A dessert for all.
NOTES:
- I like to make my own almond milk as most of the almond milk you find in supermarkets is full of gums, oils and very little almonds. You can choose to skip this step and buy some organic almond milk. If in the Uk I would suggest you to buy Plenish.
- same thing goes for the chai spice mix. I like to make my own, but you can also choose to buy a pre-made mix. I like to grind my own spices when I can in a pestle and mortar, but if you don’t have access to one, you can buy already ground spices. I would recommend buying organic from a health shop or from Turkish shop as long as they are high quality.
- The compote recipe is one of my absolute favourite recipes. Is extremely versatile, always delicious and can be used both for savoury ( like plant based cheese canapés) and sweet dishes. I like to play around with different citrus juices, spices and sweeteners. Orange, and mandarine are perfect instead of lemon. In terms of sweetener you can use coconut sugar, or date sugar as well as liquid sweeteners such as coconut nectar, maple syrup, agave or even rice malt, depending on what you have at home. You can try different spices too, adding rose petals or elderflower when in season, as well as more simple spices such as cardamom, cinnamon or fresh ginger.
Rice pudding
Ingredients:
For the almond milk :
70g almonds
600g water
1 pinch salt
Cashew cream:
110g cashews
20g coconut nectar\maple syrup
1\2 tsp vanilla essence
1 pinch of salt
70g water
For the rice:
120g brown or white round rice
350g almond milk
2 tbsp vanilla cashew cream
Pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp coconut nectar\ maple for sweetness
Method:
Start by soaking almonds for the milk and cashews for the cream in abundant water in two separate containers.
The next day, drain and wash the cashews and blend in a high power blender until super smooth along side the rest of the ingredients for the cashew vanilla cream.
Store in a airtight container in the fridge.
Drain and rinse the almonds, and add them in a high power blender along side 600g of water. Blend until super smooth.
Prepare a linen towel, cheesecloth or milk bag on top of a colander on a wide bowl. Pour the milk on the towel and squeeze all the liquid out.
You can keep the almond pulp for crackers, or smoothies for extra fiber.
Store the milk in a glass bottle or a jar in the fridge.
Cook the rice in abundant salty water until almost ready, then drain and add it back to the pot along side the almond milk.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes continuously stirring until the milk is almost all been absorbed. At this point add the cashew cream and sweetener of choice, cook for 1-2 minutes.
Mix until fully incorporated then serve hot with compote, extra vanilla cream and a sprinkle of chai spice mix or cinnamon.
Mixed berries and chai spice compote
Chai spice mix:
Ingredients:
1 tbsp Ceylon cinnamon powder
1 +1\2 tsp ginger powder
1\4 tsp ground black pepper
1\4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 gloves ground
1 cardamom pod ground
Method:
Measure, grind, and combine the spices in a jar. Give it a good mix and keep in a cool dry space in your kitchen.
Berries compote
Ingredients:
1 tbsp Ceylon cinnamon powder
1 +1\2 tsp ginger powder
1\4 tsp ground black pepper
1\4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 gloves ground
1 cardamom pod ground
Method:
In a pan add all ingredients and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes until reduced of 1\3rd.
Then transfer to a jar, close with the lid and let it cool down.
This is one of my absolute favourite recipes. Its extremely versatile, its always delicious and can be used both for savoury ( like plant based cheese canapés) and sweet dishes.
I like to play around with different citrus juices, spices and sweeteners.
Orange, and mandarine are perfect instead of lemon. In terms of sweetener you can use coconut sugar, or date sugar as well as liquid sweeteners such as coconut nectar, maple syrup, agave or even rice malt, depending on what you have at home.
You can play around with spices too, adding rose petals or elderflower when in season, as well as more simple spices such as cardamom, cinnamon or fresh ginger.