Vegan Coconut Cream Chia Seed Pudding + Recipe

I'm on my vacation from work now, and my sleep cycle is completely out of sync. I've had runs of two to three days of sleeplessness followed by a full day of sleeping. I put it down to the fact that I'm barely challenging my brain, and been moving at sloth-like pace when I can actually bring myself to move.

I had to meet a friend this evening, however I know his schedule is constantly moving, so I gave myself a 30-minute buffer and wandered around the shopping centre at Liljehomen. Weeeell, this was a ruse; I actually wanted to go into the larger ICA there for as I genuinely enjoy strolling through big supermarkets. When I first moved to Stockholm, I had to pass the centre on my commute to work so was a little bit spoiled by the choice - NOT the price - that was there. If I'd known I would never live near a supermarket like that again, I'd have probably indulged in the wider variety that was there more often.

Today, wandering round wasn't as exciting as I wanted it to be, but I did manage to pick up some Taylor & Jones  sausages, a nice self-serve salad, a small frying pan, and some chia seeds. I was in disbelief that my small basket cost me nearly 500 SEK, and actually became one of those customers I used to roll my eyes at in my own supermarket cashier days, and scrutinised the receipt visibly in front of the cashier before I shuffled off. Horrifying.

By the time I got home it was quite late, and although it would probably be better in the long run, I thought it would be weird to go to bed after only being up for five hours. Which is why I am writing this now.

While I'm waiting for a 'decent' time to sleep, I decided to make a gluten free coconut chia seed pudding I'd seen on Pinterest. It called for sweetened coconut so I was desperately searching for my coconut flakes to sugar up, only to realise I'd used them for the Coconut Maple Bites a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, my compulsive grocery purchasing often means I buy ingredients that I have plans for, I then forget what plans they are yet the ingredients remain; however this meant I was certain that I had a bag of dessicated coconut somewhere, which I was able to locate fairly easily.

I sweetened the coconut in a simple sugar syrup that I gently boiled over the stove, then added it to the coconut cream and milk mixture that I had. The recipe calls for coconut milk, however I only had a can of coconut cream, so I added ordinary milk to thin it out (this version wasn't quite vegan, but it is lactose free!).

I changed the ratios of sweetened coconut and honey as I prefer a sweeter taste; after a quick taste of the mixture, I felt it was nice, but it still needed something. That something, ladies and gentlemen, was sea salt. I crumbled some over it, mixed it in, and my goodness... It was elevated!

Groupie Selfie!

It's currently setting in the refrigerator, but I'll update once it's done. Cannot wait!

All done, topped with some frozen blueberries
quickly defrosted under the cold tap

This was a fairly full teacup portion, and I would actually recommend a marginally smaller serving, especially if you use coconut cream as the dessert is surprisingly filling.

Here's the recipe, heavily adapted from Eazy Peazy Mealz

Vegan Coconut Cream Chia Seed Pudding

Time: 10 minutes preparation + minimum 6 hours chilling time

Yield: Serves 4

Storage: in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sweetened coconut*
• 400-500 ml coconut cream (substitute some or all coconut milk for a lower fat version)
• 1-3 tbsp runny honey
• 4 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract (can be substituted for equivalent of vanilla alternative)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Fresh and/or dried fruit and nuts to top when serving

Method

1. If you have to sweeten the coconut*, start that off while you get on with step 2
2. If using coconut cream, mix it in a medium size tub to ensure any coconut water is reabsorbed by the solid cream, and you have a smooth consistency. I recommend topping up a 400 ml can of coconut cream with 100 ml of coconut milk, however if you're not using coconut cream, 400 ml of coconut milk is fine.
3. Add the remaining ingredients except the honey and salt, and mix thoroughly
4. Add the honey, one tablespoon at a time, testing after each addition until it suits your taste
5. Crush a small pinchful of salt between your fingers over the mixture. Mix, taste, and adjust, if necessary.
6. Give it a final mix. If desired, separate into individual portions and cover with clingfilm - or simply cover the tub - and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
7. When serving, give it a quick stir, and if desired, top with dried or fresh fruit, and or nuts

Serving suggestion: top with Berry Fruit Sauce

*see post to see how to sweeten coconut

Sweetened Coconut Recipe

I haven't ever bought sweetened coconut, and I'm not even sure if it is widely available in Stockholm, or indeed London. I do remember avoiding a Nigella Lawson recipe after it called for shredded coconut (not sure if it needed to be sweetened), as I couldn't find it back in London. Or perhaps I didn't look. Who knows?!

Anyhoo, when I made coconut macaroons a while back, I needed sweetened coconut flakes, and as I had specifically bought coconut flakes, I was unwilling to find and buy new ingredients, so found out how to sweeten coconut myself. I misread the recipe, but the ratio is simple to remember for the future...

Sweetened Coconut Flakes or Shreds

Time: 10 minutes (+ optional 30-60 minutes drying time)

Yield: Ratios specified below yield 1 cup coconut

Storage: keep in an airtight container out of direct sunlight for up to 1 week.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry natural coconut flakes or dessicated coconut
• 4 tbsp water
• 4 tsp sugar

Method

1. Heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan on medium high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar dissolves, wait until the simple syrup comes to the boil.
2. Turn the heat off and remove the saucepan from the hot hob on to a heat resistant surface (e.g. a trivet).
3. Add the dried coconut and stir until the syrup is absorbed evenly and all the coconut is moistened.
4. If you can use them moist (e.g. you are adding the sweetened coconut to a wet  mixture, use them straightaway; otherwise, spread the sweetened pieces out on a baking tray or some baking paper to dry for at least an hour.

You can store them for two weeks in an airtight container in a cool, dark area.

Did you spot the ratio?

If you consider 1 cup to be 4 x 1/4 cups, you have a 4 tsp: 4 tbsp: 4 x 1/4 cup of sugar: water: dried coconut.

That's how I remember it anyhow! Knowing this, you can adjust how much sweetened coconut you make accordingly!

Maple Coconut Caramel Bites

Recipe base from Not Quite Nigella

Mrs NQN has many ideas and gives many inspirations. My one issue is that I feel that prior knowledge is required for a few recipes, and therefore vital pointers are omitted in the instructions.

I felt that this recipe was one such case.

I was so excited that I had all the ingredients and also an opportunity to use my new cooking thermometer, that I did not do my usual sense check when I was reading the recipe, so did not realise until the crucial moment that I did not know what the final tinder toffee, perhaps(?) was meant to be like either in appearance or texture.

Bubbling away

I ended up with a bit of a roue after adding the final ingredients that somehow devolved into a granular breadcrumb like mixture that in no way resembled caramel or toffee or indeed gel or liquid like.

Baked Caramel

I was not willing to go through this process of getting the syrup to 150°C again so grabbed the last of my homemade caramel from the fridge and my jar of Dulce de Leche and added enough to spread it over my tin, baked it for just under 10 minutes, and ended up with a chewy coconut-ty mess. I could see that this would never harden to be able to be broken into the signature brittle pieces, so I went through the sticky procedure of rolling clumps up into balls or bites.

Jar o' Poo? Sorry, maple coconut bites

I have since written to Lorraine of NQN, and I am hoping that she updates her instructions so I can try it again with more confidence!

Coconut Chocolate Cake

 Recipe base from Restlesschipotle.com (LINK)

On my Bundt quest that has no particular end goal, I stumbled upon this recipe.
Whilst the description talked a big game, about the amazing pairing of coconut and chocolate, and rum, I found it difficult to believe that a recipe that only had coconut milk - which has a very delicate flavour - as its connection to coconut was going to be that flavoursome.

Now don't get me wrong, the cake batter was nice, and after a previous incident with too much density, I bought a new hand blender, and was really taking precautions not to overbeat the batter.

Batter

I unintentionally used under half of the chocolate from the recipe, but I didn't have enough dark chocolate anyway. I don't feel it hurt the recipe.

As the cake has an option of adding a cup of macadamia nuts, I would say that I would probably add a cup of desiccated coconut. This somewhat defeats the purpose of avoiding the texture, however I can't in all good conscious say that this is a coconut cake. Maybe adding tablespoon of coconut extract, or replacing the quarter cup of rum for Malibu could be an option.

with chocolate medley

My batter came out very velvety and rose magnificently from the pan as it was baking. Far too much batter for my 12 cup bundt. I don't blame the recipe, I should have recognised that it was too full, and made cupcakes with the remainder.

Bundt!

After turning the cake out, I decided in a moment of madness/genius to cut the bottom off the cake to even it up. I then discovered what is becoming a recurring nightmare for me: Density. Is that part still not baked properly?! I whipped it back into the oven with a foil hat for another 15-20 minutes, contradictorily still on its cooling rack. After this point I admitted defeat, and took it out to cool entirely.

Finished Product

As the Swedes say, kämpa kämpa. I finished the cake off by pouring half of the coconut rum sauce over it, and reserving the other half to heat up and pour over it the next day.

The cake was still demolished within 10 minutes, and whilst I was lurking in the sidelines, eagle-eyeing the cake and its inner appearance, I discovered to my wary yet somewhat happy bewilderment that the cake appeared to have repaired itself overnight! No dense, doughy patches or anything! Not sure how that happened, but I'm pleased... for now.

Coconut Carrot Bites

Recipe base from BBC Good Food (LINK).

I was really looking forward to making this recipe, as I am a big fan of carrot cake. I added the remainder of my pumpkin seeds, and whilst they didn't hurt the cake, they didn't really add to it either.

The cake timings definitely need adjusting - I found the cake needed at least another 20 minutes after the topping was added, however the topping was nearly done after 10, so I needed to cover it with foil to protect it.

The resulting cake was moist yet somehow crumbly. I didn't feel it was as 'carrotty' as I would want; the predominant flavour was from the coconut topping - that could definitely have done with more butter - which was not unwelcome, however it made the carrot surplus to requirements in my mind.

ANZAC Biscuits

Combined recipes from BBC Good Food, and Lovefood.com

Personally, I was not pleased with the outcome, however I have to remember that both biscuits and cakes taste better when they are cool. Colleagues enjoyed them anyhow!
Comments made on BBC Good Food under samaraspuff

Rating: 6/10