now and then if you’re impatient. You will need more raw coconut oil if you’re making a larger cheesecake—mine only yielded four small, shallow ramekins—as it helps to solidify the filling mixture.
For the crust, simply blend the strained and rinsed nuts with dates (about 1/3 or less of the amount of nuts) depending on the amount of sweetness you’d like. Just as long as the nut mixture is sticking together it’s fine. And don’t worry about drying the nuts before using. I never bother.
For the filling, blend the (strained and rinsed) cashews until a creamy consistency is reached. Add the fresh lemon juice, salt, and agave nectar to taste. I didn’t use much agave nectar as I wanted a tangy cheesecake. Then stir in the Chia gel (I blended a bit with my immersion blender after that) and the liquid raw coconut oil.
This is where the passion fruit comes in. You can do this many different ways. You can scoop out the passion fruit and mix it straight in to the filling leaving the seeds. You can do that, stir it well by hand ,and then sieve out the seeds (I did this after choosing to keep the filling texture smooth) which still achieved the passion fruit flavour in the filling. Or you can put the passion fruit insides in a nut milk bag and extract the juices adding only that to the filling. In any case, eat the seeds—they’re yummy!
Spread and press out a layer of crust in whatever dish you’re using, top with the filling, cover with kitchen foil, and freeze overnight. About an hour before you’d like to serve the cheesecake, place it in the refrigerator to defrost. Top with more passion fruit and enjoy!
Chocolate Mayo Cake with Ganache Topping
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise (use egg-free mayo for vegan!)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Instant coffee
Preparation:
Sift together the flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Cream together the sugar, mayonnaise, instant coffee granules (to taste) dissolved in the cup of warm water, and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture; stir until well blended. Pour batter into greased cake pan. Bake at 180°C. For a fan assisted oven it takes about 25 minutes but may take longer otherwise (test by inserting a toothpick in the center and see if it comes out clean).
Ganache Topping
- Dark chocolate
- Instant Coffee granules (to taste)
- Double cream
The amounts all depend on how much ganache you want. I used nearly an entire 300ml container of double cream and nearly all of a 200g bar of dark chocolate, but that’s probably not entirely necessary. I just love ganache. For a vegan chocolate topping, blend avocado with cocoa powder and agave nectar.
Chop up all of the chocolate into the smallest bits you can manage without getting annoyed. Then simply heat the cream (don’t let it boil) until it feels hot to the touch but not boiling. Add the chocolate powder/bits to the hot cream whisking constantly as you combine. You can choose to add sugar if you like, but I didn’t. You can also add some instant coffee granules. Once it’s all combined let it cool, and then you can pour it over your cake. Let it set up, and it’ll look super pretty. For approximately five minutes at which point it will be destroyed. In a good way.
Simple Leek Soup
4 Leeks
1 Courgette (if you like, not necessary)
Milk (for vegan, use any unsweetened non-dairy milk)
Garlic Cloves (whatever amount you fancy. I use a ton, can’t get enough garlic!)
Dry White Wine
Toasted Sesame Oil (feel free to sub out any oil you like)
Spices
White Pepper
Smoked Paprika (better than plain paprika!)
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Celery Seed
Ground Nutmeg
How to Treat a Leek: If you’re a leek fan, don’t bother to read this. Normally you won’t be using that rough looking green part. You could keep it for making homemade stock with a strong leek taste, use it for a stronger flavour in this soup (it’ll change the colour of the soup, mind you), or discard it. But no matter what, you’ll want to clean the leeks very well. Even inside, there may be some dirt lurking. Grit is not a nice texture!
1. Use the white part of one leek to create the browned leek topping you see in the picture. It adds an amazing texture and flavour that’s indispensable! If it’s a lengthy leek, cut it in half before proceeding to cut it all up into long, thin strips. Heat the oil of your choice in a frying pan then add these strips. Cook on low to medium heat until browned to the darkness you prefer. Remove from pan and leave to drain on a paper towel.
2. Coarsely chop the leeks and courgette(s). Mince the garlic.
2. Heat milk in a saucepan…use as much as the basic amount of soup you want (keeping in mind however many leeks you’re using). Salt the milk. Don’t let it boil.
3. Add more oil to a deep saucepan, low heat. Add all the above spices to the heated oil quickly, so it won’t burn but will allow the flavours to bloom.
4. Add the leeks, courgette(s), and garlic. Medium heat.
5. After the veggies have softened, add the white wine. I don’t use too much myself. Just covered the pan. Let that cook off for a bit. Check on your milk.
6. Taste the veggies to see if they’re seasoned to your liking. Make it a bit strong because the milk will dilute the flavour a lot.
7. Add the milk to the veggies.
8. Using either an immersion blender or perhaps working in batches with a regular blender, blend the soup completely until it is very smooth.
9. Heat through. Don’t let it boil!
10. Season to taste as necessary.
It’s finished! Just top off with the browned leek strips and enjoy! Nummers :)
Damn Good Dango
Ingredients
Dumpling Dough:
Glutinous Rice Flour
Mug of sugared green tea, cooled
Dipping Sauce:
Port (or Mirin for a lighter flavour)
Sugar
Light Soy Sauce
- Fix a mug of green tea with sugar, let it cool.
- Put a medium pot of water on to boil, cover with a lid to speed it up.
- Start the sauce. Add equal parts port (or Mirin or any sweet wine you like!), sugar, and light soy sauce to a small pot on medium heat and bring to the boil stirring every so often. You can adjust the amounts if you prefer it to be sweeter or more savoury. I love snacks that balance both!
- Once the sauce is boiling be very careful not to let it burn. Adjust the heat by lifting the pot off the fire and stirring a bit. Continue to stir intermittently through the next steps.
- Whilst keeping an eye on your sauce, start your dumpling dough. Add some glutinous rice flour to a bowl (put as much flour as the amount of dumplings you want!). You can always add more.
- Assuming the green tea has cooled, add a little to the flour and stir with chopsticks or spoon. Add a bit more. Bit more. Until you can start getting in there with a flour covered hand, and it forms a dough. Don’t get too into your dough though—check back with your sauce!
- The sauce should have thickened quite considerably. Take it off the heat and pour into a small bowl for dipping.
- Take the lid off of the medium pot if the water is boiling.
- The dough should still be a little sticky to the touch—you don’t want a dry, tough dough. Roll into a log and break into large even pieces, then keep splitting those pieces until all of the dough has been split into chunks. Big chunks make big dumplings. Small chunks make small dumplings. You decide the size!
- Roll each chunk into a ball play-doh style with your palms.
- Once they’re all finished put them in the pot of boiling water carefully.
- Grab a bowl and fill it with super cold water.
- After about two minutes the dumplings will float up to the surface—finished!
- Skim them out and put them into the cold water immediately.
- Then take them out of the water and plate up (you can dry them with kitchen paper if you like).
Eat them up dipping in the sauce as you go! Yum! :)
