Chocolate Chia Pudding with Raspberries [vegan]

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, chia is still a novelty ingredient for me and I am fascinated by it: it is almost difficult to believe that so much goodness can be hidden in such tiny seeds, and dietary fiber is one of them. Since 34% of Chia is dietary fiber, it makes it one of the best sources in the world.

All types of plant food include dietary fiber – components that our body cannot absorb or digest so they go through our digestive system almost intact. And what it means to us is that high fiber food, in general, has less calories for the same volume as other types of food, which helps maintain a healthy weight.

Based on dissolving (or not) in water, there are 2 types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Chia seeds are a great source of soluble fiber which is very beneficial to us because:

• it reduces the risk of heart diseases by helping to lower the blood cholesterol and
• it reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by slowing down the absorption of sugar.

Adults should daily consume 20-35g of dietary fiber. If we consider having recommended 2 tablespoons of chia seeds (25-30g) per day, that tiny amount will provide us with approx. 40% of recommended daily intake of fiber in one go!

Since chia is so beneficial to our health then why not start a day with a delicious and easy to prepare chia breakfast? Which in truth is so good, it could be also served as a dessert.

INGREDIENTS (for 1 breakfast or 2 dessert portions):

125ml almond milk,

2 tbsp chia seeds,

1 tsp cacao powder,

4 tsp maple syrup,

100g raspberries.

METHOD:

1. Pour the chia seeds into a small bowl with the almond milk, stir well with a fork and put to a fridge for min. 1.5 hours or overnight. If possible, stir again after 15 min.
2. Add the cocoa powder and 2 tsp of the maple syrup to the chia and stir well.
3. Liquidise or mash the raspberries with the 2 tsp of maple syrup.
4. Serve in a glass layered chocolate chia and raspberries.

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Almond Meringue Roulade with Chestnut Filling

A few weeks ago I was having a friend over for late lunch. I knew she - just like I - liked meringues so I had no problem with choosing a perfect dessert for her: meringue roulade with – this time – chestnut filling. I got to the kitchen in the morning only to discover I had neither corn nor potato starch that I always used for my meringues. Before setting off to a shop, I decided to look for an alternative recipe. As always BBC Good Food site helped me solve my problem: I found a recipe in which ground almonds were used instead of any type of starch.

This meringue was completely different than the one I always used for my roulades: it was thinner and actually crispy. I was a bit worried it was going to break while I was rolling it but it seems that keeping it under a damp cloth after it was baked did make it pretty elastic. The whole cake tasted really divine and probably better than if I had used my original recipe as the almond-y meringue complimented the chestnut filling really well. And it all happened by chance ;)

INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 portions):

4 large or 5 small egg whites,

220g caster sugar,

1 tsp almond extract,

1 tsp white wine vinegar,

50g ground almonds,

2 tbsp flaked almonds,

300ml double cream,

5-6 tbsp sweetened chestnut puree.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 190 Celsius degrees (170 for fan ovens).
2. Line a 25cm x 35cm (or similar) baking tin with baking paper.
3. Whisk the egg whites till stiff; continue whisking and add 1 tbsp of sugar, beat for 10-20 seconds more and add another 1 tbsp of sugar, continue until you have used all the sugar.
4. Gently stir in the almond extract, vinegar and ground almonds.
5. Spread in the prepared tin, sprinkle with the flaked almonds, put to the oven and bake for 30 minutes till golden and firm.
6. Remove from the oven, cover with a sheet of baking paper and a damp tea towel.
7. Whip the cream till stiff; stir in the chestnut puree.
8. Remove the tea towel from the top of the meringue but keep the baking paper. Carefully flip the meringue upside down so the top with the flaked almonds is now on the bottom on the paper.
9. Gently peel off the paper and spread the chestnut filling on top.
10. Roll the roulade carefully, use the paper to help you.

The meringue recipe comes from BBC Good Food site.

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Plum Crumble

When I was a child one of my favorite autumn dishes were knedels (a type of dumplings) stuffed with plums and served with cream that my grandmother used to make. I can still remember cutting them in half and watching the plum juice flow and mix with the cream: it was pure deliciousness! Nowadays when I fancy a similar taste (in a much lighter version of course) I simply cook some plums for a few minutes till they release their juices and have them with yogurt. Not the same but does the trick!

The below recipe combines cooked (or in this case – baked) plums that I like so much with a dessert I adore – a crumble. The crumble topping is made with porridge oats so I guess you could have it either as a dessert, or maybe even as breakfast on a lazy day, if served with yogurt.

INGREDIENTS (for 6-8 portions):

700g plums, washed, stoned and each cut into 8 pieces,

1 tbsp demerara sugar,

0.5 tsp cinnamon,

Crumble:

120g plain flour,

50g porridge oats,

50g dark muscovado sugar,

100g butter, cut into small cubes,

1 tbsp demerara sugar.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 200 Celsius degrees.
2. Put the prepared plums to an oven-proof dish, sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top, stir.
3. In a bowl mix the flour, porridge oats and muscovado sugar, add the butter cubes and rub it in using your fingers until you can’t see any of the dry ingredients not combined with the butter but you have crumbs of different sizes.
4. Scatter the crumble on top of the plums, sprinkle the Demerara sugar on top and put to the hot oven.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

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Apple and Blueberry Cobbler

Although I love testing new recipes, there are many dishes I have been cooking for years, and this Apple and Blueberry Cobbler is just one of these. When I made it for the first time, it was already so popular that my husband and brother almost chased each other to the kitchen the next day to have the leftovers for breakfast. And still now when I make it for guests, everybody loves it and it is finished in no time.

Another advantage of this easy dessert is that both fruit and batter (all ingredients but milk) can be prepared in advance (even a day ahead). And then approx. 45 minutes before you would like to serve this incredible dish (for me it is usually when I finish up preparing the main meal), you warm up your oven, add milk to the batter and arrange everything in the dish. And just when your guests are ready for dessert, your just-baked dessert is ready to be served, too.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 portions):

4 apples (approx. 600g), peeled, cored and sliced,

1 tbsp butter (plus extra for greasing),

250g blueberries (or mixture of blueberries and raspberries,) fresh or frozen,

25g sugar,

250g mascarpone cheese,

200g plain flour,

1.5 tsp baking powder,

80g butter, cut into pieces,

50g sugar,

1 lemon (finely grated zest only),

150ml milk.

METHOD:

1. Melt 1 tbsp of butter, add the sliced apples and fry them on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the blueberries and sugar, fry for 2 minutes and put aside to cool down. If the apples you use are sour, you may want to add more sugar.
3. Grease an ovenproof dish (I used a round one, 23 cm diameter) and transfer the prepared fruit to the dish.  
4. Put the flour and the baking powder to a bowl, add the butter pieces and with your fingers combine them together till the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
5. Stir in the sugar and lemon zest. If you are preparing this dessert in advance, you would continue with the next steps approx. 45 min. before you would like to serve it.
6. Preheat an oven to 200 Celsius degrees (180 degrees for fan ovens).
7. Add the milk to the dry mixture and stir with a spoon until everything is combined.
8. Using two teaspoons put the mascarpone on top of the fruit, and then the same way spoon the prepared batter on top of the mascarpone (the layers don’t have to be smoothened as mascarpone will melt in the oven and the batter will rise).
9. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
10. Let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.

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