Monthly Archives: July 2018

Summer pudding – mum’s recipe :)

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As I still had a load of summer fruits left I thought I’d try one of my mum’s favourite summer recipes – Summer Pudding!

You can use any fruits you like – I had a few gooseberries and red currants left so they went in, along with blackberries, strawberries and raspberries.

You will need:

  • Approx 500 – 750g fruit (best to make more as you can always have any excess for brekkie or pud with some yoghurt etc)
  • Sugar to taste (I used none as my fruit was all really sweet but up to you)
  • A small white loaf (a day old so its slightly stale)

Put berries that have tough skins (blackcurrants,  cherries , gooseberries etc) into pan with small amount of sugar if needed and a little water.  Heat gently until berries soften and juices run.

Leave to cool for a few mins and then add soft fruit – raspberries, blackberries, strawberries etc and stir, gently.  If required you can add more sugar to taste.

Cut medium slices of white bread (one day old) and remove crusts.

Line a pudding basin with clingfilm cut larger than the basin.  Cut the bread into shape to line the basin with a disc for the base.

Drain the fruit, saving the juices in a separate bowl. Dip the bread into the juices and place the bread around the inside of the basin, plugging any holes with small pieces of bread. Pack the cooled fruit well into the basin.

Put a larger disc of bread (or several pieces cut to shape) on the top.

Overlap the cling film to cover the top of the bread.  Put a saucer or small plate on the top and weigh down with a tin or similar weight to compress the fruit.

Chill overnight, then turn out and serve with more fruit and yoghurt!

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Enjoy! Xx

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Easy Freezey Fruity Greek Yoghurt

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I was very excited to spot the first blackberries of the year today so I had to pick them! We also had a small haul of gooseberries and red currants from the garden, and some other berries left over from last week so I thought i’d whip up a quick summery treat with them!

You can use any fruit you like in this and you could even add nuts, seeds or desiccated coconut etc too! It makes a fab low calorie healthy summer treat! This recipe made 14 little bars for me and they came in at about 25 calories each!

You will need:

A tub of Greek yoghurt (I used the 0% one, you can also use a dairy free option)

A couple of handfuls of fruit (approx 100 – 200g but it depends on the fruit)

Optional sweetener (honey, agave, maple syrup, sugar free syrup etc)

If it needs it then chop the fruit up into small pieces, remove any stalks, pips etc. Empty the Greek yoghurt into a bowl and add some of the fruit and stir really well until well mixed.

You want the fruit to be well coated so start with a little at a time and keep adding until you the fruit is coated and there’s a bit of excess yoghurt too. If you plan to use sweetener add it in now too (I didn’t as I like the tartness of the yoghurt and the fruit added enough sweetness for me).

Line a small tray with parchment paper and then spoon the yoghurt mixture in. Smooth down to a layer approx 1 – 1.5cm thick. If you have extra you can pop it in bowls for a healthy snack, brekkie or pud!

Place a layer of cling film over the top and then pop in the freezer for a couple of hours until set! Slice and store in a tupperware box in the freezer for an easy ice cream alternative.

Then enjoy!

Xx

Redcurrant and Blackcurrant Yoghurt Cake

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We were lucky enough to get our hands on some fresh red and blackcurrants this week so I thought I’d put them to good use in this summery cake! You could use other summer fruits but the currants are lovely and tart and that really adds another dimension to this cake. Frozen red and blackcurrants could also be used!

I wanted to keep this lighter on the calories so opted for 0% Greek yoghurt (or dairy free yoghurt) and ‘half spoon’ sugar, and I also used wholemeal flour – which gave it a really nice wholemeal scone-like density and nuttiness but you can use any plain flour you like.  This is a larger, thinner cake and an 1/8th (which is a generous slice) comes in at approx 284 calories!

You will need:

300g redcurrants and blackcurrants

125g dairy-free margarine (or soft butter)

200g caster sugar (or 100g ‘half spoon’ sugar’

250g 0% plain Greek yoghurt (or non dairy yoghurt)

3 medium eggs

300g flour (I used wholemeal spelt flour)

1 tsp baking powder

Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 190 C and grease or line a 26cm cake tin.

Put the margarine and sugar in a bowl and cream together. Add the lemon zest and then mix in each egg one by one. Add the yoghurt and mix well.

Mix the flour and baking powder together and sieve in to the wet mixture and combine. If using wholemeal flour the mixture will be quite thick. Spoon half of it in to the pan.

Add a layer of redcurrant and blackcurrants and then carefully cover with the remaining cake mix.

 

Bake for approx 25 – 30 mins, until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 mins or so, then remove and cool on a rack. Enjoy warm or cold.