Category Archives: comfort pudding

Blueberry and Lemon Curd with a surprise ingredient – dairy and egg free!

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My lemon curd recipe (here) has gone down a storm so I thought I’d have a little go at some more curd! I’ve had some blueberries in my freezer for the last few months waiting to be used for something so I decided a blueberry and lemon curd was the one to try!

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This curd is lovely! It’s especially yummy smothered on sourdough fruit toast 🙂

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What’s this surprise ingredient then? Well it’s certainly not something you’d expect to find in a fruit curd! The problem with blueberries in baking is that they do tend to lose their flavour and I didn’t want to overpower them with the lemon. After a bit of research I discovered a nifty little trick to enhance the blueberry flavour; the addition of coriander seeds! Trust me you will not taste the coriander at all but it does bring out the blueberry flavour. This is because they both contain a similar compound so adding the coriander gives the blueberry flavour a real boost!

So you will need:

approx 400g Blueberries (don’t worry if you have a few more or less – it’s not critical)

1/2 cup Water

12 Coriander seeds ground (or a 1/4 tsp ready ground coriander)

Up to 1 cup of Lemon juice (see below) – I used 4 very large lemons

3/4 cup of unrefined raw Sugar (but adjust to taste)

10 tbsp Cornflour

zest of 2 – 3 Lemons

4 tbsp Dairy-free margarine

12 tbsp Coconut milk (or other non dairy milk – almond milk or soya milk will also work)

Pop the blueberries in to a saucepan with the water and heat gently until the blueberries are softened.

While the blueberries are softening you can juice and zest your lemons. You only need the zest from 2 – 3 lemons but it’s worth zesting all of them and keeping the remaining zest in the freezer to use in other recipes later.

Once the blueberries have softened add the ground coriander seed, stir well and heat for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and pass the blueberries through a sieve. Use a wooden spoon to push as much through the sieve as you can. You will be left with a small amount of skin and pulp. Save this and use it in a smoothie! 🙂

Measure your blueberry juice out  – you need a total amount of liquid of 3 cups. The blueberry juice will be about 2 cups or so,  so make it up to 3 cups with the lemon juice. Place it all in to a cold saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk to dissolve. Add half the sugar and turn on the heat. Continue to whisk as you bring the mixture to a boil slowly. Taste as you go and add more sugar until you get to a sweetness that suits you. Once boiling allow it to boil gently for one minute without stirring.

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Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking the whole time, and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl or jars and allow to cool. Place in the fridge once cooled. Then enjoy! 🙂

Oh My – Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie! Easy and dairy and gluten free! (vegan)

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Yes, you read that right – this is a completely dairy and gluten free lemon meringue pie! Can you believe it? I’m not sure I can but I am ridiculously excited about it!

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I’ve been obsessing about lemon meringue pie lately but really wanted to avoid the traditional gluten and dairy-filled pie recipes. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull this off but… oh my word – I definitely have! This is so yummy and really pretty easy too.

I gave a piece to my top taster and this was the result after only a few minutes… so I’m pretty sure she liked it too 😉

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This recipe is in 3 parts – the pastry shell, the curd filling and the meringue. The curd is super easy and the recipe has been posted separately (here) but I’ll re-post it here for ease. The curd recipe will give you more than you need but that’s ok – you can save it for later (or make some extra mini pies too!). If you want a thicker meringue then simply double the meringue ingredients.

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For the pastry:

100g Ground almonds
100g Flaked almonds
75g Rice flour(or other gluten free flour)
25g Golden raw Caster sugar (or other unrefined sugar)
50ml Almond oil
3 -4 tbsp cold almond or other non dairy milk
Pinch of Himalayan rock salt

For the filling:

1 1/4 cups of Lemon juice (I used 6 very large lemons)
Zest of half of the lemons used (freeze the rest of the zest for use later)
1/2 cup of Cold water
1 3/4 cups unrefined raw Sugar (adjust to taste)
5 tbsp Cornflour (corn starch)
2 tbsp non-dairy margarine
6 tbsp Almond milk (you could also use soya or coconut milk)

For the meringue:

6 tbsp Egg replacer (I used Orgran No-egg)
1/2 cup and 2 tbsp ice cold Water
1/2 cup unrefined raw Sugar (smaller granules work better)

Make your curd filling to start with (you can make the curd well in advance – it will keep for a few weeks in the fridge).

Juice and zest your lemons. You only need the zest from half of the lemons but it’s worth zesting them all and keeping the remaining zest in the freezer to use in other recipes later.

Place the lemon juice and water in a cold saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk to dissolve. Add the sugar and turn on the heat. Continue to whisk as you bring the mixture to a boil slowly. Once boiling allow it to boil gently for one minute without stirring.

Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking the whole time, and cook for 3 minutes. Have a little taste – if it’s not sweet enough for you then stir in some more sugar. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and allow to cool in the fridge. Place clingfilm over the bowl to avoid a skin forming.

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While the curd cools you can make your pastry.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease a 20 cm flan or pie dish lightly with almond oil.

Put the ground and flaked almonds into a bowl with the flour and salt and stir to combine. Keep stirring and add in the olive oil gradually. Add 2 tablespoons of almond milk and keep stirring. The mixture should hold together when pressed, if it doesn’t then add some more almond milk, stirring all the time, until it does. At this point have a taste. If you want a sweeter pastry then add some more sugar until you get the desired flavour. Press in to the flan dish. You may well have some pastry left over – if so you can either make some mini-pies or you can create little flat biscuits with the leftovers (just bake until cooked!) .

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until set and barely golden. Remove from the oven and brush the pastry with a little almond oil and return to the oven for a few minutes to set then set aside to cool.

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Once the pastry has cooled fill it with as much curd as you fancy and place in the fridge while you prepare the meringue.

Preheat the oven to 100 C.

Put the egg-replacer in to a large, clean, dry mixing bowl. Add a small amount of water and begin to whisk – ideally with an electric hand blender if you have one. It will form a sticky paste. Continue to mix and add a little water at a time, together with a little sugar. Whisk the whole time and add the water and sugar very gradually. You will see that the paste begins to rise. Whisk until you have stiff peaks and it is a marshmallowy consistency.

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Remove the filled pie from the fridge and spread the meringue over the top. Allow to sit for 10 – 15 minutes so it begins to set. Then place in the oven for 30 minutes. If you want a browned finish to the meringue you can use a cooks blow torch to add that effect.

Allow to cool (if you can wait – I confess, I couldn’t!) and then enjoy!

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Easy Lemon Curd – dairy and egg free (vegan)

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I’ve been on a bit of a lemon obsession lately so decided I would have a go at making some homemade lemon curd. The curd you buy in the shops is full of refined sugars, dairy and eggs so this is a much healthier option. It was super easy to make too!

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This is divine mixed with some natural soya yoghurt, or of course it will make the perfect filling for a lemon meringue pie (recipe here)!

You will need:

1 1/4 cups of Lemon juice (I used 6 very large lemons)

Zest of half of the lemons used (freeze the rest of the zest for use later)

1/2 cup of Cold water

1 3/4 cups unrefined raw Sugar (adjust to taste)

5 tbsp Cornflour (corn starch)

2 tbsp non-dairy margarine

6 tbsp Almond milk (you could also use soya or coconut milk)

Juice and zest your lemons. You only need the zest from half of the lemons but it’s worth zesting them all and keeping the remaining zest in the freezer to use in other recipes later.

Place the lemon juice and water in a cold saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk to dissolve. Add the sugar and turn on the heat. Continue to whisk as you bring the mixture to a boil slowly. Once boiling allow it to boil gently for one minute without stirring.

Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking the whole time, and cook for 3 minutes.  Have a little taste – if it’s not sweet enough for you then stir in some more sugar. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl or jars and allow to cool. Place in the fridge once cooled. Then enjoy – right off the spoon! 🙂

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Frangipane Mince Pie tarts

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I know Christmas is over, but I never tire of mince meat! I did actually create these before the big day but didn’t get a chance to post the recipe until now. This was created on request from a special friend for her discerning hubby, and they seemed to go down well … in his words “this is the best thing you’ve ever baked”…! 🙂

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So if you have some leftover mince meat then give this a go! These include a layer of marzipan which is optional but I think adds a fab extra almondy loveliness! Make your own (recipe here) or buy a block of plain marzipan – but do buy the good stuff (Neideregger is a great brand).

The frangipane does contain egg but I’ve also posted an egg-free version below too! 🙂

If you fancy making up a batch of mince meat specially then the recipe is here

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For the pastry you will need:

4 oz Buckwheat flour

2 oz ground Almonds

5 tbsp Agave nectar

Up to 6 tbsp Water

For the frangipane you will need (this will be enough for 4 small tarts – 5 – 6cm diameter):

65g unrefined Raw sugar or Coconut palm sugar

100g Ground almonds

1 Egg

50 ml Almond oil (you can use mild Olive oil if you prefer)

1/8 tsp Vanilla extract

1/8 tsp Almond extract (if you have it)

Ground cinnamon (for dusting)

Flaked almonds (for decoration)

125g Marzipan (optional)

Make the pastry first. Put the buckwheat flour and ground almonds in a processor and add the agave. Pulse and gradually add the water until it forms a dough. You may find you need more or less water. If it is too wet add a little more flour. Once it is forming a firm dough remove, wrap in cling-film and place the mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 175 C.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out as thin as you can. Line mini tart cases (or one large flan/tart tin) with the pastry (you will probably have spare pastry left over). Brush with a little almond oil and then place in the oven to blind bake. They only need a few minutes – just until they start to brown very slightly at the edges.

Meanwhile make the frangipane. Pop the sugar and almond oil in a bowl and mix well together. Add the egg and extracts and mix again. Gently fold in the ground almonds until well mixed.

Once the pastry cases are starting to brown a little remove from the oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then spread a thin layer of mince meat (enough to cover the base). Thinly slice the marzipan and layer over the top.

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Then cover with a generous layer of the frangipane.Sprinkle flaked almonds over the top and a dusting of cinnamon. Then place in the oven for 15 – 20 mins or until the frangipane is cooked and a lovely golden brown.

Delicious served with custard or soya yoghurt at any time of year! 🙂

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Egg free frangipane recipe:

6 tbsp Coconut Oil (don’t melt it)
2/3 cup Coconut Palm Sugar / Unrefined Raw Sugar
1 and 1/4 cup Ground Almonds
2 tbsp Cornflour
pinch salt
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2/3 cup Almond Milk
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract

Put the coconut oil, sugar, ground almonds, cornflour, cinnamon and salt in a food processor and pulse until well combined and all crumbly. Slowly add the almond milk, vanilla extract and almond extract whilst still pulsing the food processor until it forms a thick batter. This frangipane takes a bit more baking than the one above so keep an eye on the tarts and just remove when done.

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Mince Pies! Gluten and Dairy Free!

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It’s mince pie time again! whoop! This year I’m trying out some mini ones – almost as I type! 🙂 but for now I thought I’d post my recipe for mincemeat and gluten and dairy-free pastry in case you fancy making a batch this weekend 🙂

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For the Pastry:

4 oz Buckwheat flour
2 oz ground Almonds
5 tbsp Agave nectar
Up to 6 tbsp Water

For the Mincemeat:

3 oz Bramley apples, cored and finely chopped
6 oz Mixed dried fruit (I prefer raisins, currants, cranberries and apricots)
1 oz Vegetable suet
2 oz Raw sugar (coconut palm or dark raw muscovado)
Juice and grated zest of half an Orange
1 level tsp of ground allspice
1 pinch ground Cinnamon
1 pinch ground Cloves
1 pinch grated / ground Nutmeg
1 small handful chopped Almonds
1 tbsp Date syrup

Make the pastry first. Put the buckwheat flour and ground almonds in a processor and add the agave. Pulse and gradually add the water until it forms a dough. You may find you need more or less water. If it is too wet add a little more flour. Once it is forming a firm dough remove, wrap in cling-film and place the mixture in the fridge.

Put all the ingredients for the mincemeat into a saucepan. Cook on a low heat, stirring frequently. Cook until the apple is soft and the mixture is thick – it may take some time. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ gas mark 6.

Lightly oil & flour a 12 muffin tin with almond, coconut or hazelnut oil. Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Roll it as thin as you can – a few mm. Use a round biscuit cutter to cut out 12 bases. Place them in the tin. Lightly brush with oil and use a fork to prick the base. Place in an oven to blind bake for 5–10 mins. Keep an eye on them – this pastry browns quite fast. Once the edges are brown and the middle is firm remove them. While the cases are in the oven take a smaller circular biscuit cutter to cut out the “lids” or you could use star shapes/ holly leaf shapes/lattice pattern – whatever takes your fancy 🙂

Place a generous helping of mincemeat in each of the cases and place your chosen “lid” on top. Lightly oil and sprinkle with a little cinnamon and raw sugar. Place the pies back in the oven and bake until golden (10–20 mins). Keep a careful eye on them. You want the tops to brown but be careful the bases don’t burn. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 mins, then remove and place on a wire cooling rack.

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Apple, Date and Coconut Granola – sugar-free!

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Why waste your money on nasty, sugar-filled shop-bought granola when you can make your own! This is divine and uses only fruit sugars so there’s no added sugar of any type at all!

If you are a cinnamon fan I highly recommend adding a generous few teaspoons in to this mix as well! Nom nom nom! 🙂

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2 cups Spelt porridge oats (or normal oats if you prefer)

1 cup Almonds

1/2 cup Pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup Sunflower seeds

1/4 cup Chia seeds

1/4 cup Flax seeds (Linseed)

1/2 cup Desiccated coconut

1/2 cup dried Fruit (I used a mix of different raisins)

1 cup chopped Dates

1 cup Apple purée (recipe here)

Preheat the oven to 200 C

Add all the ingredients except the apple purée to a large bowl and mix well together. Add the apple purée and make sure everything is well coated. Then transfer to a large roasting dish and pop in the oven.

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Check after 10 minutes and turn. Keep checking after that every 5 minutes and ensure it isn’t burning. The apple purée makes this quite moist so you need to let it roast for as long as possible. Once the oats and nuts have browned turn the oven off and leave the granola in there while the oven cools to further dry it out. Make sure it is completely dry before you remove (if not just roast a bit longer!).

Store in an airtight container and it will last for weeks (unless you’re like me in which case it will last days as you won’t be able to stop eating it! 🙂 )

Then enjoy with some soya yoghurt and compote for brekkie! 🙂

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Nectarine and blackberry compote

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I was lucky enough to pick up some very ripe nectarines at the market and had some of the last of my foraged wild blackberries left so decided to make a quick compote.

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This is so easy – simply dice the nectarines (leaving the skins on) and add to a large pan. Add the blackberries. You can use whatever quantity you have – I used about 6 nectarines and 3 large handfuls of blackberries. If the fruit is very ripe you shouldn’t need anything more but if necessary add a tbsp or 2 of water. You can also add a small amount of unrefined sugar if you need – personally I don’t think it needs it.

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Simmer on a medium heat until the fruit is tender. Stir often. You may find that the fruit produces a lot of liquid. You can continue to simmer to boil some of this off but if it’s still very liquid then simply drain some off. Whatever you do don’t throw the excess juice away – you can drink it or pop it in a smoothie!

Once the fruit is tender remove from the heat and pour in to a sterilised jar. This will keep for a few weeks in the fridge.

Enjoy on some porridge, with soya yoghurt or just on its own!

Quinoa and chia porridge

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As the weather starts to turn and the mornings get darker I start to crave a warm, filling breakfast and this porridge definitely hits the spot. You can add whatever you like to it but I’ve made a few suggestions here – stewed pear, peach and almond porridge, caramelised banana and nectarine porridge, apple compote and blueberries, and nectarine and blackberry compote. You may notice a theme with my toppings!

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For the porridge you will need:

1/3 cup Quinoa flakes
2 tbsp Chia seeds
1/2 – 1 cup Almond (or other non-dairy milk)
I tbsp Cashew butter (or other nut butter)

Put the quinoa, chia and milk in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Start with half a cup of milk and add more as the milk is absorbed. If you like your porridge more liquid then add more milk. Keep stirring until the milk is absorbed and the porridge is tender. It will only take a few minutes. Stir the cashew butter in about half way through. Pop in a bowl and add your topping of choice.

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Stewed pear and peach with almonds:

Take one conference pear and slice into small pieces. I like the skin so I leave it on but peel if you prefer. Pop in a small pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. If you want it sweeter you can add a small amount of unrefined sugar or a tsp of agave or rice syrup. Simmer for a few minutes until the pear is soft but retains it’s shape. Add to the top of the porridge. Dice a ripe peach and add together with a handful of blueberries. Toast a handful of flaked almonds in a dry frying pan and sprinkle over the top!

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Caramelised banana and nectarine:

Slice a ripe banana into thin pieces and place in a frying pan with a tbsp of rice syrup, agave or maple syrup. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and heat on a medium – high heat until the bananas are soft and starting to go brown at the edges. Turn once during the cooking.

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Add to your porridge and then thinly slice a nectarine and add that too. Sprinkle with some fresh blueberries and toasted almond flakes.

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Apple compote and blueberries:

Make some simple apple compote – recipe here. And add to the porridge, with blueberries and toasted almonds.

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Nectarine and blackberry compote:

Use some homemade compote – recipe here. Add blueberries and almonds and serve with a dollop of soya yoghurt.

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Blackberry Chia Jam

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I have spent a few lovely hours for the past couple of weekends foraging for wild blackberries in the local parks near me. I’ve had the pleasure of thinking up ways to use them (some of which will follow!), but the first and (in my humble opinion) most exciting thing I did was make up a lovely batch of chia jam! This recipe is also up on Colette’s Fitness Kitchen 🙂

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This stuff is lovely, it’s easy to make and totally raw so doesn’t require any cooking or setting or anything difficult. It will last for about a week in the fridge but could also be frozen too. The beauty of this is not only is it delicious but it is a great way to boost your omega-3 and fibre intake 🙂

You will need:

1 1/2 cups Blackberries (or any soft fruit)

3 Tbsp Chia seeds

1/4 – 1/2 cup Water

1 – 2 Tbsp Maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener) – if required (personally I like my blackberries tart so didn’t add any!)

Place the blackberries or other fruit in a bowl and mash with a fork until smooshed up but not completely liquid. If you need sweetener then add it to taste and then add the chia seeds and mix well. Depending how juicy your fruit is you may need to add more or less water but start with half a cup and add more if required. The chia seeds take time to soak up the water, so once you have added it allow it to stand for 30 mins to an hour before seeing if you need to add more. If the chia seeds are still crunchy add more (unless you like them crunchy, in which case don’t!). The longer you can leave the jam the better – ideally overnight, but at least for an hour or so. Enjoy it spread on toast, dolloped on top of yoghurt or just eaten straight off the spoon!

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Experiment with different fruits depending on what is in season. Raspberries also work well and I was lucky enough to pick up some discounted, very ripe nectarines in the market which made a delicious change.

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Summer berry compote

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I’m trying to usher in summer with my second batch of summer fruit compote!

Mixed berries – this one has strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, red currants and black currants and nothing else! Beautiful! 🙂

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